For instance:
In the future if I want to by a complete new album by a band and it is available ONLY as a download, then, will I have to still pay near the full price? My understanding is YES! At the moment this seems to be the trend. I see download versions of albums costing about 80% of what an equivalent store bought CD album costs. This is more profit for the record company. No production of a CD, packaging, and no distribution of a physical product. Obviously a big advantage in the way of profit regarding each album sold Vs a CD sold.

To me this is of MUCH LESS VALUE for money. A downloaded album has no booklet, no artwork or no liner notes and no physical CD that I can play on my high end CD player and sound system. OK, the music is the most important thing, but I like to have the extras and I want to have SOLID COPY not just files on my PC hard drive. YES, I can burn the music files to a CD and download the artwork.
BUT HEY, this takes time. I have to buy blank CD, burn it, and if I want to have quality artwork and liner notes (+ a CD label) then I have to mess around with printing it! It cost me time (+ printer ink & paper) not to mention the use of my PC and printer to do this. YES, going to a shop to buy a CD takes time, but when I’m out buying shoes, or something else, I still like to pop into the shop and buy a CD. Also ordering CDs online is easy and convenient. In most cases ordering CDs online I get a real high quality, physical, copy that I can load into my hi-fi system and then sit down and listen right away while looking through the liner notes. No messing around with the above.

I’m not against downloading or MP3s. I have downloaded music and I have an MP3 player for music when traveling. I love the technology. I realize that downloading of music is increasing and CDs sales are shrinking. Big companies, such as EMI, are driven by profit and go where the profit is. I hope specialist labels will still exist and thrive comfortably enough for us “enthusiasts” that still want to buy music in CD form with nice packaging. For example, LP reissues have made a comeback (to some extent). This has been an interest, at least, for the “music enthusiasts” Vs the “mass market / music consumer”.

I hope the option to buy real CDs (and even LPs) will still exist. Most likely (at least I really hope) that bands like Marillion, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Mars Volta (to name a few) will still release their music in nicely packaged CDs. I will continue to buy them. Also I think it has been important that much music has been released as an album of songs or tunes in a certain order and meant to be played as a whole. One of the joys of listening to certain albums was the listening to the whole album as a whole in its released order as the artist intended it to be, as an entire “works” so to speak. I hope this will not be lost.

I’m sure acts like Robbie Williams or Madonna will sell more music downloaded Vs CDs via the big record companies.

Alf

Lets hope this boss of one of those criminal record companies that are guilty of pricefixing is not thinking about the same as SONY BMG when he referes to “additional material” on CDDA pieces of plastic

–
kdsde