The death of the Music Industry

[Andyman]

Well college dorms aren't' exactly the most spacious of abodes. Also what constitutes a real stereo. If it's Big silver receiver with a TT and massive speakers, than I'm not shocked. I know a lot of people my age (18-24) that care about audio but use a nice dedicated audio card in there PC that is then fed into a nice headphone amp powering a set of decent cans. I would honestly consider that a nice stereo in the same way that I consider my massive rig a nice stereo.

Obviously you missed the 1970s....

Well you can't tell me that with the availability to put all you music on a single portable device (mp3player, laptop, ect) that you would be dying to store a bunch of compact discs. Times are changing yes but how is than any different that college kids in the late 80's abandoning records for CD's cause they were portable and took up less space.

I'm not debating that point; I'm agreeing with it. CDs are dead

True but all it does is reinforce that the audio market is moving toward a completely digital format as apposed to a physical media and as such it show the reluctance of the industry to make a significant change.

Yes and no.

The audio market IS moving to digital, but the SALES dollars aren't following for 2 reasons:
1) Folks are copying or file sharing, no doubt about it.
2) They're buying more less expensive single downloads than full "albums" that was shown in the analysis link.

But "NO" as the industry IS making a change, it's just having a huge problem with the ease of which music can be copied/shared these days. Go to Amazon or other online retailers and there's full albums or $0.99 song downloads all over the place.Can't get any easier than that.

Back in the day one had to tape in real time; today one can copy a CD in .WAV format with all the info in a matter of minutes. And anyone with a DVD/CD drive can do it. No need to buy a deck, get the right tape, set VU levels and que up the tracks. Just drop it in and hit the copy button. Or log on to some sharing site online and go to town.

It's the accessibility issue that's hurting them, along with a poor economy limiting discretionary expenditures.

 

[313guy]

When I moved the elder into her college dorm, there wasn't a real stereo in sight, everybody was packing their music on their laptops.

This one hits close to home. My son was in town from U-M last week for spring break. (I won't say he was home, since I didn't see that much of him). I asked him if anyone in his dorm had an old school system. He shrugged it off and said not that he knew of. Well, when I was in college 30+ years ago, every dorm room, regardless of the space constraints, had some kind of system. You got to know who had the loud/good ones just with a trip down the hall.
Music back then was more of a collective experience. You sat around, put on the Monkees or Abba or Floyd and passed the .....time. Now it is more private and listened to via earbuds and Ipod docks. I guess the times they are a changin'.

I remember going to Office Depot back in '99 or so to buy a new CD drive for my PC. The box claimed it was great for ripping. Naive me had to ask the 20 something clerk what that meant. After he explained the term, he added that one day soon, music would be burned onto a chip and optical media would be obsolete. I nodded, smiled and thought to myself, yeah right. The kid was a prophet and I didn't realize it.

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

Obviously you missed the 1970s....

So because the 00's aren't like the 70's that means no one has a "good" stereo. I find that to be a bit close minded. Also how many college age kids in the 70's had a massive stereo as apposed to say an all in one yorx, sounddesign, or alegro all in one. I know there is the romanticized version of the 70's as a time where there was no "bad" music and every one had a massive stereo. When the reality was there was just as much "bad" music and the overall population bough cheap all in one stereo's. Just because you and maybe some friends were into Hi-Fi in the 70's doesn't mean the whole world was.

 

[Tom Brennan]

Go to Amazon or other online retailers and there's full albums or $0.99 song downloads all over the place.Can't get any easier than that.

Nearly all my music purchases are downloads from Amazon, usually of old singles or tunes I like from albums but I don't want the entire album. Like "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga; I love the song but I'm not interested in an entire album of her music. Maybe I should be but frankly I have have so much old music to listen to new stuff doesn't get much attention.

I also listen to a great deal of music from Youtube. I have a bluray machine that streams to the TV and the hi-fi. Sitting on the couch watching Youtube on a nice TV and listening through the hi-fi is swell.

 

[Andyman]

So because the 00's aren't like the 70's that means no one has a "good" stereo.

