Decline of cd sales
 

In recent months, I've read articles on decline of record sales. Can this mean the end of pre-recorded cds? Although the recent decline in cd sales, they're individuals that are still buying pre-recorded cds. Even though the download is taken over the convient way that music is obtained. I've noticed in the last year that 'big box stores', such as Wal-mart and Target, has had their cd isle shrunken. If I want a particular cd, I'll have to order online or download. Even online sites, such as amazon.co and cduniverse.com has redirected me to check their mp3 store, as the particular cd isn't available or out of print. It seems that even these web sites are pushing for the mp3 downloads. Either change with the times or go without. In past generarions, we've seen the lost of Lps, 45s, Reel-to-reels, cassette and 8-track tapes, and now it looks like the CD is heading in the same direction. It all depends on the general public.

What's a pre-recorded cd? Is that different from a regular CD somehow?

And yeah, kind of old news.

Eh, I'm sure there are enough sold for them still to be made in general.
I'm sure there would be a huge uproar as well if they were to just stop being made.

I think he means as opposed to a burned or burnable CD.

Gotcha, I was also unclear about that.

Personally, I'm ready for CDs to go extinct. Give me the convenience of digital and focus more energy on the physical format of vinyl, none of this wishy-washy in between stuff.



Disclaimer: I'm still buying CDs.

I want to start a vinyl collection oh-so badly. I go to Goodwill a couple times a month and that have really obscure, and sometimes rare, records there for like 79 cents each. I could start a helluvah blog.

I would love to have my entire CD collection on vinyl, but I'm not about to start replacing it - no way in hell.

Therefore, I'd prefer if CDs didn't go extinct. But sadly, it will happen one day.

I prefer CDs to digital, but most of my stuff is mp3s. Why? It's a lot easier to obtain, especially if you're broke like myself.

But if I really like a band, I'll buy their CDs.

The death most of the great Indie stores (dating as far as a decade ago), the rise of the internet, the Mainstream getting sick of albums that only contain about three repeatable tracks, and even the world of DVD saw to it that music CD sales crumbled down quick. It was a fine warm up for the digital music world, though, as far as keeping the music available in one format or another, and while it will still be around for quite a while in my opinion, it's mainly going to be with genres that have a strong standing fan base ranging from Underground Metal to the most mainstream of Country (Always proven to have fans who stand by their performers) while the Pop world will move onto the Internet for it's quick-fix scene.

I can see both The CD and the vinyl living good lives with music fans who need to have the physical work of art in their hands.

Well the sell of vinyl has actually risen in the last years. I thought that was interesting.

A CD is still just another digital music format. A vinyl is the real deal. It's a real psychical duplicate of the music. So for that reason I think it's very symbolic and musicians will continue to release on vinyl if only for the tradition of it, and the ever growing collection of enthusiasts.

I want to start a Vinyl collection too. My dad threw all his out about 6 years ago... I'm so pissed.

Well said.

Vinyl is the ultimate vanity format.

I want to be able to actually listen to my music collection not have it looking pretty in a big sleeve on a shelf.

I was glad to see the back of my vinyl collection.

And CD's are not going to be replaced by downloads just yet. Not while people like my parents exist.

I hardly own any CDs. I don't download either. Only stuff I have on my computer is instrumentals, beats, and songs I've made over those beats. I usually just youtube everything when I want to hear music. And in the car I listen to the radio a little bit, but mainly just spend the drive freestyling.

You sound a bit like a friend of mine. I don't know how you can do it. YouTube's quality is horrible and they usually don't have anything but singles.

Only times I really listen to music are when I'm at my computer just ****in around on facebook or here or wherever. I don't like to exercise with music and i dont like to listen to it when i drive. I probably listen to a lot less music than most people here

I think it's a perfectly acceptable way of finding something to listen to. Youtube usually has what you're looking for anyways, and there's no waiting time. It's like people who get high and mighty with their high-def telvisions and Blu-Ray players and consider films on VHS an abomination... IT'S THE SAME MOVIE

If CDs went extinct, I would stop paying for music. I won't pay money for something intangible, like a file, when I can get the exact same product for free. Vinyl is unfortunately, not as affordable to collect, so I doubt I would turn to it.

Yeah, it's fine to find stuff. I don't say you should download every song you just want to hear once or twice... but relying on it as your main source of music is something I could just never do. The artists put a lot of work into their music, and the producers put a lot of work into the mixes, so why drown all that work out with over compression or poor bit rate.

I can't relate to the VHS thing because I hate VHS and I'm glad that we as a society have found a better means of preserving artwork.

It's like another friend of mine who's speakers are either completely treble or completely bass and the only reason he doesn't care is because he can't tell the difference. I'm not saying you can't, I'm just saying because it bothers the heck outta me when my music sounds like an Edison Era Wax Tube when it could sound like they were right in front of me.

I can understand that... as an outlet for music I think it's a great place to go to casually listen but you're right, I'd much rather listen to songs I really enjoy on a medium that'll actually compliment the music rather than just presenting it.

As for VHS, I'm a fan because tapes are dirt cheap nowadays. In a good exchange shop, I could walk away with about 20 VHS tapes for the same amount of money I'd spend on a single high def DVD. Why I would be buying 20 movies at a time, I cannot explain, but I know I could if I wanted to. :D

I will admit that I miss the excitement that was in the air while waiting for the tape to finish rewinding. And the 90s Universal commercials.

