Kevin Sutton responds to Bob Draper:

>>Remember folks that it costs only around 60 cents inclusive to
>>produce each cd these days.
>
>NO!  I hate this argument because it is completely narrow minded
>and false.  The cost of producing the physical cd has absolutely
>nothing to do with the retail cost.  Where do you propose to pay
>for marketing, transport, distribution, retail employees salaries,
>retail overhead, printing, etc. etc. etc.

Although Bob is way off the mark, Kevin didn't hit the bulls-eye either.
First, the cost of producing the physical cd *is* one of the costs that
makes up the "total" cost of the unit product.  Second, the total cost
does not determine retail price; supply and demand result in a price
equilibrium.

No matter how high the cost of production, you can't sell at or above that
cost level if the demand is not sufficient, if consumers are not willing
to pay that cost.  My view is that Kevin would be wise to refrain from
condemnation of another's price premises when his own are incomplete and
contain errors.

>You can bet that most major label stuff will be reissued sooner or
>later.  The question is, are you willing to wait?

absolutely not.  If I've got the bucks, I'm buying it now.  I see no point
in waiting just so I can pat myself on the back on saving a few measly
dollars while missing out on the recording.  I'll never understand the
Depression era mentality of some folks, particularly when they were born
long after the Depression.

>I have customers every day who drop hundreds of bucks at a time and
>never bat an eye.  Some of these people are too stupid to realize that
>Naxos and other inexpensive recordings are just as good as their DDD Deccas
>etc.

With that opinion of his customers, I couldn't have Kevin working in a
store I owned.  Those individuals are not stupid, but simply unaware of
the details, and a good customer representative will try to make those
customers more aware of what's going on.  Even then, the customer will
often insist on the premium priced cd, because there is the tradition of
assuming that higher price and higher quality go hand in hand.  The fact is
that this premise is "usually" spot-on.  Further, there are plenty of Naxos
recordings which are not as good as the full priced spread.  One of the
jobs of a customer representative is to give out good advice, and telling
them all to buy Naxos cds is bad and negligent advice.  I know I'm being a
little harsh here, but customers are NEVER stupid - that's an excellent way
to go out of business.  Customers are a treasure and need to be treated as
such.  And, the typical mature classical music buyer insists on excellent
treatment or he/she goes elsewhere.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]

 [As the participants in this discussion insist on avoiding classical music
 topics, this discussion is closed.  Please forward any responses privately
 to the participants.  -Dave]