But I have yet to see any similar study from the music industry. All I hear is how much illegal downloads are costing them.

My belief is that the high prices on most music is hurting them. I may pay a buck for the latest hot new tune but not for an oldie. I’d buy a lot more music at 20 cents a song versus a buck.

All their b.s. about how musicians get paid to create goes out the window when a song is > ten years old.

Furthermore, if paying a buck a song is to give musicians incentive to create, then why are they still charging for Elvis songs? Oh wait, I forgot, he’s still alive.

…or perhaps not, as the case may be.

As Jim Nabors once said to Rock Hudson, “One never knows, do one?”

I didn’t fail to consider anything… or even disagree… I just pointed out what I think is often a neglected detail…

And while you’re right as far as that goes – that the price has stayed relatively constant despite inflation – you’re failing to consider the factor that should have driven prices down, even WITH inflation, which is the always-dropping prices of the raw materials and the lower cost per unit made possible by advances in mass pressing.

IOW, if the industry had kept their promises, the retail price would not only have dropped when production rose, but it would’ve continued to drop due to further major production efficiencies.

Whether in constant or adjusted dollars, CDs have never been cheaper to make than now. But they’re like those monkeys in some South Pacific region who are trapped with hollowed-out coconuts with sweets inside. They stick their hands in, grab the bait, making a fist in the process – and then can’t remove their fist. But they WON’T LET GO!

And that’s the music companies in a nutshell – they won’t unclench their greedy little fistful of high prices that they want so badly and they’re so used to getting…

The vicious bastards could make plenty moolah with an MSRP of $7 or $8, discounted to $5 or $6 most places – and they would far more than compensate for the lost markup, over the middle and long term, by greatly increased sales volume, which would also help the entire industry regain footing.

But the fist stays clenched. Greed blinds you.

I won’t disagree that CD prices are higher than they should be… But, when you say here we are today, you are kind of saying “after about 20 years, here we are today with CDs at the same price now that they were 20 years ago, despite inflation.”

I would say, who buys CDs at that price? I surely don’t, and I buy a lot of CDs.

Then they saw that people were buying them at the inflated price, so they shut up about dropping any prices, and – well, here we are today…

#7 I agree.

I don’t mind paying 12$ US for a physical CD / Album that might have 12 songs + goodies (pictures, movie clips, etc)

Effectively paying 1$ US per song, but getting physical media, that I can legally convert to MP3′s and use in my car or home stereo too.

However, I totally DO NOT AGREE on paying that same 1$ US per song for a DRM’ed MP3 file !!!

Paying 1/5 the price is just perfect, and I’m content knowing that royalties are being paid as if those songs were being beamed over the radio.

oh the irony is filthy rich!

a company in the former soviet union teaching an american industry painful lessons in free market competition

what the riaa is too blinded by greed to see is that people would love to buy their music legitimately, if only the price were right who knew if you charged lower prices like walmart, you could disrupt an entire industry?

Yep, I just tried my old AllOfMp3 login and it works. It even carried my balance over. The RIAA must be seriously pissed!