{"id":721,"date":"2007-03-13T16:49:09","date_gmt":"2007-03-14T00:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2007\/03\/13\/why-cd-sales-are-tanking\/"},"modified":"2007-03-13T16:50:13","modified_gmt":"2007-03-14T00:50:13","slug":"why-cd-sales-are-tanking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/13\/why-cd-sales-are-tanking\/","title":{"rendered":"Why CD Sales Are Tanking"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. The iPod<\/strong><\/p>\n

After you’ve got an iPod, why do you need a CD?<\/p>\n

CDs are voluminous, not only in size, but content.\u00c2\u00a0 They take up too much space with too much music you don’t want to hear.\u00c2\u00a0 Better off to cherry-pick, just put what you WANT to hear on an iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 Which holds the equivalent of more CD booklets than you can pack in a suitcase.<\/p>\n

As for the sound…<\/p>\n

Sure, CDs sound better than MP3s, but CDs sound like shit compared to vinyl.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re cold, they’re brittle…\u00c2\u00a0 Better to hear a facsimile rather than the tinny, compressed, real thing.<\/p>\n

2. Radio<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem facing the sellers of recorded music is more one of EXPOSURE than theft.<\/p>\n

Where do you hear the new music?\u00c2\u00a0 Terrestrial radio may be the dominant format, but it has burned the trust it had with the listener.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody now knows radio is about commercials.\u00c2\u00a0 People used to think the spots were an intrusion, now they think the MUSIC is an intrusion.\u00c2\u00a0 The deejays are jive, what they play doesn’t touch them, people are DONE!<\/p>\n

3. MTV<\/strong><\/p>\n

Music video…\u00c2\u00a0 A format that exploded and then died.\u00c2\u00a0 Last time I checked, you HEARD music, you didn’t SEE it.\u00c2\u00a0 So there’s nowhere to go with music video.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas with movies and television shows you can execute endless plots.\u00c2\u00a0 In music video you can have the bitches and the ho’s and the cash.\u00c2\u00a0 You can have pretty people.\u00c2\u00a0 You can have special effects.\u00c2\u00a0 But you’ve got no soul.<\/p>\n

Music video is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Except as evidence of what an act looks like.<\/p>\n

But that’s not enough to sustain a video channel, just ask MTV.\u00c2\u00a0 Better yet, VH1.<\/p>\n

Music video especially in the eighties, and even up through much of the nineties, was a train-wreck that demanded attention.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a way to break acts.\u00c2\u00a0 But the public has moved on.<\/p>\n

4. People Don’t Know What To Buy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the rags and blogs, music is just not a general topic of conversation amongst the public now.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh sure, young ‘uns are still music passionate.\u00c2\u00a0 But too often the music is just the grease, what you dance to, make love to.\u00c2\u00a0 As for the oldsters, they’re positively lost.\u00c2\u00a0 They want to buy, but they don’t know WHAT to buy.<\/p>\n

You used to trust the deejay.<\/p>\n

For a minute there you trusted Starbucks.<\/p>\n

Until there’s a trusted outlet with some mass and momentum, music sales will remain in the dumper.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than wine and dine programmers, labels should develop and support new gatekeepers.\u00c2\u00a0 Who tell people what to buy!<\/p>\n

5. Price<\/strong><\/p>\n

CDs are perceived as a rip-off.<\/p>\n

Don’t tell me how long you practiced, about your talent, the actual recording costs…\u00c2\u00a0 When you can buy a DVD of a hit movie for a few dollars more than the CD, sometimes for even the same price, record companies appear to be ripping you off.<\/p>\n

6. Lack Of Hit Acts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the country thinks white gone black Justin Timberlake is a joke, not that they have to pay attention, in today’s world you can AVOID everything you don’t like.<\/p>\n

A hit act is one that demands attention, that you want to focus on.\u00c2\u00a0 There aren’t enough of these.\u00c2\u00a0 And those that are around don’t live up to the hype.<\/p>\n

7. Availability<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are fewer stores selling fewer CDs.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a recipe for more sales?<\/p>\n

\n

Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00c2\u00a0 Give Up On The CD<\/strong><\/p>\n

