The CD is dead

Ardent

Apparently, CD music sales are down 20% for the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year. In america, the 'Dreamgirls' movie soundtrack recently hit #1 by selling 60,000 CDs in a week, a number that wouldn't have made the top 30 in 2005.

So I was wondering, what's the reason for it all?

1) When I think back to the stuff that was in the charts in the 80's - and I hated 80's music at the time - there was way more diversity, even in synth-pop and crap like that. Listen to what's on the radio today and it sounds like every pop act was cut from the same cookie cutter, every female R&B artist sounds the same. The conveyer belt is definitely working over time in the music industry and I believe the most of the buying public are not stupid.

2) Then there's the price of CDs and albums. I haven't bought a CD in ages but the last time I was in HMV it was something like 18.99 for a CD. That's just taking the p1ss. Have prices come down since? Are we all still buying albums regularly at these prices?

3) I look at my CD tower at home and I feel no desire to add to it. I can store hundreds of albums in a small space on my PC, iPod, car MP3 player, whatever and my music can travel with me. Buying the CD - to have the CD in your collection - is not what it once was.

I don't feel sorry for the music industry, they've been ripping off the public for long enough. I think it's said best here:

As for musicians hanging up their guitars because there's no money to be made, frankly, the *right people will hang up their guitar*.

So where has it all gone wrong for the CD album? What are your thoughts?

DerekD Goldfish

I still buy hundres of cd's a year and plenty of vinal as well
one of the main reason for the reduction in cd sales is compolations
I heard that roughly 25% of all albums sold are best-of's or compilation albums.
The fact is most of of the big selling artists have already had numourous best of albums released and people that only have a passing interest in music and buy these albums already have most of the best of's they feel they need

Sabre0001

I don't think the CD will 'die'...People still buy LPs for example because of quality differences...

People have their own preferences - I am happier with MP3 as I have the portable player and speakers to plug into...However, I know many who like to have a physical product. One problem I have with MP3s is that there is no booklet for words, pictures, thanks, etc.

Also, until MP3s are in all cars (and there is interoperability...Im looking at you Apple), CDs will stay.

Sinfonia

Ardent wrote:

3) I look at my CD tower at home and I feel no desire to add to it. I can store hundreds of albums in a small space on my PC, iPod, car MP3 player, whatever and my music can travel with me. Buying the CD - to have the CD in your collection - is not what it once was.

I feel the same way.
With free file sharing and the great advances in digital music, it's almost a "what's the point?" kinda thing.
These days I'd even be more inclined to buy music from iTunes than on CD, just because it's generally so much cheaper. I'd probably only buy CD's in one of those HMV €5 per album sales.

I am collecting vinyl at the moment, because, let's face it, it makes you cool
But seriously I do like the type of sound quality you get from it, that you just don't get anywhere else. It's nice to get an old original album from the '60s/'70s instead of the usual remastered CD re-releases.
So in my room I have a record player, and a nice set of speakers to which I can hook up that, or my iPod, or laptop, or anything really.
I don't bother with a CD player, I'm not gonna use it!
It's pretty much either the iPod for everything, or vinyl for the reasons above.

I bought the new Arcade Fire album on CD (because I was going to get it on vinyl but it wasn't in yet), and this

Buying the CD - to have the CD in your collection - is not what it once was.

has definitely been the feeling. As it used to be.

The CD is certainly dead to me.

Sinfonia

Sabre0001 wrote:

Also, until MP3s are in all cars (and there is interoperability...Im looking at you Apple), CDs will stay.

iTrip is my car's best friend!

edanto

As far as the technology goes, I think that CDs are obsolete because of the simplicity of digimusic. A friend of mine uses a portable hard drive in his car, just plugs it into a USB port on the stereo! Compare that to broken cases and scratched CDs turning up under the car seat!

As for the traditional record label business model, well that's been dead and buried for a while. Labels will only pick groups that they know will sell, afaik Pulp were one of the last groups to get a development deal.

