Compact Disc Settlement: $12.60 Each

What caused the legal action was the labels Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) Policies. Basically they stated that if a retailer was going to sell things below MAP the retailer would not share in advertising dollers (i.e. if you put a CD in your weekly flyer, the label will pay you money for it). MAP was usually the price per disc if you bought the title in box lot quantity (25 or 30 depending on the distributor).

The labels started MAP because many of their customers cannot compete with the TARGETS, BEST BUYS, WAL-MARTS. Many chains & local stores were put out of business before MAP and many are still hurting with MAP.
Imagine in your business if a competitor came in & used your product as a loss leader to drive in business, selling the product 20% below their cost & 30% below your cost.

There are many reasons why this legal action was a joke besides the $12.69 check. At the same time our government was looking at the legality of MAP (a policy that would protect music retail from becoming a monoply), they were going after MICROSOFT because it looked they were trying to create a monopoly. This legal action doesn't lower the price on CD'S. It just means that stores can sell them for whatever they want to. Actually, some stores are raising their prices. For example I will use Best Buy. About 10 years ago if you bought any $15.99-18.99 CD at a BB store in Minneapolis it would cost you $11.99, at a BB in Des Moines it would cost you $13.99. Today, most 15.99-18.99 CD'S are 14.99-15.99 in Minneapolis. There are still a couple hundred titles at $12.99 at BB Minneapolis stores. Also, the regular price on most MID-LINE titles at BB's are list price (the same price charged at SAM GOODY, TOWER, etc). They main reason it's a joke is because you will not see any change in regular prices at any stores because of it.

The only thing that making MAP an illegal practice will really do in the market place is allow the big box discounters to have a super sale on a HOT title, selling a 15.99-18.99 title for $7.99-9.99. Of course this looks great (except to real music stores that are paying $10.99-12.69 for these titles). Normal prices at the big box discounters will not go down at all & probably continue to trend up. If you are into these really popular bands you will probably save $4-10 a year. Not every week will these stores feel a title is worthy of losing $2-3 per copy.

History has shown us that big box discounters only sell items as cheaply has they need to, once competition goes away, prices go up.

 

I'll take it.

 

That reminds me, when are those PG SACD's supposed to come out? I remember them mentioning it even before the remastered CD's came out, and since then there's been several press reports of them being readied for release.

 

Wasn't the top end of the suggested retail price closer to $16.99 rather than $18.99 ten years ago? Part of the reason for the price hike you're describing is the increase in the wholesale price.

In my experience, the $11.99 sale price for major new releases had almost completely disappeared at the height of MAP, and it has been quite common at the big box retailers since the settlement. And the $9.99 sale price for new releases was practically unheard of before the settlement.

 

That's true, there were only a few $18.99 msrp titles ten years ago. $11.99 was the regular price, not a sale price, at BB's in Minneapolis about 10 years ago

As far as PG goes I believe UP will be out in April & the catalog in May but don't hold me to that. I know I saw a recent report but couldn't find it. All are coming out in Europe next month. Tower.com has a date for UP of 4/15/03. No other titles listed yet.