But this can only be done if there’s a viable alternative.\u00c2\u00a0 The iTunes Music Store is not this.<\/p>\n

The paradigm has shifted, more people are going to own more music.\u00c2\u00a0 They already DO!\u00c2\u00a0 To try to carry over the CD model to the file world is ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Sell boatloads of material at a cheap price, it’s your only alternative.<\/p>\n

DRM?\u00c2\u00a0 Interoperability?\u00c2\u00a0 iTMS dominance?\u00c2\u00a0 All sideshows.\u00c2\u00a0 The public steals and IM’s online and rips friends’ CDs.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re getting the music, it’s just that no one’s GETTING PAID!\u00c2\u00a0 Monetize reality.\u00c2\u00a0 Make it easy and cheap for people to buy music online.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything you can eat, without DRM, as MP3s, for a small amount a month.\u00c2\u00a0 Let people know you won’t sue them, that they’ve got no liability, and they’ll sign up.<\/p>\n

2. Jawbone Terrestrial Radio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top Forty’s got to play more music, or labels should move on to Net and satellite.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t increase the Net license fees, DROP THEM!\u00c2\u00a0 And do cross-promotions with satellite.\u00c2\u00a0 You need to know where in the food chain to charge.\u00c2\u00a0 The labels, the rights holders, want all their money up front.\u00c2\u00a0 But they’re killing their business.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to play for the future, you’ve got to play the long game.<\/p>\n

3. Make Peace With The Customer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawsuits must end.\u00c2\u00a0 The adversary relationship between companies and consumers must end.\u00c2\u00a0 The labels should do a mea culpa, and give away some music for FREE as payment.<\/p>\n

Yup, an RIAA site where you can download, FOR FREE, a bunch of tracks a week.\u00c2\u00a0 Charge in the long run, not immediately.<\/p>\n

4. Embrace The Indie Stores<\/strong><\/p>\n

They survive, they’re loyal.\u00c2\u00a0 Boost them because that’s where acts develop.\u00c2\u00a0 I think the CD is dying a quick death, but until it does, play with these guys, not Best Buy.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, Best Buy DEVALUED music.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you buy a Lexus at 7-11?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you buy Cartier at Costco?\u00c2\u00a0 Why should someone think the act is worth anything if it’s whored out all over TV like some commercial product, and sold with no atmosphere at the big box retailer.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, there’s no ENVIRONMENT!<\/p>\n

\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’re never going back to the past.\u00c2\u00a0 Major labels will no longer be dominant, there will be fewer blockbusters, niche will rule.<\/p>\n

But you can get rich by aggregating the niches.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the majors’ way out, not that they’re taking it on their road to consolidation, to cutting costs.<\/p>\n

Not that you need to combine niches.\u00c2\u00a0 One act can be its own business now.\u00c2\u00a0 It has its own showroom on the Net, its Website and MySpace page, and it sells at its gigs.\u00c2\u00a0 The niche doesn’t need the major, never mind Top Forty radio or MTV.<\/p>\n

There’s a larger demand for recorded music than ever before.\u00c2\u00a0 More people already own more music than ever before.\u00c2\u00a0 So why are the powers that be crying?\u00c2\u00a0 Because they never owned up to the changed reality.<\/p>\n

You’ve got to establish trust with the consumer, a bond.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to nurture the relationship.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to let them pull rather than pushing.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to let them do the work for you.<\/p>\n

But this is too slow, too organic for the oldsters, who think selling music is no different from moving appliances.<\/p>\n

It costs essentially nothing to duplicate a file.\u00c2\u00a0 Own that, don’t call it theft.\u00c2\u00a0 To do so is to try to charge for a new Magic Slate every time somebody lifts the plastic to create a new picture.<\/p>\n

Demonstrate that you understand the new reality, build bridges to the consumer, don’t have contempt for him.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s got computer savvy you’ll NEVER have. And he’s using this computer savvy to ruin your business model.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. The iPod After you’ve got an iPod, why do you need a CD? CDs are voluminous, not only in size, but content.\u00c2\u00a0 They take up too much space with too much music you don’t want to hear.\u00c2\u00a0 Better off to cherry-pick, just put what you WANT to hear on an iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 Which holds the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-bD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}