The real reason CD sales are down

manadren_it · Post by **manadren_it** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 11:59 am

Stopping the pop-swappers
DOT.LIFE - the weekly guide to changing technology
By Mark Ward
BBC News Online technology correspondent
They used to say "home taping" was killing music, now it's meant to be internet downloaders. But the real pirates these days are crime bosses - and the rewards are plentiful.

The net has given rise to many novel ways of doing business but the methods of the Recording Industry Association of America has got every twisted e-commerce scheme beaten.

Last month, the association began suing hundreds of its customers. For the RIAA - which represents the major US recording companies - this makes perfect sense.

The people being sued are sharing music with millions of others via peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus.

This tidal wave of subpoenas is the latest in a series of steps the RIAA has taken to stop "file-sharing" which, it believes, is causing CD sales to fall through the floor.

According to the RIAA, CD sales dropped by 10% in 2001 and a further 6.8% last year, largely because of file sharing.

But the figures tell a different story.

In America and the rest of the world the biggest culprit in falling music sales is large-scale CD piracy by organised crime.

In just three years, sales of pirate CDs have more than doubled, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Every third CD sold is a pirate copy, says the federation.

The IFPI's Commercial Music Piracy 2003 report, produced in early July, reveals pirate CD sales rose 14% in 2002 and exceeded one billion units for the first time.

Not least in the East

The pirate CD market is now so big, $4.6bn (£2.86bn), it is "of greater value than the legitimate music market of every country in the world, except the USA and Japan".

In some countries it is hard to find legitimately produced CDs. Ninety percent of CDs in China, for instance, are pirate copies.

Counterfeiters have forced the price of a fake CD down to about $4, which only makes CDs in the music shops look even pricier.

Embarrassingly major record labels and distributors have been fined twice by the US Federal Trade Commission for price fixing their products.

However, pirates are not solely responsible for the crisis in the music industry. After all, it is actually producing CD titles.

Replacing vinyl

According to the RIAA's own figures, over the last two years the US music industry has produced 25% fewer CDs.

The peak of production was in 1999 when 38,900 individual titles were released. But by 2001 this was down to 27,000. Releases grew again in 2002 but were still below the previous high.

Musician George Ziemann says if only 3,000 copies of each of the "missing" CDs were sold, the fall in sales would be wiped out.

For Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter Research, the music is weathering a hangover after the 80s and 90s boom, when everyone was buying CD versions of their old vinyl records.

"Now the CD replacement cycle has drawn to a close," he says.

Also the global decline in CD sales is taking place against the background of a general economic recession that is depressing sales of almost everything.

After piracy and the production of fewer CDs comes the changing dynamics of the music industry.

Many of the people using file-sharing systems are looking for singles. By contrast the music industry is focussed on shifting albums.

This is reflected in sales figures. In the US sales of CD singles generate only a few percent of the total market. In the UK, it's 10% of all revenues.

Typically, singles are used to drum up support for an album, being hyped weeks in advance and played heavily on radio and TV long before they go on sale.

With nowhere to get these singles and no desire to buy an expensive CD album just for one song, it is no wonder many fans turn to file-sharing systems.

Finally, music just isn't as important to young people as it used to be. There is more competition than ever for the cash in a teenager's pocket.

"Youths are no longer defining themselves by music in the same way they used to," says Mr Mulligan.

New markets springing up

Now, he says, brands, clothing and lifestyle are as important as music.

Added to this is the rise of the mobile phone, the increasing popularity of computer games and DVDs.

In the past the music industry had young fans almost to itself. Now it has to compete for the limited cash in a young person's pocket like never before.

The music industry cannot hope to sue everyone using file sharing to find music as that would take hundreds of years and already the US legal system is complaining about the work the RIAA is heaping upon it.

There is no doubt that some piracy is going on via peer-to-peer systems but maybe not to the extent the RIAA fears. Perhaps it is about time they sang a different song.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/tech...ogy/3117505.stm

Published: 2003/08/04 10:46:15 GMT

© BBC MMIII

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manadren_it · Post by **manadren_it** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 12:03 pm

IPlenty of other reasons cd sales are down. Like the real pirates (arrr!), not to mention shifts in marketing tactics and demand. Interesting how the RIAA never mentions that part of the reason is because they are actually producing less cds. What? Were we supposed to but multiple copies to make up the difference?

