The Demise of the CD: Part I The Problem
It is hard to imagine the death of the CD, it has been our main source of music listening for over twenty years. That idea unfortunately, may soon be reality. CD sales have been rapidly plummeting over the past few years, just a few days ago the New York Times has an article on how EMI is suffering from terrible CD sales. The main reason for these tough times has been due in part to the internet which has completely revolutionized the way we listen to music, and surprisingly an even more drastic change than when the CD was first introduced. The music industry has decided to target this revolution but mainly in a negative aspect, they have devoted a disproportionate amount of time and energy on ending piracy. The reality for them is their focus needs to be shifted and swiftly.It is truly sad that the CD is a dying breed because there is a magic to purchasing music you can actually hold and touch. The magic comes from the moment you tear through that tedious plastic wrap to picking away at the ridiculous sticker which seems as if is plastered on all four sides of the jewel case, whether needed or not. When finally breaking through that barrier you are met with that new CD smell, and when you finally get to the point of placing the CD in your stereo you can relax, read the booklet that comes with it, and sit and enjoy the music that was actually a bit of an effort to obtain between actually getting off your seat to buy it (If you actually went to a store) and meticulously opening up. These are characteristics that downloaded music can't offer, and yet the CD has extinction in its sights.
Expect for Part II: The Solution to be posted tomorrow, and yes, Part II is longer than Part I, that is why I split it up...
posted by Jeff at 9:02 PM
10 Comments:
Jeff - MP3's are the kyrptonite (sp) the music industry can either work with the consumer or die like the dinosaurs. It's about evolution and change. If they can't find a way to market that, then it's their own faults.
Peace,
- Neo
I'm looking forward to Part II, because Part I was excellent commentary. As owner of over 2600 CDs, I can't fathom its demise, but 8 tracks dies, cassette tapes dies, both deservingly so. Vinyl temporarily died but came back through the appreciation of purists.
As I will undoubtedly venture into the Virgin Megastore in Times Square this weekend as I traditionally do on every NYC trip, I can't imagine life without it. A lot of the MP3 phenomenon is due to blatant laziness from people as you've mentioned, but most of it is a give me convenience or give me death mentality that's just dreadful.
We've lost our couth as a society as we have our appreciation for tangible art; South America and Europe are big-time holdouts for CDs and such because they don't have the outrageous amount of fickleness US citizens due, and this is largely due to an overabundance of choice. When the CD does die out, it'll be because Americans had way too many options, genre-wise, artist-wise, format-wise, and MP3, as far as I'm concerned is dumbing down this country.
I just hope there are enough CD players to last the rest of my life. As it is right now, I'm an album purist, not a singles lover that is the other main culprit as to why MP3 has become so successful.
I would fear losing my entire hard drive or microchip worth of music and have to pay the money again to buy the songs. If these people aren't backing their ITunes up, then fuck 'em if they lose 'em. I'll laugh.
Jeff, I can't wait for part 2 this is the kind of article you could easily get published in a record magazinne or music site.
But man, does it ever show the true age gap. I felt this way about vinyl when I was your age. Then we had those HORRIBLE 8-tracks and ridiculous cassettes.
Jeff, that was a great commentary and I am looking forward to Part 2.
As a collector with around 2500+ CDs, I can't imagine a world without physical product. I enjoy the adventure of the record store and finding that one album that you want. The actual acts of searching, purchasing, and holding a CD is half the fun. When you get it home, it becomes part of your collection. I can't seem to understand how a computer file will replace the actual physical object. It's taken me 10 years of Internet life to finally order music online, I can't imagine how long it will take for me to by MP3s. I will hold on to the bitter end!
Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
I felt this way when vinyl looked like it would die. I resisted CDs as long as I could and then gave in, but I still get all that I can on vinyl. The difference now is that we're not just talking about changing formats, but losing the whole package, both the artwork and the album tracks. Bands will be forced into creating songs that only stand on their own rather than the larger pieces that we get as albums. However, this is goign to primarily true of pop music. If you think about some things off the beaten path and the fans of that stuff, I think there will always be a market for the tangible goods. I have MP3s, but not in lieu of LPs and CDs, so I think the MP3 format has a definite place. I can take thousands of albums on vacation with me. It's nice, because when I'm gone for a week, I have no idea what I'm gonna wanna hear several days into the trip.
Ray, I suspect that most people do not back up their libraries, but I do. It would take a lot of time to recover if my drive died, but it could be done.
Can't wait to hear the solution.
Can't wait for part 2. I enjoy buying and having the CD and all that comes along with it (Album art, stories credits, pictures, etc). I rarely download any music.
Neo - I'm personally hoping that MP3's aren't going to take over music, I like when my music is actually packaged.
Ray - I am an album person as well and I fear how destructive MP3's can be. A while back I read that Radiohead was planning to release MP3's randomly opposed to releasing a new album which annoyed me to no end, I'm not sure what they are currently doing but the thought of a band like Radiohead embracing that idea is scary.
Layla - Thanks! Yeah, luckily I was never around for the 8 Track but boy do they look ridiculous. I was old enough to have cassetts though, my family was a little slow in embracing technology so most of the music I listened to earlier on in life was on cassetts.
Steve - I agree fully, I try to avoid purchasing CD's online but unfortunately a lot of music is just too hard to find in stores. I like looking over at my CD's that pile up continuously and not having enough room for them.
Bob - The idea of singles and no albums is so scary, as I said to Ray, A while back I read that Radiohead was planning to release MP3's randomly opposed to releasing a new album which annoyed me to no end, I'm not sure what they are currently doing but the thought of a band like Radiohead embracing that idea is scary.
Mike - It is hard for me to understand why people would rather buy MP3's online instead of actually buying a CD which gives you more and is more flexible than MP3's which are often encrypted with DRM which limits what you can do with them.
I like packaging I can hold, but that's what I was raised with. Younger teens today are coming into a world where they are seeing a change and the packaging may not mean as much to them because it's not the only option or format.
Mark - Even though younger teens aren't seeing the packaging as much as people who were brought up with CD's, Vinyls, Cassetts etc. I still think the whole package should appeal to everyone.
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