How much do CDs/DVDs cost where you live?

Since the thread about what's in the Top 30 where you live was quite successful here's a sequel: how much do CDs and DVDs cost where you live? In recent years there has been a lot said and written about "Rip Off Britain" and CDs are often said to cost more in the UK than in other European countries and in the US but the prices that are usually quoted are rather vague. If one person from every country listed in the profile section of this website posted the prices of CDs in their country on this thread then everyone reading this thread would be able to state with more authority that they are getting good value for money or are being ripped off because they would know how much similar products cost in other countries.

Given that record companies release CDs at various prices (from super-budget albums which retail at £3.99 to double albums which retail at £20.99) and prices can vary from shop to shop it may help if you gave the approximate price of:

1. new release/Chart CDs (single albums)
2. full-price back catalogue albums (i.e. albums that were on the chart a year ago)
3. CD/12" vinyl/DVD singles
4. new release/Chart various artist compilation CDs (double albums)
5. new release/Chart DVDs (single disc movies)

It may also help if as well as giving the price in your local currency you also gave the rough price in US dollars or Euros or the relevant exchange rate. Feel free to include any other information that you think may be relevant or interesting (such as whether prices have changed in the last decade or whether there are many outlets selling CDs/DVDs in your country).

I live in the UK and this is how much these products cost where I live:

1. Most record shops try to sell new release and chart CDs at £13-14 (US$20-21.50 or 20-22 Euros) but some supermarkets now sell CDs (albeit most only sell a small number of chart albums) and if you shop around you can get some albums for £10 (US $15 or 16 Euros)
2. Full-price back catalogue albums usually cost £16-17 (US$25-26 or 25-26.5 Euros)
3. Chart singles usually cost £4 (US$6 or 6 Euros) but in the first week or first few days after a new single is released record companies give shops incentives to sell some new singles at a discount of 25%, 50% or 75%, depending on how desperately they want the single to chart. Most singles released in the UK contain no more than three tracks (although some also include a CD-ROM video).
4. Most record shops try to sell new and chart compilation double albums at £15-17 (US $23-26 or 23.5-26.5 Euros) but some supermarkets sell them for as little as £13 (US$20 or 20 Euros). Compilations of recent chart hits sell extremely well in the UK: the “Now That’s What I Call Music” series of compilations has been running for nearly 20 years during which time more than 50 different albums have been released (not including spin-offs like “Now Dance”, “Now Christmas” and retrospective albums containing the biggest hits from a particular year) and as singles have become poorer value for money “Now” albums have become even more popular and eagerly awaited than they were before.
5. Now the DVD format has become established the price of new release and chart DVDs has fallen from £20 (US $30 or 31 Euros) to £17-18 (US$26-27.50 or 26.5-28 Euros) although some shops haven’t yet followed their more price-aware competitors and try to sell them for the old price.

In the last few years prices have fallen, especially since most supermarkets started selling CDs in the late 1990’s. As prices have fallen more and more small and medium sized record shops and chains have gone out of business or closed unprofitable branches, leaving only a small number of small independent record shops to compete with the major record shop chains, the supermarkets and Internet retailers.

Chart Cd's available in Tesco this week only for £8.50 !!

Nic, thanks for the info. I'm not surprised that vinyl singles aren't available in Quebec (sorry but I don't know how to put an accent on the first "e" or how to get the Euro symbol that is marked on my keyboard). The record companies in the UK tried to phase out vinyl and then tape but then started pressing more vinyl when it realised there was still a demand for it and especially for dance music on vinyl. It seems that every other young man living in an urban part of the UK who isn't addicted to heroin or crack (which admittedly doesn't leave many) wants to be a DJ and queues up in record shops waiting to play a randomly-selected single on the turntables in the hope that an attractive young woman will see them using a deck, assume they are a DJ and offer them sexual favours in return for free admission to a club (and before anyone asks, no I'm not a wannabe DJ).

I am surprised that the DVD single is an alien concept in Quebec. The first DVD single was released in the UK over three years ago and after a slow start they seem to have caught on because they are better value than CD singles that don't include CD-ROM videos. However, another reason why the DVD single has taken off is because UK record companies have realised that it is another way to get more money out of loyal fans: NO's "Crystal", "60 Miles An Hour" and "Here To Stay" were all released on DVD single (as well as on two different CD singles) but if the videos had been included in Quicktime format on one of the CD singles instead I doubt many fans would have complained about poor picture quality. The Chemical Brothers' breathtaking "Star Guitar" video needed to be released on DVD to do it justice but the "Crystal" video wasn't a fast-moving special-effects-laden spectacular, was it?

By the way, a few years ago Suede's UK record company announced that it was going to release one of their singles on MiniDisc as well as CD and another format (7" vinyl or cassette) and even revealed the track listing (which included all the tracks on the other formats) and the recommended retail price (which was 50% higher than a full-price CD single) but by the time the single was released the planned MD version of it had been scrapped.

Originally posted by The Hacienda must be (re)Built Chart Cd's available in Tesco this week only for £8.50 !!

Do they do discount for the unemployed?HAC that is a cheap advert MAN!:D:D:D

too much

Originally posted by Ian Pillar too much

They may cost too much but the reason why I've asked is because if people know that a product costs less in other countries they then can ask the people who set the prices (the record companies who set the prices paid by retailers and the retailer who set prices which customers may pay or may not pay if other retailers are offering to sell the same product at a lower price) why people in other countries are paying X% or Y% less for the same product.

For example, I bought the new Coldplay album from one supermarket (thanks for the tip, Hac) for just over £10. I think I could have got it from another supermarket for £9.99 if they hadn't sold out but record shops within walking distance would have charged me £12.99 or £13.99. However, a Canadian-based website is selling the album at just over CDN$16.99 (£7.03) whilst the UK version of the same website is selling it at £13.99 (CDN33.78). The differences between the prices charged in UK retailers is insignificant when compared to the differences between the prices charged in the UK and the prices charged in Canada.

You can now compare Australian prices to UK prices or Canadian prices. Please tell us what the prices are in Australia so we can compare them to ours.

All new CDs for £3 where i live...mind you the artwork is well dodgy.CD prices are a joke as i last paid 16p per blank CD so what must the big players get them for 5p?The end is nigh