Multimedia Reporting (Adler-Noland)

At the CD Tradepost, a music store located on Iowa street not far from the University of Kansas, manager Dustin Hall busily stocks his goods, an array of used CDs customers have sold to the store.

Every inch of the store is filled with various forms of used entertainment, specifically CDs. Unlike most retail stores,CD Tradepost has no selection of “brand-new” merchandise that can be found in the store; only used.

“I think people are finding that used CDs or any type of used entertainment are the exact same as a brand-new one,” Hall said. “They are smartening up and realizing they can spend far less money buying it used than new.”

He is not the only one who knows the fresh new market used has become. All around Lawrence, as it has become nationwide, stores such as CD Tradepost and Hastings’ Entertainment have become popping up, all catering to the used market in an era when sales of new CDs, and their prices, have been dropping because of new technologies such as I-Pods.

Between 2000 and 2003 (the most current year for statistic), CD sales in the $11.5 billion recording industry dropped 31 percent, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

While the music industry has seen increased sales in the past four years, the industry association reports sales are still down 13 percent as of December 2006 compared to sales of 1999, due to the ability of people to download music from their computers legally and illegally.

That trend has even hurt the used market. If people are not buying new CDs, Hall said, the market in used CDs eventually also drops. Even his sales have slipped.

“It hurts us to an extent because if new releases are not selling, then we do not get a lot of copies,” Hall said. “Then our customers are forced to buy them at our competitors, like Target or Best Buy.”

Hall says sales of his store’s used music can be attributed to technology.

“We sell a lot of music, but obviously technology is going to hurt any store,” Hall said. “People find it easier to download from I-Tunes or Napster, online.”

Rather than fight the trend, Hall says his company has decided to join it, at least in part. “All CD Tradeposts have begun carrying used I-Pods and they sell somewhat well,” he said.
CD Tradepost’s rival, Hastings’ Entertainment, has been dealing with similar issues.

“Used music, music in general sells less than it used to, but it has not fallen off,” Hastings’ music manager Jon Hunter said. “We don’t do anything out of the ordinary to compete with technology. We just know that there are always people out there who want the actual CD and booklet as opposed to ripping it off the internet.”

And “used” in the CD market does not mean “worn” to customers, he said.

“Sales are back and forth, but used music tends to be preferred by our customers,” Hunter said. “People are buying it because they know it’s cheap and ultimately they are getting the same product.”

University of Kansas junior Dru Walstrom is apart of that market.

“I buy used CDs because the price of a new one even after it has been out for a while is still pretty ridiculous,” said Walstrom. “I need to save money as much as possible.”

Used CDs are offered at most stores for less than $10, whereas a new CD can sell for up to $20 and it cost $1 to download a single song off of I-Tunes or any other internet-based music stores. Hall says CD Tradepost has a system for deciding what the price should be for each release. Used CD stores also appeal to students as places to make a little bit of cash off of their own collections, selling them to the stores.

“We offer typically $3.99 if we do not have it, and it decreases by a quarter for every copy we already have,” Hall said. “People can make some money.”

Hastings’ Entertainment buys used CDs for prices ranging from 99 cents to $7.99 depending on popularity..

“If it is something current and popular, people will get some good money for it,” Hunter said. “But if it just some junk music they would typically throw away, they might be able to make a buck or two.”

One large question raised within the used CDs market is whether selling the music should be legal, as the artists and record companies are not paid for each transaction after original purchase.

It’s not right if the people who are making the music are not being paid,” Doug Grober, a music client of the Nielsen sound scan charts, the company who keep statistics about record sales, said. “It is just like stealing and should not be tolerated.”

Walstrom, the KU student, does not care.

“I do not think it is like pirating,” said Walstrom, the student. “Someone else already paid entirely too much for that CD.”

BandRadio.com reports 28 million albums were downloaded in 2006, a 103 percent increase from the previous year.

While overall CD sales may have slipped, stores are not worried about the technology era ruining their business for good.

“We may have to lower our prices more so they are bargain base prices,” Hall said. “But there will always be people who rather have the hard copy of an album as opposed to 10 to 12 songs stored on their computer, so I am not worried.”

Hunter agrees with Hall’s notion.

“It is a phase,” Hunter said. “People still buy the actual albums and I am sure they always will.”