[*Scotty*]

An interesting look at the Recording Industry's woes.
http://theunderstatement.com/post/3362645556/the-real-death-of-the-music-industry
Album prices.
http://theunderstatement.com/post/3377858909/album-prices
Scotty

[OzarkTom]

At the Grammy's last night, the hosts were pleading with the fans to help support them.

[wushuliu]

At the Grammy's last night, the hosts were pleading with the fans to help support them.

The industry still has time to rip off the artists, though, while screaming 'Piracy' in a crowded room.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/eminem-royalty-lawsuit-aftermath-records-fbt-productions-293881

[won ton on]

the recording industry is their own worst enemy.remember cd's perfect sound forever,what a joke.also i don't like it when they sign up someone for mega bucks and the records flop so that you and i have to subsidize them re. michael jackson.

[Wayner]

First, the recording industry did not come up with the CD. Sony and Philips did. People embraced the CD and threw their records away, lured by the "convenience" and small size of the music format. So if you want to blame anyone for the CD, blame yourself for buying them.

Next, While you all are busy "demonizing" the recording industry, you certainly have all the music to listen to, thanks to them. And many people have downloaded music illegally. Since two wrongs don't make a right, I'd say that people who steal, even if it's just music, should not throw stones. Thieves are the cause of the industry collapse.

Wayner

[won ton on]

well first off i don't steal my music. doesn't change the fact they charge too much,and if they hadn't ripped people off for so long maybe it would not be such a problem.they let the cat out of the bag with digital as they couldn't see the writing on the wall,in their infanite greed.  i'm sure it's mostly young people that get it for free

[kip_]

Next, While you all are busy "demonizing" the recording industry, you certainly have all the music to listen to, thanks to them. And many people have downloaded music illegally. Since two wrongs don't make a right, I'd say that people who steal, even if it's just music, should not throw stones. Thieves are the cause of the industry collapse.

Wayner

No they aren't. Those who steal music aren't the kind who would buy large volumes and therefore don't account for much sales. The reasons for the collapse are $13-$20 for a physical CD when you can buy the same thing from iTunes for a copy that is transparent, either via AAC or ALAC for $10. Not to mention the fact that their legal department bears strong resemblance to the gestapo and they've been trying to strongarm consumers and the government for 15 years now, unsuccessfully.

[Phil A]

Thieves are the cause of the industry collapse.

Wayner

Many years back I got off the Amtrak station in Newark, NJ with someone waiting for a cab to our destination.  Vendors (several) in the middle of the day had stands outside the station selling to me what were obviously bootleg copies of music and movies.  The person I was with did not believe me and bought a movie and when it was later watched, it was filmed in a theater and you actually got a shot of someone getting up from their seat in the video.

The biggest customers of the vendors - the city of Newark Police Dept!  There were several (4-5) officers talking to them and a couple asking when they were getting particular music or movies in (for them to buy and one bought something while I was there - against Federal statutes on copyright protection and on duty too).  Happens on street corners all over major cities.

Many years back (perhaps 10) Blockbuster realizing its business model did not have long to go wanted to set-up in their stores kiosks where one could listen to music, mix and match purchasing songs from different artists and make the CD and print the art work.  Who killed it - the record cos!  They did not want to upset their traditional distribution chain.  They want to force customers to buy a whole album even if only a couple of songs is all they want or are good.

So thieves are just part of the problem

[Diamond Dog]

well first off i don't steal my music. doesn't change the fact they charge too much,and if they hadn't ripped people off for so long maybe it would not be such a problem.they let the cat out of the bag with digital as they couldn't see the writing on the wall,in their infanite greed.  i'm sure it's mostly young people that get it for free

a)  I've met people in their fifties and sixties who are the owners of extensive collections of pirated music. Like the young people you allude to, they have no qualms about stealing and are quite proud of their massive collections of purloined music. I've heard every rationalization under the sun from these people as well and they all come across as lame. Examples :

a) The industry charges too much for music:  My bank charges too much for services. Does this mean I can rob the bank? The police disagree.

b) The switch to digital made all this pirating possible:   Making a piece of metal into a knife makes it possible to go around stabbing people. You still can't do it with impunity.

c)  My favorite: " Yeah, I've pirated a lot of jazz music but only from artists who are dead so I'm not ripping anybody off " This is the moral equivalent of stripping the wrist watch off a guy who just got killed by a bus...

