six
THE BAIT/
■ATION
THE BATTALION
9 A
Friday, September 5, 2003
ersit) Universal slashes CD prices
ahead L
By Alex Veiga
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
’s editions. “Whc
copies of the ong
know.
tman District Atto
'rest, in an inter
■ LOS ANGELES
■niversal Music Group, whose
■ster of artists includes 50
lent, U2 and Elton John, will
, cut the price of its wholesale
" Cl s and push for a $ 12.98 retail
11 ’ ' l|saiss I * 1C ^ «p on its discs to woo music
any, criminal fans back into record stores,
applicable to a ban: 1 The world’s largest recording
iBmpany hopes retailers, who
istrict attorneyhave suffered as industry-wide
try to seek Di>: lusic sales dropped 31 percent
le last three years, will follow
its lead and pass on the savings
to consumers.
I Universal hopes the actual
Itail price of most of its CDs
lill end up about $10 or less,
comparable to the $9.99 retail
price that music fans enjoyed in
le early 1990s, at the height of
a price war between the record
ing companies.
I “Our new pricing model
lill enable U.S. retailers to
offer music at a much more
appealing price point in com-
fcrison to other entertainment
products,” said Jim Urie, presi-
Bent of Universal Music &
■ideo Distribution. “We are
confident this pricing approach
Bill drive music fans back into
Itail stores.”
I If retailers also drop their
prices, Universal’s move would
lake CDs more competitive
Bith online services.
I It was not immediately clear
Bow retailers would respond to
the move. Company officials
said they had not discussed the
pricing strategy with retailers,
^ho would be notified formally
i Thursday.
Kevin Milligan, vice president
merchandising at Torrance,
alif.-based record retailer
Iherehouse Entertainment Inc.,
stiid he had not received notice
from Universal, but that in gener-
B. the move is good news for
Consumers.
| “Whether it will ultimately
be good news for retail? I think
CD prices may soon drop
Universal Music Group, the world’s largest recording
company, is slashing the suggested retail price of its CDs
to $12.98 beginning Oct. 1 in an effort to boost sales.
Average suggested
retail price of a CD
CDs shipped from record
companies to retailers*
$22 <>-$21.50
20 %
15
$15.00
m his home stale
formal extrai
request was sc
Maryland (f
Robert Ehriidi.
Baylor cotnr.
members earlic
the audiotapes {
other infonra:
from their ime\
tiofl would be &
available to loci,
officers to deir
whether any i
were broken.
"Baylor a
what Baylor *>
^tid See rest
lal Cote
n and ir
10
5
0
CDs were first
introduced in 1983
1.0 billion
.8
.6
.4
.2
83
•02
0
•83
’02
*Net after returns; includes direct markets such as music clubs and other
special markets.
SOURCE: Recording Industry Association of America
Forrester Research, Inc.
V
coni
rnt Roben S
Ktsketball prx,
»n ib;tt ion. Be
o evidence
Detention Cenii
l. He faces a i
laity of life impi
on vie ted.
after hem
lence of pay
counts of Denncli
ormer player, res®
le told campus in's
his role in impn 1
-ments.
hy’s disappearanct
, and the naming
a “person of infei;
ise. prompted ime
f Bavlor and its bast
it’s still up in the air,” he said.
Officials at the National
Association of Recording
Merchandisers did not return
calls Wednesday. Officials at
EMI, BMG and Warner Music
Group declined to comment;
Sony Music Group officials
could not be reached.
Universal’s current whole
sale price for a CD album is
$12.02, with a manufacturer
suggested retail price of
$18.98. Under the new pricing
structure, the wholesale price
would be $9.09.
The wholesale price for CDs
by a handful of performers,
including Eminem and Shania
Twain, would be about a dollar
more, said Jim Urie, president
of Universal Music & Video
Distribution.
The company also said it
would cut wholesale prices on
cassettes and change the sug
gested retail price to $8.98.
Latin recordings and multiple
disk packages or CD box sets
would not be included in the
pricing change.
The price changes would go
into effect by Oct. 1.
The decision to cut prices
underscores how badly the
industry has been hurting, said
Josh Bemoff, an analyst with
“That’s basically saying ‘we
give up’,” Bemoff said.
Revenue from album sales
has declined from $14.6 billion
in 1999 to $12.6 billion in 2002,
according to the Recording
Industry Association of
America, a trade group that rep
resents the largest recording
companies.
The recording industry
blames its sales slump largely
on illegal music swapping over
peer-to-peer networks and is
expected to take legal action
against hundreds of suspected
file-swappers this month.
But industry critics say the
record companies have, for
more than a decade, ignored the
effects of soaring CD prices on
sales. They also contend the
artistic quality of music has
deteriorated.
“This is something that the
industry has failed to address ...
You could make downloading
music go away tomorrow and
the industry would still face
challenges,” said Sean Baenen,
managing director of Odyssey, a
consumer marketing research
firm in San Francisco.
“All the data suggests that
quality and price are major fac
tors to the equation.”
Nsf Om tee
tf
Its Snell!
* SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7th %
2-6 PM
IntbeMSC
M
Questions? Call 845-1515, and ask for the ED of Marketing
MonI/ifompthq? Visit http;//macopenhou»e.tamu.edu
I (3) myWebCT
Beginning of Semester Help is available at the
following locations:
Sept3, 1:30 - 3:30pm Blocker
Sept 3, 5:00 - 7:00pm SCC
Sept 4, 8:30 - 10:30am SCC
Sept 5, 10:30am - 12:30pm West Campus
Sept 8, 9:00 - 11:00am Blocker
Sept 9, 2:30 - 4:30pm West Campus
Sept 9, 5:00 - 7:00pm SCC
Sept 10, 1:30 - 3:30pm SCC
Drop by any time during the above hours
icy landing
helicopter was h»’
Dm a North Texas
i the landing pad-
shattered the cops
Medical Center
. Jesse Garcia di':
‘knew he was haf
. So as a lastefW
ad"
edic and a nurse P
o respond to an en
a request and the?
f the building, hee<
are very thankful t
lid.
om for neck andd
d landing."
Alive!
ng your
to the
DOLLAR DAY
BACK!
ALL WHOLES ARE *3.00
(except #20 - $ 4.00)
ALL HALVES ARE *1.50
(except #20 - $ 2.00)
OPEN TILL 3 A.M. IONITE!
OUTTA
Lib:
i a*
D
bout the
dation please
8193
Ddu/studentfoundatiot
Open House
i-5pm
Hours: Sun.-Wed.‘til 10 p.m.,Thurs.-Sat.‘til 3 a.m.
301- A College Main, Located directly in front of the northgate parking garage
846-8593