How much is music worth?

Pitchfork has a great article on the consumer prices of music over the last century. Some interesting bits:

Setting aside the particular format, then, albums gross less than half as much, on average, as they once did, and singles bring in roughly one-fifth of their past glories. For comparison, remember that overall revenues in constant dollars are roughly one-third what they were at the U.S. industry’s millennial peak. Units have shifted, all right: into insignificance…
One more quick point about the data: Adjusting revenues for inflation can also shed light on individual formats, such as the growing vinyl niche. Vinyl albums (including EPs), at $23.86 p e r u n i t i n 2014, c e r t a i n l y a r e e x p e n s i v e c o m p a r e d w i t h C D s, w h i c h a v e r a g e d$ 12.87, or download albums, which averaged $9.79, e s p e c i a l l y c o n s i d e r i n g t h e a l t e r n a t i v e o f f r e e, o n - d e m a n d s t r e a m s . T h a t^{'} s u p f r o m o n l y a n i n f l a t i o n - a d j u s t e d$ 15.45 per vinyl album in 1999, compared with $19.23 f o r C D s . S t i l l, v i n y l i s a c t u a l l y c h e a p e r t h a n i t w a s i n 1977, i t s b i g g e s t y e a r - e v e r b y u n i t s s h i p p e d a n d b y i n f l a t i o n - a d j u s t e d r e v e n u e, w h e n t h e a v e r a g e u n i t c o s t$ 24.81 accounting for inflation. In 2015, even when recorded music’s expensive, it’s cheap.

First published Apr 22, 2015