CD's...will they stick around?

I am in the camp of CD quality is good enough

again, same as me

don't repeat this but ever so often I will buy an Mp3 for either price or convenience. :yikes:

As I said, keep that between us, I don't what everyone to know. :naughty:
 
again, same as me

don't repeat this but ever so often I will buy an Mp3 for either price or convenience. :yikes:

As I said, keep that between us, I don't what everyone to know. :naughty:
Yeah, and I stream in 256 to 320 in the morning while trying to get work done on the house, until I can't stand it anymore and shut it down.
320 is fine I suppose and some tracks sound very good with it, but most others not so much. It is a compromised format that served its day but with storage options going through the roof in capacity while prices are in the basement, I hope soon to see a thread about the death of the MP3. The death of that too likely wont happen for a very long while either however. Too many people simply don't care what it sounds like. (99%)
 
:needpics:


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Sobering revenue facts, but I am not investing in the music industry, just buying their products. Interesting how the industry is often reported to be struggling to make the streaming end of things profitable and yet they seem to be doing quite well according to the pie charts. Still it doesn't affect me and my ability to buy CD's new off the net or used at the local second hand store. So no matter the revenue, CD's are not dead at all, just not in the lead anymore.
 
for some analogy here, very old joke...so maybe you all finally give up...

Communist Soviet Union, Khrushchev era...early 60's...
He sends a delegation of top Russian economists to USA to check if the capitalism is dying...
After spending some time in USA, they all coming back to report...
Khrushchev - so, what did you find out?
Comrade Khrushchev - we are reporting that the capitalism is dying....but it is dying a beautiful death
 
Can you expand on this, please? I am not sure what you mean.
Thanks

Streaming to me, is like an all-you-can-eat buffet, where the food isn't too bad, there's a constantly changing variety served up in the heated tanks, it doesn't cost too much and you don't have to think about your meal too hard. It's a busy place with lots of other people, their annoying kids and it doesn't feel at all special. You never get to meet the chefs as they are too busy churning out bulk meals. Essentially fast-food music.

To me, physical media you have collected, is like those fantastic little gems of restaurants, hidden away, that took you years to discover. The ones where the staff know you personally and always sit you at your usual table, away from everyone else. They ask you if you want your regular meal and know exactly how well done you like your steak. You've met the chefs and maybe even had a drink with them. It is a comfortable, familiar surrounding and it feels special.

The physical media allows me to explore the artist, their entire album, read who they played with, consider the artwork and feel part of the whole package.

I have CDs I bought in 1983, where I took all my cassettes into the record store and traded them in for 2 CDs. I have albums I had to order and wait months for as they came from overseas. I can tell you exactly when, where, and how much I paid for certain CDs over 35 years ago. They are all in mint condition and I love them and music they contain. I can describe the images and writing on the CDs themselves or the contents of the books. No hard disk collection can emulate that.
 
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Yes. In 2016 there were....

99 million CDs sold.
86 million downloaded albums
751 million downloaded singles


Source: RIAA
Sorry , I missed that . Thanks for clearing that up .


On a completely different subject , WTF ?


guiller , I would love to go to that CD store . WOW
 
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Interesting how the industry is often reported to be struggling to make the streaming end of things profitable and yet they seem to be doing quite well according to the pie charts.
While the retailers of streaming are having a skinny time margin wise, on-demand streaming services are the best thing since the dawn of the CD for the wholesalers. Indeed...the pie charts are well, the simple facts of the matter.
 
but it's only a niche like vinyl in audio

One thing I'm beginning to see here, everything is a niche. Equipment, formats, trends, ideas, they all get their day in the sun then they drop back into one or another niche. Some come back out for another run others fade away.