My favourite format is CD, simply because you get a physical product, with artwork and a CD case, the music is presented in its highest quality, and you have the option of ripping to flac if you want to go digital. Vinyl is less practical, and downloading files from the internet feels soulless. CD gives the best of both worlds imo.

There's no point in buying a CD for every album you have an interest in. Hence, I normally download everything I can find in FLAC/320 and only order/buy CD's from artists I'm either-

A. Particularly supportive of.

B. If they are obscure to the extent where the only way I could get their music in decent quality is to rip it straight from the CD.

As for vinyl - a fantastic format truly, but one that I've found to be overrated and impractical. And that's not even taking into consideration how expensive just getting decent equipment is, which makes it a pain in the ass to capitalize upon unless you have a large collection of vinyl in the first place or your Dad's $800 player from 1978.

I'd want to start a vinyl collection not to get albums I could easily get online, but to find that freaky stuff from decades past.

I feel the same way.
The sad thing is that most of us here have grown up with CDs/Cassettes and there's a certain sentimental aspect there that future generations aren't going to have. Given enough time, CDs are going to be the new vinyl.

I honestly can't even imagine what the popular music medium is going to be when MP3's/digital song files become oldschool.

Neuron globules. Songs loaded directly into your brain. :D

Haha... I wouldn't do it. If one of those songs gets stuck on repeat in your head... not awesome.

It would give entirely new meaning to a song being "stuck in your head"... sufferers of OCD would not be thankful.

I was surprised to read this month that Elvis Costello made his new album, National Ransom, available as a CD but also as a vinyl double LP.

Costello told Time Magazine, "The real record is the LP; that's the way I think it should sound. I released it as four 78-r.p.m. records cause I wanted people to have something special. There's nothing quaint or arcane about it. It's just that some music sounds better in that form."

I was surprised Costello felt this way about vinyl, because my memory of records is that they warp and get scratched, which doesn't seem to add too much to the music other than a sweet sense of nostalgia.

I'm with Dreadnaught on music and movie quality...if I like a song or movie, I'll listen or watch in any format and still like the song or movie. I listen to almost all music as Youtube videos.

I think CDs will eventually be replaced by files, since files can last indefinitely (as long as there are computers and electricity). Even my dad, who is over 70, has an ipod and downloads files and even rips mp3s from youtube videos to store them on his computer! I don't think he buys CDs anymore at all!

I can't understand the appeal of vinyl. Its such an elitist habit its gross.

I'm weird in this area because with music, I can't have the thing. Its sound, so for me, digital is logical. Where as things like the Kindle and eBook readers disappoint me. With a book, I can always go back and read whenever I want. I lose one book and I don't lose them all.

I could never really go back and listen to music without technology, and as technology advances, it becomes closer to a thing that I would value like the literary medium. (I'm comparing the two I guess, from here on in.)

The Kindle was created for ease of travel, but musical advances make it so that we can have a more intimate relationship with the music. Who hasn't listened to the same 5 to 7 seconds of a song over and over again in their car?

With music, if quantity was an issue, it was a minor one and certainly not the only one. Obviously, the forms aren't meant to be compared, but I think walking backwards with one has merit, the other has only nostalgia.

The more I seriously think about the comparison between the Cd and mp3, the more I support the download . As I recall B.B. King quoating years ago, "you either change with the times or find yourself looking into an empty audience". I guess I have to change wih the times, too. The music outlets charge an adverage of anywhere from $12.00 to $16.00 for a current CD where the same album can be downloaded for $9.99. And in today's economy, some of us have to find a way to cut costs. I used to have hundreds of CDs and less room to store them. With the mp3 I can store my entite collection on a single player. It's more convient and you don't have to change disc constantly. I still purchase CDs on occasion, but 90% of my music today is downloaded. There is no way I want nor need hundreds of CDs. Especially when It comes to moving. I have observed that a lot of 'out of print' music are available through the likes of iTunes. While browsing through cduniverse.com I'm redirected to the mp3 store when an album isn't available or directed to amazon.com. It seems like these online stores are in favor of the download. So, I guess mp3 are hear to stay until something else replaces it.

I honestly can't see a future where you can still get CD's outside of auction or collector websites.

I've always been a vinyl lover. I never really like the appearance of CD's but, furthermore, I like the sound of vinyl. I'm not one of those freaks that thinks cracks and pops belong to vinyl. I really get angry when my vinyl develops 'extra' sounds. I really think the music, apart from the background noise, sounds better. So I really don't mind CD sales going down. The problem is, they are being replaced by mp3 downloads and that really really bothers me. I can hear the difference and I do care. I hope that in the future there'll be enough audiophile idiots left to keep CD and Vinyl sales going. Or I'll be having a problem.
Luckily more and more people are getting into losless (WAV, APE, FLAC) digital music. That's a good thing. The internet is getting faster, harddisks are getting bigger. I'm hoping (and expecting) that anytime soon digital music kicks the crap out of CD quality (most affordable 'high end' already support higher sample rates than a CD does).
I'll just have to wait and see, I guess. In the meantime, I'll be buying vinyl if you don't mind ;)

I don't know what it's like in your country, but where I live vinyl is actually a bit cheaper than CD's. So I can't really think of it as elitist in that way.