ohbaby Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I was excited to see that we are getting closer to the 2013 merchandise becoming available, what I was not excited to see was what looked like a huge price increase. It seems to me that the CD/DVDs are substantially more expensive than any previous recent year; $43.00 for an audio CD? Are you kidding me, and $132.00 for a Blu-ray two disc set? DCI, the price of the storage media is becoming cheaper every year and I know what the replies are going to be, the licensing fees are expensive, but this is becoming a bit much you think? I am not an economics major, but to me the costs to produce are fixed, now you want to sell the merchandise to make back the money and perhaps a profit. You will sell a quite a few less at $132 than say $99 or $109, correct? Whoever decided on this new price needs to start looking for a new job! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingusmonk Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I was excited to see that we are getting closer to the 2013 merchandise becoming available, what I was not excited to see was what looked like a huge price increase. It seems to me that the CD/DVDs are substantially more expensive than any previous recent year; $43.00 for an audio CD? Are you kidding me, and $132.00 for a Blu-ray two disc set? DCI, the price of the storage media is becoming cheaper every year and I know what the replies are going to be, the licensing fees are expensive, but this is becoming a bit much you think? I am not an economics major, but to me the costs to produce are fixed, now you want to sell the merchandise to make back the money and perhaps a profit. You will sell a quite a few less at $132 than say $99 or $109, correct? Whoever decided on this new price needs to start looking for a new job! I don't know. Can you tell me how much synch rights were this year? And then how they correspond with synch rights in previous years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I was excited to see that we are getting closer to the 2013 merchandise becoming available, what I was not excited to see was what looked like a huge price increase. It seems to me that the CD/DVDs are substantially more expensive than any previous recent year; $43.00 for an audio CD? Are you kidding me, and $132.00 for a Blu-ray two disc set? DCI, the price of the storage media is becoming cheaper every year and I know what the replies are going to be, the licensing fees are expensive, but this is becoming a bit much you think? I am not an economics major, but to me the costs to produce are fixed, now you want to sell the merchandise to make back the money and perhaps a profit. You will sell a quite a few less at $132 than say $99 or $109, correct? Whoever decided on this new price needs to start looking for a new job! On top of what you touch upon above, you have production costs: * paying and audio & camera crew, with multiple camera set-ups for the full week of Championships * paying the director to coordinate with ALL of the corps to get the cameras in the right spot for each moment, then directing the camera crews on the fly during performances * paying the editor to edit three nights worth of performances into the absolute best package possible * paying the sound guy to mix & master the audio in HD to get the best sound possible * paying for the sound studio and the editing bays * paying for the HD mastering of the discs, and then duping the discs for mass sales * paying someone to design the visual layout packaging, and paying someone to write any liner notes (or does Mr. Boo contribute as a donation?) I'm sure there are other factors involved in producing the Blu-ray discs that I'm missing. When we add in the factor that these products are a niche of a niche market (and probably the niche of a niche of a niche, if we're talking about people who buy physical media of a subset of marching band), it points to the fact that there is not a huge market for this stuff so DCI has to charge what they think will maximize the investment. I agree that in this day and age it seems as thought the Fan Network package may be the best financial investment for fans who don't feel the need to own a physical disc. Obviously that would mean that FN only subscribers would likely not get Finals performances until the following summer, but with the cost savings maybe that's worth it? I bought the discs this year in order to get the FN Finals runs Sunday morning, but I can understand someone not wanting to pay the money to get the physical media. I do think DCI prices their stuff higher than WGI by A LOT, but WGI also doesn't do Blu-rays at this time (and has a MUCH higher number of participating units). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 As far as a price increase, it makes sense that DCI would keep prices best during their high selling points (over the summer-fall when the season is fresh), maybe raise prices during 'dead' times like now, and then drop prices again for the holiday buying months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonker Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 There is one important difference that I can see this year. Each of the prices listed states within the detailed description that pricing includes all shipping and handling. If I am not mistaken, that is new. I recall the UPS fees being tacked on the bottom of the invoices in the past. If that is the case, the increase is not nearly as extreme as it is being portrayed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 DCI media is still horribly overpriced. Especially in the digital distribution age. Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RContra Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 The lack of bonus features still strikes me as the most ridiculous omission. I miss the commentaries and different cams. Considering the price, these things should be standard. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 There is one important difference that I can see this year. Each of the prices listed states within the detailed description that pricing includes all shipping and handling. If I am not mistaken, that is new. I recall the UPS fees being tacked on the bottom of the invoices in the past. If that is the case, the increase is not nearly as extreme as it is being portrayed. Good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 The lack of bonus features still strikes me as the most ridiculous omission. I miss the commentaries and different cams. Considering the price, these things should be standard. Man, I 1000% agree with this! I LOVE the first few years of DVD's when DCI had some sort of design commentary, judge commentary, and multiple camera angles. I don't know how much storage a Blu-ray contains (as far as how much room HD audio + video take up on each disc), so maybe DCI is sacrificing extras for best possible quality. Either way, I'd be ALL for shows in HD with a bonus DVD (cheaper production) of extras including different 'commentary' tracks or what not. Heck, corps could even do this themselves on FN: put up judge tapes over videos, design commentary, etc. Maybe this sort of thing just isn't a priority. I still own my laserdisc player, so I was used to paying $100 for great quality movie presentation with lots of extras so I'm kind of used to expecting extras on my physical media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexL Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 DCI media is still horribly overpriced. Especially in the digital distribution age. Mike Yeah, there is not much other media that is only a couple hours long that runs anywhere near this price. If anything prices are going down for most stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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