RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

I was getting professional duplication/printing (multi-color on disc) 
for <$2/disc in 1995, as long as I was doing 1000 CDs. "Mastering" is 
something where you get what you pay for, pretty much.

The cost of studio time has decreased somewhat, primarily because there 
are so many "prosumer" home-studios driving down the "going rate" among 
bands that don't believe that a talented engineer with quality gear is 
worth paying extra for.

The cost of "doing business" for touring bands (gas, food, lodging) has 
increased substantially, however.

Most of us would be willing to pay a *lot* more for a CD that we love 
than for a crappy CD that we wind up listening to twice. If you've just 
seen a band that totally blew you away, and you didn't know them well 
enough to own their CD before the show, then you'd probably happily pay 
$15.

On the other hand, while I don't keep a running tally of the merch at 
shows, how often are the CDs priced above $10? I kinda feel like this 
whole discussion has been predicated on a flawed premise.

If the CDs are $15 at the show (when/if that actually occurs) then does 
that affect your impression of the band, including how good you felt the 
music was? I'm fascinated by the intersection of art & commerce, and how 
one can influence the other.

Ross

matty wrote:
> Yeah, but the first blank CDs were ~$40/each and now they're a nickel. Now 
> you can get professional mastering/duplication/printing for <$2/disc, you 
> could DYI-it for probably <$0.50/disc.
>
> On the other hand, minimum wage is up from $3.35 to a whopping $5.15, so 
> we're rolling in dough.
>
> But $12 for CDs in the 80's was a huge ripoff. Now $12 - $14 feels okay to 
> me if the disc is good, but it's too much to do a lot of speculative buying. 
> I'll go out on a limb much more often in the $8/used bin or especially the 
> $5 - $10 range buying directly from a band at a show. A band selling a CD 
> for $15 at a show is usually a turn-off for me, I'm positively more likely 
> to buy the $10 disc and give them gas money or couch space than do anything 
> if the disc is $15 or more.
>
> -Matt
>
>
> "grady" <grady AT ibiblio.org> wrote in message 
> 43F29A96.50302 AT ibiblio.org">news:43F29A96.50302 AT ibiblio.org...
> > I was paying $12 for CDs back in the 80's. I was also paying 95 cents a
> > gallon for gas, and $4 for lunch. I didn't go to many shows because I
> > lived in bumfuck nowhere.
> >
> > In the 90s the average price of a show at the club now owned by you was
> > around $6. I was still paying $12 for CDs. Lunch had gone up to $6.
> >
> > It's now 2006. The average price of a show at the club now owned by you
> > is $8 (not counting Karaoke night & whatnot).
> >
> > You're apparently still paying $12 for CDs.
> >
> > A gallon of gas is now $2.40 or so. I paid $7.50 for lunch today.
> >
> > xo
> >
> > Ross
>
>
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