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rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 4:05 pm

all that to say that the boom days of music cd's are now bust.

and they are trying to blame us poor little ol

for that.

no i am not one but i do make my own of my old records because i make them cheaper then i can buy them and if i buy them i never like all the songs they have on it.

and i cant just make them in the order i want like i can when i burn my own.

way i figure it i paid for the record i paid for the power to play the record i paid for the tape to record it on i paid for the recorder to record it on i paid for the cdrom and i paid for the computer and the software,? well i got the software free.

but it was a freeware program.

so they have been paid many times over for that song. not to mention that everytime you hear a song on the radio they have to pay a royalty for playing it. so they get paid from that also. i say the record companys are just a bunce of

babys because they cant rip off the singers and the consumers anymore.

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manadren_it · Post by **manadren_it** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 10:43 pm

It's become pretty aparent that it's not an issue about a fair price for a fair product, but rather an issue of an unfair price for a limitied liscense to use a product in certain ways but not others in an effort to make you pay the most money possible and to milk artists dry.

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rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 1:01 am

I just put another 3 hours of big band music on the computer i use for a jukebox.

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Wren · Post by **Wren** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:10 pm

Big Band...now that's real music!

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:28 pm

Wren wrote: Big Band...now that's real music!

What kind of music is that? I have never heard of Big Band before...

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Wren · Post by **Wren** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 2:47 pm

In the 1920s through the 1940s, "social dancing" was de rigeur, --twinkletoed or gluefooted -- everyone danced. There was some sort of music at every venue, - from a small trio to a large band, and when the music started, folks would leave their tables and dance - NOT because they had to... but because dancing around the floor in the arms of a partner whom one admired was (is) so nice. It follows that all bands were dance bands. Some were 'Sweet' and some were 'Hot', but most bands leaned in both directions. In later years, Benny Goodman, though called the King of Swing, was, in essence, the leader of a dance band, -a dance band that leaned more toward the "Hot" then the "Sweet". Other bands, such as Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians, leaned heavily toward the "Sweet" music. In a sidelight, it is interesting to note that long after the "Hot" bands had disappeared, a great many of the "Sweet" bands were still performing, and their records continue to re-appear in new CDs.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:09 pm

I just had a thought, a percentage of CD-R prices should go to artists, that would solve all these music money problems. And just to shut up the riaa, another percentage can go to them.

But that would cause CD-R's to up up in price though, way up. But it would be an idea.

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manadren_it · Post by **manadren_it** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:48 pm

*cough* if artists were actually making any money off cds I doubt they'd be complaining *cough*

but seriously, a very small percentage of the cds I burn are actually music cds, and most of those are for other people actually. And come to thing of it a good portion of those would fall under fair use [copy for the car or what not]

There's far too many other uses to jusfify cutting a piece of cd-rs to the RIAA, who will proabably take 99.9% of that any maybe pass on a penny per 1000 cds to artists, so their PR guys can say it's a step forward to getting artists what they deserve. And why sould I pay the RIAA to backup some progams I downloaded, or some stuff I've been working on. If the "artists" are getting a kick back, shouldn't prorammers get one too? How about the digital artists? Movie makers? Web developers? Authors? Journalists? Photographers? If I backup my own work on cd should I give a kick-back to myself?

The RIAA isn't making as much money as they used to. We can see that clearly. But it's becuase of a large combination of factors. Some of them are it's own fault, some are no one's fault, and some are impossible to fix without cooperation from people who have to desire to help. So they pick an easy scapegoat. Because what is a kid or a parent or grandparent - regular people without giant corporations behind them - going to do against a legal juggernaut liek the RIAA. For most of the people, their entire life savings is but a mere downpayment on the legal fees they would incur trying to fight those bastards. And who wants to risk that when you can settle for a mere half your life savings?

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:52 pm

Yep, it just shows how the riaa is so greedy. Microsoft should buy them out. That would be kind of funny and unexpected.

