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Music News: Digital Music is sooooooo EXPENSIVE!
Member Since: 2/14/2007
Posts: 15,229
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Digital Music is sooooooo EXPENSIVE!
How much should you be paying for a music file?
Not $.99 and certainly not $1.29, the going price for a song on digital market leader iTunes, at least according to one expert.
A study from Wharton Business School has confirmed what you probably already knew all too well: Music is simply too expensive. And what's more, labels lowering their prices would actually allow them to make more money and optimize their profits. If the market were allowed to price tunes based on supply and demand, they'd settle in at about 60 to 70 cents per track and ultimately make more money than they do now.
Of course, this is all a tricky business, based on surveys of users instead of actual market tests. Music pricing is particularly difficult because there is zero added expense associated with selling an additional song, songs cost nothing to produce once the fixed costs of production are paid, and free alternatives are readily available in the form of pirated songs, with generally little risk associated with those who partake of said music.
And perhaps that's the biggest lesson of all: That music purchases would increase significantly if songs were available at a lower price, ultimately making piracy a less attractive option to consumers who would actually prefer not to steal.
As Wired notes, however, price cuts are probably not on the horizon for the music business, simply because the industry assumes that higher prices are associated with increased value, the theory being that a $1.29 song is certainly worth twice as much as 65-cent song, since it was recorded by a superstar. And yet, despite the massive efficiencies offered by downloadable music vs. CDs (no discs to press, no trucks to haul them, no retail stores to light and keep cool), the music industry doesn't even offer the consumer much of a discount (if any) for saving it all that cash.
Will a record label take the bold step to dramatically cut prices in an attempt to boost sales? Considering the dire financial straits the labels have found themselves in lately, it might not be such a far-fetched idea.
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Member Since: 12/25/2009
Posts: 5,983
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i buy only albums ...
i'm not interesting in itunes.. if i like an album i want a physical copy
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Member Since: 6/10/2008
Posts: 5,271
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Quote:
Originally posted by Angelo
How much should you be paying for a music file?
And perhaps that's the biggest lesson of all: That music purchases would increase significantly if songs were available at a lower price, ultimately making piracy a less attractive option to consumers who would actually prefer not to steal.
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If the dd and ss are true, then THIS may be one way to minimize the piracy and save the industry.
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Member Since: 7/22/2009
Posts: 355
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Quote:
Originally posted by love100
i buy only albums ...
i'm not interesting in itunes.. if i like an album i want a physical copy
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same here.
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Banned
Member Since: 10/7/2009
Posts: 4,752
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I don't buy digital music. Why someone would pay the same price for an invisible CD as they would for a physical CD is beyond me.
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Member Since: 6/16/2006
Posts: 12,884
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I think ALL digital albums should be priced at $4.99. That is the perfect price. I would probably never download illegally. Plus, you aren't paying for the album booklet or a physical copy. The music industry needs to wake up.
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Member Since: 11/12/2009
Posts: 13,575
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^ i know right, its there own fault there. The fanning the flames of illegal downloading.... So stupid
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Member Since: 3/2/2008
Posts: 14,823
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Quote:
Originally posted by starstruck52
I don't buy digital music. Why someone would pay the same price for an invisible CD as they would for a physical CD is beyond me.
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IDK where you're from but albums here are 1.5x as high as albums on iTunes. Plus add in the gas... it ends up being twice as much.
I believe if albums on iTunes were all $7.99 or lower and songs $.79 or lower, sales would blow through the roof and piracy would go down. Those figures aren't going to make or break you, so more people would be willing to spend that much on music rather than the current $9.99 and $1.29 figures.
