Download have no effect on CD sales

It appears that music sharing and downloads have no effect on CD sales according to reasearch from Harvard business school, a copy of which can be found here.

Of course the record companies disagree siting their own reasearch (which they funded...)

 

Can't say its all that surprising. Releasing lots of crap music is gonna have a bigger hit on sales, but the majors need a better excuse to give their shareholders for shoddy performance than that.

 

I'd have thought it did have an effect........... in that people are discovering new music, and thus buying MOre!

 

That's what I would have thought - I usually go and buy a CD if I hear some tracks and like them...

 

agreed.

as you may know, i am only buying vinyl from this day on. so its at least £10 a record.
if artists and record companies want people to be honourable and not download material (which IS theft) then they should'nt allow albums which are shxt to be released. but then how would they make any money?
i got broadband to assist my downloading and to be honest i can't be arsed. 80% of the time i get no real idea of the recordings fidelity so i would not base my purchase on it!
and people who could care less about hifi will download whatever the quality.

the battle is won and lost

 

I see it as helping the music industry, because you get to hear the music that may not be played on the radio so much, liking it and then buying it. Also if your not sure whether to buy an album or not, download it, and "try before you buy" kind of thing, MP3 is no subsitute for CD's, no matter what bit rate you record it at, but its fine for trying an album out. Can't see the harm in that myself.

 

So you only buy something based on the quality of the recording? Not the quality of the music itself?

Also, though I MOself have said (many many times), that I'm now buying MOre music due to being able to hear MOre music through p2p and such........ I wonder if saying that this is the general case, and that it's not effecting sales etc..... is just what I/we'd like to believe!

Those who don't take this "hifi" side of things quite as serious as us (eg... the majority of people), will as muffinman says, no doubt be happy to just rip discs full of mp3s with no intention of buying the actual product. This must have an effect on sales.

I think part of me though likes the idea of this. The industry is being aimed MOre and MOre at quick hit music. And the target audience is probably the one who's using p2p MOst!!!

The fall of the majors, and the growth of self proMOtion and such, where the potential of the net if embraced and used rather than seen as a threat, can only be good! Bring music back to everyone!

 

Interesting points. IMHO people are a bit unrealistic to expect that they could just keep picking unknown teenagers and then turn them into the next big thing and everyone is a millionaire by just recording one or two 60 minutes CDs.

Since CDs are not as lucrative as it is before how musicians make money? How musician have in the past makes money before CD was invented? How about people start by getting some lesson and learn how to sing, play an instrument well and maybe even compose better songs first. Then go out and play in many small gigs to learn the craft of performing to an audience? Then if they are better at it maybe people will attend their concerts.

Problem with pop music is they forgot some way down the line that music is a craft. Natural talent is born but even the exceptional are nurtured slowly.

 

But who's got the time to be nurtured if being unsuccessful is failing to be a millionaire by the time you're 20 (this counts for things other than music too, e.g. sport)?

 

MO! wrote:

no.

but being a hifi snob i find duff recordings a chore to listen to. this heavily colours my opinion of the 'recording ' and that is why i will not buy based on it.

sorry if i allowed you to think i will only buy records which sound nice. how stupid would that be?