Stealing for a better tomorrow

Well, the world has finally proven that crime does pay, if perpetrated on a grand enough scale. The dedicated, hardworking thieves of today have put forth millions of man-hours over the past four years and it has finally paid off. CDs are going on a permanent sale.\nAccording to a press release issued by the Universal Music Group last Wednesday the prices of their music CDs will be drastically cut from $18.98 manufacturer's suggested retail price to $12.98 for most albums. And more importantly, the prices of yesteryear won't take years to arrive. If all goes according to the announced plan, you'll see $13 price tags by Oct. 1.\nOf course the main reason the industry is now in this mess is its resistance to change. According to the Recording Industry Association of America music was worth $14.6 billion in 1999. With that kind of cash it's understandable that executives would be cautious about changing anything. However, 1999 also saw the world's premier electronic venue for screwing corporate America come into being -- Napster. After several years of abuse, 2002 pulled only $12.6 billion, losing more than $2 billion. They've lost a substantial chunk of change because of us, congratulations.\nUnfortunately for them, it will be hard playing catch-up. These days, they also have to compete with low-cost digital alternatives, like the Apple Music Store, which sells singles for a buck a song. If the recording industry had used technology to its advantage and sold music digitally from the beginning, it would be faring much better right now.\nInstead, leaders dropped every possible ball imaginable and are now left with only one option: appeal to the customers. But is it too little to late?\nEven if there are industry-wide price reductions, $13 is still a far cry from $0. We've created unlimited access to free music, why stop now? True, the decrease will definitely boost sales, but by how much? There are probably many would-be pirates that would gladly pay a decent price in exchange for excellent quality songs and easy downloading, but the majority of us have become too enamored with free music to let a $5 price decrease draw out our wallets from our pockets.\nRegardless of how well UMG's plan will work, it certainly is a great deal for those still willing to pay (a novel concept) for music. Unfortunately, it's a terrible deal for the retail sellers. In order to afford the cutback, UMG is also removing promotional subsidies paid out to retailers for product placement, according to Friday's New York Times. Retailers depend heavily on these subsidies as part of their income, and this move could turn their bottom line into a downward spiral.\nBut, this was going to happen anyway. Now that it is possible to distribute music digitally, thereby completely removing all shipping and handling costs, music is destined to become a completely digital product. If the music industry learns from their previous mistake and follows Apple's lead into a completely digital realm it might just stand a chance. Investing R&D money into file formats that keep products from being distributed several times would certainly improve the likelihood of long-term survival. \nWhoever stays afloat long enough will be forced to do this eventually, so I suggest you enjoy the freebies while you still can.