MP3s Causing Decline in CD Sales?

jocknerd writes "The RIAA is reporting that MP3 is the reason for declining CD sales. " God I hope so. Do you guys realize how convenient it is to have all audio on demand? I've ripped all my CDs- its just so wonderful. Why won't the music industry give me that? I don't think the music industry is totally doomed- it just needs to change. The radio industry has more to fear. Why would I listen to WXYZ when I can select my own music mix for the the same cost as cable? Thats where I hope this ends.

Comments

Decline in CD Sales

[Gleef]

Disenchantment with the mainstream music industry is causing the decline in RIAA CD Sales.

Looking around locally (Albany, NY and NYC), I see the big chain record stores doing poorly, and the smaller independant stores doing well. I like seeing this. The independant stores are offering more of what people want: used music, local artists (often self-published, it's cheap to get your CD burnt in small batches now), and DJ Mixes (also self-published).

Music is all about freedom of expression. The freedom of the artist to make the music they want, and the freedom of the listener to set their style by the music they select. The RIAA and its member companies have been trying to play with this freedom, and it's now starting to backfire on them.

The self-published music industry started the decline in CD sales. MP3 is just another few nails in the RIAA's coffin. The RIAA blames it on the MP3's to divert attention from the real reason, because they don't want people to realize how a talented musician can make it without their "help". You can't really be a multi-million dollar megastar without them, but you can be a respected and fed musician with no help from the record labels.

I doubt it...

[tgd]

I doubt MP3 has anything to do with declines in CD sales. I'd guess its just the general public getting bored with popular music these days. I mean seriously, among people on here who socialize with non-geeks, how many people do you know who have ever even heard of MP3, much less use it? Very few if any.

This is just a B.S. report from the RIAA to bolster their claims that MP3's are being used to pirate music and its severely hurting the industry. There's doubtfully any truth to it at all. Most people that have a few MP3's probably have them of something they wouldn't have payed any money for otherwise.

Its also silly given the way that CD clubs license music from record labels -- CD clubs hurt profits and particularly artist royalties more than MP3 ever will.

For the same reason the idea of TV tuners in PCs never really took off, MP3s playing through PCs for mainstream users will never take off. And I don't know a single person with a stereo component that plays them. No one wants to fire up their PC and sit in that room to listen to music or watch TV. I know a dozen people who've bought Toshiba or other "name" PC's with TV tuners, radios, etc... and none of them ever use them. These are virtually computer illiterate users. (ie, most of the general public)

On top of that, you've got the audiophiles -- people who tend to spend a lot of $$$ on audio-related hardware. No true audiophile would want to listen to anything on MP3. On anything but lousy headphones or low end computer speakers or stereo equipment they just sound lousy. (And that comment isn't flame bait -- people may disagree, but most people don't have even reasonable quality audio equipment...)

In a nutshell, I think its a growing lack of innovative and creative music in the mainstream popular music area thats responsible for the drop in sales. The big companies (and the companies that are RIAA members) aren't the ones selling the new and interesting music... The RIAA is an association of the big boys, and the big boys are growing old and tired.

Its good to see a drop in CD sales. Maybe one day the big labels will start to take risks again and promote quality music rather than generic clone bands. If the RIAA wants to twist that to their political agenda against MP3, who can stop them?

I doubt it...

[cdipierr]

I disagree with this sentiment because one of the main reasons MP3's haven't taken off is the lack of rack components. If it was as simple as placing a CD full of MP3's into a player in your stereo system, you'd see it much more popular with the so called "computer illiterate".

I've personally created such a device and brought it to a party. It played 1 disk for the entire duration of the party and I had to explain to plenty of non computer people what it was. Each of them was very interested in the concept of MP3's.

I agree quality isn't there for the audiophiles (though I believe in ripping tracks from CD's at 256k datarate at the least...you can still fit many hours of songs on a CDR), but then again the same audiophiles also still have vinyl. I don't think the aim of any new technology in the music industry, be it CDs or MP3s is to replace completely high end equipment. There will always be specialized equipment available for those people.

However, MP3's can also support much higher data rates and as DVD-RAM drives catch on (let's hope anyway), you'll be able to fit many more "high-quality" MP3's on a disk. Sure it's a tradeoff for playing time, but once you get to 5 hours or so, there's a limit to how much more you need per disk.

"...I'm not dead!..."

[artdodge]

Don't count "radio" totally out of the game just yet, for two reasons.

First: A public forum in which the masses get exposed to new music is essential to the industry thriving.

Second: I, for one, don't have time to orchestrate the soundtrack for my day from my MP3 list. I find that, by knowing the radio "landscape" in my area, I can fill in any given part of my day with appropriate music.

Radio fills these two slots simultaneously: it gives me variety and novelty that I might not have otherwise been exposed to had I chosen all the songs for myself.

Whether radio's current formats can survive or not is another matter... however, I'm not aware of "cable radio" stations putting any broadcast stations out of business yet.

How to lie with statistics

[beegle]

If you look more closely at how the RIAA phrased things, the 15-24 age group accounted for a smaller percentage of overall sales. This says nothing about how many total CDs were purchased by this age group, or how it compares to last year.

The RIAA press release brags that record buyers are increasingly older and female, as a general trend. Somehow, though, in one little bit of the greater trend, MP3 (their favorite scapegoat) is to blame.

Shed No Tears For The Record Industry

[Obscure Images]

The record industry is really the only people to lose out in the mp3 revolution. The business is structured AGAINST the artists who make the music. An example from an excellent article on the topic of the music biz by Steve Albini at http://www.apk.net/cihs/verbal/albini.html:

This is in reference to a typical moderately successful MTV type band ---

This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.
Record company: $710,000
Producer: $90,000
Manager: $51,000
Studio: $52,000
Previous label: $50,000
Agent: $7,5000
Lawyer: $12,000
Band member net income each: $4,031.25

-
This is the NORM, not the exception. Unless you really score the average artist is not destined to make much of any money in the business, while their art has financed the new homes of the executives and producers involved.

Think about how bands/artists will do with the middleman of the record companies gone. They could charge 1/2 the price for an album's worth of material, and still make gigantic cash.

Amen