Is There Big Trouble Brewing?

Unclejeff, Isn't it ironic that "the kids" who always funded the music recording industry are downloading their own music off the web? What goes around, comes around.

I have to agree with Unclejeff (and Sean). My parents think the last good non-classical/non-jazz music was made in 1970 (not coincidentally about the time of the breakup of the Beatles). My grandmother thinks nothing made after 1950 is anything but "noise."

Buscis2, I sympathize but... in the 1960s, Ford made Mustangs and priced them at $3000 (1000x an LP?). Since 1970, inflation has averaged almost exactly 5% (5.02% to be exact). A consumer product which was $3 (I wasn't buying albums then but that's the number quoted) in 1970 should be priced, on average, at roughly 5x that price in 2003. When I am in the U.S., I have the choice I did not have in 1970 - I can buy a redbook CD, SACD, HDCD (with, as Sean points out, 1.5x as much music), or perhaps even an LP for $13-$17, the inflation-adjusted price of $3 in 1970.

In the end, I have to agree with Seanandtaylor99, it is the consumer who chooses what he/she wants to buy. It has always been the teenager who chooses what makes a gold record, and conversely, what does not (and any 15yr old male will choose to look at Britney rather than Eva, and most 13yr old girls will see Britney as a bigger success than Eva). And having been a teenager once, I know that half the fun of listening to music at that age is listening to music one's parents despise...

That and 23cts would have gotten you a haircut and a shave way back when...

When I was fifteen I had the choice between The Who, Stones, and Allmand Bros. etc. etc.. There was no fabrication with these bands like there is now. I don't want to come across anti business but I just think there is too much meddling in the artist end product. I think the artist they are choosing to promote have a different skill set (video oriented) than maybe some singer songwriters that are not being promoted. Ozfly I agree with you regarding smaller local studios. I live in Athens, Ga which has a thriving local music business that does a wonderful job of getting local and regional artist in front of the public, live and otherwise.

There will always be the Spice Girls of the World, which I can enjoy as much as anybody. I'm just not going to buy their cd but I will still buy an Allman Brothers CD. I think the internet is going to empower the artist so when that big distribution deal comes along they'll be in more control. And it gives the artist that the big labels are passing on a relatively cheap distribution vehicle.

Let me just add that, if history repeats itself then just take a look at the college scene if you want to see the future of pop music. It is just downright uncool for college kids to buy a cd. They want the bootleg live in Aspen String Cheese Incident. And so do I. It seems to me that SACD was made for live music. I'd buy those tomorrow if they would put out some good live stuff.

Lokie: You, too, are suffering from selective memory loss. No fabricated bands in the 60s? Remember the Monkees? And what about Motown--talk about the suits meddling with the art, Motownpractically invented the form.

The way you people chatter on, you'd think the last people who had any decent new music to listen to were Adam and Eve. (Or maybe Abel and Cain, since the industry always catered to the youth market!)

T bone, I have to agree with you fully from a numbers aspect. My problem is with quality. If there was some form of relativity between price and quality, I would not have as much of a problem.

Example; (using your terms) In 1970, a Porsche 911 was approx. $6000.00. In 2003, a Porsche 911 is approx. $70,000. But, you are still buying the quality of a Porsche.

It would be very hard for someone to convince me that CDs cost as much to produce as an LP. If you consider just the packaging that was provided with an LP of that era, (album covers, sleeves, artwork, lyrics, posters, etc.) versus what is being provided today in the average CD. Let's not even discuss the quality of the musical content.

Several weeks ago I purchased several XRCDs. Beautiful packaging, excellent sound, overall a very nice quality product. This indicates to me that the music industry is completely capable of producing such a product. The cost? $30.00 each.

Personally, I have a hard time understanding how a product of this quality can justify it's cost. Does it really cost that much more to produce an XRCD with all of it's packaging versus the average redbook CD? And the real clincher is that the XRCDs that I purchased were all recordings from the 50s-60s-70s era. Is this indicative of the fact that maybe even the record companies feel that much of the newer musical material is not worthy of "special treatment"?

Let us also consider the newer formats such as SACD or DVD-A. How often do you see new musical material being used for these newer formats? Why wouldn't the industry try to promote their new formats using new musical material. I mean how many times are you going to purchase "rereleases" of Pink Floyd's Dark side of the moon?

With all do respect T bone, I really have a hard time understanding this.