Well of course we know part of the answer to why people don’t buy CDs anymore would be because they have been downloading music. Sure, that is part of it, but haven’t you ever heard somebody buying a CD say “I just wanted to have the actual CD.” There certainly is something different about owning the actual copy of the CD, complete with jewel case and booklet. At least that’s the way I used to feel whenever I bought an album.

Back in the day of actual records, you would buy an album and get so much. Not only did you get the beautiful vinyl disc, but you usually also got a nice booklet complete with pictures, lyrics and sometimes a poster. The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers even came with a cool zipper on the front of the album. When CDs came along, a little of that was lost. Books were still included with the discs, but they weren’t as large and nice as the ones included with records. Today, you’re lucky to even get lyrics with your CD. The last CD I bought included a cover that unfolded into only 2 pages of senseless art.

Sometimes they get it right. Recently I’ve seen a few CDs include a DVD that usually includes videos and other items. When I bought the Ben Folds Live CD, included was a nice DVD of a concert performance. I’d be perfectly willing to spend my money on a CD when stuff like that is included. However, the recording industry seems content continuing to sell us a jewel case and 10 cent disc for $14.

I’m very interested in some of the comments since I posted File Sharing is Not to Blame for Falling Album Sales. The one that really caught my attention was the comment by StevioB.

“The industry tries to guilt people out of file sharing (”You wouldn’t steal a car… You wouldn’t steal a purse…”) How guilty do most of us feel when we see “artists” with over-the-top bling, cars, houses, diamond studded dog collars, and MULTI MILLION dollar contracts that record companies willingly pay. Are they telling me that these folks will suffer from not receiving my .99¢ ?”

This comment made me think of just how much the RIAA cries about the behavior of its own customers. You almost get the feeling that if you do anything digitally with music, the RIAA will take you to court. In contrast to this, I found a site that handled piracy in a very interesting and in my opinion, a more effective way. At Rifftrax, where Mike Nelson sells hilarious tracks you can listen to while watching bad movies, he takes a completely different approach. Check it out here. I find it hilarious the way he pokes fun at becoming a bum if you pirate his work. The main page links to this page with a graphic that says “Didn’t pay for that riff? Make it right!”

Rifftrax gets it! They understand piracy happens, and without making their fans feel like criminals, they say “Hey, if you didn’t pay for that, would you mind paying?” instead of showing a picture of a police officer pointing the finger at you. I have to admit that a friend of mine made CD’s for me with several RiffTrax on them. When I saw that link I realized that I hadn’t paid for any of them. I clicked on it and dropped $20 via PayPal.

Every artist should have one of these “make it right” pages on their web site. The recording industry should have one too. They should embrace the fact that piracy is just going to happen, and simply try to reach out to the honest customers out there that are fully willing to buy a good product from them.

It’s been quite obvious that the recording industry is losing money for quite some time. U.S. album sales have fallen 9.5% in 2007. Every article you read about this blames file sharing networks. How can this be when sales of digital music sales have soared 45%? Not all people with computers know how to use a file sharing network. Even though I am in the technical industry, I can honestly say that half my friends probably don’t even know what a file sharing network is. Many that do know don’t even use file sharing networks to get their tunes. I even buy more music on iTunes now more than I ever did in the day of record stores. If you asked me, file sharing networks are a very small problem for the recording industry. They have bigger problems to fix.

Music sucks

Yes, I’m saying it. Music sucks these days! Bands and groups are often manufactured, and I believe music fans are tired of it. There’s no kid in his garage with a guitar anymore just making music from the heart. Bands and music are made like movies now, to meet a certain demographic. Hardly any of it is worth buying.

People used to be able to find many albums where every song was great. Now you’re lucky to get 3 songs you enjoy listening to on one album. Songs and albums have also gotten shorter. Gone are the days of the 10 minute long epic song. Now the average song seems to be between 2 and 3 minutes long, yet albums still contain only about 10, 12 or sometimes as little as 8 songs.

I listen to my radio

We now live in the age of radio, HD Radio, XM and Sirius. We have many more ways to listen to our music now. We can always find something that we like with all of these different options. People used to buy tapes and CD’s to listen to when nothing good was playing on the radio. With all these options, demand for CD’s just fall to the side.

MTV doesn’t really play music videos anymore

I feel MTV was huge for the recording industry back in the 80’s and 90’s. Everybody was watching MTV for music videos. This was a 24 hour advertisement for the music industry that they have since lost. I believe the best move for the recording industry would be to step up and make their own music video cable channel.

We have cooler things to buy

Video games, robots and software. The music industry has to compete with these things too. We have many more choices when we go to Best Buy to buy things. The music industry has failed to advance and adjust to the demands of the market and make new products available. Halo 3 is just much more cooler to purchase than a CD.

The RIAA’s Attitude

The whole deal with the RIAA crying about losing money and going broke is wearing on consumers. After years of record sales and pretty much raping consumers with high prices, they now cry about losing money. Now the RIAA is even crying about people ripping the music they own. Instead of building relationships with their customers, they bitch about everything they do with their music. This turns many people off and is the reason many people use file sharing networks in the first place.

The constant battle between the RIAA and consumers has got to end. If maybe the recording industry just worked on some of their other problems, they would be able to compensate for lost sales. It’s easier to point the finger and place blame. It’s also why, the recording industry will continue to lose money, because us consumers have better things to spend money on.