The Amazing Collapse of CD Sales

[DesertRatt]

This is an amazing chart showing the collapse of the CD market.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/186772/album-shipments-in-the-us-music-industry-since-1999/

 

[reddodge053]

 

[Condorsat]

We'll Rip (my CD) Van Winkle

 

[DaaDaa]

not surprising though as physical media just cant compete with the ease of streaming. even for people like myself that actually do not stream for the bulk of their listening time, the obvious choice is flac files on a USB SSD drive or a small home friendly file server, so even when not streaming. CD still loses.

 

[Snade]

Wow. Big drop. The quality and pricing of streaming is killing the CD.

I recently signed-up for Amazon Music Unlimited HD and the quality and selection is so good, my CD purchases will go from about ten CDs a year to one or two, I expect.

Cheers,

Snade

 

[quaddriver]

few quick hits...while this shows physical shipments, it does not reflect purchases....amazon owns the distribution rights for just about every note in the world...they sell entire albums or just select tracks online as MP3 and they hold it in your digital library until your rights expire so you dont even need to take possession of the bytes.

I am sure this chart existed for 8 tracks, albums and cassettes

Add to that if you are a rock band, you do not get a mainstream contract. and while other genres do exist and I recognize that, the whole entire sleigh ride - promoters, air time, videos etc, are paid for by the revenue of rock and roll. supplanted a bit by country...if you are a guitarist in a rock band, 9 outta 10 you join a country band just so you can have a job. BUT! country music is a red headed step child in the USAs largest markets (read: LA and NY) so gets minimal exposure. all based on one thing: the 15 year old girl. all marketing in the US that does not include adult diapers, is focused on the 15 year old girl demographic. If they can get her to buy it, or her parents to buy her it, its a win. money talks. Thus we have airwaves full of T-bop, phones only good for selfies and windows 8+

 

[DesertRatt]

I still buy used CDs, but almost never new ones. Being a geezer I have that old school attachment to physical media.

But, I recently signed up for Spotify, and I’m enjoying the virtues of that platform. But my cds sound better.

 

[GChief]

But my cds sound better.

They should sound better, Spotify does not offer hi-res streaming. The few CDs I still have around sound better than Spotify but Qobuz, AMHD and Tidal playing red book resolution sound as good and typically better than the CDs.

The mass market loves the conceive and many of us old peps are starting to love the SQ

 

[reddodge053]

I love finding and buying great cd's for $.50 cents or a dolla.

 

[RT Fan]

Like most folks around here my purchase of cds went from 75-100 per year to less than 20. That being said I did buy 2 out of print used cds yesterday from the great American guitarist Leo Kottke. If they had been available, I would have bought them new. I still prefer to own the physical media of albums that matter to me. Down the road streaming is inevitable, but I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.
Given what I have seen as far as prices of used cds, the sad point is that my collection is worth one hell of a lot less than what i paid for it. I got to enjoy it and I guess that is what matters.

 

[Bill S]

I still buy used CDs, but almost never new ones. Being a geezer I have that old school attachment to physical media.

But, I recently signed up for Spotify, and I’m enjoying the virtues of that platform. But my cds sound better.

Spotify premium played through a nice DAC sounds very good. Better than many poorly mastered CD recordings. And you have access to a lot of digital remastered recordings. Push it through your stereo rig with a wifi streamer and your phone serves as a remote enabling you to adjust volume, skip songs and search out music to play on the fly without leaving your chair.

Tidal and Qobuz offer higher res rates but the price tier is 2x.

 

[squirrelnest]

Still buy a few CD here & there...I like the format.

 

[sqlsavior]

2020 - 2000 = 20

I guess it has been twenty years! Whole lotta changin' goin' on...

Looked for the Jethro Tull Christmas album on Amazon. Ain't gonna pay $54 for a CD.

 

[Andyman]

Old news, just look at the timeline....
When we took our oldest on a college tour back in 2009, 11 years ago, and NO ONE had stereos or CD players; they all were downloading and using headphones on their phones or computers, but streaming has even reduced the need for portable storage as there is no need to download unless you planning a trip to the cell coverage dead zones away from towns.

Physical media is dead to 99% of the market, and that includes video. Folks realize the value in paying for streaming as monthly costs usually are less than the purchase price of a single piece of media, but offer access to literally billions of selections of audio and video. I have thousands of LPs and CDs I may NEVER play again, and am hard pressed to find selections I love so much that I need to buy in hard copy.

Streaming is more than acceptable for my casual listening, and perfect for auditions of suggestions and new releases. My $14.99 Quboz subscription pays for itself easily every month in unbought performances that didn't pass audition. Even a simple cable to a laptop headphone connection will deliver audio of better than car radio quality to any system with a spare line level input.

 

[DesertRatt]

Spotify premium played through a nice DAC sounds very good. Better than many poorly mastered CD recordings. And you have access to a lot of digital remastered recordings. Push it through your stereo rig with a wifi streamer and your phone serves as a remote enabling you to adjust volume, skip songs and search out music to play on the fly without leaving your chair.

Tidal and Qobuz offer higher res rates but the price tier is 2x.

I’m using Apple AirPlay into a Bose WiFiConnect into a Cambridge Azur DAC and then into my Carver preamp. Not bad, but comparing it directly to the same CD it sounded less lively.

 

[Condorsat]

Even the last of the die hards in Japan are starting to show declines in CD sales ... Change of Tune. < full article link

Japanese music enthusiasts, loyal to CDs long after the rest of the world went online, have begun reaching for the eject button and switching to streaming services as artists cancel in-store events and fans stay home because of the pandemic.

Despite a slow decline in sales in the past decade, CDs are still the most popular music format in Japan, accounting for around 70% of recorded music sales last year. In the U.S. and European markets, CDs have long been relegated to the history bin in favor of online downloads and recently, streaming.

 

[DaaDaa]

2020 - 2000 = 20

I guess it has been twenty years! Whole lotta changin' goin' on...

Looked for the Jethro Tull Christmas album on Amazon. Ain't gonna pay $54 for a CD.

thanks for letting me know that there exists such album .... just knowing that cheers me up

 

[Buttercup]

 

[GChief]

View attachment 2060026

Wonder if the downloads are just that, downloads? Streaming is a different animal somewhat close to the same.

 

[Buttercup]

Wonder if the downloads are just that, downloads? Streaming is a different animal somewhat close to the same.

I believe they are counting album sales, and the format, so it doesn’t include streaming.