I didn't say that at all; I just said you must have missed the 1970s

I find that to be a bit close minded. Also how many college age kids in the 70's had a massive stereo as apposed to say an all in one yorx, sounddesign, or alegro all in one.

Actually, pretty much most of them. But you've pretty much already have made up your mind, so suit yourself...

I know there is the romanticized version of the 70's as a time where there was no "bad" music and every one had a massive stereo. When the reality was there was just as much "bad" music and the overall population bough cheap all in one stereo's. Just because you and maybe some friends were into Hi-Fi in the 70's doesn't mean the whole world was.

Sorry, but you're way off the beam here, but if me and my buddies were the guys who drove the huge proliferation of audio gear in the late 1960s and early 1970s, well, shucks, I don't know what to say...

 

[slow_jazz]

Sure was a lot of fun going into Stereoland and drooling at the McIntosh's..

Today's kids have many more options, video games, music is not a top priority.

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

Actually, pretty much most of them. But you've pretty much already have made up your mind, so suit yourself...

So in 1977 you average college student that made about 2-3 dollars (minimum wage was 2.30) was spending about 1000 dollars on a stereo. I'm sorry but I really don't buy that, especially cause I'm a 22 year old college student that make minimum wage. Plus even a cheap Yorx took up a fair amount of space.

Sorry, but you're way off the beam here, but if me and my buddies were the guys who drove the huge proliferation of audio gear in the late 1960s and early 1970s, well, shucks, I don't know what to say...

I don't really get what you're saying here. I never said you were the only one's I said you were part of a minority. Cause if you weren't and every one was paying massive money for a high-end Sansui/Pioneer/Marantz/Onkyo/Akia system than we would be tripping over second hand gear. It was (and still is a decent sized hobby) but it was not something that every one was in on.

 

[Dr Tinear]

So in 1977 you average college student that made about 2-3 dollars (minimum wage was 2.30) was spending about 1000 dollars on a stereo. I'm sorry but I really don't buy that, especially cause I'm a 22 year old college student that make minimum wage. Plus even a cheap Yorx took up a fair amount of space. ...

My 1977 dorm system wasn't too far off that $1000 number.

B&O S-60 speakers: $480
Dynaco SCA-80Q amp kit: $135
Dynaco AF-6 tuner kit: $165
Dynaco CAB-2D walnut cabinet: $25
AR XA turntable: $96
Add-on antiskate for the AR: $17
Micro-Acoustics 282e cartridge: $53

That adds up to $971. With the shipping charges I paid for the turntable and the Dynaco products, the total was a bit over $1000. I knew any number of people who had considerably more money than that tied up in their dorm systems, including one EE student who built a Dynaco Stereo 400 power amp to drive his Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers.

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

My 1977 dorm system wasn't too far off that $1000 number.

B&O S-60 speakers: $480
Dynaco SCA-80Q amp kit: $135
Dynaco AF-6 tuner kit: $165
Dynaco CAB-2D walnut cabinet: $25
AR XA turntable: $96
Add-on antiskate for the AR: $17
Micro-Acoustics 282e cartridge: $53

That adds up to $971. With the shipping charges I paid for the turntable and the Dynaco products, the total was a bit over $1000. I knew any number of people who had considerably more money than that tied up in their dorm systems, including one EE student who built a Dynaco Stereo 400 power amp to drive his Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers.

But where you and they the norm. I'm not saying that you wouldn't lay that kind of bread down. Hell I've spent about that on my rig. What I was getting at is that the average college kid was and is spending his limited cash on other things as well and as such a large number would probably have bought a much cheaper all in one. Which in it's self would have been large and taken up more space than a more streamlined headphone setup that I was talking about earlier.

 

[Sandy G]

Oh, where I went to college-University of Richmond, Virginia, 1975-79-having a fancy stereo was as big or maybe even bigger status symbol than a car was...And most of the rooms were tiny, and/or ridiculously shaped...I had a nice Yammy system from '77 on, but never brought it to school w/me, 'cause I didn't want to risk it getting trashed...Funny, I don't remember ever hearing about anybody's system getting ripped off, there sure were LOTS of 'em to choose from if you were so inclined...

