Universal Music, which holds a 30% market share in the USA for recorded music, has announced that it will lower CD prices to $12.98 starting October 1st. With this move, they aim to boost sales, which have been steadily declining due to massive MP3 downloads on the internet, according to their own statements. Original report: http://new.umusic.com/News.aspx?NewsId=182.
Finally, the data swappers are not being compared to Nazis and child molesters, but rather an attempt is being made to tackle the problem at its roots. Who wouldn't want to have an original CD with a booklet at home if it were affordable? Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether this price reduction will eventually make its way to the German market. Moreover, $13 for a CD that sometimes contains only half an hour of music is still too high a price to eliminate piracy. Let's hope this is just a step in the right direction. Otherwise, it could happen as in the following find (the original source is unfortunately unknown).
Finally, the data swappers are not being compared to Nazis and child molesters, but rather an attempt is being made to tackle the problem at its roots. Who wouldn't want to have an original CD with a booklet at home if it were affordable? Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether this price reduction will eventually make its way to the German market. Moreover, $13 for a CD that sometimes contains only half an hour of music is still too high a price to eliminate piracy. Let's hope this is just a step in the right direction. Otherwise, it could happen as in the following find (the original source is unfortunately unknown).
2002:
The best artists are awarded to Madonna, Herbert Grönemeyer, Tom Jones, Cher, and Santana. The top hits include Westlife with "Uptown Girl", No Angels with "All Cried Out", Kelly Osbourne with "Papa Don’t Preach", and Madonna with "American Pie". The music industry experiences a decline in sales for the first time after a long boom period. The main reasons cited are the rise of CD copying and the exchange of music files on the internet. To make it clear to kids that copying music ultimately harms the artists, the industry launches the campaign "Copying Music is Killing Music".
2003:
The music industry honors Herbert Grönemeyer, Nena, Kim Wilde, Ozzy Osbourne, and Metallica as the best artists. The number one album is Nena with remixes of her greatest hits. The charts feature Alexander, Juliette, and Daniel K., as well as Jeanette Biedermann with "Rock my Life", which sounds strongly like Roxette. Other hits include Lichtenfels with "Sounds like a Melody", Outlandish with "Aicha", Kraftwerk with "Tour de France 2003", KCPK with "We will Rock You", Murphy Brown with "Axel F 2003", and Culture Beat with "Mr. Vain Recall".
Most CDs have copy protection. Since August, copying copy-protected CDs has been prohibited, as has downloading music from the internet. The music industry's revenue declines by another 15%, particularly affecting hit compilations with a 47% drop.
2004:
The music industry honors Herbert Grönemeyer, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, DJ Bobo, Marianne Faithfull, and Pur. The charts are led by Hollywood Dance Project with "Relax Reloaded", Kajagoogoo with "Too Shy 2004", Nena with "Haus der 2004 Sonnen", and Nico W from "GZSZ" with "Ich vermiß Dich wie die Hölle" for a long time.
With the help of an automated sweeper search, the music industry can identify all users of file-sharing networks. Five million households in Germany subsequently receive letters from lawyer G. from M., who demands the signing of a cease-and-desist declaration and reimbursement of costs amounting to 583.74 euros.
The file-sharing networks collapse. Half of all T-DSL connections are canceled. The music industry's revenue declines by another 10%.
2005:
Herbert Grönemeyer, Tom Jones, the Supremes, Suzi Quatro, and Elvis Presley are awarded as artists of the year, along with Status Quo receiving the innovation award from the musician management. The charts are led by Peter Maffay with "So bist Du 2005", Roberto Blanco with "Ein bißchen Spaß muß wieder mal sein", and Zarah Leander with "Ich weiß, auch 2005 wird ein Wunder gescheh´n."
The music industry's revenue shrinks again by 50%.
Trend scouts discover that revivals of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s are in among young people. They gather for Flower Power, disco, New Wave, and rave parties and listen to their parents' CDs. Original CDs and LPs from the past four decades are increasingly traded on eBay. It is suspected that kids buy the CDs, copy them, and then resell them. This is legal, as the old CDs have no copy protection and only originals are offered.
