The Amazing Collapse of CD Sales

[onwardjames]

You'll probably find those rare songs on CD, and for a good price. One of my neighbors is moving out of the country and left a bunch of stuff outside which she is giving away for free. I was able to score several jazz CDs in pristine condition. I also scored about 20 LPs she was selling for $1 each.

The last haul of over 80 cds I bought was some of the most hard to find stuff imaginable. Old Verve recordings, rare jazz stuff I didn't even know existed.
My take on it is this - Pay for something tangible. Something you actually own. Capricious multinational companies aren't known for acts of largesse, and might change the rules, simply because nobody can stop them.

This is likely the last new media I have bought and that was back in 2016 on a visit to my daughter in Denver. I have a digital copy from who knows where, but I wanted hardcopy.


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I picked that up about a month ago for the sum of .50.

Half Price Book Store, ya'll.

 

[RunOutGroove]

One thing about buying used CDs... or LPs for that matter is that you can own the physical thing, but at the same time not really feel like you're being too wasteful because you're buying something that was manufactured long ago. Instead of creating a need to manufacture yet another non-essential thing, you're preventing something from filling up a landfill...

 

[dwaller131]

Streaming doesnt necessarily 'come through your phone'. It depends on the protocol you use to connect to your renderer. Chromecast and DLNA use the phone as a control point, instructing the media server to stream to the media renderer; once the stream is set up, the phone is not involved.

Other renderer access protocols, such as Airplay or Bluetooth, do stream via the phone.

Then there are systems that have a web-based user interface, accessible by any device with a web browser, where no media streams via the controlling device.

If I understood even 1/10th of what you wrote I might be interested in streaming service. I just don't have the drive (or interest) to bother with all of that. As I said, I'm good.

 

[cpt_paranoia]

As I said, I'm good.

That's fine. You're not the only one reading this thread, though; it's a reply to your comment, but it's not a reply to you personally...

 

[Bill S]

If I understood even 1/10th of what you wrote I might be interested in streaming service. I just don't have the drive (or interest) to bother with all of that. As I said, I'm good.

If you want to get your feet wet for little coin, try this. Andover Songbird is a small, unobtrusive wifi streamer. Connect to to your wifi and your phone becomes the remote. RCA plugs for analog connection to your amp or receiver or optical if you have that. You can stream Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal and others up to 24bit/192kHz. I am using it with Spotify Premium which is only 320kbps and it sounds great. They promise to release support for new streaming services Q1 of 2021. $129. I've had it for just a little while but it seems to work well.

 

[Johnno_Oz]

The last haul of over 80 cds I bought was some of the most hard to find stuff imaginable. Old Verve recordings, rare jazz stuff I didn't even know existed.
My take on it is this - Pay for something tangible. Something you actually own. Capricious multinational companies aren't known for acts of largesse, and might change the rules, simply because nobody can stop them.



I picked that up about a month ago for the sum of .50.

Half Price Book Store, ya'll.

Some guys talk about the "Golden age of vinyl" , late 90's early 2000's? Second hand vinyl was cheap!

Well it's the "Golden age of CDs" now. Get in quick, CD player prices are slowly creeping up. These bulk deals are great!

 

[reddodge053]

Some guys talk about the "Golden age of vinyl" , late 90's early 2000's? Second hand vinyl was cheap!

Well it's the "Golden age of CDs" now. Get in quick, CD player prices are slowly creeping up. These bulk deals are great!

Agree totally,get em while they are cheap!!!

 

[Johnno_Oz]

Oh, and I'm still enjoying adding 2020 CD releases to DISCOGS!

 

[GChief]

Oh, and I'm still enjoying adding 2020 CD releases to DISCOGS!

Yeah... but... not to long ago you could of walked in a Best Buy and get them. Try that **** now

You can still do it with vinyls in shops, try and find the same CD’s in those stores.

 

[Swokie63]

Some guys talk about the "Golden age of vinyl" , late 90's early 2000's? Second hand vinyl was cheap!

Well it's the "Golden age of CDs" now. Get in quick, CD player prices are slowly creeping up. These bulk deals are great!

Agree totally,get em while they are cheap!!!

Several bluray players available new, for under a hundred bucks that will play cd's.. of course you can only play one at a time, and will more than likely need an hdmi capable rcvr.. quality analog players are definitely going up in price.. And the discs arent getting any cheaper, even with less demand..
I have the next 4 days off, may go shopping.. for Christmas gifts of course..