 

[Andyman]

Well, maybe we were part of a minority in the strictest sense, but it was a pretty big one...

This one hits close to home. My son was in town from U-M last week for spring break. (I won't say he was home, since I didn't see that much of him). I asked him if anyone in his dorm had an old school system. He shrugged it off and said not that he knew of. Well, when I was in college 30+ years ago, every dorm room, regardless of the space constraints, had some kind of system. You got to know who had the loud/good ones just with a trip down the hall.
Music back then was more of a collective experience. You sat around, put on the Monkees or Abba or Floyd and passed the .....time. Now it is more private and listened to via earbuds and Ipod docks. I guess the times they are a changin'.

So there's another who had a similar experience to mine.

I'm not sure why you are so set that what I'm telling you isn't a good representation of how it was back then. I was there; you weren't, and I know what went on in those dorm rooms. FWIW, why don't you ask around to other folks who were in school back then and see what they say?

Audio WAS a big discretionary purchase then and many had better audio than cars. Plus we weren't spending money on cell phones and video games; all that could be directed to LPs and concert tickets.

Take the time to talk to some folks who went to college back then, not just here, because we're a skewed sample, and I think you'll be surprised at how many guys had "good" stereos. Maybe not $1000 rigs, but real receivers, turntables, speakers and maybe a cassette or even a reel to reel if you had some $$.

It's no romanticizing; it's the way it was.

Really...:yes:

 

[Dr Tinear]

But where you and they the norm. I'm not saying that you wouldn't lay that kind of bread down. Hell I've spent about that on my rig. What I was getting at is that the average college kid was and is spending his limited cash on other things as well and as such a large number would probably have bought a much cheaper all in one. Which in it's self would have been large and taken up more space than a more streamlined headphone setup that I was talking about earlier.

$1000+ dorm stereos were very common at Michigan State when I was an undergrad. On my dorm floor, almost everyone had a component stereo system of some type. All-in-one compact systems were much rarer. Most of the speakers that people brought to school were at least as big as my B&Os; the most popular choices were the Large Advent and comparably-sized speakers from EPI and Genesis.

 

[Scuzzer]

Actually, pretty much most of them.

$1000+ dorm stereos were very common at Michigan State when I was an undergrad.

Interesting. By the time I went to Purdue in the early/mid 80s there were very, very few decent stereos anywhere. Mostly what you found were the extremely cheap all in one units that would be laughed at around here if someone posted them in a score thread. The BOTL Pioneer separates I owned were pretty much the only silver faced things I saw.

 

[Tom Brennan]

Take the time to talk to some folks who went to college back then, not just here, because we're a skewed sample, and I think you'll be surprised at how many guys had "good" stereos. Maybe not $1000 rigs, but real receivers, turntables, speakers and maybe a cassette or even a reel to reel if you had some $$.

Not just college guys; guys in the building trades often had nice stereos too. Lots of boilermakers had hi-fis and the older guys still do. Yeah, when you got in the apprenticeship and into good money (I started as a boilermaker apprentice at $4.60 an hour in 1970, that was good dough and seemed like all the money in the world to a guy 18-21 years old) you'd buy a new car and a new stereo.

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

Well, maybe we were part of a minority in the strictest sense, but it was a pretty big one...



So there's another who had a similar experience to mine.

I'm not sure why you are so set that what I'm telling you isn't a good representation of how it was back then. I was there; you weren't, and I know what went on in those dorm rooms. FWIW, why don't you ask around to other folks who were in school back then and see what they say?

Audio WAS a big discretionary purchase then and many had better audio than cars. Plus we weren't spending money on cell phones and video games; all that could be directed to LPs and concert tickets.

Take the time to talk to some folks who went to college back then, not just here, because we're a skewed sample, and i think you'll be surprised at how many guys had "good" stereos. Maybe not $1000 rigs, but real receivers, turntables, speakers and maybe a cassette or even a reel to reel if you had some $$.

It's no romanticizing; it's the way it was.

