CDs Dead In 2012?

[sholling]

I'm not sure that I believe this story by Side-Line but here it is.

Link

The major labels plan to abandon the CD-format by the end of 2012 (or even earlier) and replace it with download/stream only releases via iTunes and related music services. The only CD-formats that will be left over will be the limited edition ones, which will of course not be available for every artist. The distribution model for these remaining CD releases would be primarily Amazon which is already the biggest CD retailer worldwide anyhow.

 

[shadyJ]

If CDs aren't dead by the end of 2012, they will be not long thereafter. There is no reason for CDs to survive like records have. Don't get me wrong, I love CDs and have great affection for many, but the digital information they carry doesn't sound any different in a WAV or FLAC file. With high speed internet everywhere, there is no reason for them to exist. Of course, they won't go extinct completely, but they won't have the sustained popularity that vinyl has enjoyed.

Personally though, I like having a physical copy of my music and movies, so I will be sad to see them go. I like having a library of music and movies, though irrational, I just don't feel the same way about a data folder with some media files on a server. It's not the same.

 

[cpp]

"I like holding something tangible. Plus as others have stated, a hard copy that won't randomly nuke itself has its merits. "

 

[avnetguy]

While I'm sure the CD will slowly disappear it'll be around for a while longer than 2012 IMO. A lot of playback devices now handle reading data direct from storage media (USB, SDHC, etc) but some areas are a little slower than others, car audio for instance.

It also appears that most people just prefer downloading the songs they like as opposed to having to buy the entire album, who wouldn't like that.

Steve

 

[GO-NAD!]

With about 600-700 CDs in my collection, the thought of not being able to buy a physical copy of an album makes me a bit leery. Which is odd, because I got an e-reader a year ago and haven't given paper books a second thought. But, unlike 95% of the books I read, I listen to CDs more than once.

To be honest, I've never downloaded any music in my life. I guess I should start getting up to speed on music servers... sigh...

 

[cpp]

Just think you have a lot of songs downloaded and oops your little hard drive on your device or your PC dies.... So you start all over and this time it's going to cost you more than before.


When and if this really starts, these companies are not going to let people download freebies forever or at some cheap per single cost and your chance of finding some company that actually carries the music/song/band your looking for can and will at times alienate your chances of finding and downloading your music.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I like cds. I buy them new and used on amazon. I load them on my music server and put them in my storage cabinet. We occasionally take them on trips in the car. I don't see cd's dying anytime soon.
Since I am back in school, and a 50 year old sophmore, most of the kids do not use or need cds. What I am amazed at is the sense of entitlement from teens and early twenties. I have met so many that have never, ever paid for the music they listen to. Really, I've asked a bunch of them. NEVER PAID.
People (adults, too) will give all kinds of reasons why this behavior is ok. Unless an artist says it's ok to download their work for free, it is not ok. People deserve to be paid for their work. Period. I think cd's help to do this. I can see only wanting to pay for songs you like- that does make sense. Of course your boss could start paying you for hours that you did well, and not pay for hours where you weren't up to snuff.
I like cds.

 

[Midwesthonky]

It will take longer to die off than 2012. Although it is shrinking, the market size is just too big to kill off right away. Besides it is still profitable and harder to steal than what most kids these days do for music. But it is a format that will shrink until it is a niche market like vinyl.

There are too many cars out there that cannot play anything other than a CD. I still enjoy popping in a CD and listening to it. There are plenty of people that have no way to manage music electronically. Not to mention there are still segments of the population that do not have access to high speed internet and need CD's.

I can see the distribution model changing to mostly internet like Amazon. Heck, the display racks at Target have definitely shrunk over the years and replaced by over priced blue-ray disks. I still prefer CD's for the same reason mentioned by others: it's stable.

 

[j_garcia]

I get all my CDs from Amazon currently, because it is pretty much the only place I can find a lot of stuff I listen to I still primarily listen to CDs for music though.

I also use Amazon cloud, which I have been increasingly moving to as well, because the songs are instantly there and easily downloadable.

 

[sholling]

With about 600-700 CDs in my collection, the thought of not being able to buy a physical copy of an album makes me a bit leery. Which is odd, because I got an e-reader a year ago and haven't given paper books a second thought. But, unlike 95% of the books I read, I listen to CDs more than once.

To be honest, I've never downloaded any music in my life. I guess I should start getting up to speed on music servers... sigh...

You can always redownload ebooks but the downside of buying from HDTracks is there is no redownloading. Perhaps Amazon will be more understanding. I back up both ebooks and music and that's something that I recommend that everyone do.

