I’ve written before about why I think the music industry is in such disarray, and yesterday I came across this Denver Post article (link via Brad deLong) which sums it up as well as anything I’ve seen, starting with the opening:
The best-selling “Chicago” movie soundtrack is available on CD starting at $13.86.
The actual movie, with the soundtrack songs included, of course, plus additional goodies ranging from deleted musical numbers to the director’s interview and a “making-of” feature, can be had for precisely $2.12 more.
Therein lies the problem for a critically wounded music recording industry: The “Chicago” CD looks like a rip-off, and the DVD looks like a steal.
Bingo. I could not agree more. Go read it and see for yourself.
On an interesting side note, Bruce Sterling has declared the DVD to be one of ten technologies that deserve to die (it’s number 10, so go on to page two of the article to see why). A free registration is required, but that’s an improvement over the Technology Review‘s recent policies of only allowing subscribers to view online articles.
You pinged a post I did a week or so ago; that post was about the music industry. A friend just commented on it with a link which explains the music industry from the inside out. I’ll not vouch for the accuracy of the numbers, but it’s pretty revealing if accurate.