Maybe we're in some kind of intermediate time where closer contact (web) between groups and fans could push the labels out to the fringes - but who knows?! Given the choice between downloading high quality mp3s from a band site or buying an overpriced easily scratched CD from HMV, I would download every time.

It's no trouble to burn off a disc if I really want one, but at least that way I'm not worried if it gets scratched or starts skipping.

Jocksy

I download all my music now.

1. Its free
2. I have thousands of albums, mixes, singles in one place ready to play.
3. Not at the mercy of shops/distributors/marketers

Its great.

Sinfonia

Also, leaving the house with your Discman, "Hmmm, what one album will I listen to ALL day?"
Bollocks to that

John

SumGuy wrote:

Also, leaving the house with your Discman, "Hmmm, what one album will I listen to ALL day?"
Bollocks to that

CD wallet. I will eventually get an mp3 player for being out and about but to be honest I can't see myself stopping my CD and vinyl purchases. mp3s sound gick, there's no two ways about it. I like having the artwork. I mainly buy from small labels and distributors (one label sells its own releases at around $7-8 each for regular customers, shipping is usually cheap from the US so I can get about seven albums for €50 delivered direct to my door). I don't do illegal downloading as I like the artists I like to make a living and make more music and think the likes of Jocksy above are scum.

cornbb

I would download the majority of my music now from various sources (such as emusic.com, I *hate* iTunes) as mp3s are so damn convenient and its far cheaper. CDs are still nice though, they are tangible and the audio fidelity is a little higher. I usually only buy classical music on CD now as its inexpensive and the difference in audio quality is noticeable.

Format is no longer as important as it used to be now that everything has gone digital though. CD audio and mp3 audio are essentially interchangeable. I don't forsee everyone needing to repurchase their entire music collections when the next format of choice comes along, as was the case with the transition from vinyl to cassette to CD etc.

Sinfonia

The CD wallet, fair enough, but I like having hundreds of albums inside my jacket pocket, not that I'm gonna listen to all of them in one day, but I can change to anything I want at any time. I like that.

John wrote:

I don't do illegal downloading as I like the artists I like to make a living and make more music and think the likes of Jocksy above are scum.

Would I be right in thinking that most artists make the majority of their money through live performances rather than the records themselves? (Please correct me on this if I'm wrong.)

Also there are tons of artists I would never have become interested in had I not availed of free downloads, many of which I have since bought records by, and gone to live concerts of,
and there are tons of artists who got their 'break' through free music downloads and file sharing, as they couldn't afford the commercial costs of recording etc.

It seems to me that new artists who are trying to become discovered are quite in favour of free downloading, as it gives them a chance to be heard,
and the bigger, more famous artists with a substantially greater amount of fame and money, as well as the record companies, are the ones fighting to stop it.

Maybe at 21 I'm still young and naive and don't believe that money is everything, but I write music (nothing recorded yet though) and I would be delighted if somebody heard something I wrote and it made them happy. Lars Ulrich can suck my balls tbh - sell-out tours with Metallica every year, and cashing in with that joke of a movie - you've got money, and then you try to sue people for enjoying your music because it's for free. I never want to be that kind of person.
Thank jaysus for the likes of RATM, who actually got Napster users reinstated, having been banned for downloading their music.
Tom Morello wrote:
"The move to take action against Rage fans was taken completely unilaterally by our new management. In their zeal to keep the record from getting out before the release date, they did not consult the band before instructing Sony Music Corp. to institute the Napster ban. As soon as I was made aware of this horrible mistake on their part, I immediately phoned our management and record company to see what we could do to get our Napster-using fans reinstated as possible... In the future we will be more vigilant about this matter."

John

SumGuy wrote:

Would I be right in thinking that most artists make the majority of their money through live performances rather than the records themselves? (Please correct me on this if I'm wrong.)

Yeah but have you ever seen how much money a band makes from a gig and bear in mind that to go on tour every member has to leave their normal jobs (yes, normal jobs, most bands cannot afford to live on their music alone)? It's really not much, the majority of the money is made from the merchandise stall selling CDs and t-shirts. But if you've already downloaded the album for free off the net why would you buy it from them?

