Slashdot Mirror
A Bleak Future For Physical Media Purchases?
KevReedUK writes "The folks at ZDNet are eulogising over the upcoming death of physical media music sales. They refer to the noticeable drop in physical sales of albums whilst digital sales continue climbing (albeit at a reduced rate). Their central argument is that 'the music industry was pillaged by piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games ... [2007] marked the lowest tally and the steepest decline since Nielsen began publishing estimates based on point-of-sales data in 1993, a Nielsen representative said. The peak year in that time was 2000, when sales reached 785 million units.'"
Mod me -1 getoverit but I miss floppy disks.
You also get the fact that many slashdotters just quote prices for their own countries. For example, here in New Zealand, CDs are around $30 for new releases.
You get places which discount to $23 or so for a small selection, but the going price is usually $30 sans discounts.
Considering that we're sitting at 77 cents US for our dollar, we are paying the equivalent of US$23 for CDs that you pay less than $10 for. And NZ has a lower comparative wage, so this represents a higher cost relative to income.
Even though things may look okay to you in your part of the USA, don't think for a minute that the bulk of people worldwide aren't being fucked over by the record companies.
So I really want to know where these $19 CDs are and why I can't find them
Out of curiosity, it's been years since I last bought any music (and I don't pirate music either, I just don't listen to music much anymore), I searched Amazon music for Norah Jones. On the first of three pages there are two albums, vinyl LP records, that are $30. Barnes and Noble has the list price of her "Come Away With Me" as $19, as is "Not Too Late", and The Little Willies".
I picked Norah Jones because the last CDs I bought were from her and Neko Case.
FalconShould there be a Law?