Is the CD officially dead?

[korova1]

Since the CD first came out in the glorious 80's.... thought I'd post here. Went to Borders the other day to find most of their deep catalog stock MIA. They are only carrying the "hits" and/or new releases from now on... whatever that may be.

I don't know, this was probably a thread recently... was just curious to see what your thoughts are running these days on the demise of music buying.

Is the CD quickly turning the way of the betamax or does it become more of a specialty as the world goes digital download?

Do you think we have 5 years until we can't buy a CD player in stores? 10 years? Or do you think everything with da CD just goes underground for 15 years like vinyl did and then come back with a vengeance in 2020? So many questions.

Personally I collect vinyl and CD's slowly filling in the gaps of my collection.... usually burning CD's to my Ipod or computer and using CDR's in the car. I find the CD useful, but I don't carry them around anymore like I might have 5-10 years ago.

Do you like the new formats like the new REM album? Double 180 gram vinyl with a CD included for about 26 bucks... plus an opportunity to download HQ digital stuff off the internet.

Oh yeah, and does anybody miss cassettes? All of this tech stuff and format stuff bores the tears out of me.

[gpow]

Blame illegal downloads although record companies are at fault for not reissuing some of the more rare recordings at an affordable price or cds almost costing as much as dvds

[Max Murdoc]

I'm waiting for car stereos to have USB ports so I can plug my 2 gig flash drive in. I take it to work so I can listen to my music through my computer.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>I'm waiting for car stereos to have USB ports so I can plug my 2 gig flash drive in. I take it to work so I can listen to my music through my computer.
[/quote]
Interesting that my TV already allows that, so it's probably not far off at all...on 2010 models that will be available, um, next week??

[KYYX4ever]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>I'm waiting for car stereos to have USB ports so I can plug my 2 gig flash drive in. I take it to work so I can listen to my music through my computer.
[/quote]

hey, that's a great idea. Hmm, now that you mention it, I'm surprised that they do not yet have them.

[Max Murdoc]

SHIT!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2 ... ives_x.htm

I thought I had something there.

[ralphd]

I think CD's are dead and won't ever come back as a niche product the way vinyl has. I think that CD's caused the demise of music buying for more reasons than just that eventually you could download files of the songs for free. They also took the album cover that was really close to a piece of art and compressed it into a small 5x5 insert in a CD case. Anyone else remember poring over album covers while spinning the vinyl - particularly a gatefold sleeve release, reading the lyrics and credits, having a good look at all the cover art - that was never the same once they shrunk that into a CD booklet.

As one of the target market for an actual CD to hold onto - I find myself with absolutely no appetite for that anymore. It seems that most CD's now come in the cheapest, most minimalist packaging to reduce costs as much as possible - so there is very little 'value added' if you actually buy a CD for the packaging these days.

Just my $0.02.

Later,
Ralph

[coop41]

While you slow adapters are using USB ports, I'm using Bluetooth Wireless downloads directly to my in-dash 1TB Apple/Windows combo mini computer. I use my CD's for coasters now.

[obs]

[i]> Went to Borders the other day to find most of their deep catalog stock MIA. They are only carrying the "hits" and/or new releases from now on... whatever that may be.[/i]

And music stores wonder why they are slowly dying when they only carry the same shit that every other store, like WalMart, carries -- at a higher price.

[schwenko]

per Billboard:

"New Costello Album: Vinyl, Digital, No CD
Elvis Costello
March 20, 2008, 10:50 AM ET

Elvis Costello's next solo studio album, curiously
dubbed "Momofuku," will arrive April 22 via Lost
Highway. For the time being, the set will be released
only on vinyl, with a digital download code included
in the package.
No other details have been released about the
follow-up to 2004's "The Delivery Man," Costello's
Lost Highway debut with his band the Imposters."

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>While you slow adapters are using USB ports, I'm using Bluetooth Wireless downloads directly to my in-dash 1TB Apple/Windows combo mini computer. I use my CD's for coasters now.
[/quote]
My jetpack doesn't have a dashboard.

[zill]

I'm holding out on buying new technology until they perfect a microchip that can be implanted behind your ear, so you have all your music with you all the time, and no devices to worry about.

[rotator]

I've completely made the flip out of buying CD's...that's not to say I am purchasing digital music from iTunes® or wherever...

I buy ALOT of vinyl.

I only buy a CD if I can not find the music I'm looking for via iTunes®, or can not find it via ,*ahem, "sharing"
....case in point Richard H. Kirk "Electronic Eye" CD....

Oh yeah --I DO miss casettes --still have about 500 of them and I refuse to get rid of them, I play them frequently, and I treat them like shit ---toss em across the room, but they are fun to play. mixtapes from 1984 . warbled...awesome.

[DrewTheEngineer]

Yes, and broadcast as well.

I think the record industry shot themselves in the foot when they quit making singles available in the late 80's. I remember the 3" cd which was supposed to sell for a few dollars and have like 3 songs on it. I still have a promo cd3 that has Debbie Gibson and David Lee Roth on it. But I think the recording industry either figured that the trouble to press these wasn't worth it and/or they wanted the higher profits from album sales. When the internet took off in the mid 90's I remember telling industry people that mp3 sharing was going to mess them up, and got told that "It's just a bunch of college kids, who cares?" But their big fault was not opening up websites where you could buy a song for like a buck, to replace the single. Of course, later Apple did it with iTunes and the music industry got schooled.

Broadcast radio has become less and less relevant with the rise of the internet and music sharing (legal and otherwize.) It used to be that the radio was the only way (well, MTV too when they used to actually play videos) to get exposed to new music, apart from having your friends play it for you. But now you can share files, hear clips everywhere like MySpace and get your favorite band information online. A guy i know who still works in radio told me recently that when they do ticket giveaways they get like one guy calling in, whereas when I was working we would get hundreds. Also, i don't know anyone under the age of 30 who listens to radio voluntarily. All the kids are listening to iPods. And in the final analysis, radio can't compete for attention against an iPod because, by definition, every song that comes up is one you either like or are interested in because you put it there. It's a custom radio station with an audience of one.

--
Borrowed Nostalgia for the Unremembered 80's

[Ollie Stench]

My band is in the middle of recording an album (doing it all ourselves in the basement with ProTools), and we're trying to decide what to do with the finished product.

I work at a facility where I have access to a cd burning/printing tower and can set it up to burn the discs and then print the art on the disc. I'm thinking, I should buy a spindle of 100 blanks, set it up on a Friday and have finished product when I come to work on Monday. Buy the jewel cases and photocopy the inserts, and sell the whole thing at shows for $3.

However, I found a place that advertised in Maximum Rock-n-Roll that said they would glass master and replicate 1000 discs with 3-color art on the disc for $500. Per unit that's cheaper than burning them myself, but with CDs on the way out I know that we will end up with 600 discs after selling all we can and giving away even more.

We as a band fully recognize the fact that a CD is now just a medium to get the data from the point of purchase to an ipod, we're just trying to figure out the best way to do it. Burning them ourselves would be a total DIY project and it would be reflected in the price and the packaging. If we had them replicated we would have to sell them for a little more, probably $5 instead of $3, and I would feel the need to get the inserts professionally printed to go along with the professionally replicated discs.

I guess that's a long and personal answer to the question "are cds on the way out?". The answer is "yes".