Books and CD prices

[abecedarian]

With that I do not argue. Library I do love too. Are there any libraries for CDs?
By the way, I do think that Culture is OUR BASIC NEED. I do not want to live in a place without a culture. Sorry, but that scares me.

I don't know about European libraries, but here nearly every library in the country has some sort of music collection. Most have gotten rid of the old LPs and replaced them with cds. Most libraries participate in an interlibrary loan system as well, where one can request a certain title from your own library and ask them to see if another one will send it. The system is better for books than other media, as some libraries won't send cds and dvds, but it can't hurt to ask. If your librarian gives you a blank look, you may have to do some research online for discount companies that will mail to your country. I know they exist.

 

[The waveguide]

Thanx, Abecedarian.

In my university library we do not have those, but It's a high time to go to other libraries around and to see the changes that happened meanwhile in the world. I'll have a look and let you know. With DVDs I was normally borrowing those from the DVD-library untill there was nothing to borrow any longer

 

[sirmyk]

One doesn't have to purchase every CD or DVD of one's desire.

For music (culture) there is radio (free if you have a radio), and as mentioned before, some libraries will have in stock some music worth listening to. For movies (more culture), there is television broadcasting (free if you have a television set), in which you can wait a year or so for local channels to air movies; or, if you can't wait that long, there is paid television, where you pay four or five bucks to watch movies; or, if you need (luxury) to watch those movies sooner, you can always rent (for a minimal cost: $3-5) movies (VHS or DVD) from a video store, or borrow them from a friend (whom spends his wealth on the monopoly). If you need those movies when they first come out, I'm sorry to say you must spend your money and watch them in theatres; if you see them by any other means it is stealing. Same goes for music. If you want just some of the more popular songs, then you must wait for them to air on the radio, otherwise, if you want all songs from any certain artist, fork out the bucks and give that artist the share of money he (or she or they) deserve (which is usually only a handful of change per CD, a buck or so for authors if we are speaking books).

CDs and DVDs are not culture. Music and movies are culture. How you listen to or see them is up to you. Just don't steal them. That's rude and you should be shot.

 

[Zolipara]

radio is free if you've got a radio

Back in the good old days when tapes was common we used to record songs from the radio. Old style piracy.

 

[Kookamoor]

But you do drive the other car, don't you? Car is not a luxury. Culture SHOULD NOT be luxory either. You go and buy yourseld a cheaper car, don't you? Well, this is because the market ALLOWS you to have cheap AND expensive cars.

I do not mind to have CHEAP and EXPENSIVE editions of the same book, or the same CD. But they do not do that! What is my alternative? (To stay a barbarian, start drinking vodka and forget about music or reading. You can not afford it - well, too bad for you ! He-he-he from our lovely capitalistic brother)

Ahem. There are cheap and expensive books and CDs - ever looked in the discount bins? Sure, they're not the newest releases nor the best quality, but neither is the 1992 Civic you have to buy because you can't afford a BMW. Or you can troll through the used book store and Thrift shop (similar to buying a second hand car, actually) to find the books you are after at a cheaper rate.

Oh, and a car IS a luxury, by the way. I do not have one and as such I can't live in the region I want to because I have to be within walking distance to the office. Such is life. I'll be earning a lot more next year, so maybe I'll get one then.

 

[Zolipara]

I dont download music, but if this starts to be more common i probably will.

 

[abecedarian]

Back in the good old days when tapes was common we used to record songs from the radio. Old style piracy.

Hey, I used to do that! The problem was, the radio stations weren't always so good at telling the listener when the song was coming on..you had to listen really close..and hope they didn't interrupt and cut to a commercial! As forms of thievery go, it really sucked for air

 

[Zolipara]

Hey, I used to do that! The problem was, the radio stations weren't always so good at telling the listener when the song was coming on..you had to listen really close..and hope they didn't interrupt and cut to a commercial! As forms of thievery go, it really sucked for air

There were usually radio shows playing the top ten or top 20 chart topping singles in order. Practically made for taping.

 

[abecedarian]

There were usually radio shows playing the top ten or top 20 chart topping singles in order. Practically made for taping.

My two favorite am stations played lots of requests..so there were more suprises. I liked to catch the rock station's year-end countdown of the top 100 songs for the year. My cousin and I taped the program in 77 and 78 on New Year's Eve. After that, we got busy and lost interest.

 

[Kookamoor]

But taping off the radio is different - it wasn't good quality like copying today's CDs. Plus, you usually had the ads or the announcer cut off the start or end of the song. I used to video tape the video shows off the television and then record them onto tapes afterwards. Again, crappy quality! Yeah, it was technically illegal, but it didn't eat into CD sales like today's piracy does.

 

[G4G]

Back in the good old days when tapes was common we used to record songs from the radio. Old style piracy.

I admit I used to do this myself back in the day. It was on Sunday nights, I seem to recall - a chart rundown.

Chart music is now shite, of course.