Stealing is stealing.

The digital argument is ironic because that gate swings both ways. If you've been following the news, there is a big push on to get legislation passed in countries all over the world which will really tighten the screws on piracy but will also have negative effects on internet freedom and open doors that we will wish were left closed. You may think pieces of legislation like SOPA are dead - they're just stalled. The lobbyists and all the money behind them will eventually have their way. Brave New World, here we come...

While I don't think that piracy is the sole reason for the collapse of the music industry, it sure didn't help. Neither did the failure of the industry to adapt to the changes around them. I just don't understand the rationale behind people stealing music just because they can as though they have some entitlement to it for free. If you want free music, learn to play the banjo. Then steal one and play free music to your heart's content  .

D.D.

PS: I think I just agreed with Wayner on something...might not be a bad idea for you all to start stocking up on canned food and bottled water. 

[rollo]

  Piracy is a major issue. However not the only culprit in lost sales. Most of the music sucks for starters. Both content and sonics. Pricing as well IMO had the biggest role. Another reason is format change. How many times are we going to buy the same music reissued in 24/96, SACD and blah blah blah. Digitation of tape masters by Sony DSD and reissues of such just suck.
   Bring us a quality recording with good musical content. Back in the day of analog there was more concern over sonics, Miracle surface, Dynagroove, recording methods. Today just stamp out those CDs by the thousands. The stampers themselves are an issue.
  The industry got away from quality for quantity. Plus the loudness wars of Cd, Bommy over blown bass on pop recordings, Those horrible crisp highs and so on.
  Of course the industry cannot blame itself. So must be those pirates alone. They blew it, poor music selection, overpriced and mostly lousy sonics.
   One of the reasons LPs have made a huge comeback. Main reason ?? Ya can't copy an LP to an LP BRILLIANT !!!!

charles

[maxwalrath]

In the simplest terms possible, I feel the RIAA has done me wrong, so I feel less sympathy towards it.

[Wayner]

Thanks Diamond Dog! Glad we are on the same side on this one...

While the recording industry is certainly not guilt free of questionable practices, They are not the only folks taking a piece of the cost pie. Distributors, manufacturers, wholesalers, and the final sale at your local chain store/music store all add up to the current cost of a CD or vinyl.

For those recording artists that got "screwed" so to speak, they signed a "contract" which states where all the money from gross sales goes, who gets what. If they can't read the contract and then later blame the record label for their own predicament, I have to say, though hop.

I have been enjoying a few recent LPs from MOFI and I for one am glad that these new releases are available. If the recording industry collapses, then we are all screwed.

Wayner

[nathanm]

AHH!  Browser crashed mid-post and I don't feel motivated to rewrite.  So I'm posting an example of how to do this sort of thing proper:

http://gigaom.com/2012/01/06/lee-louis-ck-marketing/

[Stu Pitt]

Most mainstream artists, and probably the labels... actuall more likely the labels than the artists... aren't interested in a solid album from start to finish.  They're interested in that one single that'll get constant airplay.  People stopped buying full albums for one song.  Single sales went up at the expense of album sales.  They bit off their noses to spite their faces IMO.   Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems like a big part of it.

Then there's the MTV debacle, as I like to call it.  A lot of people heard new music on MTV and went out and bought the album.  Perhaps they industry started its decline when MTV stopped playing music?   Or maybe they saw/properly predicted the decline and got away from music.  I call it a debacle because how do you call a channel "Music Television" when you don't have any music?