Really...:yes:

Ok this is the last thing I'm going to say on this. I have talked to quite a few people for that era (people I work with, my Dad, and my Uncles) and while yes the percentage of people buying a nice stereo was larger than to day (less things to divert funds) they were by no means the majority. My dad can name like 4 friends that spent money on real a real nice system the rest just went to wards and bought what was on sale. My Uncles can name a few friends that spend the bread on a good stereo but conversely my uncles all bought cheap all in one rack systems. The story is the same for the people I worked with. I was not saying that no body spent real money on a stereo back than I'm just saying that every room was not filled with a massive high end stereo. I also wasn't saying that you were romanticizing but to say everyone was into this hobby is something I find hard to believe. I'm also not arguing that you knew quite a few people that were into stereo and spent some big buck on it but on that same note you can't tell me and expect me to believe that you were in every one dorm room. If that were true the amount of money and the amount of gear would be enormous and there would be significantly more gear on the secondhand market than there is. I mean lets say the average school had about 2,000 students. If all of them spend 1G on a stereo that would come to 2 million dollars per school. Where did all that gear go, if as you said every one had a massive stereo.


It would be like me saying that because because 85% of all college dorms have a video game console (this is an approximation) in it. That all 85% of them are hardcore gamers because the group of people I hang out with are big into games.

 

[Andyman]

Just forget it...

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

Just forget it...

Done.

 

[myu701]

It's certainly not the death of music, but more the death of musicians becoming super rich from their profession. The digital download certainly changed the game. I saw a chart somewhere that showed an extremely large percentage of music revenue loss due to pirated downloads. And now people are more than happy to pick a few songs they like and put them on their iPod, instead of getting the whole CD and having to rip it. You'd think that used CD sales would be enormously profitable, but they're really not. For someone like me who wants a FLAC version of music, I have to go that way (Amazon doesn't offer it); and besides, it's certainly much cheaper to get a perfectly playable CD for $3 shipped and wait a few days for it to arrive. Perhaps that's another part of it, the instant gratification epidemic entrenched in the younger generation. "I want that song NOW on my iPod--can't wait a few days."

Anyway, the great part of the digital age is that recording music is far more accessible than ever before. Which means people that REALLY love making music just for the sake of it, not trying to become a "rock star", can produce music that we can get access to and enjoy. Of course, there's also the art of audio engineering... I really have to wonder just how far the "home grown" recording can go. Is the task of an audio engineer mastering music much easier now? I'll have to bet that a professionally mastered recording will sound superior... but then the question is, is it more of a luxury at this point, whereby a fairly competent hobbyist can do a more than acceptable job?

But yeah, I'd say the days of multi-million dollar music artists is now past. Those that make it will be few and far between, and usually some kind of contrived mutant of media-pop marketing like LADY GAGA.


It's interesting to see what people have to say about their college life experiences with audio equipment. I think a lot of it was very circumstantial. I went to an enormous school in central MA and you could easily find plenty of people with crappy RTT (Radio/Tape/Turntable) combined units. But then in some floors of some dorms, there would be guys with very nice stacks of separates. I think it was partly due to some students finding the dorm secure enough to risk bringing their treasured gear with them. But overall, I'd venture to say that although the guys into separates were a minority, they were a larger percentage than what you see today. I have a couple of friends with kids in college and I asked them about this... one of them knew of ONE guy with vintage gear. And with people who appreciate fine music reproduction, he was pretty popular. But everybody else had at least one iPod and any with speakers were focused on playing their iPod through it with a dock and a cheap amplifier. There's probably something to do with the lower level disposable income these days, but I wonder how much it would change once the economy recovers. Maybe just bigger iPod ready receivers.

 

[js1138]

I'm 65. I remember a time before AR and KLH. I have one of the first pairs of Bose 901s ever produced.

I've never known anyone personally who had what I would call a decent audio system. I've known people who had a fair amount of money. Enough to have BMWs and five bedroom houses. My brother-in-law has a Kurtzweil piano, but not a single piece of what I would call audiophile gear.

 

[Condorsat]

...