 

[signal76]

I don't think the question on this thread is which format sounds better I think it was if CD's will make a comeback. after speaking with both my thirty something daughters about this I would say no they will not. my one daughter says cd's suck and loves her album collection and buys albums all the time. my oldest said she also loves her albums but when she heads out the door she grabs her phone and earbuds and she's ready to rock. she said that no longer does she have to grab her portable cd player, worry about batteries and carry a suitcase full of cd's to rock out. lets also remember that AK is an enthusiast site and many on here have systems that cost more than most of the youngsters make a year. I would bet that most of the youngsters are listening on todays equivalent of our days soundesign. I also hate to admit that I am no longer in the music industries target audience and doubt they could care less if I still like cd's

 

[Bill S]

My first foray into streaming was iTunes and buying songs which I could burn. Think of all the albums and CDs you own. How many killer tracks on AVERAGE on each one? 3? 4? Why suffer through 10? Even greatest hit CDs - how many were really great and do you want to listen to an hour of one artists music?

Enter iTunes. I can BUY songs and mix them in a CD. Wow - all great songs on one CD. Now take streaming. I can choose from 50M or more songs and call up what I want, when I want it. I can assemble songs into playlists to suit my mood - straight, buzzed, exercising, winding down. To me CDs are already dead. One caveat here, no streaming companies are making money, yet. The future is still evolving and we may need to pay more to stream. We'll see where that goes.

Today I streamed Frank Sinatra Live at the Sands while sipping a drink and catching up on the news on my phone. I used my phone to skip a few tracks then bounced into some Indie new releases. I changed tracks, artists, volume without leaving my chair. Sounded great through the Mac amp and pre. Before that though, I worked out on the bike and weights in my bsmt streaming Spotify on my Bluetooth wireless earbuds. Can't sit all day.

 

[reddodge053]

I dont know anything thats for sure,but i really have to think there will have to be some sort of physical media around for music and musical/artist/songwriters to succeed.If everything musical is only digital imo that will take away the soul and heart of music.Physical media makes music personal for me.

 

[signal76]

I was at walmart yesterday and they had maybe 15 cd's most of which were greatest hits cd's. I almost never buy greatest hits albums or cd's mainly because many songs I like arent the record labels idea of a greatest hit. also many groups in my opinion dont have enough songs to make a greatest hits cd LOL

 

[signal76]

I dont know anything thats for sure,but i really have to think there will have to be some sort of physical media around for music and musical/artist/songwriters to succeed.If everything musical is only digital imo that will take away the soul and heart of music.Physical media makes music personal for me.

you will hear no argument from me against physical media and I have nothing against streaming. I have an emotional connection to my album collection that cannot ever be replaced by digital streaming. many albums I have belonged to my late sister and when my daughters album first played on my turntable the emotion I felt was pretty close to the day she was born you'll get my album collection from me when you pry it from my cold dead hands

 

[intro6]

Finally, musicians making pennies off streaming is a real thing, and a real problem.

One caveat here, no streaming companies are making money, yet.

If these are true, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, based on the input I've gotten, then I foresee a big crunch happening to the streaming industry in the foreseeable future. Some combination of the following will happen: major consolidation reducing streaming companies down to probably just a few (most likely even owned by big corporations like Google & AT&T), major winnowing of musical artists who aren't "big enough" & therefore aren't considered profitable moneymakers, and a significant upping of streaming fees (now that those few remaining streaming companies have a monopoly hold on the market & think you have no other option except to swallow what they're feeding you).

But will this be the end of the story? No, I don't think so. I predict many of these musical acts will go to independent labels in order to gain control of their music and make money from it. You will probably have to buy the physical product in order to get those artists' music (except for a small number of free samples). Piracy, of course, could continue to be a problem, but these artists will still be better off than they otherwise would. To a certain degree, some of these small independent labels exist already, but there could be even potentially more in the future. This trend could be a contributing factor to a future resurgence of CD sales.

 

[E-Stat]

If everything musical is only digital imo that will take away the soul and heart of music.Physical media makes music personal for me.

You will be hard pressed (no pun intended) to find any content that is fully analog through the recording chain today, regardless of the final format in which it is found.

Digital and "physical media" are completely different concepts.

 

[GChief]

In the end it’s just stuff that takes up space

 

[reddodge053]

You will be hard pressed (no pun intended) to find any content that is fully analog through the recording chain today, regardless of the final format in which it is found.

Digital and "physical media" are completely different concepts.

Right

 

[KeninDC]

Something you actually own.

Wouldn't you know it, my generally reliable Internet service went out yesterday, so my wife said "just play some CDs." Good to have a couple thousand CDs and LPs stored in the basement.