Music Price Indexes: 1985 Update

Abstract

Again this year we find that the very strong position of the dollar in relation to most European currencies has forced the indexes on most foreign publications downward. It may be difficult for some libraries to see the benefit of these lower prices, since they are often not reflected through the American distribution chain. For domestic publications, the price fluctuations are more heavily influenced by publishers' revised pricing policies than by general economic conditions. Such policies reflect two factors: the size of reprint runs and the decision whether to reprint or to reproduce by photocopying. The indexes indicate that the summer of 1985 was even better than the summer of 1984 to purchase foreign music, but the indexes for domestic music display a less consistent profile. The standard repertory group as defined in the original study remains unchanged.' The tables present data for the past eight years together with indexes calculated from 1977 as a base.2 Table 1 includes both foreign and domestic publications in a single index, while Table 2 provides separate data. Prices for 1985 were current as of mid-July. Many of our comments in previous updates concerning availability and cost of domestic music, both retrospective and new publishing, remain valid. One can also note qualitative changes taking place in the music publishing industry. The decade of the 1970s saw a great decrease in the number of medium-sized publishers, both from natural attrition and absorption by larger firms. As the 1980s unfold, we observe the application of the fiscal methodology of big business to the major music publishing companies of the United States. It need hardly be pointed out that even the largest of these are very small indeed by comparison to the companies for which these fiscal methods were developed, and it seems that there is a major mismatch of business methods and highly specialized merchandise.