Raising Prices on Music

[ALL*MYTEE]

Why wouldn't allowing the market to set prices for music make for a much more robust and profitable music industry and much more satisfied customers?

It works in for cars, jeans, ball bearings, coffee and every other industry.

Why not music?

[Derek Sivers]

Originally Posted by ALL*MYTEE

Why wouldn't allowing the market to set prices for music make for a much more robust and profitable music industry and much more satisfied customers?

The market is setting prices for music. That's what's going on now. Massive wild experimentation and fluctuation in the prices of music, all being driven by market demand.

Your question seems to imply that it's not.

[arf]

Originally Posted by Derek Sivers

The market is setting prices for music. That's what's going on now. Massive wild experimentation and fluctuation in the prices of music, all being driven by market demand.

Your question seems to imply that it's not.

How can you say this? iTunes dictates that all tracks cost the same, whether a song costs $100 or $100,000 to produce, and regardless of the demand for a track. If cost and demand have no effect of pricing, how is this market driven?

[TheArchitect]

Originally Posted by ALL*MYTEE

Why wouldn't allowing the market to set prices for music make for a much more robust and profitable music industry and much more satisfied customers?

It works in for cars, jeans, ball bearings, coffee and every other industry.

Why not music?

Exactly how does raising prices make for a much more satisfied customer?

[PeterTuneCore]

It's happening now. I'm especially interested in Amazon MP3, which is making a direct bid to be competition to iTunes, and is fightin on, among other levels, price. I'm adopting a "wait and see" perspective.

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

[TheArchitect]

Originally Posted by arf

How can you say this? iTunes dictates that all tracks cost the same, whether a song costs $100 or $100,000 to produce, and regardless of the demand for a track. If cost and demand have no effect of pricing, how is this market driven?

iTunes is hardly the only source of music

[ALL*MYTEE]

Originally Posted by TheArchitect

Exactly how does raising prices make for a much more satisfied customer?

More capital (meaning more time, attention, care and energy) is brought to bear on more profitable products. Right now there's no economic incentive to make better music if in doing so an artist limits their market.

Meaning that there's no incentive to make music for any demographic except the 18-34s, who are very well supplied.

In my opinion, there's almost no price variation. The hit of the year is .99 (.88 at WalMart or wherever) and a D-side flop from a washed up band is .99 as well. If the only way to make money in cars was to sell more, we'd have no Lexuses, no hybrids, no Lamborghinis, and no Ferraris..

Or, in real Gearslutz terms: if there was no price variation in mics or pres--and the only price point was a break even price for the largest manufacturers--we'd have only Berringer and Tascam pres and Audix mics.

The only other gear that would exist would have been created by people who had enough time and money to design it, make it, and bring it to market at a massive loss.

[PDC]

Originally Posted by TheArchitect

iTunes is hardly the only source of music

No, but they sell more than all of the others combined.