Are CDs over?

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Hygge
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Are CDs over?

Post by Hygge »

Would you continue to buy physical Stina CDs or only download them?

How many people still buy CDs?

Will CDs end very soon, do you think?

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sound world
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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by sound world »

I'd always prefer something in a reliable physical format. In my experience you can't rely on things stored on drives-I've had two major computer/HD deaths since 2005 despite the promises of the industry, and on both occasions I thought I had everything backed up. But you can't always be sure...And unless something is in very high quality format (eg aiff or WAV), there's no substitute for a factory-made CD or LP.
Also I grew up in the heyday of LPs, and part of the experience of enjoying music is associated with enjoying the artwork, reading the liner notes, whatever. Of course you can read stuff online, but it's somewhat akin to reading a newspaper online, -it doesn't quite have the same appeal.
And for Stina, who figures very large in my pantheon of favourite artists, I consider it an act of homage to faithfully collect the physical objects. It's a form of hero-worship, a cult, a reification of the object. I'm a collector, that's what you do.That said, I haven't done that with her collaborations, which occupy about a third of all her work, of course.

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by RobB »

I still buy cds.
I use the internet to 'sample' the work of a new artist and if I like what I hear then I'll buy their album on cd.

If they are a 'download' only artist then I'll just ignore them. There are still plenty of other artists out there making great music which is available on cd.

With Stina I would buy her music on cd of course. If she released a 'download' album then I probably wouldn't bother. As a collector there has to be a continuity to an artists work and simply collecting 'sound' isn't as fulfilling as collecting sound recorded on a physical format.

Sadly its not only cds that are under threat at the moment but also the very concept of 'the album' which is equally worrying.

Its good to see that vinyl sales have increased considerably over the past few years, even if they'll only ever be a fraction of what they were forty years ago.

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by Hygge »

But I'm still feeling very upset of that prospect. Many of us have very huge CD collections - has anyone noticed that they don't make CD players that much anymore? It's even weirder that they continue to make CDs and not many CD players. How many people here really honestly believe they will do away with the CD? There was a report that it could happen as early as the end of 2012. Two of my most favourite album covers are Stina's "This is..." and Arab Strap's "The Red Thread" (I bought them at the same time). That said, I couldn't imagine not actually owning the physical format. What are people's opinion about what will take place in the future over CDs?

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by paulr »

physical for me. vinyl would be even better. And probably something like spotify when on the go will do it for me.
Down Desire Avenue ..

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by RobB »

Hygge wrote: It's even weirder that they continue to make CDs and not many CD players.
Not having a device to actually play a cd on is going to be a big problem in the future as far as stand alone cd players are concerned. It will end up with cd players becoming a niche market with prices being way beyond the budget of the average cd buyer.

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by Hygge »

Maybe CDs will never truly be over...They still make some Mini HiFi systems. I don't think they are that good, but I now see them making turntables more than they ever did ten years ago. I guess we can't expect much when you hear the music of today, most of which is horrible. I mean, to own an actual CD by a band like Maroon 5 is substantial proof of your crime. I wonder if Stina still buys CDs....?

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sound world
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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by sound world »

Yeah, things don't ever go away.

I still own (and regularly use), ahem:-

-a 78 player and lots of 78s (I collect certain things on 78-French mélodie, principally)

-a cassette deck wired into my hifi. Most of my collection thru the 70s/80s/90s ended up on cassette (to preserve the vinyl etc), so I have a massive back catalogue of cassettes, 90% of which sound in really good health

-a VCR player. Watch them all the time, the quality is fine, -and they last longer than DVDs in my experience.

- two minidisc player/recorders, one of them is HiMD. Minidiscs are great, like cassettes, only better and excellent sound. Sony have stopped making them, and will cease disc production soon. Boo hiss! They are an ideal tool for a working musician.

- a turntable. I used to have a few thousand LPs; now I've mostly backed them up to CD/MD/.aiff and sold the vast majority, but I still buy them.
The myth that the CD industry used to peddle, ie that 'everything ever released would eventually end up on CD' is complete bollocks. They're nowhere near half, after twenty years of CD production, and they are NOT going to release the rest on CD, are they. Any serious record collector knows that.

-Last year I had cause to buy TWO new Receivers (or tuner amps, as we used to call them) and was shocked to discover that they're hardly in production now-only a couple of models available.

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by Hygge »

sound world wrote:- two minidisc player/recorders, one of them is HiMD. Minidiscs are great, like cassettes, only better and excellent sound. Sony have stopped making them, and will cease disc production soon. Boo hiss! They are an ideal tool for a working musician.
Do you mean Sony will stop making CDs or Minidiscs? I'm not sure because I heard that stories about discontinuing CDs were fabricated. People said they will be discontinued this year or next, but there were a lot of counter-stories.

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by RobB »

I think while there is a demand for cds, then someone will cater for that demand. But judging by the sales figures in recent years,that demand is deminishing every year and there must come a point where its just not economical to run these cd pressing plants.

But they're not going to disappear over night although I would be very surprised if any great number were still being produced and sold in 2020.

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sound world
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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by sound world »

Hygge wrote:
sound world wrote:- two minidisc player/recorders, one of them is HiMD. Minidiscs are great, like cassettes, only better and excellent sound. Sony have stopped making them, and will cease disc production soon. Boo hiss! They are an ideal tool for a working musician.
Do you mean Sony will stop making CDs or Minidiscs? I'm not sure because I heard that stories about discontinuing CDs were fabricated. People said they will be discontinued this year or next, but there were a lot of counter-stories.
No, they've stopped making MD players, and soon will quit production of the blank minidiscs themselves.

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Re: Are CDs over?

Post by Hygge »

I wonder what would happen if they did stop production of CDs altogether? Do you think it would affect the artist in anyway? Would people be less inclined to support the artist if they didn't have some sort of physical artifact to acquire (like a CD)?

Also, people prefer to watch films online or order netflix. Does that remove a richer experience of watching it on your home TV screen? Is the art damaged that way somehow?

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