From: rkl@csc.liv.ac.uk (Richard Lloyd)
Newsgroups: rec.music.cd
Subject: UK CD prices hit the roof / Why not swap with US friends ?
Date: 9 Sep 92 15:04:59 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Liverpool University

In article <43422@skye.dcs.ed.ac.uk>, awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford) writes:
> Once again the UK record companies have decided it's time to hike the price
> of CDs up. It seems only a couple of years since full price was just
> #11.49-#11.99 (still expensive compared to the US but bearable) but this
> new increase seems to make the bottom level of full price #13.49 with many
> titles going for #14.49.

Actually, the price crept up to two stages: 12.49 pounds has been around since
about the start of 1992 and they've just bumped it up to 12.99 pounds in most
stores now. Above that and you're getting overcharged by far.

> So what's their excuse this time?

Greed. Pure and simple. The record companies know that anyone with any sense
buys CDs rather than tape or vinyl (to avoid having to buy a second copy when
the first one inevitably wears out), so they are looking to milk the market
at every opportunity.

> The forthcoming DCC? This is a possibility.

Pre-recorded DCC will be marketed AT THE SAME PRICE as CDs in the UK ! This is
why Mark Knopfler just pulled out Dire Straits from the DCC launch (along with
the reduced royalty rate fiasco). BTW, only the ill-informed would buy DCC over
Sony's Mini Disk, because DCC has only one advantage over Mini Disk - the deck
can play old audio cassette tapes. HOWEVER, the deck cannot RECORD on old
cassette tapes, so the backwards compatibility issue is a joke. I'd recommend
the public to boycott DCC until the price comes down and the decks can record
on old audio cassette tapes. If this leaves the format floundering, then so
be it.

> And whatever happened to all those fine words about the high price of CDs
> being so that the labels could continue to support up and coming bands?

I never heard that before, but if you believe that sort of talk from the
b*****d record companies, then you'll believe anything :-)

> The solution? Well, I have no intention of paying a penny over #12 for a
> CD.

I'm currently not paying over 10 pounds for a UKCD - no-one else should either
because 9.99 pounds is its "natural" price point, IMHO. I wait for sales or
buy albums from independent stores (often 7.99 or 8.99 pounds for the CD
album if you catch their special offers).

>So it's discount mail order and stuff bought by friends in the US for
> me in future. Here's hoping the major labels get what they deserve.

I do a lot of Translantic swapping with friends in the US and Canada. Check
this out:

David Bowie's "Scary Monsters" CD: 14.49 pounds (29 dollars) in Liverpool's
HMV store.

The same disc from Noteworthy in the US: 10.82 dollars.

Can you spell R-I-P-O-F-F ?

My tips for UK people considering swapping discs with US contacts:

* Mark the package "Small Packet" and keep it under 2kg in weight.
* Mark it as a "gift" on the green customs form.
* Search out cheap CD singles (Liverpool has plenty at 99p and 1.99 pounds) and
  send a batch of them to the US. CD singles are like gold dust in the US and
  your US friend will be very grateful.
* Ask for CD albums in return. I even ask for albums that are the SAME in UK
  and US form because they are half the price in the US.
* Try and roughly balance the costs in both directions to avoid awkward things
  like International Money Orders.

Richard K. Lloyd, 
Computer Science Dept.,   JANET     : rkl@uk.ac.liverpool.compsci
Liverpool University,     Internet  : rkl@csc.liv.ac.uk
Merseyside, England,    Q: "What's the world's fastest home micro ?"
Great Britain.          A: "The Archimedes A3000. 4 MIPS for under 800 pounds."
Xref: sparky rec.music.cd:6452 rec.music.misc:23229