sleepy jack

I think the price of records just needs to go down to something more reasonable. I frequently go in and blow all my money on used albums because its between 5-7 dollars and very affordable. I mean I only bought Wowee Zowee by Pavement because it was 15 dollars for 50 songs. The days of them charging us between 15-20 dollars for a 13 song album really need do need to end.

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analogtones

I'm always a little weary of advanced copies because sometimes their not mastered, tracklist is off (or incomplete), as well as transitions. (I do check them out from time to time to gauge whether or not it's worth looking into for the future)

Farfisa

point is that its bad for major labels and good for artists...

mr dave

i think you guys are missing the original point of advanced copies.

they were shipped to the press so that they could publish reviews to coincide with the album release. they weren't supposed to be the origin of internet leaks, or supposed to be available to average fans. as it stands today, if you have a blog and a bit of business sense you can become part of 'the press' and get your hands on advanced copies long before they hit the shelf. should they still be limited to 'the press'? or should the advanced copies just be released as low quality mp3s ahead of the final product?

consider this imaginary scenario - is it really good for a marginal artist on a major label (for example - the eels - universal) who's album is downloaded by a million people prior to release then only sells 10 000 copies on release because no one bothered to go to the store and then gets subsequently dropped? can you pay rent and groceries with artistic ideals? conversely do you think most people have the energy and inclination to write, record, mix, and master a complete album in their basement after working a full time job and maintaining a household?

CQ - i totally agree. the current price point is horrid.

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Molecules

indeed the retail pricing of CD's isn't helping any, but it's still not free is it?
It used to be alot worse around here but a couple of years ago there was a bit of a renaissance when a new competitor (I believe it was Fopp) started selling shelves of albums for a fiver - unheard of when a new record is costing you £15 (say 30 dollars). Not only that, each store has an extensive selection of seemingly deliberately-chosen 'cult' DVD's and books.
For me, a broke student without a computer, it allowed me to feed the hunger - great

Then Fopp just disappeared - presumably one of the high-street stores bought them out (in the UK it's HMV and Virgin Megastores mainly)... party over.

The market leaders seem to have risen to the occasion and dropped their prices slightly but not enough to get me to leave my comfy chair, pay for parking and hand over precious jewels for an album I wouldn't be able to find in their crappy selection anyway.
Which is a shame because I MISS CD booklets and looking at my swelling collection. Genesis' 'Foxtrot'? You need the goddamned artwork and lyrics!!

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