Due to the fact that music is available online through I-Tunes and downloading software do you believe that has caused a major slowdown a distribution of Cd's. Back then there was a time where people would immediately buy a CD of their favorite artists which contributes to major sales for the artists.

neoretro7 said:

I firmly believe, at least for me, that downloading music has only increased my consumption of music. It is near impossible to discover good music these days through standard media, so I have to look to other non-conventional ways of discovering stuff. When I find things I like, I very faithfully by it in a store, and if I can't find it in-store, I order it online.

My physical music collection has exploded since the advent of easy to acquire music online.

I think music downloading has slowed down the consumption of music that record companies want you to buy, but not necessarily the music that actually deserves consumption. People still seem willing to pay for quality. Maybe record companies should start backing quality and originality, and see what happens.

neoretro7 said:

i think it's changed the game, as the recent success of radiohead and nine inch nails' latest albums has helped illustrate. they're using a model that's bridging the gap between the CD generation and the mp3 generation, and giving the CD fanatics a gentle nudge to the mp3 side of the bridge by letting folks order CDs, and offering them the mp3 downloads to enjoy in the interim.

the music industry establishment is crumbling. it's a dinosaur. it needs to catch up but it won't. it's too bloated. i love that artists are jumping ship and taking matters into their own hands, and finding new methods that benefit themselves and the fans.

i'm sure with time the music business will find a way to exploit the radical changes that are happening now, and hey - if they can do it in a way that benefits everyone, more power to them. it's hard not to be cynical, though...

i believe that the business has not kept up with technology and they've suffered for it. artists who've kept up with technology have not been harmed by the changes.

in addition, new (pop) music is so disposable that consumers don't have an incentive to invest in it. the business has facilitated that relationship as well by refusing to nurture artists and supporting these disposable "units sold" pop tarts.

Nah, the music industry's failure to acknowledge the power of "free music" is why the music business has slowed down. Plus everybody wants a record to sell Thriller numbers and we know THAT ain't gonna happen.

good.. maybe it will get these record execs off their ass and figure out a way to pull their asses out of the slump they are in.

no. stupid music has.

Yes it has. It has also affected more marginal music genres drastically over the last few years, despite "big record companies releasing only stupid music for teenagers". So it's not just about radio programming abuse and inflated budgets.

When you get your fix for free and by having to do hardly anything for it, you're not as motivated / tempted to buy a physical product. Getting new music in the recorded format in the 90s always used to be an "event" to me too, not so anymore.

novabrkr said:

True, but conversely the process of getting music digitally and being able to develop a taste for a particular artist has also led to people wanting to go to that artist's live shows, which cannot be duplicated or packaged. The artists benefits because they can charge more than they could for a CD and keep significantly more money, and the fans benefit because they get a unique musical experience.

YES

I think you have a generation of young people coming up with no attachment to physical music products at all. I still have a fetish for the object, having grown up on vinyl. Looking at the cover art & reading the liner notes was part of the experience. And you were buying a whole package; a set of music that the artist wanted you to listen to sequentially.

It was less important with CDs because, who wants to create brilliant visual art & shrink it to that size? You need a magnifying glass.

Now that I download off emusic, I don't even know what some of the covers look like.

To a kid growing up today, music is just a file on your hard drive. None of them are any more valuable than any others. No surprise they place so little value on the music itself.

YES!

Then again I could see how I-Tunes is responsible. These fools even with 99 cents to purchase a song and $9.99 for an album still costs too much even for a broke guy like me. I'd be better to listen to a CD or even a vinyl player if I wanna hear new music.

mayebelle81 said:

i read the article in sister 2 sister magazine with chili for tlc. she said when she first got with the group, one of her hopes was to be in the guinness book of world records. They made it as the first rap/hip hop group to sell 11 million cds(crazysexycool). that was in 1994. I said to myself, "When was the last time someone sold this many albums lately?" I could be wrong, but I can't think of any.

sassybritches said:

They're going to have to change the rules of the game because no-one is selling millions of cds anymore. Remember when they changed the soundscan rules to not count CDs given out during concerts, perhaps they should revert back to counting it again.

Hanna Montana


Now that what I call bull...#34 and

High School Musical

yet is still ranking it in ...hmm...

Timmy84 said:

Yep... the business end of it is evolving. And artists (like NIN and Radiohead and coming soon, The Racontuers) are now able to dictate how and when and in what format they will release their material.

Personally, I am willing to PAY for any music that is provided to me in the format that I want it in. The old music industry really fucked it all up by not rolling with the times - and they are a changin',