5 ms·

It's common to bring up the decline in profits that the music industry saw but no-one seems to ask the question as to how their profit margins were so high. As

by leksak 7y ago

It's common to bring up the decline in profits that the music industry saw but no-one seems to ask the question as to how their profit margins were so high. As I understand it, cassettes and CDs were dirt-cheap to produce but the average consumer hadn't caught on to the fact and on each sale of either the profit margin was tremendous. Another tangent, maybe it saved the music industry but what effect did it have on our culture? I believe Spotify fundamentally changed our previous read/write-relationship with music to be a read-only type of affair for most individuals.

stellar678 7y ago
That's interesting...that's my theory about recorded music in the early 20th century when folks figured out how to commoditize music and stamp it out as a product to be consumed instead of a culture to be shared. How do you see Spotify as promoting a read-only consumption of music? If anything, it feels like digital platforms have increased the accessibility of broad music distribution and making a name for yourself without signing your soul away to a major label - and we've seen a Cambrian Explosion of genres and subcultures as a result.
lordgrenville 7y ago
I don't understand this at all. If you're talking about the culture of making mixtapes/CDs, it's as easy or easier to make and share a playlist on Spotify. And in terms of creating music, free or cheap recording software and distribution platforms make that exponentially easier as well.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  It's not about the object - "a playlist" - it's about the means of distribution, the networks that are created, and the relationships between artists, middle-men, and buyers. Spotify is an example of the consolidating and centralising tendency of Internet technology. Physical media with low cost of entry make it possible to create your own channel to buyers. In the 80s you could set up a short-run cassette label from a back bedroom, send a tape to an indie DJ like John Peel and get some priceless attention with your music highlighted on national radio. In the 90s you could make your own white label 12" pressings and distribute them personally to record shops. That's no longer possible today. Spotify (YouTube, etc) are all oligopolies that own the most important channels between new artists and customers/fans. They don't curate, they ingest. Established artists can bypass them, but newcomers have no choice. They have to go through one of the channels - at which point they're immediately competing head-on with hundreds of thousands of other artists. There is no other way to reach an audience now. And the rewards mean it's rarely worth the effort.
  - lostgame 7y ago
    >> In the 90s you could make your own white label 12" pressings and distribute them personally to record shops. This, beyond other physical and fashion products, is essentially the business plan for my music label. It's certainly still doable and is one of the best ways in to local meaningful exposure in your city, or at least in my city of Toronto. Vinyl sales are huge, especially in terms of profit.
goatinaboat 7y ago
cassettes and CDs were dirt-cheap to produce but the average consumer hadn't caught on to the fact and on each sale of either the profit margin was tremendous. The fundamental collapse in profits is because once you could sell an album with 3-4 good tracks and the rest filler, but that’s much harder to do now. People will prefer to buy just the songs they like, so you might get 3x0.99 whereas previously you could have sold the album of 10 tracks for 10.99. The cost of producing the filler tracks was negligible anyway.
- wutbrodo 7y ago
  It's worth noting that this was the case even before streaming services arrived. I distinctly remember reading an article about how Kelis and Norah Jones were the top-pirated artists of a given time period, but their album sales widely differed, since Norah Jones had multiple popular tracks while Kelis just had her one hit single.
  - goatinaboat 7y ago
    Norah Jones had multiple popular tracks while Kelis just had her one hit single. I made the mistake of buying Gwen Stefani’s solo album, which is literally one decent track, which was the single, and all the rest filler. That was the turning point for me and I expect many others have had similar experiences.
- scarface74 7y ago
  The music industry saw revenue increases when iTunes was at its height.
  - goatinaboat 7y ago
    I wonder how much of that was people re-buying rather than ripping existing tapes and CDs though. The music industry also successfully persuaded people to buy again on new media remember.
    - scarface74 7y ago
xref 7y ago
>the average consumer hadn't caught on to the fact and on each sale of either the profit margin was tremendous. Normally businesses charge whatever the market will bear, in this case however the music industry was found guilty of collusion in price fixing...

by leksak 7y ago

stellar678 7y ago

That's interesting...that's my theory about recorded music in the early 20th century when folks figured out how to commoditize music and stamp it out as a product to be consumed instead of a culture to be shared. How do you see Spotify as promoting a read-only consumption of music? If anything, it feels like digital platforms have increased the accessibility of broad music distribution and making a name for yourself without signing your soul away to a major label - and we've seen a Cambrian Explosion of genres and subcultures as a result.

lordgrenville 7y ago

I don't understand this at all. If you're talking about the culture of making mixtapes/CDs, it's as easy or easier to make and share a playlist on Spotify. And in terms of creating music, free or cheap recording software and distribution platforms make that exponentially easier as well.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
It's not about the object - "a playlist" - it's about the means of distribution, the networks that are created, and the relationships between artists, middle-men, and buyers. Spotify is an example of the consolidating and centralising tendency of Internet technology. Physical media with low cost of entry make it possible to create your own channel to buyers. In the 80s you could set up a short-run cassette label from a back bedroom, send a tape to an indie DJ like John Peel and get some priceless attention with your music highlighted on national radio. In the 90s you could make your own white label 12" pressings and distribute them personally to record shops. That's no longer possible today. Spotify (YouTube, etc) are all oligopolies that own the most important channels between new artists and customers/fans. They don't curate, they ingest. Established artists can bypass them, but newcomers have no choice. They have to go through one of the channels - at which point they're immediately competing head-on with hundreds of thousands of other artists. There is no other way to reach an audience now. And the rewards mean it's rarely worth the effort.
- lostgame 7y ago
  >> In the 90s you could make your own white label 12" pressings and distribute them personally to record shops. This, beyond other physical and fashion products, is essentially the business plan for my music label. It's certainly still doable and is one of the best ways in to local meaningful exposure in your city, or at least in my city of Toronto. Vinyl sales are huge, especially in terms of profit.

goatinaboat 7y ago

cassettes and CDs were dirt-cheap to produce but the average consumer hadn't caught on to the fact and on each sale of either the profit margin was tremendous. The fundamental collapse in profits is because once you could sell an album with 3-4 good tracks and the rest filler, but that’s much harder to do now. People will prefer to buy just the songs they like, so you might get 3x0.99 whereas previously you could have sold the album of 10 tracks for 10.99. The cost of producing the filler tracks was negligible anyway.

wutbrodo 7y ago
It's worth noting that this was the case even before streaming services arrived. I distinctly remember reading an article about how Kelis and Norah Jones were the top-pirated artists of a given time period, but their album sales widely differed, since Norah Jones had multiple popular tracks while Kelis just had her one hit single.
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  Norah Jones had multiple popular tracks while Kelis just had her one hit single. I made the mistake of buying Gwen Stefani’s solo album, which is literally one decent track, which was the single, and all the rest filler. That was the turning point for me and I expect many others have had similar experiences.
scarface74 7y ago
The music industry saw revenue increases when iTunes was at its height.
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  I wonder how much of that was people re-buying rather than ripping existing tapes and CDs though. The music industry also successfully persuaded people to buy again on new media remember.
  - scarface74 7y ago

xref 7y ago

>the average consumer hadn't caught on to the fact and on each sale of either the profit margin was tremendous. Normally businesses charge whatever the market will bear, in this case however the music industry was found guilty of collusion in price fixing...