CNN Money: Music's lost decade: Sales cut in half

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The industry itself made a lot of mistakes. The way they went about attacking illegal downloads was horrible. Suing teenagers for tons of money is a sure fire why to piss everyone off, especially teenagers. Putting rootkits on CD's which allowed hackers to exploit people's computers was also shamefully irresponsible. They should have launched a PR campaign first and then tried to find a price point where quality, reliability, and safety were deemed worthy of the cost by the market at large.

The music industry tried to put the genie back in the bottle. Instead of adapting, they tried to fight a techological change that was impossible to fight. Their business model was broken the second the first MP3 was created. I still don't think they completely understand this.

But, at the same time, the newspaper industry did the exact opposite by giving away the vast majority of its content online. And it died too. (The dirty little secret is that what really and truly killed newspapers was job sites and Craigslist. The classified ads and jobs sections were free money for newspapers and it disappeared over night. Seriously, it took an $9 dollar an hour copy editor and a $7 dollar an hour typist to put together a classifieds section that could be worth tens of thousands of dollars. You will never find a more profitable business model ever again).

I guess there could be a middle ground model that works, but I don't know what it is.

[Captain Wiggles]

As far as I can tell' date=' the only bands that ever had a sustained career using the Grateful Dead formula is the Dead, Phish, Rusted Root, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident , and maybe the Allmans, even though they actually sold albums unlike the others.[/quote']

Are you really saying you think that Rusted Root had a more sustained career than the Allman Brothers? I've seem RR more than any man should. No way they even come close to the Brothers, Sorry.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Are you really saying you think that Rusted Root had a more sustained career than the Allman Brothers? I've seem RR more than any man should. No way they even come close to the Brothers, Sorry.

No, I was saying that I don't know if the Allman Brothers fall into the Dead/Phish category even though they are kind of a jam band and allow taping. They actually sold albums and saw some time in the Top Ten. The Grateful Dead didn't have a top-ten single or album until 1987.

[Captain Wiggles]

No' date=' I was saying that I don't know if the Allman Brothers fall into the Dead/Phish category even though they are kind of a jam band and allow taping. They actually sold albums and saw some time in the Top Ten. The Grateful Dead didn't have a top-ten single or album until 1987.[/quote']

Their definitely in the category, if not at the top of it. I've never even thought about album sales when it come to classifing a Jam Band. Kinda funny to think that since they actually sold albums they would'nt be considered one.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Their definitely in the category, if not at the top of it. I've never even thought about album sales when it come to classifing a Jam Band. Kinda funny to think that since they actually sold albums they would'nt be considered one.

That's why I would have a hard time considering Blues Traveler a jam band. They moved product.

[Captain Wiggles]

That's why I would have a hard time considering Blues Traveler a jam band. They moved product.

Generally I consider any band that plays one song for more than 10 minutes and Segues from one song to another a Jam Band. So BT would once again be one. The Ol' classic difference of opinion. :evilg:

[mardi gras skin]

Why do you hate freedom and capitalism?

Seriously, the music business has always been about screwing the artists over. If a band was making a lot of money, it was only because they were generating a ton of it for the record company. And even then, they were getting pennies on the dollar.

Yep. I've got some friends that are about to sign on with a label and they're scared to death they'll get run over like so many bands they know.

The whole system is archaic and makes every effort to kill the art form. I'm not sad at all to see it in free fall.

[matty dread]

I think the industry only has themselves to blame for not adapting to new technologies quickly enough and by raising prices to make up for it. $20 for a CD is absurd. Sueing your customers wasn't a hot idea either.

[Kosher Ham]

I think the industry only has themselves to blame for not adapting to new technologies quickly enough and by raising prices to make up for it. $20 for a CD is absurd. Sueing your customers wasn't a hot idea either.

I keep wondering why CDs are even still made. At this point couldn't you put music on something even smaller ?

However, they were/are not suing customers they are suing the people that are stealing their products.

[Captain Wiggles]

I keep wondering why CDs are even still made. At this point couldn't you put music on something even smaller ?

However, they were/are not suing customers they are suing the people that are stealing their products.

Sony tried about 10 years ago when they introduced their Mini Discs. My brother was the only person I knew that rocked those. Everyone else just stuck with CDs. Digital Media IMO has made all those "physical" formats obsolete, even Blu-Ray.

[Blackest Eyes]

I think the industry only has themselves to blame for not adapting to new technologies quickly enough and by raising prices to make up for it. $20 for a CD is absurd. Sueing your customers wasn't a hot idea either.

Where does one find a CD for $20?

The only CD's I know that are that much are either deluxe editions (sometimes), new releases directly from the distributer and FYE stores.

As far as suing goes...I am pretty sure the people that were sued were not customers, they were people who infringed on copyright laws.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I keep wondering why CDs are even still made. At this point couldn't you put music on something even smaller ?

However, they were/are not suing customers they are suing the people that are stealing their products.

428 million CDs were sold in 2008. It's still a pretty big market despite declining by nearly 50 percent over the decade. And there is no point in introducing a new format for album sales at this point, because you are just going to split an already shrinking market share. People 35 and up buy CDs and probably will until the day they die. And they probably aren't going to buy a new kind of player and start to redo their record collection.

Vinyl sales have actually skyrocketed over the last few years. But a 25 percent growth in a tiny tiny market is somewhat meaningless in the big picture.

Digital is the future. The only question is does anyone besides Apple have any idea how to make money off of it.

