Sony jacks the price of Whitney Houston music

[pokerfan]

Keep it classy, Sony. Never mind. Sony just suddenly discovered that the previous price was "wrong" and the fact that they are changing it the Monday after Whitney's death is just a coincidence...

One insider close to the situation said the price hike was not a "cynical" move – but that the wholesale price of Houston's The Ultimate Collection was wrong. The change in wholesale price boosted the album's retail price on iTunes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/feb/13/whitney-houston-album-price

[MrSlayer]

1. Sales always increase after an artist's death.

It's smart business.

[pokerfan]

7. then don't blow smoke up our asses claiming they're "fixing an error"

Just say what it is, they're making bank by capitalizing on a tragedy. Still, I fail to see how a PR nightmare is "smart" business.

[MrSlayer]

17. It's dumb to tell people you are taking advantage of them.

Which is why they fixed the "error". It's obvious what they are doing but they can't say it. People are still going to buy the songs at the increased price. That's why it's smart, take advantage of the lemmings. If people were actual fans they'd already have the music, you're just going to clean up on the followers. I didn't say it was right, just that it was good business. I don't see a PR nightmare, most people aren't going to care.

[pokerfan]

22. and we're just spreading the word

not doing anything wrong, either. People can make their own purchasing decisions.

[MrSlayer]

24. Agreed.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

8. Sales should increase. Prices should not.

The increase in sales ought to be enough for the greedy bastards. But it isn't. It's just pure opportunistic, parasitic greed. $ony once again feeding off the dead bodies of its superstars. Pretty sick, IMO. Ought to be laws against it, in fact.

[MrSlayer]

19. That's capitalism.

Never let something that will increase revenues go by the wayside in favor of ethics. No one will pass a law like that. The thing to do is just not buy it. You can download those songs anywhere for free if you have to have them. Though if you were a fan already you'd already have them and this would be moot. This is just cleaning up on the suckers.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

29. It's parasitism

And it sucks. Capitalism must be tempered by ethical law - else, it's just psychopathic parasitism run rampant. That is the essence of the problem with the U.S. economy.

[MrSlayer]

32. It is.

There doesn't seem to be a way out of it either.

[sdfernando]

2. OK SONY...Here is how you fix this problem.

1st put out a statement stating the the price is being immediately lowered back to what it was. That the price hike was a due to errors in the original pricing structure. But given the fact that Whitney has died the timing of this price hike was very unfortunate. So in respect to this great artist we are pricing this music back to where it was a week ago. After a very respectful period of time the music will be repriced. They will likely sell a lot more, more than enough to make up the pricing error (if it really was an error)...and they look like a corporation with a heart.

[hobbit709]

3. You have better odds of winning the lottery than Sony doing that.

[Terra Alta]

27. A corporation with a heart?

Does such a corporation even exist?

[ZombieHorde]

4. Spit on her grave, and then insult the intelligence of her fans.

I hope fans just steal her music.

[librechik]

5. Good News: Prices way down on Al Green's Greatest hits

Time to buy Let's Stay Together in the original sublime version (altho I do love the Obama bite)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_8?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=al+green+greatest+hits&sprefix=Al+Green%2Cpopular%2C297

[onestepforward]

6. Add iTunes to the list.

Both Sony and iTunes increased prices by 60%.

[pokerfan]

10. I guess Apple also discovered a pricing error! (nt)

Amazing!

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. Plus Foxconn is forcing workers to sing Whitney Houston songs for a month. nt

[Citizen Worker]

9. Sony is acting as any capitalist would, why the surprise? It's the nature of the all consuming

beast.

[Fumesucker]

11. You should be honored to pay more for Ms Houston's music now that she has left us.

Sony no longer has to go to the elaborate pretense of paying Ms Houston royalties for her artistry, now the false flag of the seemingly innocent merchmantman comes down and the Jolly Roger of the corporate pirate is run up the mizzenmast.

It's a celebration of capitalism and the indomitable human spirit to always squeeze a shekel from a sucker.

[JI7]

13. it doesn't go to her daughter or other family members ?

[dogknob]

14. You really don't know how the music business works, do you?

OK... editing. I can't just leave it there.

Unless your name is Jimmy Page, signing with a major record label = slavery. Sure, their PR machines make you look like a million bucks, but mostly they take almost all the money from your talent, leaving you totally dependent on them.

That's the VERY short version.

[JI7]

16. not much other than whatever they are doing is resulting in mostly

crappy music being played on radio . at least the major stations.

[Fumesucker]

23. I'm reminded of Hunter S Thompson's quip..

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

[dogknob]

25. That is choice.

In fact, I have a suggestion for a new DU smilie... :harikiri:

[fishwax]

15. classy

[KamaAina]

18. They better hope there aren't any Whitney Houston fans on 4chan

[Initech]

20. That's the music industry's equivalent of saying: "You're dead! Get back to work!"

Stay classy Sony!

[dogknob]

21. Solution?

Get VERY active on Net Neutrality issues.

The Internet allows musicians to circumvent the RIAA and the Major Labels and distribute their music directly to fans. Most of the artists you know and love are totally OWNED by companies like Sony.

EVERY SINGLE SESSION OF CONGRESS, the RIAA, the MPAA and others try to push legislation to make the Internet like TV and Films, where a handful of people whose only musical/artistic talent is an MBA with a Bachelor's in communications have final say in what the public gets to see/hear/read.

They dress up their legislation in "anti-piracy" PR, but they don't really care if you're downloading a copy of "Cutthroat Island" from somebody in Belarus.

Not having control of art scares the bajeezopotomus out of them.

[Redstate Bluegirl]

26. Scummy

And I'm being kind here.

[elias7]

28. Is it fair that a Frankenthaler sells for considerably more now than it did before she died?

There is a supply and demand issue here. This is not unusual behavior for anyone selling anything. Besides, the Whitney Houston estate probably gets a few more pennies per sale here. Would you all deprive Whitney's young daughter a little more security in the midst of her grief?

[JonLP24]

30. Raising the price is what you do when you have excessive demand

Whether it is right or wrong it is what you do.

[Bonobo]

31. They should lower the price when demand goes up? nt

[Rochester]

33. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....