After a three year series of lackluster sales, things are picking up just in time for the holidays for the venerable CD. Analysts are all saying that consumers tastes are changing. They aren't content to listen to an album anymore. They also want their music on the go.
"The way people listen to music has changed. Kids are listening to music on devices and don't want to listen to whole albums," said Tom Edwards, analyst with NPD group. He predicts up to 2.5 million personal hard-drive recorders will be sold this holiday season, double the number sold last year. Those players typically sell for $ 300 to $ 500, while players with the kind of flash memory used in cell phones and digital cameras sell for under $ 100. "There's been a massive push for content since DVD players took off. And with increased sales of portable music players, you're going to see more usage of legal online music sites," said Lisa Fasold, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Electronics Association. Analysts estimate consumers will spend over billion on portable players this season, while fourth-quarter CD sales should top billion. In fact, after gains in recent weeks, the quarter's CD sales look poised to top the 221 million units sold last year, said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard Magazine. Experts say the recent rises in sales of CDs and player devices are both driven by some of the same factors. These include the rebound in the economy and more awareness by consumers of the legal risk in using renegade sites like Kazaa since the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) began suing heavy users. "If downloading catches on, it will save the record business. This is a crucial transition time," said Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff. |
Has the consumer has finally got the message through to the lethargic music labels? The analysts seem to see what is going on. Lets all hope they may have finally seen the light. It's the economy and the new technologies that also drive their business. Couple that with the recent revelation that they are thinking of putting out quality tracks on the CD, they might be on the road to recovery.
Now embrace the 21 century and quit crying. Give us what we want and we will spend our money. Bring us more value in SACD and DVD-a, let us rip tracks for our players and create our playlists. Forget the protection schemes they are not working and expensive. We don't want to pay for that foolishness. Share the wealth of the new legal downloading services so iTunes and others can push better players and improve their networks.
After all, why charge such high royalties on a lossy product? You have free promotion from Napster Rhapsody and others. Heck, your making money on it and doing absolutely nothing! Make high quality available on optical media for those of us that insist on it for our homes and collections. I for one still would like to listen to a whole album in my house, if it is well produced and has quality content. Make it fun again.
Source: story.news.yahoo.com
