Does sex still sell??

oleblueeyes · Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 9:34 am Post subject: Does sex still sell??

I was on CNN.com and seen the headline does sex still sell. i clicked the link only to find pictures and an article about britney spears christina agulara and pink saying they have all turned to sluts and are wearing less and less clothing and produceing less and less album sales. My thought while they are extreamly talented and gorgeous singers < except britney she sux at singing and is ugly as sin > Do they expect me as a consumer to pay my hard earned 16 bucks for there cd's when i can download them for free? o let me feel sorry for poor christina she was on MTV cribs showing off her 300k home and her 50 cars and such. Does anything think im outta line or has the world really gotten that lame that they are worried about these recording artists record sales more then the homless people or the druggies that need rehabs or the crack babies that dont have any medical insurance and are dieing out on the streets cause they parents cant affored to bring them to the doctors. just a thought. blue...

Viridian Savera'gen · Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 7:58 pm Post subject:

The answer to the question of if sex sells is probably no. If people want something because it's related to sex (ie.- Playboy Magazine) then of course it will sell, but I've seen things as low as plushie retailers using scantily clad big-breasted females to sell their stuffed animals. I can only assume that most people in the world who visit them will share my opinion: They could hardly pay ME to TAKE their merchandise in a sponsored giveaway with advertising that vulgar. They're supposed to be selling stuffed animals; not the sports models posing with them.

As for people showing off 50 cars on TV, I totally agree. I don't know who doesn't unless they're rich republicans.
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Vyria · Member Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 27

Sex still sells and always will. The reason those three are seeing declining album sales has to do with lots of things. First is that Britney and Christina's original fanbase was mostly young girls. Most of those girls who used to buy their albums are a little older now and have changed their tastes as they've matured.

In addition the current musical market is fairly apathetic toward most new releases. Almost all the albums released last year sounded like the same album the same groups released the year before. It's stagnation, and while musical stagnation didn't effect Britney or Christina during the pop idol/boy band fad, music in recent years is selling less and less on image.

This is all compounded by music sharing services making fewer people want to spend money on crappy albums.

You always have to keep in mind though that when RIAA complains music downloads are hurting sales what they're really saying is that music sales aren't increasing as fast as they had projected, but they're still making ever more and more money, just at a slightly slower rate.
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Shiloch Veneficus · Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 11:00 pm Post subject:

I think the RIAA in recent years has done nothing but made themselves look bad.

IIRC, they lost a case to some major retailers -- they were found guilty of price gouging by selling more copies of hot albums to high-priced music stores than to places that sell them at good deals, like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy.

They have a hundred or so computer geeks searching the internet for people they can prosecute for sharing copyrighted material. They've barely scratced the surface. So far, the only major thing they've been able to accomplish is shut down Napster, which is reopening as a "pay" service simliar to iTunes.

How bad is file sharing hurting the music business? Not really that bad. They're still making their money easily. Let's face it, just out of sheer laziness, I'm more willing to go to Wal-Mart and buy albums I generally care to have rather than waste hours trying to find them on Kazaa or Gnutella. Plus, I don't have to monopolize my upload bandwidth, and I can rip the CDs myself at my own quality settings.

The industry I'd like to see get gouged is the movie industry. The prices to see movies are going up, up, up, and up. I had to pay $9.50 to see Return of the King during evening hours. Hello? I'll buy the DVD and watch it 30 times for only twice that. The EQ guys are right. You can pay 13 bucks a month and get more hours of enjoyment out of it than you'll ever get from a 2-hour movie. Hell, by the time I had driven to the movie theater, bought a drink, watched the movie, and drove back home, I'd spent 30 bucks just for me. That's almost an entire month's worth of internet service!

P.S. Did anyone else hear that the Director's Cut of ROTK was over 5 hours long?!
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Vyria · Member Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 27

Seeing a movie for me is $6 for a student ticket which to me is fair for seeing a new film in the theater. Paying $10 for popcorn and a coke is outrageous, but I don't generally go to the movies to eat and drink so I don't find it a problem. $18 for a CD when they've cost that much for almost the past decade is unacceptable though.

And yeah, word has it they filmed over 5 hours of footage for RotK which will probably all be in the extended edition.
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Elnrik Talshiar · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Posts: 820 Location: Denver, CO

Gryfndor · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 12:16 pm Post subject:

I think our economy has been upside down probably from the beginning. The idea that entertainers and sports people are some of highest paid people around seems totally wrong to me. Especially when researchers scientists trying cure disease or a hundreds other such pursuits are struggling to find funding. The Scientist who put in 10 years of schooling and is working on some of the most difficult question known to man or the athlete who is dumb as a stump but runs like a gazelle which should make more money ? Seems like an easy call to me. Oh and sex will always sell. I thnk that stems from the fact that societal norms dictate a sort of sexual represion while human nature dictates the survival of the species with a strong sexual drive. WOW I can ramble can't I. Smile

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BonlainyT · Member Joined: 08 Jan 2003 Posts: 3942

I totally agree with you on the athlete/entertainer vs real world problem solvers Gryf. I am a sports fan, but I DO NOT support them by going to games or buying specific team merchandise anymore, but I did at one time. The problem is that we want to be entertained with instant gratification, and that's what sports, movies, etc do. Unfortunately most people don't realize what is behind the work that truly matters, the research scientists, medical researchers, etc, that are trying to solve serious problems.

However, music I feel differently about. Even though I don't agree with the prices and strategies they employ, that part irks me, I love music, all kinds, and am happy for it, it does more for people than most realize, it can be a medicine at times IMHO. But the record companies and artists are greedy and want it all, so they jack the price up and claim it's the fault of the consumer for downloading music off the web. It is a viscious cycle and will continue I am afraid. Now I am all for them getting just compensation, but the money they pull in is just obscene, let them make their money off the concerts, because I really no longer have a desire to attend live music at HUGE venues and wouldn't go anyway, but I still like to buy CDs and hear the music the way I like it. Same with athletes (most) and actors (again, most), there is really no reason for an actor to get $20 million for one movie, my god. But I continue watching them because I am one of the ones who likes to be entertained, I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Oh well. Its part of being in our country and being part of an open economy, and I will always back that. Ok, ramble over, sorry.
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Brakiss · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 5:28 pm Post subject:

While the extended ROTK edition is far from complete, I heard it would be pushing 5 hours. In an interview with Lordoftherings.net, Peter Jackson states that the scouring of the Shire, among other things, will be included (He mentioned that Saruman and Grima have roughly 7 added scenes and 15 minutes of screen time). Many other things to be included as well I can't wait lol!
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oleblueeyes · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:48 pm Post subject: IM GUILTY =/

today i went to the shoppet and seen this maxim magazine that had the gorgeous female on the front and i picked it up and immidiately bought it.. after i walked back to the car i said WTF did i buy this worthless magazine almost like i was thinking she was gonna pop out and hook a brotha up or something wtf is wrong with me =/