In order to make a comeback, I think the industry needs to get with the times.  By this, I mean physical media needs to be more interactive.  How about releasing albums on Blu-Ray?   Have high-res content and viewable stuff such as lyrics, liner notes, and behind the scenes footage.  Maybe interviews, making-of type stuff, studio footage, etc.  it's not that hard to record the stuff they already do - they do a lot of promotional stuff, so why not stick a camera in there and put it on the same disc as the actual album?

Society is getting more and more ADD by the minute.  No one wants to just sit and listen to music anymore (except for us).  No one wants to buy something that serves a single purpose; they want the max for the money.

[WC]

The problem with putting music on Bluray, is that will ostracize a portion of the audience who can't play the latest stuff on their CD player. Market adoption of Bluray is still very low. How do you play it on the go?

Most people who buy music are not audiophiles. Pricing is a big factor, at least for me. I am not willing to pay the $20 to $30 for hires music albums. At this point I will only spend over $10 on a CD if I really like the Album or the artist. I purchase most of my music used. I listen to a lot of music and currently subscribe to MOG to listen to albums to see if I like them enough to purchase them. I listen to a lot more than I purchase.

[bregez]

Blame the artists, not the recording industry.  A majority of music on "Billboards top 100" list for the last 5 years has been awful.  They just take cuts from older songs and add some "uh huh, yea" lyrics and swear words.   

[doug s.]

imo, piracy is a red herring.  sure, folks do it.  but, it is not the reason the industry is suffering, imo.  the recording industry was yust as much up in arms about pirating of music when the cassette tape became popular for music in the late 60's/early '70's. same old same old...  the industry actually got passed thru congress a surcharge sold on every single blank cassette sold, to pay to the record companies, cuz the tapes were gonna be used to "steal music".  the fact is, a small amount of piracy actually drives sales, because it spreads the music around, and folks who may burn a cd that a friend loaned them, may end up buying more from that artist.

the article nathan linked shows the real problem, imo.  too many middle-men wanting a cut.  and,of course, there is also the dearth of quality and the drive for the lowest common denominator, effected by these same middlemen...  the mainstreaming of commercial music has only gotten progressively worse in the digital age...

ymmv,

doug s.

[doug s.]

Blame the artists, not the recording industry.  A majority of music on "Billboards top 100" list for the last 5 years has been awful.  They just take cuts from older songs and add some "uh huh, yea" lyrics and swear words.

sorry, bregez, you are putting the cart before the horse - what you are hearing on the "billboards top 100" is cuz that's what the recording industry wants from the "artists" they are promoting.  if you're an artist not doing what the recording industry wants - no big record contract for you.

doug s.

[JRace]

First, the recording industry did not come up with the CD. Sony and Philips did. People embraced the CD and threw their records away, lured by the "convenience" and small size of the music format. So if you want to blame anyone for the CD, blame yourself for buying them.

Next, While you all are busy "demonizing" the recording industry, you certainly have all the music to listen to, thanks to them. And many people have downloaded music illegally. Since two wrongs don't make a right, I'd say that people who steal, even if it's just music, should not throw stones. Thieves are the cause of the industry collapse.

Wayner

Wayner, no disrespect, but looking at your avatar I assume you were around in the eigties. Way back then The record industry was dying. Home taping (and before that FM radio) was killing it! A full decade and a half before napster (and mass downloading) was a household name. This is the same industry that today is still dying.

Copying music in any form is not killing the industry, he'll its keeping it alive. ignorant attitudes and failure to adapt are the real culprits.

Now that there are alternate forms of delivery and discovery of new music (thanks in no small part to the technological advances brought about by file sharing) artists have the choice to not sign claustrophobic contacts in order to get there music to the fans.

There is more new music now than ever before, only it's not in your mall, your main-stree or your big box store. Its on the Internet and the artists are gaining more control of there works.

[saisunil]

This chart says it all ... the future is in digital ... at least for now ...