Reply #11: You can also blame the death of the "single" [View All]

[trogdor]

For those of you who are under 30, this was a seven-inch vinyl recording medium with a 1.5 inch hole in the center, with an analog recording consisting of a continuous spiral groove cut into its surface by a vibrating stylus as the music was being recorded, and played by means of a similar stylus placed inside the groove and made to vibrate in a similar manner as the record rotated at a speed of 45 revolutions per minute. The vibrations were then translated into electrical signals via a electromagnetic pickup, and transmitted to the amplifier and loudspeakers. Recordings made on this medium typically ran between three and four minutes on each side of the disc, and cost about $1 each (about $2.50 in today's money) in the late 1970's.

Since the advent of the digital compact disc, the 7 inch 45 RPM record fell into disuse without anything replacing it. Therefore, if one wished to purchase Britney Spears' latest hit single, for example, one would also have to buy the other twelve to sixteen recordings of unlistenable pap that went along with it, at a price exceeding that of the old 12-inch LP "album." This is the reason the RIAA is falling upon hard times, in a nutshell.