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Grex > Music2 > #154: Schoolkids II, and Music Retailing |  |
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| Author |
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| 25 new of 247 responses total. |
anderyn
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response 25 of 247:
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Nov 9 02:09 UTC 1998 |
Haven't been to either, yet.
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mcnally
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response 26 of 247:
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Nov 9 02:13 UTC 1998 |
Having decided to treat myself to a CD-buying spree for my birthday
I went out this week with money in hand to buy several new discs and
replace one or two that had been scratched. I had several specific
discs in mind and a number of possibilities and I was in the mood to
buy (or so I thought..)
When I got to the record stores, though, I just couldn't bring myself
to buy the CDs at $16.99 per. I wound up buying one older release that
was marked down to $9.99 at Wherehouse -- I wanted to buy more but I
simply couldn't convince myself to part with that much money for CDs.
It looks like CD prices have finally passed the threshhold at which I
will no longer buy new music that I'm curious about. I might be willing
to spend $16.99 on a disc that I knew I'd enjoy for many years but how
am I supposed to figure that out? I used to take a chance on a number
of discs every month. I'd get some losers but I wound up with many
more winners. Now, though, due to my return to school, money's a lot
tighter and $17 ($18 with tax!) means a lot more to me. I realize that
times are good for a lot of people right now but does that mean that
the average shopper is really willing to pay almost $20 for a CD (unless
it's a very popular new release) or are CD sales plummeting?
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scott
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response 27 of 247:
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Nov 9 12:04 UTC 1998 |
It means that record companies are raking in remarkable profits. CDs cost
about $1 to produce in bulk.
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jep
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response 28 of 247:
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Nov 9 14:16 UTC 1998 |
It's possible to buy CDs for about $6 from mail order record companies.
Plus, of course, the suck-you-in deals are a remarkably cheap way to
acquire a dozen or so albums quickly. We got our first CD player in
April, and are up to 50 or so CDs by now, with more coming in the mail,
and we've yet to spend a lot of money.
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aruba
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response 29 of 247:
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Nov 9 14:39 UTC 1998 |
Yeah, if you have the will to deal with them, Columbia and BMG are good deals.
THe thing to do is to get the load of free CDs right at the start, then buy
the number you need to buy to complete your commitment. They will try to get
you to buy more (offering "3-for-1" deals and stuff like that), but you have
to be fiurm and send back all the postcards, and any discs they send you by
mistake. THen quit as soon as you've bought what you need to buy. You might
have to be insistent about quitting. But once you really are out, sometimes
they'll send you a signup form, including a batch of new CDs, right away.
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omni
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response 30 of 247:
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Nov 9 16:16 UTC 1998 |
BMG appears to be the better of the lot. Usually you get 12 for the
price of 1, and you have to buy only 1 to fulfill your commitment.
I am a member and I have no complaints. You just have to pick your moments.
I just took advantage of a buy 1 get 3 free deal. I'm getting 4 cd's for
about $28, and I know I couldn't do that well in the record stores.
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danr
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response 31 of 247:
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Nov 9 19:36 UTC 1998 |
I'm not a big buyer of CDs, but I get the same feeling when I wander around
Border's and see a price of $12.95 or more on a relatively thin paperback. I'd
buy a bunch more books if somehow they could get the price down to $8 or $10
per copy, even if some of them turned out to be disappointing.
Part of the problem is that it's just plain expensive to be in business.
Border's probably has a pretty hefty rent to pay for that space downtown (as
well as in malls all over the country) and they have to pay their employees,
too. There's an incredible amount of overhead in stocking books and moving them
around the country.
That's why I think publishing (of both books and music) is going to move
inexorably toward electronic distribution. After all, you're not buying the
actual book or CD, you're buying the words or the music. If you could do that
without all the middlemen, the end product would be a lot cheaper. I don't
know how close we are yet, and publishers will put up a fight, but we'll get
there in my lifetime.
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mcnally
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response 32 of 247:
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Nov 9 21:40 UTC 1998 |
re #28-30: the BMG and Columbia record companies generally don't offer
the music I want. They're fine if you want reasonably mainstream stuff
and are willing to deal with selection from a (reasonably large but still)
limited menu.
For every little bit your tastes are out of the mainstream (or perhaps out
of the *mainstreams* since there seem to be several parallel tracks) the
value of the service BMG and Columbia offer declines dramatically.
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scott
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response 33 of 247:
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Nov 10 00:44 UTC 1998 |
What mcnally said. I did buy from BMG once, but it was hard finding 10
things I actually wanted out of their catalog.
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lumen
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response 34 of 247:
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Nov 10 01:09 UTC 1998 |
Oh, I totally agree with that-- it seems BMG and Columbia rarely had what I
wanted, unless I happened to like an artist that's currently popular (and
that's rarer still).
