First “He sees an “…inevitable displacement of cds with purely digital distribution ” though he would like to see some sort of DRM in place despite his misgivings about it that would prevent the “… massive sharing that seems to be hurting record sales.”

It is DRM that is hurting sales in the first place! People have already said with their pocketbooks they do not want it how much more will it take for labels to actually listen to what the consumer has to say?

Second “But the actual production costs of an album can’t be so easily dismissed and is a very significant issue that consumers must take into account when digital music pricing is discussed.”

The “actual production costs of an album” are largely inflated! This I know because I am a musician and know about the prices of recording equipment. Years ago it was true that a regular person could never match a music studio’s equipment and that to actually make a vinyl record involved a LOT of money timeand equipment. There was simply NO way an average person could purchase all the huge tape decks equalizers and effect machines they would need in order to make a decent album…..THEN you also had the cost of PRESSING a vinyl record which invloved a record pressing machine or having it sent off to be pressed into records!

Now…let’s “fast forward” into today…today there are literally HUNDREDS of ways a person can have a home studio and make a CD quality album without the “middleman” or major studio costs involved. There are hundreds of DAW (digital audio workstation) programs for a computer that even professional studios use today that the average joe can also purchase.

It is nothing for a home studio today to use a lot of the same recording equipment that major studios use. One of them being Stienburg cubase which is great for editing.(NOT cubase sx but the regular cubase program though sx is agreat hoome tool)

My whole point is simply this: years ago it was not possible for average people to invest in some recording equipment and make a decent album but today it IS possible. Yesthe major studios have recording engineers but there are recording engineers that also have home studios that would rival a pro studio.

So the reality for a producer of a professional album is that he has a choice today that he never had before. A friuend of mine recently did a whole CD with the drummer of Tina Turner playing for him and did it with TWO semi-truck trailers full of PRO recording equipment. These are the same guys that go to live shows and record things at places like the superbowl games. The whole thing cost about $40000….which is not a drop in the bucket for a regular professiuonal album!

So of course a record company oewner is going to say that it takes a lot to make a CD but then again he is an owner of a recording studio! But in reality the inflated prices that major and minor studios charge and what an album actually COSTS to make and distribute is FAR LESS than what they want to lead the public to believe it is.