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CDs and records were not sold on a basis that's comparable to Pandora. You had to buy a CD or a record — you didn't pay a fee and get unlimited pieces of CDs an
by chc 10y ago
CDs and records were not sold on a basis that's comparable to Pandora. You had to buy a CD or a record — you didn't pay a fee and get unlimited pieces of CDs and records for the rest of the month.
- ethbro 10y agoI think they're analogous. I bought a CD and could listen to it (but only it) an infinite number of times. So streaming is less time, but more variety. And per above comment, I don't see people wanting to think about variable pricing (which a market would require) in a streaming context. $.05 to play your playlist this month, $.10 next month, $.02 the next, etc...
- chc 10y agoI don't take your point at all. You asked "Isn't the price point for CDs the same as streaming services?", I answered that what you're buying is so different that it's difficult to define a unit price for comparison, and in this response you essentially point out how different they are, being at opposite ends of two spectra. So all I can say is, yes, that's why it doesn't make sense to say they are the same price (from the artist's standpoint, even if you don't see a difference from where you are).
- ethbro 10y agoWrong parse. My statement started with 'weren't CDs and records sold at the same price point as others of the same type' (e.g. CD 1 costs same as CD 2, etc). Point being that flexible pricing for a fungible good over a streaming service is likely to be a non-starter in terms of market acceptance.
- chc 10y agoOh, in that case, definitely not, at least in California where I lived in the '90s. I remember prices ranging from the single digits up to to the $20s.
- ethbro 10y agoTried to look up an actual number, but got distracted. http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9628-how-much-is-music-really-worth/ http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9628-how-much-is-music... Seems you're correct though, it varied.