Is the Compact Disk (CD) Dead?

[anthony]

I ask this with a little bit of sadness. The recent 20th anniversary of the CD has got me thinking about its rise and fall. Ironic, really. The birth of the CD (digital music) leads directly to its downfall (MP3).

 

As one born in the 1970s and coming of muxical age in the 1980s, I grew up with cassette tapes (I kinda miss the FFFFfffffffff hiss in the backgrounds

[Vacant Horizon]

I ask this with a little bit of sadness. The recent 20th anniversary of the CD has got me thinking about its rise and fall. Ironic, really. The birth of the CD (digital music) leads directly to its downfall (MP3).

 

As one born in the 1970s and coming of muxical age in the 1980s, I grew up with cassette tapes (I kinda miss the FFFFfffffffff hiss in the backgrounds

[GtrPlyr]

It's not dead with me as I still buy retail CDs and LPs as well as CD-r media for burning lossless downloads.

 

Music sales would indicate otherwise for the average music consumer. Sadly people seem to be getting away from higher fidelity recordings these days in favor of the convenience of MP3/MP4. I'm old school, I still listen to a record from start to finish and enjoy leafing through liner notes. I'll be put out to pasture soon enough...

[a.miller]

Just MO:

 

CDs are certainly dying / soon to be dead.

 

the Good: MP3s provide a very portable way to transfer music (itunes / ipod). This ability of transfer allows many musicians and bands to distribute their music to a broad audience with very low cost. Distribution channels are now open to the small guy that were never there before. As an independent / semi-professional musician, I find this to be phenomenal.

 

MP3s are easily shared. Anyone who has been in a cover band and learned a song knows the merit of emailing a mp3 to all the band mates.

 

No longer is the consumer forced to purchase an entire album for one song.

 

iPods are awesome. Carrying that 50lb book of CDs in my car was a joke.

 

 

the Bad: MP3s sound lousy compared to CDs. Uncompressed audio has far more "texture" and depth than an MP3 does. This could spark a whole different debate, but anyone who has worked with / manipulated (digital) music recordings can vouch that this is a large drawback for the mp3. However, I think this is a moot point, as 99% of music listeners have no idea there is any difference.

 

Illegally downloading music is sickeningly easy. I see no end in sight for this.

 

People stop buying CDs. Record stores aren't necessary. Record store employees lose jobs. The flip side of this is that somewhere, someone is saving money by not sinking capital into physical inventory.

 

_______

 

In ten years, I think most disk-based media will be a thing of the past. We've seen it happen with music. Movies will be next...or are almost there. I see blu-ray technology becoming antiquated before being mass-adopted.

 

Anyway...IMO.

[deepseacatfish]

I don't think CD's are dead. Dying as the primary form of sales...yes, dead? No.

 

Cd's are still quite profitable, and there are plenty of people out there (like me) who like to purchase a physical product. Given how little it costs to press cd's I can't imagine any smart record label wouldn't want to still press cd's. Maybe not in the same numbers, but enough to satiate the demand. Yes, vinyl will definitely satisfy some collectors but I think that until another mass physical format comes into being the cd will remain a strong market force.

 

Mp3's and other digital media will definitely become the central means of music sales and consumption, for better or worse. They are extremely portable, easy to disseminate, cheap from a manufacturing standpoint, and cheaper to consumers who want to have more and more media of all types. Most digital formats do compress audio, but most people aren't audiophiles and aren't listening to their music on high end systems (or even using it for more than background). I don't think it's a bad thing, it's just how people want to consume their music.

[Moss]

I'm hoping places like Best Buy and Walmart will continue to decline in CD sales and give the independent stores a shot. Appears to be happening already. One of the most enjoyable things to do is walk around in a good indy music store. I know that sucks for the people in small towns that don't have those stores but really, with amazon you do have access to anything anyways. I still buy quite a few CD's.

[Scott Gyrrr]

I wouldn't be surprised if mp3 dies before compact disc with the size of hard drives these days. As to what the next format preferred by the masses is and when who knows.

