....Lower prices won't happen unless labels and artists agree to smaller royalty fees per song. But this version of the Monty Hall Problem isn't too tough to crack. Behind Door One is the money you can make by selling a million copies of a tune. Behind the other door is the money to be reaped by selling 6 million copies at half the price. Do the math, guys!
What's more, the benefits of low price and wider distribution don't stop there. When you've got more people buying music, you grow your fan base and encourage experimentation. And the lower prices go, the less reason there is to get pirated songs.
....It's a fact of nature: the best way to serve music lovers, as well as the most effective method to curtail piracy, is to go cheap and sell tons of songs. If the moguls don't see this, they're as deep in denial as those stubborn souls who refuse to evacuate shoreline bungalows in the path of a Category 5. [Newsweek]
Article comments
1 - Lono
Eric, I don't even think they want our input. How long has it been since Napster, 6 or 7 years? Who advises these people, the petroleum industry? I am already working to move way from all CDs and use a server system in my house. Problem is, nothing is compatible yet with my stereo... or my buddy's stereo.
The music industry is still (regretfully) to be treated as the enemy. Remember about two years ago, Universal said they were going to release ALL new CDs at a maximum price to the consumer of $12? I remember, because I actually wrote a whole editorial on why we should use that day to all go buy CDs. I wanted to send the music industry a strong and positive sign that we too were willing to negotiate. They backed down and didn't offer that price, and they are still reaping the punishment.
2 - Eric Olsen
there is no question there is still all kinds of fumbling, backsliding, wishful thinking and just plain stupidity, but I also think the digital genie is out of the bottle, and they know it, and they are going to have to accomodate. It's the delays and missteps along the way that are infuriating.