Boston’s live music scene may be thriving, but local music retail outlets have seen sales decrease recently as more customers turn to their computers for new tunes.
Even though lawsuits from the Recording Industry Association of America have shut down the popular music file-sharing servers Napster, AudioGalaxy and Morpheus, many other mp3 servers are still alive and have been taking their toll on Boston businesses, according to local record store employees.
‘Sales during the Christmas season were down 30 percent, if not more, from the year before,’ said Dave Nardone, an employee of local chain Newbury Comics who has worked at the Newbury Street flagship store for more than three years.
According to the RIAA’s 2002 year-end reports, compact disc shipments were down 8.9 percent for the year, from 882 million units shipped in 2001 to 803 million units last year.
While sales of music CDs have slumped, sales of recordable CDs and blank media have skyrocketed, according to a 22-year-old employee of the Virgin Megastore on Newbury Street who wished to be identified as ‘Bob.’
The price drop on compact disc burners and more widespread, high-speed Internet access has facilitated CD piracy. Some fans record pirated versions before an album is officially released.
‘If it’s a band I love, chances are I’ll buy the record when it comes out. The only reason I’ll burn it or download it is out of anticipation for the record,’ said College of Communication junior Jim Campolongo. ‘But if it’s a band I haven’t yet heard before, I’ll burn or download some songs just to see what I like. If I like it, I’ll buy it. If not, I gave them a shot.’
Promotional copies sent to press outlets and radio stations before an album is released can be uploaded on a computer and distributed across file-sharing networks. To discourage this practice, labels like Arista have begun to release promotional copies that cannot be played on a computer. Rock band The White Stripes, part of Virgin Records’ V2 label, only issued promotional copies of their new release, Elephant, on vinyl.
Many record labels have started to add more bonus features to the discs, including previously unreleased songs, videos and bonus DVDs. Other bands, such as Jimmy Eat World and New Found Glory, offer fans exclusive web content that can only be viewed when an original copy of the CD is played on a computer connected to the internet.
Some labels have also continued to slash suggested prices on new releases and popular CDs to flush out business.
“A lot of labels are cutting prices down as low as $5 for a full-length. People will buy the record because it’s so cheap, like what Arista did with Avril Lavigne,’ said Amy Tso, a college radio representative for Universal Records. ‘She ended up selling a ton of records and it ended up paying off in the long run. Now all of he labels are looking to do that.’
Local music stores also have their own strategies to boost sales. Virgin is considering offering new technology that allows customers to download music directly to their computers for a fee. It also runs sales, places special orders, features in-store performances and offers its own free sampler CDs to customers.
‘We’ve been compensating with the sales of non-music accessories, such as T-shirts, trading cards and action figures,’ said Newbury Comics’ Nardone. ‘Those are the kinds of things that computers will never be able to replace. Used CDs have been a major factor as well. Since we don’t buy them from a distributor we’re making a good chunk of money off them.’
Nardone said Newbury Comics has raised prices on used CDs by two to three dollars in the past year.
‘Customers don’t seem to mind as much because paying $11.99 for a used Journey Greatest Hits CD is still better than buying it new for $15.99,’ Nardone said.
Stores that only sell used CDs attribute a decrease in sales to factors other than downloaded music.
‘The smaller, more independent, used stores are not taking quite as big of a hit from downloaded music,’ said Alex Daniel, 26, an employee of used album store CD Spins. ‘We’ve seen our sales decrease more from the state of the economy and this never-ending winter than from people burning CDs.’