Posted by Sean Chisham on December 03, 2000 at 20:05:47:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: The Chicago Symphony Trombone and Tuba S posted by Brian Frederiksen on December 03, 2000 at 15:08:16:
Most people overestimate the power and Napster and also underestimate the buyer. Napster is a big hit on college campuses and with upper middle class youngsters. It ain't killing record sales. The incredible majority of potential consumers have never and will never even use Napster. It is sometimes difficult for the tech savvy like us to realize that most people don't use computers.
As someone who has downloaded a couple of files from Napster, I can tell you that the files usually fall into a few categories:
1. Things I am curious about, but not willing to fork over $15 to try out.
2. Things that are impossible to purchase anymore.
3. Things I would never purchase and could care less whether I get to keep.
4. Multiple examples of music which I would like to choose between before buying.
5. Music I may have heard about which I wanted to sample and am now hot and heavy to purchase.
6. Music I have never heard and am now rushing out the door to buy the CD.
7. Humorous sound files
8. lotsa others
Napster ain't as good as CD's. The number of people who rely on it for all their listening is extremely small. They are many times the people the rest of us go to to ask, "So, what good music have you heard lately?" Which clues us in to what to buy.
I cannot imagine Napster dipping into sales of a re-release of the CSO Low Brass recording we have all been waiting years for. People are ready to jump. This will not be a limited 2000 CD printing like the original. Thanks to the internet, this thing will distribute itself. Especially if it is a high quality release such as the Gabrieli thing with the three symphony brass sections which was re-released a couple of years ago. I see that thing at every CD shop I have ever been in. It must be doing ok, and I am sure it is also in mp3 format in someones Napster shared files.
sean