A Little Hypocrisy?

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.

I buy expensive equipment and cables. I don't like paying $15 for CD that's poorly mastered. I don't mind paying $25 for the same XRCD. If the recording industry could consistently give me good quality at $18 to $20 I would be happy. (I'd be happier still if I could buy really great vinyl at that price)

I would also hazard to note that a place like A'gon is the essence of a competitive market--people pay what they think its worth, or they don't buy it, and if someone values it more, it gets sold to someone else. Contrast that with the retail CD market which has now been judged to be the subject of, effectively, price fixing. I think I'd like a CD market where I was in control of deciding what software was worth how much.

B'sides, getting back to the original quote, I complain about high equipment costs *and* high CD costs all the time. Maybe I just like to complain...

When I read the starting post, I had the same thought as Rdr4b. People complain about audio prices all the time. As always it is funny to watch some of you look at a forest with a microscope, and call yourselves biologists. When you buy a CD, you are not really buying the plastic and aluminum, and Circuit City and Best Buy, I guarantee, are not making money on CDs. From the distributor, a CD costs a store around $9, new releases around $11, but it varies quite a bit. That $16 retail CD has to pay a lot of people. Its the same thing as books.