BTW I hope you've found some of the sources of free legal books downloads. At last count Amazon reportedly had 15k free Kindle titles (ereaderiq has a mailing list of new free titles), Baen Books has freebies from major authors, and there is always Project Gutenberg.

 

[j_garcia]

With Amazon, most of what you will buy now will reside on the cloud. That way it doesn't matter what device you are on, you just log in and have access to it. Currently that means PC, tablet, phone, etc... for now though; meaning no Blu-ray players, PS3 or TVs that I have seen have this yet, because it is not the same as Amazon VOD AFAIK. You can either stream media from their cloud or download it to the device, which I am finding a nice feature. I buy an album and the whole thing is on the cloud, but I typically don't download the whole album to my phone.

For the free Kindle books I think you have to be an Amazon Prime member, but that includes free (select, in a similar fashion to the books) movie streaming as well.

Just because manufacturers stop producing as many CDs does not mean the format will go away. Vinyl is still around and doing quite well how many years later? CDs will be around for a while. Some albums that I want to buy are not available in MP3 on Amazon as well, so there will still be cases like that where I will have to get a disc.

 

[sholling]

For the free Kindle books I think you have to be an Amazon Prime member, but that includes free (select, in a similar fashion to the books) movie streaming as well.

You have to be a Prime member using a hardware kindle to use the new Kindle lending library but anybody can "buy" their free and low cost Kindle books. I've gotten some good stuff for free to 99cents. ereaderiq lists 1,493 free titles as of today. As for music and the cloud it'll be interesting to see if Amazon gets into the FLAC business.

 

[j_garcia]

The audio quality that I've gotten from Amazon thus far is pretty good, but I would like to see FLAC as well.

 

[bikdav]

True

Just think you have a lot of songs downloaded and oops your little hard drive on your device or your PC dies.... So you start all over and this time it's going to cost you more than before.


When and if this really starts, these companies are not going to let people download freebies forever or at some cheap per single cost and your chance of finding some company that actually carries the music/song/band your looking for can and will at times alienate your chances of finding and downloading your music.

If there is one thing that can drive you to insanity, it's a hard drive failure at the worst possible time. That is why any music that I download I back up. I cheat and make an "analog" copy on CD.

 

[highfigh]

What I am amazed at is the sense of entitlement from teens and early twenties. I have met so many that have never, ever paid for the music they listen to. Really, I've asked a bunch of them. NEVER PAID.

People deserve to be paid for their work. Period. I think cd's help to do this. I can see only wanting to pay for songs you like- that does make sense. Of course your boss could start paying you for hours that you did well, and not pay for hours where you weren't up to snuff.
I like cds.

And this shows the difference between someone who has only learned at school and someone who has lived & worked in the real world. The first thinks it's OK to take the fruits of someone's labor without paying because they nobody has taken their time & effort without paying them.

 

[lsiberian]

CDs should be dead. Streaming is the way of the future and with the prices of hard drives it makes little since to use CDs.

Even blu-ray is a dying medium IMO. Streaming is king.

 

[lsiberian]

Just think you have a lot of songs downloaded and oops your little hard drive on your device or your PC dies.... So you start all over and this time it's going to cost you more than before.


When and if this really starts, these companies are not going to let people download freebies forever or at some cheap per single cost and your chance of finding some company that actually carries the music/song/band your looking for can and will at times alienate your chances of finding and downloading your music.

It's called back it up?

 

[lsiberian]

You have to be a Prime member using a hardware kindle to use the new Kindle lending library but anybody can "buy" their free and low cost Kindle books. I've gotten some good stuff for free to 99cents. ereaderiq lists 1,493 free titles as of today. As for music and the cloud it'll be interesting to see if Amazon gets into the FLAC business.

I love the kindle app. You can get it on a smartphone and read books on your phone. It's insane IMO.

 

[dkane360]

CDs should be dead. Streaming is the way of the future and with the prices of hard drives it makes little since to use CDs.

Even blu-ray is a dying medium IMO. Streaming is king.

Have you seen hard drive prices recently? They've skyrocketed since the flooding in Thailand.

I know those prices aren't going to stay as high as they are forever, but I still don't see how streaming is the way of the future as long as ISP's cap and throttle your service. This is especially true for mobile data.

Blu-ray will be a dead medium when you can stream a blu-ray at full 1080p with lossless audio, which could be a long time from now.

Buying physical media is still the best way to get high quality movies and music. You can rip it to your device of choice, plus you have a physical backup.

 

[j_garcia]

Streaming/download IS the future. Today is not the future.