A Little Hypocrisy?

I would be the last to defend the price of CD's, not that I buy all that many anymore. But, Tok20000, and with all due respect, when you say "HOWEVER, when you break it all down, a record production company is marking CDs up way higher than Audio manufacturers are.", I have to ask you if this opinion would hold if you consider the realm of cables and interconnects. Talk about mark-up. Even the dealers I know think it's ludicrous. There is gouging aplenty in all areas of audio (and elsewhere, for that matter).

I believe that you will find the general conscensus to be the same.

We don't mind paying more for equipment (in which we consider to be of fine quality), meals, clothing and possibly even automobiles (in many cases)this also includes high quality recordings. Personally, I would have no problem paying $20 for a quality recording. However, most of what they offer us is trash. Thus, you are comparing apples and Turnips.

Happy Listening,

Damon

Ok, I will admit that audio cables may be more marked up (or on par with CDs) than CDs.

I was mainly referring to electronical components. The stuff the post is initially referring to: $5k CDP, $10k amp.

Cables themselves do cost very very little to produce in many instances. However, many cable companies swear that their high end cables cost lots of R&D to produce.

My 2C

KF

I think it's because you're paying the music industry machine, not the artist. As noted above, a CD is worth pennies, it's the intellectual property on it that is valuable. When you pay a band for their music, you feel good, because you are giving money to the intellectual property owner. When you buy a CD at the Wherehouse, you feel crappy because you're paying both the Wherehouse and the industry weenies getting rich off the band's talent, neither of which contributed to the music in any way.

I've never felt ripped off or price-hesitant during any CD purchase where I bought directly from the band at a music festival (for instance).

Another reason I would cite is that audio components are one stop shopping. You save up for your new toy and you buy it and it lasts you a good long while. CD's are a recurring expense (for most people), which tend to collect the majority of the bitchin' (gas prices, movie prices, etc.).

I purchase CD's directly from a distributer. My cost: $5 to $6 per disc. It's not the record companies marking up the disc it's the retail outlet. Circuit City sells CD's for $9.99 and they are making a 100% profit. So, when you go into a store to buy a CD for $19.99 take my advice and lube up in the parking lot because your about to get f______d.

P.S. royalties for artist range between 2-15% of the price the distributor pays. About 0.10 to $0.90.