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cloud
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response 35 of 247:
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Nov 10 01:35 UTC 1998 |
I just ordered six CDs from CDnow, for a grand total price of$99.18, including
shipping and handling. Some of those CDs are hard to find (Such as "Sky Moves
Sideways" by Porcupine Tree), so all in all, I'd say it was a good deal.
There is also a used CD place over the web that I found too, but their system
was so slow I couldn't be bothered.
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aruba
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response 36 of 247:
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Nov 10 02:07 UTC 1998 |
It's true that BMG and Columbia House don't havev everything. Now that they
are on the web, though, it's easier to see just what they do have. (The
catalogs they send are much smaller than their total inventories.)
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janc
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response 37 of 247:
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Nov 10 04:26 UTC 1998 |
I recently visited the revived SKR store, located where Schoolkids used
to be. The place is noticably raw - it's like all the atmosphere moved
out with Schoolkids, and left just the CD's behind. But the CD's are
all in the same places where they used to be, so old Schoolkids fans
should have no trouble finding their favorite music, and though the CD
racks are a bit thinner than they were, they aren't bad, and will
presumably improve. The "new releases" racks by the doors are missing,
as are the little cards with in-house music reviews that I liked so
much. Maybe the staff has been too busy putting the store back together
to review any new music. I talked to a couple employees, who both
seemed to be former Schoolkids people with their hearts in the right
place. I spent a mess of money to endorse the project (well, I didn't
buy anything I didn't want).
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scg
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response 38 of 247:
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Nov 10 05:13 UTC 1998 |
Yeah, the new Schoolkids, with its folding tables and lack of decoration,
seems quite uninviting. I'm assuming that's temporariy, or hoping so, anyway.
Er, that should be SKR, not Schoolkids.
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gregb
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response 39 of 247:
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Nov 11 23:01 UTC 1998 |
Re. 26: It's the classic law of supply/demand. Because the economy is
up there right now, most people /are/ willing to shell the extra bucks.
It's like that in other areas of entertainment spending, as well. The
average price to go see a flick is $7. Considering the avg. movie is
1:40 min., you'd think most people wouldn't spend that much. But they
do. I work with someone who thinks nothing of paying $7 for a show.
That includs taking the family along!
Personally, I think such prices are outrageous. I won't spend $17 on
CD's, nor $7 on movies (exceptions: Nest year's SW movie or Trek
movies).
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anderyn
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response 40 of 247:
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Nov 11 23:30 UTC 1998 |
Well, hmmm. I pay $17 for CDs on a regular basis, since most of the CDs
that I want aren't the kind that you can just pick up at Best Buy. In
fact, now that Skids is gone, I've had to troll net sites to find places
to feed my addictions. (Though the last five or so CDs that I got were
not bought.) I figure that $17 is not a bad price. On movies, well,
we very rarely go to them. We will rent, or go to matinees, but never pay
full price unless it's a rare event.
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cloud
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response 41 of 247:
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Nov 14 04:34 UTC 1998 |
If there is a movie I really want to see, I ususally wait untill it comes out
at the Fox, a local second-run theater.
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tpryan
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response 42 of 247:
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Nov 15 16:48 UTC 1998 |
I love my Borders dsicount.
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eeyore
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response 43 of 247:
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Nov 19 15:17 UTC 1998 |
Colombia, from what I understand, actually does have a really good
selection....both in music and videos.....and I know somebody who on a
pretty regular basis getss really good deals from them....like 3.00 cds and
such.
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gregb
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response 44 of 247:
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Nov 19 19:27 UTC 1998 |
Interesting. I've found them to be more ixpensive. Plus they bug you like
crazy to order more stuff. Very annoying.
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goose
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response 45 of 247:
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Dec 15 20:58 UTC 1998 |
Keep in mind (for those of you who like to "support" the artist whose
music you're buying) the record club purchases actually cost the artist
money in royalties. They are considered to be a promotional expense
and the burden of cost is placed on the artist. It's sick; if it were a
regular store purchase the artist might make a buck or so in royalties,
but if it's a record club purchase the artist will pay a few dollars
in royalties.
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mcnally
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response 46 of 247:
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Dec 15 22:26 UTC 1998 |
Really? That's atrocious..
On the other hand, if we could get everyone in the world to order a
Michael Bolton CD from BMG maybe we could solve that problem once and
for all.. :-)
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hhsrat
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response 47 of 247:
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Dec 16 01:18 UTC 1998 |
How about a Spice Girls or Hanson CD?
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jep
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response 48 of 247:
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Dec 16 13:37 UTC 1998 |
re #45: I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. People like Shania
Twain, Garth Brooks, etc. will get by somehow, and that's the music I
buy via record clubs. I think it's very difficult to argue these people
are losing anything through any form of promotion in which they
participate.
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gregb
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response 49 of 247:
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Dec 16 14:22 UTC 1998 |
I've re-joined BMG and considering I can get CD's for 6 bucks (+ s/h) vs. 15,
I don't feel bad about it either.
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