Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the “Big 4″ record labels has announced its latest ploy to increase physical CD sales in the U.S., slashing prices of new releases to under $10.
Dubbing the pricing program “Velocity,” UMG hopes that consumers will go out and buy CDs, which will still retail for higher prices than the comparable songs digitally, but with a closer gap.
“We think it will really bring new life into the physical format,” adds Universal Music Group Distribution chairman/CEO Jim Urie.
Wholesales prices for new releases have now been dropped to an average of $7.50 from $10.35, and MSRPs for retail prices are dropped to between $6 and $10.
UMG is hoping that the big hit taken to revenue can be made up with an increase in sales volume. Overall CD sales are already down 15 percent year-on-year, with bigger drops expected.
Velocity is set for a Q2 launch and should last through the holiday season.
Result for: digitally
In early March, the much anticipated horror sequel Resident Evil 5 was leaked to torrent sites and P2P, a full ten days before its official release date. Capcom was understandably upset, but launch month sales were spectacular and it appears those sales remain strong despite the leak.
Capcom CFO Kazuhiko Abe adds that sales of the sequel are currently at 4.97 million and rising, on “very strong demand”.
Abe notes that the company sold 4.4 million units in March alone, and that the title will top 5 million within days.
The publisher, like all other major publishers, has complained of piracy woes in the past, even citing piracy as the main reason Devil May Cry 4 had stagnant sales. The publisher said the PC version of the game had been “pirated to hell” and that Capcom Japan refused to release it digitally as a result.
Result for: digitally
Warner Home Video has announced the launch of an online manufacturing-on-demand DVD program that will allow consumers to choose titles from Warner’s classic film library and have it shipped to them directly. There is also an option to download the film immediately.
Under the banner name “Warner Archive Collection,” and located at www.warnerarchive.com, consumers can browse or movies and order them for $19.95 USD per DVD or $15 USD for the digital download.
The DVDs are then replicated, packaged in an Amaray case, given custom artwork, shrink-wrapped and finally sent out to the end user.
There are currently 150 titles available and HMM says a few of the notable movies are “Oscar nominee Sunrise at Campobello with Ralph Bellamy, The Citadel starring Rex Harrison, Mr. Lucky with Cary Grant and Charles Bickford, Possessed starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, Once Upon a Honeymoon with Grant and Ginger Rogers, and All Fall Down starring Warren Beatty and Eva Marie Saint.”
Each film has been digitally remastered and Warner notes that upcoming content will included Warner Bros’ extremely popular animation collection.
