Klarinet Archive - Posting 001300.txt from 2000/05

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Does On-line Music make any money?
Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 19:00:16 -0400

> The eight-track, open reel, LP record, CD, etc., have all had their good
> points and bad points as musical delivery media. In each of these, it was
> not so much the perfection of design as the consumer trend that eliminated
> them from the marketplace. As long as this trend favors online
> buying, then
> it will continue to gain market share.
>
> But I think both will coexist for a long time, online music and
> CD buying in
> stores, etc. In my area of Atlanta, mall shopping is one of the favorite
> recreational activities. And they're going into the CD and video stores in
> person to buy them.

The recording industry is quite worried about the trend towards online
music. We engineers like to start out with the absolutely highest fidelity
recording possible. There are new DVD Audio Specs that are being fought
about tooth and nail for a couple years now. There is also a whole new way
of digitizing sound that has just begun to mess things up called Direct
Stream Digital (DSD). You can hear it by buying a Super Audio CD (SACD)
player... Now the audiences are downloading MP3's that even at their best
do not measure up to the original source material.

The interesting things to watch are some of the stats concerning record
sales near college campuses since MP3's came out. Specifically, since the
whole Napster thing began. The cd stores have been hit hard (one store
reported a hit of $25,000 a month in sales). It seems that the average
person is not as concerned with the fidelity of a piece of music as they are
with the price and ease of obtaining it. The record industry demands $17
for a CD these days at the store. That CD costs them about $1 to
manufacture it. Most people buy a [pop] CD for one or two tune on it. That
means they just spent $8/each for the 2 tunes they will listen to.

The other option is to go to MP3.com or napster and get it for Cheap/free
with a download time that is negligible off of most computer
networks/cable-modem/DSL, etc... Even with a 56k modem, it still doesn't
take much time to download. It may not sound quite as good as the CD, but
on a boom box, computer speakers, etc... you'll probably never notice the
difference.

Online music is quite definitely here to stay. It will only get better
sounding and easier to get. Going to the store to buy music won't be around
forever. If you know how to make a few bucks off of online music, all the
more power to you.

--Ben

Benjamin Maas
Freelance Clarinetist and Recording Engineer
Los Angeles, CA
benmaas@-----.com
http://www.fifthcircle.com

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