The death of the CD?

[milojthatch]

Some good news or bad news depending on what your views are. But over at The Digital Bits, they are reporting that multiple sources are claiming that every major record label will be abandoning compact discs by the end of 2012. They also pointed out that nothing was said about independent labels, so the CD wouldn't necessarily die off completely. But still, this is big news if it is true.

[rexcrk]

I'm sort of indifferent, just because I mainly buy my music on iTunes now, just because I'm tired of having CDs all over the place, and it's not like DVDs/Blu-rays where I like to keep/display them in the case.

I do, however, like having CDs around to backup the music that I download.

[singerguy04]

As an independent recording artist, I can attest to the fact that releasing music digitally is a whole lot cheaper than releasing music on a CD. For me it's a one time flat fee of about $15 per single. Whereas with a CD i would need to pay to print them in mass. Then when you add in case art, disc art, the cost of the disc and case, it ends up being a pretty complicated process. So, perhaps this is a step that the major companies are making to survive the recession. I hope Disney doesn't get any bright ideas.

[Lazario]

I like CD's too and I really don't want to see them become obsolete. Because I love the ones I own and wouldn't ever want to give them up. But the reason I don't buy new music on CD anymore is that I just can't freaking afford them. I buy older CD's, used, by bands I want to collect. But if it's more than $5 for an important CD, it's just too much these days. And they still want you to pay $11 or more for all the new artists, etc, to get their full albums and that's why it's better instead to listen to the albums and buy the songs you want individually.

I don't like that the deciding factor for this is new music and the costs to produce physical CD's now. I still really want to see older albums produced on CD, for them to stay in print. That is going to be downright tragic to see stop happening / an era to end. I don't think this should be connected to new artists.

[Christopher_TCUIH]

I love CDs but it really is cheaper to download them for free via RAR or ZIP file online. I do buy them when I have the green which is rare :/

I just hope places like Amoeba records or second spin never close

[Mr. Toad]

Well I have over 1,300 CDs, 200 LPs and zero MP3s. If they carry through with this I will have a whole lot of extra money to spend on something else. I tried downloading a couple of songs on MP3 and they sounded terrible.

[The_Iceflash]

I love CDs but it really is cheaper to download them for free via RAR or ZIP file online. I do buy them when I have the green which is rare :/

I just hope places like Amoeba records or second spin never close

Of course it's cheaper to illegally download. That of course is a discussion best left for another thread.



A couple of things regarding this though. The prices of a CD vs prices of a legal download of a complete album aren't that different. In many cases they are virtually the same. ($9.99) and in other cases that are only a dollar or so cheaper. I have actually seen iTunes it cost more for an album than it was to get on CD. If I want the whole album and the prices are virtually the same or cheaper on CD, I would rather get the CD. On iTunes I'm paying for a lossy format and I don't own my purchase. Witb the CD, I can rip it a any way I want, actually own the CD, and have built in backup. In that case it's a no brainer. If one doesn't want the whole album and only wants certain songs (i.e singles, etc) then that's a different story. I remember places selling CD singles for $2.99 which is what iTunes is charging for a lot of singles packages. My issue with no-CD would be the quality control of the downloads. Right now they are still sold over-priced for lossy formats. That would have to change.

Another thing I see going on almost coinciding with this is a mini-resurgence of the vinyl record. Many new artists are releasing LP versions of their albums in bundles which include a copy of the CD or a digital download card. They are a mixed bag of quality at this point. Some new LPs are mastered wonderfully and sound great (Fleet Foxes - 1st LP). Others like Coldplay's Viva la Vida LP isn't so much. The LP releases are priding themselves in their high resolution transfers. Not all are up to par though. I myself for the past year have been buying used CDs and LPs.

I don't want CDs to become obsolete because I don't want to see anything to happen to my collection. I would like to be able to enjoy them for a long long time.