[Blackest Eyes]

428 million CDs were sold in 2008. It's still a pretty big market despite declining by nearly 50 percent over the decade. And there is no point in introducing a new format for album sales at this point' date=' because you are just going to split an already shrinking market share. People 35 and up buy CDs and probably will until the day they die. And they probably aren't going to buy a new kind of player and start to redo their record collection.

Vinyl sales have actually skyrocketed over the last few years. But a 25 percent growth in a tiny tiny market is somewhat meaningless in the big picture.

Digital is the future. The only question is does anyone besides Apple have any idea how to make money off of it.[/quote']

I wish that instead of CD's, music was put on DVD's. You could have a higher quality format. But most people wouldn't even care about higher quality anyway.

[Kosher Ham]

428 million CDs were sold in 2008. It's still a pretty big market despite declining by nearly 50 percent over the decade. And there is no point in introducing a new format for album sales at this point' date=' because you are just going to split an already shrinking market share. People 35 and up buy CDs and probably will until the day they die. And they probably aren't going to buy a new kind of player and start to redo their record collection.

Vinyl sales have actually skyrocketed over the last few years. But a 25 percent growth in a tiny tiny market is somewhat meaningless in the big picture.

Digital is the future. The only question is does anyone besides Apple have any idea how to make money off of it.[/quote']

Some great points there.

But they thought the same thing about 8-tracks, casettes, and CDs.

Move on and start realizing that there is another way to buy music.

[MattFancy]

I probably buy maybe 1 CD a year. Its just so much easier to download one song I want from iTunes or Amazon. Plus its cheaper to download the whole CD from Amazon most of the time. I think I got the new Green Day CD for like $5 on Amazon. Why spend $10-$15 on a CD from Best Buy, Target, etc. when I can just buy it right from my computer.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Some great points there.

But they thought the same thing about 8-tracks, casettes, and CDs.

Move on and start realizing that there is another way to buy music.

Those formats were all driven by younger buyers. Do you really think that teenagers will suddenly start buying CDs again if they are smaller? The idea of a tangible music storage device is largely dying.

Going back to the few teenagers I know...what I find bizarre is how unimportant holding onto music is to them. Every few months, they delete a bunch of music files and upload more. It wasn't until I moved to Texas in 2009 that I finally dumped the remainder of my cassette collection. And I had not owned a cassette player since 2004.

I have not really come to grips with this technological shift, but I think it means something profound.

My biggest question is this: "Without CD cases, where are these kids going to cut their cocaine?"

[Kosher Ham]

My point is that record companies can just as easily sell their product in an online form...for cheaper probably.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I probably buy maybe 1 CD a year. Its just so much easier to download one song I want from iTunes or Amazon. Plus its cheaper to download the whole CD from Amazon most of the time. I think I got the new Green Day CD for like $5 on Amazon. Why spend $10-$15 on a CD from Best Buy, Target, etc. when I can just buy it right from my computer.

Here is me putting on my old fogey hat for a minute.

I used to like buying an album or a CD (or even a cassette) and then taking it home and playing it from end to end while carefully studying the album art and then reading all the liner notes.

The acknowledgements in any Public Enemy CD were like a syllabus for a Black History course.

Does anyone besides me remember holding up the cover of License to Ill" in a mirror to read what the plane numbers said?

[Kosher Ham]

Those formats were all driven by younger buyers. Do you really think that teenagers will suddenly start buying CDs again if they are smaller? The idea of a tangible music storage device is largely dying.

So the iPod is dying ?

They just need to make it make sense for those consumers. Older people arent that stuck in their ways. My grandmother was the queen of Beta/VHS machine when they came out. She must have had 6-7 machines and hundreds of tapes.

[Captain Wiggles]

My biggest question is this: "Without CD cases' date=' where are these kids going to cut their cocaine?"[/quote']

Buck Knife Bumps!:evilg:

[MattFancy]

Here is me putting on my old fogey hat for a minute.

I used to like buying an album or a CD (or even a cassette) and then taking it home and playing it from end to end while carefully studying the album art and then reading all the liner notes.

The acknowledgements in any Public Enemy CD were like a syllabus for a Black History course.

Does anyone besides me remember holding up the cover of License to Ill" in a mirror to read what the plane numbers said?

I used to like doing those things too, but since its cheaper this way, why not? Is it really worth an extra $10 just to see the cover art? Maybe for some, but not for me.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

So the iPod is dying ?

The Ipod is more of a distribution system than a storage device. It's kind of both, but I think it's more analogous to a CD player than to a CD.

In business terms, it's a capital investment not a deliverable.

[Captain Wiggles]

Does anyone besides me remember holding up the cover of License to Ill" in a mirror to read what the plane numbers said?

Yep sure do, one of the first tapes I had. Wow way to make me feel old!

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I used to like doing those things too, but since its cheaper this way, why not? Is it really worth an extra $10 just to see the cover art? Maybe for some, but not for me.

I know. But I've been trying to steer the discussion towards business and not artistry, because this issue has nothing to do with declining artistry.

But I think there is a profoundly spiritual aspect that we are unwittingly killing in our drive towards a digital world. It's possible that the idea of experiencing (and possibly even making) music in a communal setting is going to be largely dead within a generation.

[endzone_dave]

If there's a single song I like, I just watch the youtube video. If I want to buy the CD, I buy it used on half.ebay.com. I'm just a casual music fan so I hardly spend any money on music. Guys like me are probably cause much of the decline in revenue.