Basically, so what if most of their money comes from live gigs, they still earn money from their CD sales (and smaller bands earn more money if they press their own CDs or are involved with a smaller label as there's less middlemen to take a chunk out of the money). Would you steal a soft drink from a pub because they make most of their money on alcoholic drinks? I doubt it.

Basically if you like the music, pay for it. What format you buy in is up to you but if you just steal then you are scum. Fair enough if you sample a couple of songs from new albums and new bands, most samples are made available by the bands but to download full albums because you like them but not enough to pay €20 is disgraceful.

While I don't agree with the closure of mp3 programs and sites like Napster and the heavy handed legal wranglings of the major labels, I also don't agree with ripping off people who are struggling to make a living from their music. Yes some bands are super rich but the vast majority (even some that are in the charts) are far from rich.

Sinfonia

I don't want to go too long on this, because I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on this, which is fair enough because your points are valid..

But I think income has a big part to play. As a student, my current income is basically whatever my mum is nice enough to give me, and I know I could get a part-time job, but as I'm doing finals, I'd rather concentrate on studying.

I do feel better about buying albums rather than downloading for free. Part of it is that money is going to whom it is due, part of it is that quality is generally better (free downloading can result in varying bitrates, volumes etc.), but I do still feel that CDs, especially new releases, are expensive, probably, as you say, due to the middlemen taking chunks out of the money.

So I would say that if I could currently afford it, I would buy my music, probably from iTunes because it's cheaper, I would still buy vinyl, and maybe the odd CD on sale...
(Actually as an aside, some artists who release new vinyl include coupons to download the album free, which I think is quite cool)
But as I cannot afford it, I honestly can't see myself not availing of the opportunity. And if I record music in the future and people share it for free, I won't complain.
The management, record company executives etc. aside, I think that the most important thing to the artist should be that people enjoy your music and want to hear it, not the almighty dollar.

Run_to_da_hills

Cds were the greatest rip off ever in the music industry. When they came out we were told that they were scratch resistant and would last a life time. However in reality they got scratched in no time. MP3 has taken over completely, the record companies were too late to jump on the band wagon and only got their act together when the damage was done after millions of gigs of illegal pirated mp3 were floating around the globe. They can only blame themselves. The record companies have been ripping us off for too long and they killed the cd themselves.

DerekD Goldfish

I download a lot of music none of which I pay for
I do not believe in paying for Mp3's nad most of the legal site have a dredful selection anyway.
I do however spent about 5k a year on Cds,Vinyl and gigs. I love having the pysical product but I wouldny buy half the music I do if it wasnt for iligan downloading.
Often I hear a band mentioned and I will download one of thier albums illigaly this may lead ot me buying the rest of thier back catelouge and other related artists.
for instance a while ago I heard of a great past Irish band called Fatima Mansions I could not find any if thier stuff in the shop's long since deleated but I tracked down some copies of thier stuff online I downloaed it loved it and it resulted in my buying the eintire FM Back catelouge on CD and Vinal, Cathal Coughlan solo albums, the Entire Microdisney back catelouge, a rake of High Llams albums, Stumps album, getting into Scott Walker because I heard Cathal was influenced by him buying the majority of his back catelouge, Going to see Cathal Coughlan live.
if I hadnt downloaded that album illigaly there is hundres I wouldnt have spent on music.

another example is Whipping Boy I heard about them a few years back but thier albums (bar the final one) had been deleated. I tracked them down online and downloaded them illigaly I loved them. I pestered numourous friends and people on other forums for years often passing on illigal copies of the bands stuff. When the bands reformed there were a dozen people who went who otherwise wouldnt have if I hadnt "stolen" the album and givin it to them many of them also bought the albums when they were later re-issued.