@Lazario: You make an interesting point about saying you don't think this should be connected to new artists. I notice that many new artists (not all) are adopting a singles-dominated model that iTunes, etc lend themselves to. Many of the albums are containing more filler than ever (due to the concentrating more on hit singles than a cohesive album). Many older artists released music under an album-centered model.

Here's an interesting discussion regarding this topic (CDs to stop being made in 2012)

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... highlight=

[milojthatch]

For me, I've tried the digital album thing and just didn't like it. If my computer were to crash, or even worse, there was some kind of larger scale systems crash that effected a lot of people, suddenly having a physical format doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

I just don't feel safe not having music on a physical CD, and despite the hype, I doubt I'm alone. Plus, the sound is so much better on my CD player then on my computer or MP3 player. It isn't that I don't use an MP3, but sometimes I rather use my CD player when I really want to enjoy my music. And then the music put on my MP3 came from a CD originally. I think that sounds better on my MP3 then the digital songs from the internet.

Like Icefish said, I don't think legal downloads are any cheaper then a physical CD, plus with a CD you actual OWN your music instead of digital bits of nothingness.

The other thing about the iTunes generations, as has been mentioned is that it is destroying the art of the album. New artist focus on that hit single then creating story with their whole album like the artist of yesteryear did. You know, Garth Brooks refuses to sell any of his music on iTunes and I say good for him, I hope he keeps it up. It ruins the art form, and I think e gets that.

Bottom line, for me, if the CD dies off, I stop buying new music. Sadly, enough other people I suspect will keep buying these garbage digital downloaded version, the music industry won't miss me. I realize there may be more that feel the way my wife does that CD's are obsolete, and the masses dictate the direction business will go (normally anyway). Thankfully, there are still indie labels.

[Elladorine]

I actually can't remember the last time I bought a CD . . . probably not once in the last five years. Well, unless you count blank ones for burning. My car stereo can play MP3 discs and they actually sound great in there (but it's not as if I've ever been spoiled with a "great" stereo system so I suppose I don't know any better).

I love to burn mix CD's. Just one disc holds 120+ songs of my choice, organized into the order of my liking, which will keep me entertained in the car for weeks, even months on end. I usually have at least three on hand in my disc changer; one of old favorites I never get sick of, one of new music (typically stuff currently playing on the radio that catches my ear), and one for soundtracks (mostly Disney songs).

And as for my original CD's, I made MP3's out of the songs I wanted to keep and left the actual discs behind when I moved (with the exception of my Sailormoon albums). I collect enough things as it is and they were taking up way too much space. I thought I'd miss them, but I honestly don't. I can keep entire albums together for playing, create and organize custom playlists, choose to only buy the songs that I like, and never again will I have to buy an entire album without knowing what I'm getting into first. Oh, and I don't worry about crashes since I've got all my music backed up on a share drive (which is handy since I can access all my files from any PC in the house).

Oh, and an MP3 player works so much easier than lugging a discman around for taking walks or working out.

[Disney's Divinity]

I personally prefer CDs. Of course, right now I don't own an Ipod or anything like that, but even if I could afford one I think I would still like to have all my albums on CD.

I feel like the prices of CDs have generally gone down over the years. I remember most all CDs costing around $20 in the past, whereas now I usually only pay $9.99 to $12.99 for most albums. Otherwise, I couldn't afford those either.

[Jules]

2012: Death of the CD

I suppose this means that 2020 will bring about the death of DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

I really don't want my collection to be rendered worthless in a few years' time, but I haven't got any choice really.

Oooh, and first post in God knows how long.

[slave2moonlight]

This is kinda sad, because I like having hard copies, largely because of the cases and cover/insert imagery and info and all. I don't even have an mp3 player of any kind yet. Still, I can see how, for music, digital is probably the best way to go (if you don't mind the risk of losing your songs much more easily, I would think). I just hope that this isn't the route movies eventually go. For me, it's something very different, and all the bells and whistles with buying a new movie are so thoroughly enjoyed by me.