CD producers claim lower prices mean lower quality

CD producers claim lower prices mean lower quality

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Sony BMG International's local agents in Jakarta have responded
with confusion on Monday at last week's announcement by the
Indonesian Recorders and Traders Association that they would
start selling original CDs, VCDs, and DVDs for between Rp 10,000
and Rp 12,500 on local market in a bid to compete with pirated
copies that are sold for around half that amount.

Current market prices for licensed imports range from Rp
75,000 to Rp 90,000, while recordings of local artists by local
CD producers sell for Rp 35,000 to Rp 45,000.

Sony BMG International's assistant printing and promotion
manager, Sundari, told The Jakarta Post that it would be
"hard to sell CDs at such a low cost due the high outflow for
taxes, royalties, and production costs."

Musica Studio's production officer, Yus, also cited production
costs as a factor making it impossible to sell quality CDs, VCDs
or DVDs at such low prices.

"The disks are made of plastic, which are derived from
petroleum products, and the price of oil just keeps going up," he
said Monday.

Bambang Arbiantoro, operations manager for Sony BMG
International, confirmed that there was "no way" that production
costs could be lowered enough to sell at the prices suggested by
the association without decreasing quality.

"We wouldn't dare downgrade the quality of production," he
said. "What is clear is that price reduction cannot be achieved
by lowering production costs or cutting royalties."

Sundari agreed that any reduction in royalties would be
"grossly unfair" to the artists who created the music.

"The company has already reduced the price of albums by
domestic artists to as low as Rp 35,000, which is already cutting
into the company's profit margin. If we had to reduce the price
further, that would mean lessening artist's incomes."

Bambang said that the technology used to produce CDs is the
same, regardless of whether they are originals or pirate copies.
However, the quality of materials used is quite different.

"Basically there is no difference in the technology used by
licensed recording companies and pirates. The pirates simply
downgrade the quality of materials used to make the CDs," he
explained, adding that his company always used the highest
quality materials.

He said that an original audio CD has a thin acrylic layer to
protect the injection-molded piece of clear polycarbonate plastic
from the laser points of CD players when the discs are played.
This protective coating is not present in most pirated audio CDs,
meaning they are easily damaged even after being played only a
few times, he said, adding that this can also affect the quality
of the CD player. Another problem with pirated CDs is that the
polycarbonated plastic used is often recycled, resulting in poor
quality.

He also cited the production value of packaging for original
recordings. "Original CDs are sold with jewel and polystyrene
boxes, which adds value to the CD itself, while pirated copies
use common printing technology," said Bambang.