Mikael wrote: >Though I bet the record companies regret >the move as Vinyl can't be freely copied. Wouldnt they have been better >off with keeping the vinyl sans clicks, crackle and static? For the >majors, I can't stop myself from feeling it suits them good.
There was a very good article about this in The New Yorker last week. First, the move to (sonically over-rated) CDs enabled the record companies to raise their prices dramatically, from $9 per album to $16 or so. At the same time, they forced artists to take less, telling them the money was needed instead to help promote the new format. Then, the cos. raided their vaults and rereleased tons of music that had been languishing there for years. Because they now made so much money on this music that had essentially zero production costs, the record companies got rich beyond their dreams. But, in the process, they neglected the business of finding and developing truly good new talent, and fans and buyers got used to being given a lot of junk in the way of new releases--Ms. Spears, etc. So, it's no wonder the record companies now find themselves being ripped off as they are. They've lost everyone's respect. The whole biz may go back to being one of selling singles, via Apple for instance, instead of musically-sparse CDs. In any case, their sales are down 25% this year from last, the third yearly decline in a row. I have read this about CDs: When the format was first being developed by Phillips and Sony, the boss at Sony, a classicial music listener, insisted that a single disk have enough capacity to hold Beethoven's 5th, or 9th--a symphony, anway, of about an hour's length. And this imposed a limit on the sampling rate and sample size, and therefore on the sound quality, which we are all forced to live with now. Furthermore, the stereo/audio magazines, which had spent the last few decades dithering over imperceivable differences between various amps and speakers, etc., suddenly rolled over en masse and declared the CD a complete and total triumph, its sound perfect and unarguably better than vinyl. Of course, their own fortunes were driven entirely by advertising from the makers of the new CD equipment, and they just went along for the ride and cashed in. In short, it's all about selling gear. Which is why, I supposed, we've seen vinyl make a comeback of sorts--yet another excuse to sell more stuff. Also, I myself mourn the CD's lack of artful covers, something I greatly miss from the days of vinyl. The jewel box is essentially crap, made of the worst cheap plastic and always falling apart. Cardboard was infinitely more pleasing to the touch and the eye. No wonder nobody wants to buy CDs. Bah humbug! ============== John W. Verity So. Orange, NJ ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
