Higher CD prices appear to be such a thorny issue that recording companies hesitate to elaborate. Some compared CD prices and the GDP of various countries, and concluded that Taiwan's recording companies charge too much.
Taiwan consumers have good reason to believe that they may have long been ripped off by recording companies. Look at the situation in the US. Major labels have been penalized twice for price-fixing by Federal judges since 2002. The record companies were accused of fixing prices by subsidizing the advertising costs of retailers that agree not to sell CDs below a minimum price set by the labels.
Local music fans accused recording companies of spending extravagantly for promotional activities, passing the extra costs on to consumers, which forced consumers to turn to cheap pirate or P2P products.
Foung refused to comment on the company's pricing mechanism, and said prices were determined by the market.
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