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Member Since: 6/5/2009
Posts: 13,743
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Well it would be nice to lower some prices and some digital albums are too much but others aren't. A lot are $7.99 which is cheap, but I can understand you may want the physical kind
The reason why songs are $1.29 is because digital song sales have skyrocketed through the roof and because people don't buy albums as often they need to compensate by jacking up the prices on songs
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Member Since: 9/24/2008
Posts: 14,256
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I buy all my music on i-Tunes, I didn't really mind the price until they put it up last year with the nex three price model ($0.69,$0.99,$1.29. or £0.59,£0.79,£0.99). What annoys me about it is that nearly all songs retail at the most expensive price, but we were told that older songs would be cheaper and newer ones more expensive. In my experience nearly every song that I have purchased has been at the highest price regardless of when it was released.
I very rarely buy albums, but I buy a cd copy if I do. I don't believe in piracy.
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Member Since: 3/2/2008
Posts: 14,823
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^IKR. I've even gone to 2000/1999 album pages to see only the singles as $1.29 and all the rest $.99.
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Banned
Member Since: 10/7/2009
Posts: 4,752
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Quote:
Originally posted by tcatron565
IDK where you're from but albums here are 1.5x as high as albums on iTunes. Plus add in the gas... it ends up being twice as much.
I believe if albums on iTunes were all $7.99 or lower and songs $.79 or lower, sales would blow through the roof and piracy would go down. Those figures aren't going to make or break you, so more people would be willing to spend that much on music rather than the current $9.99 and $1.29 figures.
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Gas? It costs pennies for me to drive to the store.
Most albums here are around $10 - $12 or so. I think it's much better to have the physical copy because it's much better quality than just burning the iTunes version onto a CD. Plus you get the full ~experience~... getting to rip the CD open, and look through the booklet, and jam out to it in your car, etc.
IDK, a couple bucks more is well worth it imo. Different strokes, I guess.
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Member Since: 3/2/2008
Posts: 14,823
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I guess we can agree to disagree. Although it's easier for me to just download it off iTunes.
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Member Since: 9/24/2008
Posts: 14,256
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Quote:
Originally posted by tcatron565
^IKR. I've even gone to 2000/1999 album pages to see only the singles as $1.29 and all the rest $.99.
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I bought David Bowie music recently and that was at the highest price The only song that I have ever purchased that was selling at the lowest price was 30H!3 feat. Katy Perry Starstrukk. I would appreciate it if they revised their pricing.
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Member Since: 11/7/2009
Posts: 9,863
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I don't buy digital tracks, I download them for free.
And albums, yes, I buy, but PHYSICAL, Some albums I do only "own" digitally, but I didn't buy them, cause to have an invisible album as people said above, I prefer having it for free...
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Member Since: 6/14/2007
Posts: 13,130
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I don't even now how to download on iTunes LOOOOL!
as well I only like few music every year and the music I like I go and buy it well the album as well I only buy an album If I see it already have like 4-5 singles if there's only 1- 2 singles or only like one song I like I don't buy it but as well I do not download music ilegally I hear it on youtube or whatever.
and YES I agree that is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better to have a physical album.
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Member Since: 11/13/2009
Posts: 25,902
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Sorry guys, I'm obsessed with iTunes cherry-picking and I'm a sucker for their ridiculous song prices. For some reason I'm not an avid album buyer.
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Member Since: 11/2/2009
Posts: 19,838
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I noticed this yesterday.
Making a song 1.29 decreases the value of and ($25) Itunes card from 24 songs to roughly around 15.
So now I know to only buy old songs.
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Member Since: 2/6/2010
Posts: 27,892
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Quote:
Originally posted by Music
I noticed this yesterday.
Making a song 1.29 decreases the value of and ($25) Itunes card from 24 songs to roughly around 15.
So now I know to only buy old songs.
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But you know what's bad? Some of the old songs on iTunes (especially the good ones) are still in the highest price tier. It frustrates me to no end.
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Member Since: 4/12/2007
Posts: 5,851
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People should stop griping about the prices of music when you consider how much money movies are making. They're willing to fork over more for a one-time movie ticket with an obscene mark-up than the price of one album that will last them forever.
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