99 cents, or about 50 pence at the current exchange rate. And, no, no reason why they shouldn't cost the same that I know of. S ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Whitby" To: Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 2:12 AM Subject: Re: The Great Debate (Round 2) > I'd be interested to know how much you Americans pay for an iTunes > mp3. In the UK they cost 79p which with the rates at the moment is > about $1.60 I'm guessing you're not paying that much? Anyone know > a > concrete reason there should be such a disparity between pricing > when > the delivery mechanism should mean it costs the same to sell to > everyone? > > > On 22/05/07, Steve Alter wrote: >> You raise a REALLY good point, Bob. (And this comes from someone >> who has willing digitized his entire music collection. Audiophiles >> can stone me now.) >> >> I was managing a record store when we got our very first CDs; had >> all six of them in a little crate on the counter. There was a >> premium on them, not just because of the added benefits, but >> because all new production facilities were required, they didn't >> have capacity to meet demand, etc. We were told repeatedly in the >> late 80s by company execs and distributors that the price point was >> going to come down once production was full bore to "just above LPs >> and cassettes today." >> >> That obviously didn't happen, and they gouged and milked that >> sucker for all it was worth. the justification was exactly that >> value prop: better sound (for average folks), indestructible, >> greater capacity, etc. >> >> Based on that logic, you are absolutely right: there is no >> justification whatsoever (OK, well, greed, as well as being stuck >> on a business model developed by a bunch of accountants in late >> 60s) for parity in pricing for a product that is almost a generic >> copy of the original. >> >> Bob Hutton wrote: >> I just read that article in the Chicago Tribune blog that Bill >> Sherlock >> posted. >> >> I found it odd that some people (invariably from the music >> business) >> argued that a dollar a song seemed like a fair price, given that >> there are >> inherent overheads involved in selling music online as well >> (although at >> least with onlinhe music, your stock never runs out!). What they >> didn't >> seem to realise was the end-product does NOT have the same value at >> all. >> Instead of a physical high-quality sounding CD with artwork, you >> get a >> low-quality, compressed mp3 file - which is also shackled by DRM - >> dumped >> on your hard drive. People who are content with that will probably >> be >> happier to get the same song for free via file-sharing. I don't >> know >> anyone who regularly purchases albums off iTunes/Napster/whatever. >> Only a >> few friends have said they'll even buy the occasional song! I >> myself have >> only used iTunes to for free promotional downloads, when I got a >> stack of >> them a couple of years back. >> >> I would argue that a dollar per song may be what the people in the >> biz >> think they need to maintain a reasonable standard of living. But a >> dollar >> doesn't seem to be a fair price to the consumer for what is >> currently >> offered online. >> >> On another point, I take back my comments on the IKE sponsorship >> debate - >> I guess if fans are happy to cough up what the band asks, then >> that's fair >> enough. I hope they end up with an great album, worthy of their >> aggregate >> contributions. I still wouldn't be happy to pony up that amount >> myself, >> but I shouldn't judge others' sincerity - my apologies all round. >> >> >> >> Bob - 0131 24(51188) >> Systems Developer >> IS DG3 >> >> >> This e-mail is confidential, if you are not the intended recipient, >> do not >> retain/disclose it and please return it to us. We virus scan and >> monitor >> all e-mails but are not responsible for any damage caused by a >> virus/alteration of our e-mail by a third party after sending. >> >> For more information on Standard Life group, visit our website >> http://www.standardlife.com/ >> >> Standard Life plc (SC286832), Standard Life Assurance Limited* >> (SC286833) >> and Standard Life Employee Services Limited (SC271355) are all >> registered >> in Scotland at Standard Life House, 30 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH1 >> 2DH. >> *Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. 0131 >> 225 >> 2552. Calls may be recorded/monitored. Standard Life group includes >> Standard Life plc and its subsidiaries. >> >> >> >> --------------------------------- >> You snooze, you lose. Get messages ASAP with AutoCheck >> in the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. >> > > > -- > > ______________________________________________________ > > Great songs @ > > www.myspace.com/daviddoll > www.last.fm/music/David+Doll > www.daviddoll.com