Just to shed some light on the breakdown of a list price....
-I set domestic CD lists prices as $14.99 not $16.99
-yes, it does cost $1-$2 in production cost depending on the packaging.
There is also the recording fees, studio costs, mastering, etc...
-what you're also not factoring in is the cost to market that...print
ads, tour support, co-ops, promo copies, print media publicity, radio
publicity, postage, etc...
-then there's the incidentals...paying for overstock, defects, office
overhead, etc....
-when you put it all together is equals a pretty significant amount per
CD.
-people argue right now that online distribution of MP3 sales eliminates
a lot of those costs and makes it cheaper. That would be marginally
correct for now, but if it takes off as a viable revenue source, then on
top of my expenses now, I ad the following....hiring additional employees
to take care of on-line business, advertising on the web, co-ops with web
companies, more promos sent to online media and radio....
-essentially what I'm getting at is that the digital world will become
just as expensive as the real world to sell records in, and maybe it will
level out to be about $11.99 a record but you don't get the packaging.
Also that's assuming my CD's sales hold steady and that I don't need to
factor in lost revenue on that side of the business. I'd pay the extra $3
for the packaging anyday.
also, don't seperate the artist with the industry. Any artist wanting to
make a living off their music is part of the industry. So the argument
that we're only fucking the 'industry' when downloading material doesn't
work. The artist revenue comes from the label, so when 'fucking' the
label/industry you are in fact also fucking the signed artist. Even if
said artist is stuck in a shitty deal it just makes it an even more
shitty deal when their marginal income is taxed even heavier.
To the person asking about whether indie artist normally get a better
rate then major....mostly yes. Most indie labels I know either give 50/50
split on profit or give approximatly 20% of the distributor price with no
recoupables. Plus there's also mechanicals and publishing income paid out
to artists. Typically if you're on a major selling an okay amount of
records, ie. say 20 000, then you're probably not seeing alot of money.
If you're on a major selling 250 000 copies you're probably doing okay
unless you just grossly mis-managed your career. If you're on an indie
with a good deal/smart label (financially) and selling 20 000 copies your
probably doing just fine, not rich by any stretch, but probably quite
comfortable....and after all, any sane person only wants a roof over
their head, some good food, and money to buy more records.
PLEASE NOTE : nothing is this should be taken as a stance towards the
rights and wrongs of illegal downloads. Just correcting/clarifying some
assumptions that I see kicked around and supplying info to perhaps allow
for more informed personal moral decisions. Nor is this any sort of
'official' Ninja Tune postion, just the ramblings of one of many people
involved.
Jeff
quoted 21 lines I think this here point is what stands out above everything else. The simple>I think this here point is what stands out above everything else. The simple
>fact that there is NO REASON for a cd to cost $16.99 !! Especially since the
>amount of money from each transaction that trickles down to the artists is
>SO minimal it boggles the mind. I like what Emusic has going with selling
>MP3 albums for $8.99 but I'm really bummed not getting the cover art. As
>stated in my original post : "Once the industry figures out how to get their
>'cut' this will all be over....."
>
>shimone
>
>
>"Brian, from inside his own brain" wrote:
>
>>
>> One last thing concerning mp3s and the record industry. It's high time
>> this happened! As long as record companies continue to sell a 48-minute
>> cd for $16.99 after they've only spent $1-2 on production costs, then
>> expect us to buy the entire CD for one hit single, I don't feel guilt
>> about pulling an mp3 off the net. If they want to play the game of
>> greed, I'll play, too.
>
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