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PUBLISHER’S LETTER
www.siliconchip.com.au
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Production Manager
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Peter Smith
Ross Tester
Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO
Rick Walters
Reader Services
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Advertising Enquiries
Leo Simpson
Phone (02) 9979 5644
Fax (02) 9979 6503
Regular Contributors
Brendan Akhurst
Rodney Champness, VK3UG
Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed
Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Stan Swan
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ISSN 1030-2662
CD prices bound
to drop
In the last three years or so, sales of audio
CDs have declined drastically. As most people
are well aware, this has been largely due to the
massive increase in copying via computers and
the Internet. Whether you are downloading music in MP3 format from the web or just copying
CDs in your computer, everyone knows it can be
downloaded for a fraction of the price of a new
CD in the stores.
This is just another way of saying that the
prices of CDs are far too high. Why would anyone willingly pay $20, $30
or more for a full price disc, when you know that someone can get you
a copy for next to nothing? And why would you pay $30 for a full price
jazz or classical music disc when you can probably get an equally good
performance (by a lesser known performer) for $10.95 on Naxos or other
low price labels.
Looking at it from another point of view, most people are aware that
the production cost of a CD, including its jewel case and printed booklet
is around a dollar or so, so why should they pay twenty times that in the
shops? People also know that the recording artists typically only get one or
two dollars out of a full price disc so there is the very strong feeling out in
the marketplace that record companies are just charging too much.
But recently there has been another reason for people to avoid buying
CDs and that is the issue of copy protection. Why buy a disc when you
know you can’t make a direct copy for your own personal use? Or why
buy it when you know that copy-protected discs won’t play in your car or
Walkman or whatever? In fact, there have recently been legal challenges
overseas to copy protection. Again, the recording companies are seen as
being far too powerful.
Just as I write this editorial, the US company Universal Music Group has
announced major CD price reductions and it appears that most other major
recording companies will be forced to do the same. Let’s hope it is the precursor of major price reductions in Australia too. If Naxos and other low
price labels can survive and grow with retail prices around the ten dollar
mark, the major companies should be able to reduce their prices by a long
way. Doing so would probably cause a major increase in CD sales. It won’t
stop all copying though.
However, I am sure that faced with a price of $10 to say $15, most people
would rather buy the disc with its proper jewel case and printed booklet
than use a CD-ROM burnt in their own or someone else’s computer. As
good as they are, most laser-copied discs are seldom up to the standard set
by a pressed disc and there has to be a question mark over the lifetime of a
laser-copied disc as well.
And while downloading of MP3 music over the internet is set to continue
its exponential increase, the record companies could also do themselves
some favours by promoting the quality difference between MP3 and the
compact disc standard. Let’s face it: unless you are cloth-eared, MP3 simply
doesn’t sound as good as a good quality well-recorded CD. And if the CD is
reasonably priced to begin with, that is all the more reason to buy it.
Leo Simpson
* Recommended and maximum price only.
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