McDonald's rock: Is it downloading, or does the music simply suck?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 07:28:28 -0400
> From: Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz () optonline net>
> Subject: McDonald's rock: Is it downloading, or does the music simply suck?
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Interesting article on CBS Marketwatch on why CD sales are slipping:
> McDonald's rock.
>
> I'm in the middle of assembling a major research  piece on music
> downloading, and I couldn't agree more with this thought. If the
> quality of your product stinks, don't be surprised if people don't buy
> it. I call it the "insipid boy band factor."
>
> Here's a terrific quote from Lee Abrams, chief programming officer at
> XM Satellite Radio:
>
> "There are periods of lull, where really there's no major statements
> being made, music tends to become very corporate, very McDonald's rock,
> all the same, and right now we're in a period of musical lull," Abrams
> said. "And I mean, every indicator is there
>
> The article "CD sales decline -- Is quality a factor? Industry experts:
> Album quality may be one issue" is here:
> http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?guid=%7B3F08CBE9-2416- 
> 42CB-A7FA-12D8D4471141%7D&siteid=myyahoo&dist=myyahoo
>
> Another good quote:
>
> "Some industry observers wonder, however, to what extent there has been
> a drop in the artistic quality of albums, and how much of a factor that
> has been in the digital era. In 2002, CD album sales fell 7.1 percent
> from the previous year, to 649.5 million, led by a 17.7 percent drop in
> R&B sales, a 15.2 percent dip in metal, a 6.4 percent slide in rap and
> a 4.4 percent decline in alternative. One thing that moves many people
> to seek digital downloads is that they only want two or three songs off
> a given CD, and are reluctant to pay $20 for several songs they won't
> listen to"
>
> The whole article is worth reading . . .
>
>
> Barry L. Ritholtz
> Market Strategist
> Maxim Group
> britholtz at maximgrp dot com
> (212) 895-3614
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> The Big Picture:  A blog of capital markets, geopolitics, with a dash
> of film!
> http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/

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