[ThisIsNowhere]

I know I'll keep buying CDs.

[LouieB]

The CD isn't dying. It is like everything else, it is showing its age. If anything the LP will die again first. Even the cassette tape seems to be making a bit of a resurgence. The only things we know are dead are cylanders and 78s and 8 tracks. Since the CD-R seems to continue to be viable, the pre-recorded CD won't go away. Certainly for new bands the CD is the way to go to get its work out, other than posting it for free mp3 wise.

 

LouieB

[John Smith]

If the Cd dies and goes away I will probably stop buying music. The quality of the downloads is just not there enough for me. and I like ot have a product in my hand. Call me old school but I don't generally like having only electronic versions of songs.

[PopTodd]

I know I'll keep buying CDs.

 

And, someday I'm gonna get my turntable fixed and start buying LPs again, too!

 

(I don't even own an iPod)

[Analogman]

In case anyone wants to read it:

 

We talked about cd sales in this thread.

 

I read somewhere the other day that all the Virgin Megastores are closing. At this point, if I want something that is not brand new, I have to buy it from Amazon.

[KevinG]

I haven't bought a CD in years.

 

I hate having stuff I don't need around. Plus I am not an audiophile and don't hear that much of a difference in CD and digital music.

[myboyblue]

I haven't bought a CD in years.

 

I hate having stuff I don't need around. Plus I am not an audiophile and don't hear that much of a difference in CD and digital music.

 

This summarizes it for me. With the exception of a cd pre-purchase that comes with an immediate electronic download, I haven't bought a cd since "Folker". I probably haven't bought more than 10 physical cds in the last 6-7 years.

[NightOfJoy]

I bought a CD yesterday......Neil Youngs Sugar Mountain, Ann Arbor 1968.

 

I still buy vinyl (because I like it) and I'll still buy CDs.......

[Vacant Horizon]

Just MO:

 

CDs are certainly dying / soon to be dead.

 

the Good: MP3s provide a very portable way to transfer music (itunes / ipod). This ability of transfer allows many musicians and bands to distribute their music to a broad audience with very low cost. Distribution channels are now open to the small guy that were never there before. As an independent / semi-professional musician, I find this to be phenomenal.

 

MP3s are easily shared. Anyone who has been in a cover band and learned a song knows the merit of emailing a mp3 to all the band mates.

 

No longer is the consumer forced to purchase an entire album for one song.

 

iPods are awesome. Carrying that 50lb book of CDs in my car was a joke.

 

 

the Bad: MP3s sound lousy compared to CDs. Uncompressed audio has far more "texture" and depth than an MP3 does. This could spark a whole different debate, but anyone who has worked with / manipulated (digital) music recordings can vouch that this is a large drawback for the mp3. However, I think this is a moot point, as 99% of music listeners have no idea there is any difference.

 

Illegally downloading music is sickeningly easy. I see no end in sight for this.

 

People stop buying CDs. Record stores aren't necessary. Record store employees lose jobs. The flip side of this is that somewhere, someone is saving money by not sinking capital into physical inventory.

 

_______

 

In ten years, I think most disk-based media will be a thing of the past. We've seen it happen with music. Movies will be next...or are almost there. I see blu-ray technology becoming antiquated before being mass-adopted.

 

Anyway...IMO.

 

 

good points. as for record stores, i'm not lamenting the assholes who lose jobs. yes, blueray is really not catching on. at some point, everything will be stored in the 'cloud' with no need for physical media...however, vinyl will never go away and there will still be a market for deluxe sets in the future.

as far as fidelity goes, tests have been done where people cannot tell the difference between lossless and 192kbs. everything we buy now is at least 256kbs which sounds just like a cd. only audiophiles can tell the difference because or their ridiculous audio systems. compression is no big deal any more. not to mention the fact that we've been listening to shitty bootlegs for decades. if you like the song, you'll listen to it no matter what and not care about 'fidelity'.

i do miss getting cds, but i've had to make friends with the fact that it's a real pain in the ass to buy a cd and only like a few songs and have to sell it on ebay or something. the other issue for me is having 30g of music in my hands at one time. it's utterly overwhelming!