It is my beleif and that of some independant studies that downloading increases sales.

voxpop

I still buy CDs. If you make the investment in a decent sound system its crazy to play mp3s on it - you will just hear all the left out bits. I do convert alot of my CDs to MP3s mainly to listen to in work/on the move/in the car but at home on my hifi I always listen to the CD version.

The price argument to me is invalid - iTunes charge 99c for a track, encoded at the quality level they choose plus you need pre-installed software to access this music. I just bought the new Neil Young Massey Hall album. It has 17 tracks and a free DVD for 18 euros on cdwow. On iTunes you would pay 17 euros and loose out on the DVD - legally purchased mp3s are hardly a bargin. There are also deals to be had in HMV and the like - sticky fingers for 7 euros, led zeppelin 1,2,3 and 4 for 7 quid each, kind of blue for 7 quid. Its just a case of searching through the bargin sections which are permanent features in both hmv and virgin.

The MP3s are great because they can be downloaded using bit torrent or whatever filesharing you want argument is also bogus. Are cassette recording a replacement for CDs - before mp3 came along there were campaigns to stop ppl recoding songs for free to cassette. MP3s are the replacement for cassettes, not CDs. This is plain to see as CDs are still being sold but the cassette is dead.

On the cd chart side of things - the current cd chart is only really relevant to teenagers and most likely teenage girls. I dont even know whats in the charts never mind whats number 1 and I or anyone I know havnt cared for a long time. Good music is now not the big coportation mainstream music, its the underground/alternative - remindes me of joe boyds white bicycle, when he talks about music in 60s and 70s.

qwertplaywert

cds in THIS country are not dead yet, mainly imo because so many people cant get broadband,so therefore unable to download anything in reasonable times.but hope the cd dies.hate it.
The future for sterios is wi-fi through the house:computer sending it out to sterios

sturgo

i haven't bought a CD since the prodigy released their last studio album (about 3 years ago). i've no intention of buying one ever again. thanks bitorrent!

bman

I think many people would download music through bittorrent or whatever regardless of the price of CDs. But the price of CDs definitely pushes a lot of others to download as well. There just too damn expensive.

I think I bought one CD in the last year. All the rest was downloaded. I think its a great thing; it allows people to listen to music they would never had heard otherwise (unless you wanted to spend 1,000s on music each year).

projectmayhem

i buy cd's of bands/artists i respect without downloading, but i do download a lot of "new" stuff. if that stuff is good, i'll go buy the cd. i like having a collection there (my collection being hundreds of cds at this stage)...

Sinfonia

bman wrote:

I think many people would download music through bittorrent or whatever regardless of the price of CDs. But the price of CDs definitely pushes a lot of others to download as well. There just too damn expensive.

Maybe CD's would be cheaper if people didn't download so much for free.
Concerts too perhaps.
(Just speculating here)

Dark Artist

I like buying albums because of the overall atmosphere you get from the artwork and booklet that goes with the music. I find that it adds to the experience of listening to the album, and it gives the music a certain depth that you wouldn't have if there was no visual imagery to go with it.

It's a shame the CD is going down but perhaps they'll find a way to produce digital artwork to go with the digital music (although it would never be the same). The mysticism of a physical book that you hold in your hands, to me, is very important if you're a real music lover.

King.Penguin

If you're like me and couldn't care less about the little manual you get with a CD and don't care much for trophies (i.e. LOOK AT THE SIZE OF MY CD COLLECTION ARENT I DEADLY) and listen to all you music on a portable music system - you've no reason to buy CDs.

However, I'd be reluctant to buy Mp3s because I admit (and I'm certainly no audiophile/snob) they're inferior quality to CDs. For me, the difference in quality between listening to a DISKMAN and a MP3player is negligible however the difference in convenience is massive. If I were to pay for music, I'd buy the CD because at least then it gives you to option to rip it to mp3 or similar for on the move listening and the chance to listen to a high fidelity format on a high quality output (good speakers etc.).

As I'm a selfish,greedy,mean bastard the whole ethical debate is meaningless to me. If Billy Popidol never gets a gig because I don't buy CDs......