 

[Zolipara]

But taping off the radio is different - it wasn't good quality like copying today's CDs. Plus, you usually had the ads or the announcer cut off the start or end of the song. I used to video tape the video shows off the television and then record them onto tapes afterwards. Again, crappy quality!

Taping of radio wasnt that bad compared to the quality of the tapes you could buy back then (or so i remember). If you compare the quality of mp3's to the sound you get from normal CD's the CD's are a lot better. I cant see much difference in quality between the old movies i taped from TV and the few i bought either.

Yeah, it was technically illegal, but it didn't eat into CD sales like today's piracy does.

How do you know? It was very common to copy movies, music and games way before the internet was common. But it was much harder to track. There was also a lot of people/companies selling pirated tapes etc. Now they download instead. I dont think piracy has exploded, its just become more visible. The biggest downloaders are young kids that probably wouldnt buy that many CD's anyway so the actual loss for the companies are probably way lower than the numbers they usually present.

 

[Kookamoor]

How do you know? It was very common to copy movies, music and games way before the internet was common. But it was much harder to track. There was also a lot of people/companies selling pirated tapes etc. Now they download instead. I dont think piracy has exploded, its just become more visible. The biggest downloaders are young kids that probably wouldnt buy that many CD's anyway so the actual loss for the companies are probably way lower than the numbers they usually present.

You are right, it is a lot easier to track now. But all the statistics (granted, they have been put out by record companies) indicate that music sales have decreased since CD burning capabilities became mainstream. If I get time later on I'll go digging in Google for an article or two about it, as I have read this in a few places.

On the other hand, perhaps I'm trying to excuse something that we used to do because now we see it as much worse. I definately recall buying some cassettes because I liked the songs a lot and my pirated TV-to-tape copies were just not up to snuff.

If indeed the biggest downloaders are young kids (which I'm not sure about, actually) then this sort of piracy culture needs to be dealt with. The sense of entitlement coming from waveguide is pretty disturbing. I would think the piracy going on involves more than young kids, though. Typically young adults are the most involved in music purchases and I assumed that it was this demographic that are most involved in piracy too. Perhaps I am incorrect? It is their higher level of disposable income, that is causing record companies to be so concerned about losing sales to this group.

 

[Flowerdk4]

We pay a lot for both CDs, DVDs and books in Denmark. And the last time I looked they do have two different prices on books, have you ever heard of hardcover and paperback??
Flower

 

[WoundedThorns]

i rarely buy CDs, unless i cannot download the music for the life of me. i haven't listened to a CD almost a year.. except on my stereo. i just transfer them to my ipod, but songs from CDs are quieter which annoys me.

books.. i've been buying more lately. its kind of pointless considering i'll read them sooner if i just take them out of the library. but i tend to finish bought books more. i give up too easily on library books

 

[Zolipara]

From the conclusion of an independent study done at Harvard Business school:

We find that file sharing has no statistically significant effect on purchases of the average
album in our sample. Moreover, the estimates are of rather modest size when compared
to the drastic reduction in sales in the music industry. At most, file sharing can explain a
tiny fraction of this decline. This result is plausible given that movies, software, and
video games are actively downloaded, and yet these industries have continued to grow
since the advent of file sharing. While a full explanation for the recent decline in record
sales are beyond the scope of this analysis, several plausible candidates exist. These
alternative factors include poor macroeconomic conditions, a reduction in the number of
album releases, growing competition from other forms of entertainment such as video
games and DVDs (video game graphics have improved and the price of DVD players or
movies have sharply fallen), a reduction in music variety stemming from the large
consolidation in radio along with the rise of independent promoter fees to gain airplay,
and possibly a consumer backlash against record industry tactics.26 It is also important to
note that a similar drop in record sales occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and
that record sales in the 1990s may have been abnormally high as individuals replaced
older formats with CDs (Liebowitz, 2003).

You can find the entire article here.

 

[curiouswonder]

But all the statistics (granted, they have been put out by record companies) indicate that music sales have decreased since CD burning capabilities became mainstream.

What they don't include in those statistics is a report on how much garbage is being put out that no one ends up buying. Why buy 10 CDs that will sound exactly alike? They also fail to mention how much money they are making off of music that is being legally downloaded through iTunes or Napster. The stats are usually focused on "album" sales.
I don't endorse piracy, but it is hard to weep for those folks.

 

[Ms.]

Waveguide....are you close friends with Ms.? You both enjoy being thieves and hate paying what the market sets the prices at.

I hope you both realise you are part of the problem, not the solution....

Stealing the things you want will only drive the cost higher....

If you bothered to look at my responce in the original thread involving myself you would see i set out my views. Please refrain from needlessly involving me in your problems with waveguide

 

[Stewart]

We pay a lot for CDs in Denmark.

When I was in Denmark, Germany, and Poland I was buying a ridiculous amount of CDs because I found them cheaper than the UK.

 

[Flowerdk4]

When I was in Denmark, Germany, and Poland I was buying a ridiculous amount of CDs because I found them cheaper than the UK.

We pay something like 11 £ for a new CD. How much do you pay in England?