2006:
The music industry introduces a new format for recorded music: the "Smart CD". It requires special playback devices with internet connections. Smart CDs can only be played after a license has been purchased online. Licenses are only available temporarily; it is no longer possible to acquire a music piece "forever". Instead, the "Smart CD" players are offered in a bundle with a music subscription for one euro.
The most successful artists are Herbert Grönemeyer, the Scorpions, Mark Oh, Oli P., and Peter Kraus. The charts are dominated by songs like "Flugzeuge im Bauch Ultimate Edition" with Herbert Grönemeyer, Oli P., and Xavier Naidoo, "You Keep Me Hanging On" with the Supremes, Kim Wilde, and Sinema, as well as "Anyplace, anywhere, whatever" by Nena, Kim Wilde, and Jan Delay.
On the occasion of the World Cup, a new Latino salsa wave is heavily marketed, with Carlos Santana and Richie Valens ("La Bamba World Cup 2006 Mousse T. Remix") as its figureheads. Although Brazil becomes world champion for the sixth time, the wave has only moderate success.
The music industry's sales continue to decline.
2007:
Citing the many threatened jobs, the music lobby pushes through a law that allows the recall of once-granted licenses. Promptly, the industry revokes all previously granted licenses for non-copy-protected recordings. This makes all older CDs and all LPs illegal, as well as turntables and CD players that do not meet the "Smart CD" standard. In exchange for their original CDs, the industry offers CD owners a one-year license for the music on the CD.
After another wave of warnings from the law firm G. from M., the recorded music trade on eBay collapses.
The publication of charts and the awarding of artists are discontinued. First, the stock of CDs must be sold off.
2008:
Music in Germany is only listened to on the radio or at concerts. However, radio is losing popularity as the industry forces stations to play only the latest productions and talk over them to prevent recording with tape decks. Concerts have become almost unaffordable, as the entire management must be financed by ticket prices.
In contrast, the so-called "Open Jams" are on the rise, spontaneous gatherings of amateur musicians who play music in public spaces with guitars, small drums, keyboards, saxophones, etc., and are celebrated by enthusiastic listeners.
2009:
The music lobby enforces a ban on public and private performances of copyrighted material with lawmakers. Musical instruments are subject to a copyright fee, as one could misuse a guitar to play Stones songs illegally. "Making music is killing music" is the accompanying campaign aimed at raising awareness of the injustice.
2010:
To protect jobs for musicians, music education is rationed: only as many young musicians may be trained as the market needs. Since this is shrinking faster than musicians are dying off, this effectively means a ban on music education. Hundreds of music schools are closed.
2011:
Sarah Connor attempts to release a new, non-covered song titled "Terminate Me", but is sued by the lawyers of the music rights holders, who do not allow new creators to profit from the shrinking pie. "Composing music is killing music" is the slogan of the holders of old rights. Sarah Connor wins the legal battle but is shortly thereafter found murdered under mysterious circumstances. From then on, no one dares to write new songs.
2012:
The parents of 6-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Moherb, the "Jugend-musiziert" winner, are sentenced to pay 150,000 euros in damages to the music industry because it turns out that their child has only been playing music for a year and a half, thus after the introduction of the education rationing. His teacher, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, escapes a prison sentence by fleeing to Iraq, the only country not under the control of the Western values community and thus the music industry.
2020:
Almost every sound expression, including engine noises, footfall sounds, door closing noises, and spoken words, has fallen under copyright protection. Closing a door may only be done by someone who can prove that the sound produced does not resemble that patented by Porsche. The only words free of licensing are "the", "die", "das", "und", and "hello". Conversations among people who cannot afford the "German Language Subscription" have thus become almost incomprehensible. Overall, it has become very quiet, as almost every sound production carries the risk of a warning from the legal corporation G. and Sons from M. The lawyers of the sound and audio industry association are hunting park and forest owners who tolerate the illegal singing of birds on their properties.
