Hi!

When I arrived in Madrid there was a fact that surprised me a lot. I could see everywhere in the streets lots and lots of people selling loads of pirate CD's.

Two CD for just 1000pts ($5) whereas in a normal shop, one CD is about 2500pts ($12,5)!

What is your opinion about this subject?.

I think that in this industry there are too many intermediary because the artist earn less than an 8% of all the sells!!!

I understand that they must create the CD, send them all around the world, do marketing on tv, radio, etc but the hike is excessive.
I would buy a original CD if they costed 1000 pts ($5) but nowadays, I buy bootles CD's.

And you?. How much does a origina CD cost in the US?.

totx-

Here in the US, CDs run from around $12 to $20 (for the newest releases).

Ben
pbchamp@intercom.net

Hi totx and Ben.

My take on this is that there are way too many hands (fat cats) getting greased in the production, distribution and marketing of a CD, DVD, etc...

Some musicians have even publicly stated that CDs should be more expensive if you can believe that.

Last I was back in the U.S.A., the newest and hippest stuff was, as Ben has said, $16.99-$19.99 per CD, ouch!

I have a CD recorder at home but would NEVER make illegal copies

I also buy from those illegal street CD sellers (the biggest mafia in Spain these days) since 2 CDs for 6 euros is a killer deal!

Not sure if it is true but I was told a while back by a buddy in the business that the cost of physically producing (the plastic and recording) & distributing a CD is under $1/CD. Even if it costs twice that, the ridiculous retail prices are completely unjustified

As you say totx, if they sold them for 1,000 pesetas (6 Euros or $5.80) I would buy the originals but that is a pipe dream my friend. Too many Hollywood mansions to build

Personally I used to buy the originals of only my favorite groups (U2, R.E.M., Offspring, the Cranberries) because I liked having the booklets but I do not even do that anymore since they have become way too expensive.

By the way, there is a place here in Madrid (Vallecas) that rents CDs so, in theory, one could rent them copy them and even color photocopy the cover artwork and return them and it would cost 140 pesetas (.84 Euros) for the CD that the illegal street vendors sell for 500 pesetas (3 Euros). A virgin CD costs about 90 pesetas (.54 Euros)and the color photocopy is 50 pesetas (.30 Euros) for the front and back cover (but again, that would be illegal )

Just thought I would mention it!

Saludos,
jer...

What has caught my attention recently is when buying authentic CDs from somewhere like Corte Ingles they assume it is a gift. Before they asked if it was a gift, now they assume people only buy real CDs as gifts. Buy asking for it to not be wrapped they give you a very strange look (as if you were trying to use a dodgy card). Buying these bootlegs is now seen as a perfectly normal thing to do. Nobody buys the original, a bootleg is bought and then copied around among friends .

The thing to remember is that the CDs are not mass produced by the guys selling them on the street. Someone has a warehouse full of PCs and colour copiers. He is the real mafioso criminal. They guy on the street is just making enough to eat.

As this thread has already suggested the artist gets very little of the value of the CD but it still hurts when you are robbed. This trend is going to put the smaller artist out of the business, they cannot live on radio time and concert tours. The spanish artists (who seem to be the favorites of the bootleggers) tried to make a stand back in May, I'd like to know if it made a difference. How could we live with ourselves knowing the OT and popstars kids (and OT2, OT3, ...) may end up broke without ever enjoying the Rock n Roll lifestyle they deserve .

Is Madrid the only city to have these bootleg street vendors?. Does anyone have a solution other than the record companies and retailes taking a smaller cut?.

Saludos,

Ian