Would record companies had made more profits if cd's did not exist

[spotlightkid]

Do you think record companies would make more profits if the cd had never became a content carrier.i used to work in a record store and can always remember this one guy who kept buying a new copy of the Stones Stickey Fingers lp because he did not take care of his vinyl-one of my best customers.

[Rspaight]

Well, I don't think it was coincidence that "Dark Side of the Moon" finally dropped off the Billboard album chart when CD took over...

Ryan

[Jeffrey]

Hi,

Me thinks they made more $ b/c of cd's. First off they gotta sell us the same release again on a new medium and second thought is they gotta make them at a reduced price (the price of blank cdr's vs. vinyl). Oh yea, they also were able to get $15 per cd in the mid-80's when lps were $8-9 ea.

Another view,
Jeffrey

[Bob Lovely]

This is a very interesting question. In my market, Milwaukee, there used to be some great record stores. For the most part, they are, sadly, all but gone. Now, I have to rattle through the national chains and the "Circuit Citys" of the world. Try asking a clerk there about a CD! "Like, what do you want".

Some say vinyl has a certain mystique because of its size and mass and that CD's lend themselves better to homogenized mass merchandising than vinyl ever did. I do not know, but your question is very thought provoking!

Bob :confused:

[Dave B]

I'm not so sure. The CD boom launched the reissue craze. There are lot of things on CD that had not been available on LP for twenty years. A large portion of my collection are things that weren't available on LP at the time I started buying CDs. While some of those reissues would have been done on vinyl, it's the whole renewed interest in replacing old LPs with CDs that fueled the movement. Besides, do record companies need more profits?

[Jeffrey]

Hi,

Another reason why I think record companies made more $ w/ cd's in the picture:

How many people do ya know who peddled their whole record collection in the 80's and replaced everything w/ cd's only to then start buying all the vinyl back in the 90's b/c they felt that vinyl is better?

How's that for repeat sales?

Jeffrey

[Sckott]

The music industry made out. CDs now cost a LOT less to make. By the dawn of the 80's though, the list prices of Lps went from 8.98 to 9.98. Can you imagine Lps for $3.98 or $4.98 in the early 70s? It happened.

But then again, America's economy is always a little wacky.

[Alan T]

I think music fans have done more replacements with re-buying CD’s than LP’s.
There’s much more profit in CD’s because of higher prices/lower shipping costs and lower production costs – not having to deal with defectives – reselling/repackaging of older music.
Dark Side of the Moon fell off the top 200 chart because of changes in release qualification by Billboard.