Fortune Mag Article: When the price of music goes to zero

[BeBop]

Nobody knows for sure how the music business will work in 5 or 10 years. But underlying all the confusion is a stark fact: the market price of recorded music is falling.

[JSngry]

Music has always been free. All you gotta do is sing and beat on a log or something.

[BeBop]

Ah, but if you want to listen to someone else sing and beat a log...

I suppose it's just my old-man-ness here, but kids these days do seem to think the default price for many things should be zero.

Edited January 31, 2013 by BeBop

[JSngry]

Oh, not disagreeing, not at all. Just that what has always cost wasn't music itself, it was the means to get it played and/or reproduced and/or distributed. Nowadays, all you need is a laptop with the right software and an IP address.

Now, is that going to make the music that everybody wants to hear? Jeez, I hope not. But the people who will have a true hunger for anything more will be the minority they've always been, only the default technology will be (hell, more or less is) positioned to not drag everybody else along for the ride unless and until they figure out that the radio and a few Greatest Hits 8-tracks are all they'll ever need ever again.

But look on the bright side - when there's no money to be made from making music for voluntary consumption, the people who will still do it are the people who, for whatever reason, will really want to do it. And under those conditions, they'll likely be either mind-fuckingly good at it or mind-fuckingly bad.

I don't know about you, but the elimination of competent mediocrity as a place-keeper in the marketplace is every bit as thrilling as it is terrifying.

[BeBop]

Thinking scenarios here, if the mass market stuff (read: pandering crap) is free and people (even a minority) is willing to pay for "art", then the musician who wishes to "sell out" starts producing...wait...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Time was when bands used to think the purpose of making records (hit records) was to publicise the live gigs where they made money. Live gigs are a lot more expensive nowadays than a few years ago. Maybe the balance is changing back.

MG

[BeBop]

The buzzword I hear in pop circles is "merch"(andise). Of course you see non=pop people selling t-shirts and CDs at gigs too. And even the buskers have CDs now.

[six string]

Last week when I went to the counter at the record store with several lps and a couple of cds I said to the clerk, I don't know why I continue to buy cds. His answer was, because it's not available on vinyl, which is actually true I suppose but I'm still getting used to the fact that as far as resale value goes, they are pretty worthless. While I don't buy music with the idea of bringing it right back a month later, record stores in their attempts to survive have decided that cds regardless of content are worth $1 or $2 to the customer trading it in but $8 to $15 a piece after they take possession of said cd. Return an lp due to defects? Sorry, we no longer do that. Once it's bought, we'll take it back as a used lp, so here's $2 for that "played once or twice" record and I'll put it in the rack for $13, thank you very much.

Granted, music stores have had a tough time for quite some time but between that and all of these music subscription companies that further devalue music by offering a large but still select group of recordings at low quality bit rates because the average person thinks portability trumps SQ any day, anyone who treasures music and listens even only occasionally closely with a critical ear have gone the way of the snow leopard. We're still here but sightings are rare.

[A Lark Ascending]

When I were a lad I was told I was being superficial coveting a fine stereo system; real music enthusiasts, I was told, could listen to a crackly old 78 and hear the music irrespective of the medium.

Now I'm told unless I listen on a high quality system with lots of bits I'm not really hearing the music.

[Clunky]

When I were a lad I was told I was being superficial coveting a fine stereo system; real music enthusiasts, I was told, could listen to a crackly old 78 and hear the music irrespective of the medium.

Now I'm told unless I listen on a high quality system with lots of bits I'm not really hearing the music.

Check out the 78 thread and you'll see a few of us think the only ( ok best) way is to hear music of that vintage on shellac:)

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm happy to wait another 30 years so I can grumble about crappy GDXs and bark about how you'll never catch me giving up on a real music medium like downloads.