Digital Media killing physical media

Jeanwah

blackredyellow wrote:

I don't think that piracy is what is hurting the record stores at all... it's just an outdated retail model.

For CD's, stores like Wal-Mart, Target & Best Buy sell a much higher volume than the old CD store chains. They can sell new releases at lower prices and not worry about profits, it gets you in the story to buy other stuff. Add to that, huge online stores like Amazon.

Then there is digital media, which is outpacing physical CD sales... iTunes is still growing, Amazon has a popular mp3 store, and others are getting in on the action.

Look at video rental places, it's the some thing... it's not piracy really hurting them, it's that there are much more convenient and cheaper options out there for people who want to buy or watch a movie.

Right. But the video rentals took the hint, probably because so many people stopped renting. What's holding the music retail industry back from moving on?

Hugh Freaking Dillon

edited thread title to reflect what I really meant. it's not just the illegal downloaders, it's digital media as a whole. back when blank recordable cassette tapes came out in the 80's, the industry were up in arms. what did it do to hurt the industry? nothing.

blackredyellow

Jeanwah wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

I don't think that piracy is what is hurting the record stores at all... it's just an outdated retail model.

For CD's, stores like Wal-Mart, Target & Best Buy sell a much higher volume than the old CD store chains. They can sell new releases at lower prices and not worry about profits, it gets you in the story to buy other stuff. Add to that, huge online stores like Amazon.

Then there is digital media, which is outpacing physical CD sales... iTunes is still growing, Amazon has a popular mp3 store, and others are getting in on the action.

Look at video rental places, it's the some thing... it's not piracy really hurting them, it's that there are much more convenient and cheaper options out there for people who want to buy or watch a movie.

Right. But the video rentals took the hint, probably because so many people stopped renting. What's holding the music retail industry back from moving on?

I don't think anything is really... it's just a slower transformation. With iTunes, and even the subscription services like Rhapsody, options are increasing all of the time. But there is still a large contigent of people out there (our generation and older) who like to buy physical CD's (and vinyl). There just weren't may people out there obsessed with collecting physical DVD's (or VHS tapes)... also the fact that unlike music, most people only watch most movies one time and buying it really doesn't matter.

Kel Varnsen

blackredyellow wrote:

Look at video rental places, it's the some thing... it's not piracy really hurting them, it's that there are much more convenient and cheaper options out there for people who want to buy or watch a movie.

For video rental places the thing that really was the first sign of death was that the stuidos totally changed the model on how they would make money on home video. My dad had a video store back in teh 80's and 90's and I remember back when he started his store, for him ordering a copy of a popular movie could easily cost over 100 dollars. By the time he sold his store in the late 90's he was buying a lot of his popular titles from Walmart (especially kids movies) since the walmart prices were actually cheaper than ordering from a distributor. I think in the early days the idea was to sell the VCR's for cheaper and get people to rent the movies just to get people to adopt the technology. But then it came to a point that everyone owned VCR's or DVD players and studios realized they could make more money by selling movies directly to the consumer (especially once DVD came out) for $10 bucks at walmart. I mean my wife and I have a pretty huge DVD collection, mostly because we go to the movies a lot (or at least we used to), and then for stuff we like, rather than renting it for $6 we just buy it for 18. If it still cost $100 to buy say Iron Man 2 at Walmart we would probably rent a lot more.

Newch91

I like buying the physical product and to be able to hold it and look through the artwork.

Whenever I tell my friends I have to go buy an album, they look at me weird and say, "Why not just download it for free?"

eddiec

The whole increase in technology is a huge catch-22. The biggest problem with downloading mp3's is that the quality sucks. Even at a high bit rate they don't compare to cd's. But most people don't mind cause everyone is listening to them on ipods, docking stations or computers with crappy speakers. What happened to the days of 100w per channel receivers that when turned up it was like sitting in the recording studio? Now you find these shotty receivers that pump out out a measly 25w per channel and you need to buy speakers that individually plug in to get any real quality sound. I have a Pioneer receiver from the mid '70's and an old pair of Bose speakers that will destroy most sound systems today. Unless you pay top dollar today you lose so much on sound that we just used to take for granted.

lukin2006

Couldn't find any info regarding Canada HMV, UK HMV is apparently closing stores. The HMV at my local mall always seems to be busy.

As far as digital media, that what the kids of today want, they would rather just load up their music on an ipod than put a record on or insert a CD. That why the music companies are scrambling, they failed to stay on top of new forms of media.

BH304897

I don't think digital media is killing physical media, nor do I think that its ruining the entertainment industry (at least not the music industry), however I do think that it is changing the industry. Because of digital media and downloads there has been a resurgence in vinyl albums being produced and the technology has also allowed for the physical media of a ton of live albums that otherwise would never have been readily available. I do think its changing the industry and some of that is reflected in the ticket prices of shows, but really all it's doing is cutting out a bunch of middle men from the profits, not the bands. The "pay what you want" digital download of in rainbows made more money for Radiohead than any previous album and as far as I'm concerned the more money that goes to the band the better. I also like the fact that since cd sales aren't what they used to be bands basically have to tour not only to make money but in order to promote themselves. I buy cd's from certain artists in order to support them, but I also will burn cd's etc so that I get an introduction to some new bands. If the music is good I will support the artist especially through live shows. I guess I just don't feel too sorry for the promoters and suites that are no longer making millions.

Jeanwah

Byrnzie wrote:

Maybe this is why concert ticket prices have increased, which is o.k by me. I'd rather give my money to a band that can play live than to a bunch of record executives.

I disagree. For the $15 that can buy me a cd, I don't see how paying double in ticket prices could justify what artists lose.
Not to mention Byrnzie, that you've simply switched from paying the record execs a few bucks to paying the ticket execs even more.

know1

Paul David wrote:

edited thread title to reflect what I really meant. it's not just the illegal downloaders, it's digital media as a whole. back when blank recordable cassette tapes came out in the 80's, the industry were up in arms. what did it do to hurt the industry? nothing.

Automobiles killed the horse and buggy industry too. What's your point?

Kel Varnsen

eddiec wrote:

The whole increase in technology is a huge catch-22. The biggest problem with downloading mp3's is that the quality sucks. Even at a high bit rate they don't compare to cd's. But most people don't mind cause everyone is listening to them on ipods, docking stations or computers with crappy speakers. What happened to the days of 100w per channel receivers that when turned up it was like sitting in the recording studio?

It is the same thing with a lot of technology that as it gets more portable the quality goes down and for some reason people down care. I mean anyone else remember that old slogan for some US phone company where it was something about how their lines were so clear you could hear a pin drop. Now cell phone companies are advertising that they either have the fewest dropped calls (not none, just less than everyone else) and crap like "can you hear me now?".

haffajappa

It's the same with video stores.
I work at one, we're dying.
In fact, if we didnt have like, 12 other operations going on in there (Post Office, passport photos...etc) we WOULD be dead. As it is we've cut down the store to a 1/3 of it's original size (Reducing video stock, can't pay the ridiculous rent on 3 units because no one rents those movies anyways)

It's technology! People don't want to leave their homes when they can order things on the TV.
Same with music.

BinauralJam

I work for a music co, physical media is dead, it's been accepted by the company. Byrnzie hit the nail on the head abouit ticket prices.

Whats sad about this is there are some very good people in the industry who care and love music, not about making $$$ but they havent had a voice in 10 years.

When Cd's were selling they had all the power, now it's run by accounts.