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09-11-2003, 10:12 PM
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#1 of 14 
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Location: Boise ID
Join Date: Oct 1998
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Local Date: 09-06-2008
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Why does pop culture cost more than great culture?
I'm always amazed at how our society places dollar values on things.....
Tonight I had a great "score" at a used bookstore, getting two rare volumes that normally command ebay prices well over $100 each.
One is the long OOP Dan O'Neill "Collective Unconsciousness of Odd Bodkins". The other is a first (public) edition of T.E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" from 1935.
Odd Bodkins commanded exactly twice what the Lawrence book commanded: $20 vs. $10.
My nephew's fiancee has a Czech heritage and once told me she wanted to read up on the subject. When I found out she didn't know who Thomas Masaryk was, I got her a bio. of same and also found an actual Masaryk autograph on ebay - for $50. The autographs for mediocre pop stars and football players go for many times that much.
Browsing places like Amazon will reveal that classical CDs go for considerably less than pop music CDs.
Is it right for me to be so confused about this?
Feline videophiles Susie and Duke.
RIP Katie Kat and Fluffy Pumpkin.
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09-11-2003, 10:28 PM
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#2 of 14
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Quote:
| Browsing places like Amazon will reveal that classical CDs go for considerably less than pop music CDs. |
Those are re-issues. Most new releases have a MSRP of $15.99-$17.99 (per disc).
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09-11-2003, 10:50 PM
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#3 of 14
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Location: Boise ID
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Seth, I would venture to guess that most CDs of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Greatful Dead, et al. are also "re-issues".
Feline videophiles Susie and Duke.
RIP Katie Kat and Fluffy Pumpkin.
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09-11-2003, 10:53 PM
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#4 of 14
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Quote:
Browsing places like Amazon will reveal that classical CDs go for considerably less than pop music CDs.
Is it right for me to be so confused about this?
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Well, the compositions on many of the classical CDs are public domain.
Jay's Movie Blog - A movie-viewing diary.
Transplanted Life: Sci-fi soap opera about a man placed in a new body, updated two or three times a week.
Trading Post Inn - Another gender-bending soap, with different collaborators writing different points of view.
"What? Since when was this an energy ball movie?" - Overheard during a screening of Takashi Miike's Dead Or Alive
"What the hell religion are you people?" - Overheard during the Captain Marvel serial at SF/29
"If I feel even one bullet hit me, I will rip your lungs out through your nostrils!" - Ron Silver as himself, "Heat Vision And Jack"
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09-11-2003, 10:59 PM
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#5 of 14
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Quote:
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Well, the compositions on many of the classical CDs are public domain.
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Yes but the performances aren't public domain. Besides this really is irrelevant. Should a copy of a Rembrant cost less than a copy of a velvet-painted portrait of Elvis?
Feline videophiles Susie and Duke.
RIP Katie Kat and Fluffy Pumpkin.
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09-11-2003, 11:12 PM
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#6 of 14
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It's supply and demand, the things in greater demand will fetch higher prices.
And the general public's taste is primarily in its mouth, and it eats at MacDonald's anyway, so they want Elvis velvet whatevers.
Actually, with the Internet it is harder to find good prices on thngs like your books, because the Internet can link the customers of the obscure, and make it more likely the seller will find a determined buyer.
I'll have to look at the copy of Seven Pillars I came across last year  |
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09-12-2003, 12:48 AM
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#7 of 14
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Splitting hairs here guys.
The point that Dennis is trying to make is that it appears that society seems to value the fashionable fad rather than traditional, long-praised items/values/etc.
On Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd, the comedian Ellen Cleghorne touched on this very subject; stating that strippers make six figures whereas teachers make 20-30% of that. "See girls? Forget education, stripping will get you ahead in life". Actually I shouldn't quote that since I don't recall her exact words but it gets the point across.
This viewpoint is evident in many aspects of everyday life. I guess people get tired of the same old stuff but is it any reason to abandon the past and tradition?
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09-12-2003, 12:54 AM
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#8 of 14
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Well, yes. =) Why keep a tradition around that people place no value upon? Record that the tradition existed and then move on. Progress...
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09-12-2003, 08:07 AM
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#9 of 14
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Progress isn't just about supplanting the old with the new.
Insane Clow Posse CDs seem to be worth more than a world-class performance of Sibelius' 2nd Symphony. That is not progress.
However, with cost, it's not about artistic value, it is simply supply and demand.
On the bright side, it makes it easier to enjoy the things I love. I can often get tickets to see legendary jazz musicians the day of the performance. It's sad that not so many people care about it, but it's great that I get to experience this music.
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09-12-2003, 08:45 AM
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#10 of 14
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Member
Location: Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexíco
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Quote:
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However, with cost, it's not about artistic value, it is simply supply and demand.
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Indeed—but I would also suggest that classical music fans are more selective that pop culture fans. I do not feel compelled to purchase all new recordings of The Magic Flute nor to collect every recording of the Julliard String Quartet, though I have friends and acquaintances who do—I just think that get every version mania is not so prevalent for classical music (and jazz too, for that matter).
Also those who attend classical concerts, opera and ballet performances and frequent jazz clubs would not put up with the treatment afforded the fans of most popular musicians on tour.
ˇTime is not my master!
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