CD prices - particularly Naxos

[Daverz]

A few years ago a local independent record store (remember those?) had Naxos for $5.

MDT still has pretty decent prices on Naxos, typically under $8.

[snyprrr]

Sometimes I'll find a couple of Amazon items that are the same price as the market, but when you add in the SuperSaver Shipping, you're saving $6-9.

Think about it though. In, say, 1992, an import cd at Tower was 19.99-21.99. Now, import cds can be had for a lot cheaper. I think we're living in the Golden Age. Plus, I buy used and library all the time. I know most of you don't (ed: GB  let's do try to be self-moderating, shall we?).

btw- I'm paying on average $3.50 for a Naxos these days.



However, I've paid $60 for an Ebay single cd. That'll level the playing field some.

[Grazioso]

I've noticed at Amazon that Naxos discs (at full price) now range about $10-12. This seems like quite a jump from the 8.99-9.99 that they were before. The pricing seems terribly odd, as some discs are $10.14, others 10.45, 11.72, etc. - really random prices to me. They now seem like much less of a deal, even though they still tend to be cheaper than many other companies. I see other online retailers have not yet changed their prices. So I wonder if this is temporary or if the others will follow. Can anyone shed any light on this?

I, too, fondly remember the good old days when Naxos discs were $5.99. Naxos made its name in part with their "super-budget" pricing. I wonder if that was Heymann's plan all along: hook 'em and get 'em to keep coming back even as prices keep rising.

As for those weird price points, some retailers resort to prices ending in numbers other than .99 when an item goes into a clearance/markdown cycle.

As everyone else suggests, go with Marketplace sellers. Heck, the seller classical_music_superstore seems to actually be part of Naxos: same US address, iirc.

even though they still tend to be cheaper than many other companies

Yes and no, since many other companies now release huge amounts of their back catalog in sublimely cheap box sets, where discs end up costing just a few bucks each.

[Brian]

As everyone else suggests, go with Marketplace sellers. Heck, the seller classical_music_superstore seems to actually be part of Naxos: same US address, iirc.

That just means they forward the order to Naxos and Naxos fulfills it. If you get any Naxos CDs from ArkivMusic, they will also come from Naxos USA's office in Franklin, Tennessee.

[karlhenning]

I, too, fondly remember the good old days when Naxos discs were $5.99. Naxos made its name in part with their "super-budget" pricing. I wonder if that was Heymann's plan all along: hook 'em and get 'em to keep coming back even as prices keep rising.

I don't think there's necessarily any cynicism of Heymann's part. Costs have risen (they always do) generally, and Naxos's very success has driven a growth of the business, such that keeping that original price-point is impractical.

That said, for far the greater part, I buy Naxos either when I have a coupon for Borders, or when Arkivmusic has the label on sale.  I seem to refuse on principle to buy a Naxos disc at $8.99 : )

[Gurn Blanston]

That just means they forward the order to Naxos and Naxos fulfills it. If you get any Naxos CDs from ArkivMusic, they will also come from Naxos USA's office in Franklin, Tennessee.

On the topic of Classical Music Superstore, I have found them to be the best source in terms of availability and price for Näive CD's, which can be notoriously difficult to get in USA.

[MN Dave]

A fifteen dollar CD costs fifteen dollars per listen if you only listen to it once.

Two listens and each listen has only cost seven fifty.

Three listens and each listen has cost only five dollars.

Listen enough to each CD and eventually they are all practically free.

QFT

[karlhenning]

QFT

Dude, I've seen you at Borders, haven't I? : )

[MN Dave]

Dude, I've seen you at Borders, haven't I? : )

I like Borders but ours no longer carry many CDs.

[karlhenning]

I like Borders but ours no longer carry many CDs.

The Borders at Washington Street still has a fair many CDs.  For most classical music shoppers, it's probably a good selection.  For me, personally . . . meh.  I knew I could count on them to bring in the new Naxos releases, so my latest CD purchases at Borders were the three Petrenko/Shostakovich discs.

Oh, and The Great Deceiver, Vol. 1.

Still, with a little diligence, and armed with a coupon . . . .

[Scarpia]

I like Borders but ours no longer carry many CDs.

My Borders carries very few items, but I am often startled to find that they have interesting things there, not just recordings of Eine Kleine Nachtmusic and the 1812 overture.  But I find Borders.com to be more often useful.  There are some things (like some Operas on Blu-ray, etc) that stubbornly don't get discounted even on Amazon marketplace.  Sometimes I can snag one with a 40% off coupon on Borders.com.  I did that often enough that I got awarded 10 "Borders bucks" and landed a $40 blu-ray for $10 recently.  The bottom line go to Borders and get a Borders card (no cost) so they e-mail you coupons, which are typically 30%, 33% or 40% off one item, sometimes in store, sometimes to be used on their web site as well.

One benefit of the financial crisis is that it led to a precipitous drop in the amount I typically have to pay for a CD.  That would have helped me if got the same number of cds and spent less, rather than spent the same and ended up with more cds.   

[DavidW]

QFT

I think I disagree with the concept of utility in runtime.  If you go to a concert, you'll hear that music precisely once but it's still worth paying for.  It's the quality of the experience, not the quantity.  Whether you listen to cd you bought once or 80 times over, being removed from mundane reality makes it worth the cost.

[not edward]

Interestingly enough, here in Toronto Naxoi are usually cheaper through bricks & mortar stores than Amazon.

Of course, Amazon marketplace has a lot fewer really good deals here, even if you don't take into account the danger of ordering anything worth $20 or more that ships from outside the country. (Hi, import fees! Hi, customs charges!)

[Antoine Marchand]

I definitely paid $6.99 for my first Naxos CD (Franz von Suppe Overtures) back in - wow, that would have been 2003 or so. (So you're right; I was 13!)...

What?! Are you not the guy on the picture?

Your new epigraph ruined that funny source of confusion, Brian. 

BTW, I was one who thought that you was the guy on the picture. 

[karlhenning]

What?! Are you not the guy on the picture?

You thought Brian was an oud-maker in Baghdad?

[Antoine Marchand]

You thought Brian was an oud-maker in Baghdad?

Some years ago, but then he didn't have his current epigraph under the picture. 

P.S.: I am not the guy on my avatar. 

[Bulldog]

I'm not at all concerned about Naxos prices; that the price goes up over time is expected.  The main consideration is that a new Naxos disc still costs a few dollars less than new discs from the premium-priced labels.  The argument that reissued box sets from Decca or other companies cost as little or less per disc than a new Naxos has little merit.

[Scarpia]

I'm not at all concerned about Naxos prices; that the price goes up over time is expected.  The main consideration is that a new Naxos disc still costs a few dollars less than new discs from the premium-priced labels.  The argument that reissued box sets from Decca or other companies cost as little or less per disc than a new Naxos has little merit.

Well, reissue individual discs from Decca and other companies also cost as little per disc as Naxos. 

[karlhenning]

I think that's a case where we as consumers are benefiting from other firms adoption of the Naxos model . . . .

[Brian]

I think that's a case where we as consumers are benefiting from other firms adoption of the Naxos model . . . .

If only "adoption of the Naxos model" meant "keeping them in print rather than reissuing them with different cover art every 5 years."