Newsgroup: it.comp.macintosh
Titolo: [CD] Mah, c'e' da credeci?


Da uno che si chiama La Falce non posso che aspettarmi un taglio...
--
Luca P.©
Tir na nOg agus Tir na mBeo, Tir gan bròn ar bith.
Tà sì i gcéin san iarthar buì, Ar chladach na mara goirme.

 Da uno che si chiama La Falce non posso che aspettarmi un taglio...
Io lo conosco bene, da quando lavoravo in discografia. I tagli lui non
li decide ma li esegue per conto della casa madre canadese, per cui
speriamo in bene; comunque Universal in Italia ha già pubblicato serie
economiche e budget-line a 5, 10 e 15€ come prezzo consigliato, li
avrete già visti nei negozi, con l'etichetta del prezzo ben in vista.
Il ritocco dei prezzi ora riguarderà le nuove uscite, speriamo che anche
gli altri discografici lo seguano.
*************
Allego articolo in English.
*************
Universal Music cuts CD prices
[Canadian Press]
Universal Music Canada is cutting the wholesale and suggested list
prices on CD albums in an effort to win back Internet downloaders who
have complained about high retail prices.
"The consumer has spoken to us that music ˜ in the research that we've
done ˜ has been fairly high-priced and, therefore, they've been feeling
fairly guilt-free about procuring music for free," Randy Lennox, CEO of
Universal Music Canada, said Wednesday.
"Without this, the business would flat-line at best because the
competitive nature of entertainment products is growing --- We feel that
this is an absolute necessity."
Universal, home to Canadian artists Shania Twain, Remy Shand and the 
Tragically Hip, will institute a $14.98 maximum suggested list price on
virtually all of its top line CDs and a $9.99 price tag for developing
new artists.
Mr. Lennox also said the music giant will also start offering music 
downloads in Canada in October from 99 cents a song and $9.99 per album.
"All of our research says even the guys that were taking it for free are
saying, 'You know what? For 99 cents a song, I'm in. At least the record
companies aren't gouging me here,'" Mr. Lennox said.
In the United States, Apple Computer's ITunes service offers Web
downloads for 99 cents (U.S.) a song and $9.99 for most full albums.
The Canadian Record Industry Association says annual sales are down 20
per cent over the last three years. The industry has launched a
cross-country anti-piracy campaign urging consumers not to share music
files because it is illegal and damaging to the record industry.
In the United States, the recording industry has taken a harder line ˜ 
filing lawsuits against individual users who share and download
copyrighted files over the Internet.
Last year, Universal Music Canada removed a series of deductions the
record label was entitled to take from royalties paid to artists for
downloads.
The new contract puts downloaded songs in the same payment category as 
albums, giving artists a 25 per cent higher intake. It also removes a 
clause that would have permitted the label to charge artists packaging
and tech-format fees amounting to about 45 per cent.

 
Altro articolo, riferito al mercato USA:
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Universal Music to Cut CD Prices to Under $13
Wed Sep 3, 6:51 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's largest record
company, on Wednesday said it will cut list prices on compact discs by
as much as 30 percent....
Starting in October, Universal .... will trim its prices on most of its
CDs to $12.98 from its current $16.98-$18.98 range of prices.
"Our research shows that the sweet spot is to sell our records below
$12.98,'said Universal Music president Zach Horowitz. "We're confident
that when we implement this we will get a dramatic and sustained
increase."
Historically, large retailers have sold new CDs at considerably less
than the so-called "manufacturer suggested retail price."
"We expect this will invigorate the music market in North America," said
Doug Morris, the label's chief executive. "This will allow retailers (to
sell) for $10 or less if they so choose."
...
"As people will begin to migrate from illegitimate services, they're
going to be exploring a host of options -- some online and some through
retail," Horowitz said. "We felt that the most important thing we can do
to encourage people to go back into stores is to reduce our prices
dramatically."
Wholesale prices for CDs would decline to $9.09 from $12.02. For a
handful of bigger name artists, wholesale prices would be $10.10 for a
short period of time.
...
The other major labels -- AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music,
Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites)'s BMG, EMI Group Plc (news - web
sites) and Sony Music Group -- declined to comment.