Don"t Kill the Format - Part 3
In the previous two articles I asked questions and gave an idea of how I think physical product could still be sold in this so called "Digital Age".
But the question remains, does the CD or similar format still have a place in today's music market? My resounding answer to this question is "yes of course it does".
The problem with CD sales does not lay entirely with the format, CD's have not suddenly become 8 Tracks or Betamax.
Both these formats or content carriers became redundant ( a word which sends chills down the spines of so many in the Music business at the moment,) because they were replaced by a better or more readily available or superior technology which did the same job, better and more efficiently.
Some may argue that Digital Downloads of music files, do exactly that.
They supply the music consumer with a superior product more efficiently and to a higher quality.
Well actually this is not the case.
Firstly the quality of the music files, the fidelity of the music or simply put the sound quality of MP3's, does not come close to the quality of the Digital files carried on a CD.
Secondly music downloaded onto your hard disc, be it legal or illegal is not as robust as you might think.
Computers break, files get lost, technology goes wrong.
And lets take a lesson from the recent Zune fiasco, this competitor to the iPod stopped working because the machine could not cope with a leap year.
Music purchases are made for a number of reasons, and one of them, as they say in marketing speak is "gifting".
Christmas, Easter, Valentines, Fathers Day, Mothers Day are all high peak music sales periods.
These millions of CD's, Box Sets, Deluxe editions, Limited Editions, compilations are purchased a gifts.
Nobody I know would be terribly impressed by an iTunes voucher, or a CD burnt with the new album by their favourite artist.
When Radiohead sold their latest album online for the price their fans chose to pay, they still sold a healthy number of Box Sets to those same fans.
Buying a CD or being given a CD by your favourite artist is still a thrill.
Of course you can still burn that CD and use it in a number of different ways, and of course you can still share it with your friends.
I was personally involved in a number of releases where beautiful Box Sets with detailed liner notes, unreleased tracks and luxurious packaging, would be created and all of them worked.
They worked because all of them appealed to the desire of music fans, to own a little piece of their favourite band and to find out something new about them.
Does this mean that the CD will regain dominance in the market place? Of course not.
Music on a physical piece of product, whether a single cheap CD or an expensive Box Set of CD's and DVD's a USB Flash stick, still has a place as one of the many ways music is sold, consumed and gifted.
The reasons why sales of physical product are falling off a cliff are many a varied.
Key amongst them is the demise of specialist retail and the business structure labels have to work under to make a profit.
But don't kill the format ahead of it's time, accept that the place of the CD is still central to the business, even if sales are falling they still represent over 70% of major record company sales.
But the question remains, does the CD or similar format still have a place in today's music market? My resounding answer to this question is "yes of course it does".
The problem with CD sales does not lay entirely with the format, CD's have not suddenly become 8 Tracks or Betamax.
Both these formats or content carriers became redundant ( a word which sends chills down the spines of so many in the Music business at the moment,) because they were replaced by a better or more readily available or superior technology which did the same job, better and more efficiently.
Some may argue that Digital Downloads of music files, do exactly that.
They supply the music consumer with a superior product more efficiently and to a higher quality.
Well actually this is not the case.
Firstly the quality of the music files, the fidelity of the music or simply put the sound quality of MP3's, does not come close to the quality of the Digital files carried on a CD.
Secondly music downloaded onto your hard disc, be it legal or illegal is not as robust as you might think.
Computers break, files get lost, technology goes wrong.
And lets take a lesson from the recent Zune fiasco, this competitor to the iPod stopped working because the machine could not cope with a leap year.
Music purchases are made for a number of reasons, and one of them, as they say in marketing speak is "gifting".
Christmas, Easter, Valentines, Fathers Day, Mothers Day are all high peak music sales periods.
These millions of CD's, Box Sets, Deluxe editions, Limited Editions, compilations are purchased a gifts.
Nobody I know would be terribly impressed by an iTunes voucher, or a CD burnt with the new album by their favourite artist.
When Radiohead sold their latest album online for the price their fans chose to pay, they still sold a healthy number of Box Sets to those same fans.
Buying a CD or being given a CD by your favourite artist is still a thrill.
Of course you can still burn that CD and use it in a number of different ways, and of course you can still share it with your friends.
I was personally involved in a number of releases where beautiful Box Sets with detailed liner notes, unreleased tracks and luxurious packaging, would be created and all of them worked.
They worked because all of them appealed to the desire of music fans, to own a little piece of their favourite band and to find out something new about them.
Does this mean that the CD will regain dominance in the market place? Of course not.
Music on a physical piece of product, whether a single cheap CD or an expensive Box Set of CD's and DVD's a USB Flash stick, still has a place as one of the many ways music is sold, consumed and gifted.
The reasons why sales of physical product are falling off a cliff are many a varied.
Key amongst them is the demise of specialist retail and the business structure labels have to work under to make a profit.
But don't kill the format ahead of it's time, accept that the place of the CD is still central to the business, even if sales are falling they still represent over 70% of major record company sales.
Source...