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manadren_it · Post by **manadren_it** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 9:15 pm

Red Squirrel wrote: Yep, it just shows how the riaa is so greedy. Microsoft should buy them out. That would be kind of funny and unexpected.

then they could both go down in flames together

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 10:55 pm

Yep

While they're at it, they can buy procter and gamble. At least they won't test on animals. They won't test at all.

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 5:39 pm

manadren wrote:
Red Squirrel wrote: Yep, it just shows how the riaa is so greedy. Microsoft should buy them out. That would be kind of funny and unexpected.
then they could both go down in flames together

NO! What would the world be without Microsoft?

I love Microsoft.

I love Windows 95. It's a great, modern, and stable OS.

I think they should have made a Green Screen of Death.

Green is a much better colour!

(Yeah.... I know there's a way to change it, but damn them to hell for making blue the default...)

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Wren · Post by **Wren** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 6:29 pm

tak!!!!

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 6:54 pm

Windows 3.11 kicks windows 95's butt!!!

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manadren_it · Post by **manadren_it** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 8:23 pm

Bah! Who needs guis when you got DOS 6.22!!

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 8:46 pm

manadren wrote: Bah! Who needs guis when you got DOS 6.22!!

now that's talking!

Those make great servers too. I can guarantee it's the most secure way to go as well.

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rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 7:59 pm

takahita_tsukino wrote:
Wren wrote: Big Band...now that's real music!
What kind of music is that? I have never heard of Big Band before...

to add to what wren said about big band i will say that it was the band music you hear in all the world war two movies and old dance movies Lawrence Welk's Champaine Band was a big band. and then you hear of music like western swing such as bob wills made famous he had a big band that was at times only 5 or 6 members but oh what a sound they made, and his largest band was up to about 45 members i think.

there is a new big band going around the country since the late 1990's i cant remember his name i had it just a second ago? he uses computer monitors for the muisc sheets. he does a lot of las vegas shows. harry connyack?? JR. i think is the leaders name.

but now who was the one that was lost in world war two over the english channl and never found? oh that was glen miller. they after 50 yrs found out what happend. and he was ? his plane was nocked out of the sky by friendly planes. seems there was a group of bombers that could not make it to their targets and had to make a return to base, so they dropped their bombs in the channel they did not see the small piper below them only one of the bombers tail gunners saw the small plane goning down. it was not reported for awhile as an english plane. as glen miller had been in was held up for take off by ground fog. so they thought he was long gone when the bombers came back. they did not know about the ground fog at the airport where miller took off from.

it took some 50 yrs of looking in all the reports to figure out what happend and then the the only way they found out was some one had just recieved a letter from the tail gunner saying what he saw back then. he was told not to worry about it. and they made the offical report say that it must have been some local pilot that was getting out of the way, but it was in fact the raf plane that miller was in and it did hit the water.

the tailgunner had this on his mind for 50 yrs. and only said it in this letter to clear his mind before his death which came a couple months later.

seen a show on that a couple years ago. .

but that is big band. and also some history on the biggest of the big band leaders. Mr. miller.

edit in.

now there are about 92 hours of music of all kinds but rap crap on my computer jukebox? but i cant stay up longenough to listen to it all at once now?

done with edit.

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Wren · Post by **Wren** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 8:13 pm

That is an interesting story, I have never heard about that incident.

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rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 8:21 pm

Wren wrote: That is an interesting story, I have never heard about that incident.

yep it was on the discovery channel a couple years ago about the time he turned up missing. they made a big deal out of it and everything over there in england. they even made one of the hangers at that airport into an moument to him i believe. that was one of the major reasons for the story, they were making a mounment to him and they were just going to refresh us on what was known to be a lost legend. but the tail gunner had found out about the story they were doing and why, and he just had to write that letter to them. so they could get the story correct and find him once and forall.

that is what they said in the story as to why he sent the letter. but they added in on the end of the story that the tail gunner had died shortly before the airing of the show.

which makes it look like he was just hanging around longenough to get that off his mind. and let everyone know what had really happened..

poor soilder had to live with that for 50 yrs.

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