[Vacant Horizon]

I'm hoping places like Best Buy and Walmart will continue to decline in CD sales and give the independent stores a shot. Appears to be happening already. One of the most enjoyable things to do is walk around in a good indy music store. I know that sucks for the people in small towns that don't have those stores but really, with amazon you do have access to anything anyways. I still buy quite a few CD's.

 

 

yeah, nothing better than a good local cd shop with a nice staff. it's impossible for big box stores and big book stores to sell cds anymore. that leaves room for good indie stores and for USED stores. that's where the business is gonna be these days. used cds.

[John Smith]

In the old days a double album or at least an album with a gatefold was good for sorting out the seeds. Cd's ruined that and digital just makes it absolutely impossible.

[Vacant Horizon]

In the old days a double album or at least an album with a gatefold was good for sorting out the seeds. Cd's ruined that and digital just makes it absolutely impossible.

 

 

seeds?

[Rusty Shackleford]

I still buy CDs, but I could see why they might be on the way out. I don't buy CDs at actual stores; I pretty much buy from amazon or artists' web sites, and those distributors are encouraging downloads as much as CDs.

 

The world is increasingly separating into those who care about physical media (whether for sound quality, or artwork, or just security), and those who don't. Among the people who care about physical media, I wonder if the vinyl resurgence will make CDs (ironically) become obsolete. If you care enough about sound quality, artwork, etc. to want a physical copy, why not get a bigger package that (arguably) sounds better?

 

That said, I don't do vinyl, because I don't have enough room in my house for the stuff I've already got. My wife would not like it much if I started bringing home LPs in addition to the CDs I still buy (she went all-digital long ago). And so I can see why vinyl's appeal will continue to be limited.

 

The best arguments for why CDs will stick around for awhile:

 

1. For whatever reason, some people (like me) like to keep physical copies of music around.

 

2. There is a large installed base of players--more than there ever were for vinyl turntables (think cars, alarm clocks, etc.), so CDs have a built-in advantage over other physical media.

 

3. The sound quality/portability/durability of CDs is still pretty favorable compared to, e.g. vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks.

 

4. It's still relatively cheap and easy for an up-and-coming band to distribute CDs at live shows, which is an income stream they won't want to do away with.

[hacienda]

I don't know if the medium is dying/dead, but I was at the Borders on North and Halsted in Chicago on Friday, and it was like walking into the wreckage of the music industry. They're clearing their cd and dvd stock at 50% off. I picked up a copy of The Fiery Furnaces' "Remember" and there were lots of good deals to be had. If you're in town, and still buying your music on plastic discs, I'd recommend checking out the sale.

[moxiebean]

seeds?

[Analogman]

I don't know if the medium is dying/dead, but I was at the Borders on North and Halsted in Chicago on Friday, and it was like walking into the wreckage of the music industry. They're clearing their cd and dvd stock at 50% off. I picked up a copy of The Fiery Furnaces' "Remember" and there were lots of good deals to be had. If you're in town, and still buying your music on plastic discs, I'd recommend checking out the sale.

 

Walmart and Best Buy also. They seem to be carrying some new releases, various greatest hits type cds, and popular catalog - such as Dark Side Of The Moon, or whatever now.

[sureshot]

I pretty much buy vinyl exclusively. I don’t see the point to CDs. Most new vinyl these days allows you a free digital download, which should satisfy any portability desire you might have (either burn it to a blank CD, or more likely just upload it to your MP3 player). Meanwhile, you still get the physical medium in audiophile format for when you choose to listen to it properly, along with large/intricate artwork, all while supporting your local record store. Not to mention the inherent collectibility that exists in vinyl (limited pressings, etc), which allows your purchase to potentially increase in value over time (if that’s something that matters to you).

 

Obviously vinyl will remain a niche market and will never be anywhere close to the primary format as it once was. But theres clearly a demand and a renewed interest among a certain segment, as many production facilities can't even keep up.

[Vacant Horizon]

I pretty much buy vinyl exclusively. I don