Eventually something will come along that supplants Streaming like it appears to have done to Downloads.
Should be enough to keep the growers of Popcorn in business anyway.:lurk:

Mark Gosdin
 
[Mod Edit] I like the inexpensive cd, I collect them for usually 1 dollar each. [Mode edit]

For the record, I don't see physical format of any kind sticking around. Profit margins, changing perspectives, mobile society - the death knell of physical format.

That's my opinion, and only that.
 
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This thread got ugly, and yet, I cannot understand why. I like the inexpensive cd, I collect them for usually 1 dollar each. I don't get butthurt that others don't share this.

For the record, I don't see physical format of any kind sticking around. Profit margins, changing perspectives, mobile society - the death knell of physical format.

That's my opinion, and only that.
That may be true down the road, but for the time being it will be sticking around my house..
While the retailers of streaming are having a skinny time margin wise, on-demand streaming services are the best thing since the dawn of the CD for the wholesalers. Indeed...the pie charts are well, the simple facts of the matter.
So they are making money while the Tidal's and Pandora's are not. Sure seems like they would be more invested in the businesses who are now supplying up to 60% of the butter for their bread
 
The physical media allows me to explore the artist, their entire album, read who they played with, consider the artwork and feel part of the whole package.
I'm pushing 60 years, so I totally get that piece.

Me oh my, the countless hours upon hours relishing album covers, sleeves, CD fan-folds, etc. getting to know my favorite artists and producers. I also completely understand the tactile piece. Makes me feel like I actually own a piece of the band.

I have a grand portion of my physical collection (vinyl & CD) splayed out full-size on the walls of my music room. The emotional connection to all of my favorite vinyl and CDs is monumental; and is so memorialized proper. Nostalgia is a powerful and welcome critter in anyone's house. Tick tock be damned, it will always have a place in my home.

Downloads, streaming, ...yeah it's easy and quite normal for a musicphile to initially or perpetually feel slighted on the tactile enjoyment and immoralization side. Affordable access to such a universe of recorded music can be most disconcerting and daunting. Yet, today's distribution/consumption means are exponentially more fruitful and "exploratory" than it was 10-20 years ago and remains presently with physical media; at least it is for me as a musicphile. Metadata perks? That currently ranges from happenstance snippets to pretty darn good; but it's in infancy. It will improve drastically within media players over time. Today, it's readily available at a fingertip. Dare we remember where we came from?

You've met the chefs and maybe even had a drink with them. It is a comfortable, familiar surrounding and it feels special.
:thumbsup: Your spiritual analogy hits home. I'll add that thanks to today's modern distribution and associated hyper-links, I've connected with several well-known and new artists. I've actually had dinner and drinks with many of them thanks to their presence on streaming services and the vehicle(s) they provide. How cool is that! This simply wasn't at all likely had they relied solely on CD distribution.
No hard disk collection can emulate that.
Agreed, to a point. Of course owning/streaming a hard drive or cloud full of music is not an absolute substitute for holding an album jacket or jewel case in your hand while your possession spins. But those physical attributes are fairly easy to replicate with little effort, needs be. Conversely, today's distribution and related dividends far outweigh anything I could have (or would have) imagined.

I completely understand your drift & disdain here for non-physical media. I choose to enjoy and hug both. But by no means am I compelled to ardently thumb my nose at the future and not embrace downloads and streaming as part of the "whole package". :)
 
So they are making money while the Tidal's and Pandora's are not. Sure seems like they would be more invested in the businesses who are now supplying up to 60% of the butter for their bread
"They" are experiencing a windfall the likes they haven't seen in decades. Their revenues & margins (especially on back catalog) have increased enormously thanks to streaming.

As far as "investment", along with the VC investors, all 3 majors have made conciliatory contractual investments with the top streaming services. It's a tight-rope symbiotic survival financial stew.

Each side is pressed. But presently, only the sellers are actually growing and "making" money. They are heavily invested and critically dependent upon streaming---it's their new and future pressing plant.

Think--starved with few growth options (record industry)
in tow with too big to fail (major streaming providers). :D
 
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