The Sunday New York Times had this interesting article on the price of recorded music. It tracked the relative price of each new recording medium, from vinyl to eight-track to cassette to CD and now to the on-line world, noting that prices often doubled with the introduction of each new medium. The difference, of course, came with the growing standard of 99 cents per song, that Apple seemed to make up but that also seems to have stuck.
Big questions include whether individual track purchase will hurt sales of the CDs on which they live (why buy the cow when you can get a glass of milk?). But more interesting (to me, at least), were the implications about why people bought music, and what environments supported that purchase. Part of the power of Napster was the way it facilitated not just music trade, but also sharing of favorite tracks with like-minded individuals, the ‘dream playlists’ that let listeners flex their curatorial muscles, and the sense of community and connection afforded by the commons.
As one market researcher says in the Times piece:
While it sounds awfully revenue-centric, there are some interesting perspectives in that quote about what arts organizations sell, and what our patrons buy.
