Port Washington, N.Y. — CD prices hit a new low in the third quarter of 2004, when the average retail price of a CD fell to $12.95, a 4% decline from the same period a year ago, according to data from New York-based market research firm NPD Group. The average price of a "catalog" CD (18 months old or more) fell to $12.84, whereas current CDs sold for an average of $13.08. "A few leading mass merchandisers have been flirting with the $13 mark since late 2003 for catalog titles," said NPD president Russ Crupnick, "but it now appears that all of the major mass retailers have begun to adopt lower pricing for these CDs. By contrast, electronics retailers are offering lower prices on current CDs. Current product accounts for approximately 60 percent of music sales at both mass merchandisers and electronics specialty retailers." NPD Group predicts that overall prices will decline even further during the holiday shopping season.
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