CDs are pretty much dead... Long Live USB?

[garp]

But where do you buy CDs now? I’m old and I don’t even have a place to play CDs. My car doesn’t have a CD player, laptops are slotless, DVDs and BluRays long gone to Goodwill. But I do have 20 million albums available at voice command.

I'm old too, but FWIW, my current listening "platform" is a 30-year-old Sony boombox and a pair of Sony MDR7502 headphones. My most recent CD purchases have come from:

1) My local public library's semi-annual fundraising sales;
2) Amazon.com (mostly independent sellers hawking hard-to-find titles, often at a significant premium, but that's okay by me); and
3) A few independent record labels that are still selling CDs direct to consumers

I feel that any artist choosing to ignore my market segment risks significant sales. I do "get" the resurgence in vinyl releases, but a lot of us who lived through the cassette-to-CD transitionary phase are left yearning. Admittedly, I'm just a sample size of one, but I don't envision transitioning to Spotify, TIDAL, iTunes, et al. any time soon, and there are millions of us out there.

Keep listening...in whatever format works for you.

 

[higain617]

I still buy CDs if the vinyl is pricey. At least you're still getting the art, booklet, etc. A flash drive seems so "impersonal."

 

[Basshappi]

I buy CDs. If I buy a "digital download" because the artist does not sell a CD I will make a CD copy.
Whether it is music or movies, I want a physical copy of media that I spend my money on.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I'm old too, but FWIW, my current listening "platform" is a 30-year-old Sony boombox and a pair of Sony MDR7502 headphones. My most recent CD purchases have come from:

1) My local public library's semi-annual fundraising sales;
2) Amazon.com (mostly independent sellers hawking hard-to-find titles, often at a significant premium, but that's okay by me); and
3) A few independent record labels that are still selling CDs direct to consumers

I feel that any artist choosing to ignore my market segment risks significant sales. I do "get" the resurgence in vinyl releases, but a lot of us who lived through the cassette-to-CD transitionary phase are left yearning. Admittedly, I'm just a sample size of one, but I don't envision transitioning to Spotify, TIDAL, iTunes, et al. any time soon, and there are millions of us out there.

Keep listening...in whatever format works for you.

But you're only supporting artists in the last scenario. Artists don't get a cent from secondary sales of media.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I still buy CDs if the vinyl is pricey. At least you're still getting the art, booklet, etc. A flash drive seems so "impersonal."

I do wish that the cover art was available with digital. I occasionally buy vinyl, but for the cover to display like a picture. I don't own a turntable.

 

[bound'n'blocked]

Between making money as a musician and as a radio dj... Hopefully the stations have settled down on the buying and selling of each other and the gigs are steady. Is your station format and bands format the same?

No, the formats couldn't be farther apart! We are an automated classic country station, except for my three hour show in the afternoon, where I am a bluegrass music DJ! My band plays 80s hair metal! Our other station is Hot AC, ie Pink, Katy Perry, Ed Sherran, and all that other cra...er, stuff.

If you manage to do some sales as well as something else, the money is ok. I dont ever plan to make money at music, just enough to buy some gear with and fun money.

We are a small local family owned station. I'll never say never, but I think we are safe from the corporate feeding frenzy.

BnB

 

[Kevin1960]

Soon we'll all have chips implanted in our brains so we only have to think about a song and it will play in our heads. All of these formats and devices will seem so quaint.

A dangerous concept if software, firmware and those who use it are not considered safe.

 

[MojoPenguin]

I've seen bands distribute vinyls and I bought one recently, ok mainly for the artwork. You can sell a nice vinyl to listen to or hang around with a cool artwork and a coupon with a link to download the album or EP. I like that.
Or sell merch like tshirts or mugs and include a download link.

 

[Pilgrim]

I already have this technology implanted. Unfortunately, the only song that has been released in the new format thus far is "Judy In Disguise"

You're lucky. It could have been "Rubber Duckie" or "Yummy Yummy Yummy."

 

[bound'n'blocked]

Soon we'll all have chips implanted in our brains so we only have to think about a song and it will play in our heads. All of these formats and devices will seem so quaint.

I think I already have one of those. Sometimes I am listening to a song and have another one going on in my head. And sometimes that happens on stage!

BnB

 

[higain617]

Are MP3 downloads still popular? Streaming seems to be the big thing now. I'm a dinosaur.

 

[dennis james]

bottom line is that except for the very top .01% of artists/bands, there is pretty much no money to be made in music any longer. You can have hit songs now and still qualify for foodstamps. That being said, its become cheaper than ever to make music - studios no longer really required. And more music is being now than ever. It's just a 200-foot dive into a glass of water if you think you're going to make a really comfortable living from it. there's even less money in downloads than there was in CDs. The whole industry is turning into something that is very wide, very varied in style and creativity, but something that's done more out of passion than logically to make yourself a long-term living

completely agree. in the 60's, after the british invasion, any band that could scrape up a few dollars could go into a studio and make a record. i'm talking vinyl here. they could then take that 45 to whoever was the big AM rock & roll station (before fm) in town and let a DJ listen to it. if the DJ thought it had potential that song would get airplay. DJ's in those days had the authority to do that sort of thing. nowadays it's laughable to think it was that simple. now you stand a much better chance of winning the lottery than of making it big playing music. nothing wrong with chasing a dream but you'd be well advised to have a plan B if the music thing falls through.

 

[sigterm]

No, the formats couldn't be farther apart! We are an automated classic country station, except for my three hour show in the afternoon, where I am a bluegrass music DJ! My band plays 80s hair metal! Our other station is Hot AC, ie Pink, Katy Perry, Ed Sherran, and all that other cra...er, stuff.

If you manage to do some sales as well as something else, the money is ok. I dont ever plan to make money at music, just enough to buy some gear with and fun money.

We are a small local family owned station. I'll never say never, but I think we are safe from the corporate feeding frenzy.

BnB

Wow that's a rough matchup, not many 80s metal bands had a mandolin player so crossing over is out. Trying to remember there were some family stations I think out in pullyup wa that sold, then flipped about once a year for a few years but I think now they're back to presale format and talent. I used to work more directly but now use mccann so I'm fuzzy in my recollection.

 

[garp]

But you're only supporting artists in the last scenario. Artists don't get a cent from secondary sales of media.

Very true. Unfortunately, I don't have the resources nor the gumption required to manage other folks' performance rights. Certainly, I'd like to flash my ASCAP/BMI/SESAC credentials in every single establishment that I enter, inquiring: "Hey, I just heard a Faith Hill tune...have you paid the proper licensing fees to broadcast that music here to your patrons?" But that's not how I earn my living. I can only hope that a percentage of my purchase price makes it back to the artist.

 

[bearfoot]

Really? Cassettes were the worst of them (other than 8-track). They warp, wear out, crackle like crazy, you have to rewind, fast forward, etc. Vinyl I can see to a point, but cassettes? Eww.

It was too late to compete, but the last generation of Dolby (I think Dolby-S) made cassettes sound as good as CD's! (source: the great Techmoan channel on Youtube)

I just read that in Japan, a new high-resolution CD / audio format has been launched. I don't think much will come of it, but consider it a good thing. There is some market there. (they also still sell high quality cassette boomboxes in Japan, god bless 'em)

While CD's are obsolete, they are not vanquished. I would say a useful secondary measure is what audio format is most common in cars. That is probably still the CD player, and will be for a while yet.

And, nothing has replaced the CD as a physical medium. Perhaps nothing will, and CD was the last.

I was wondering whether SD cards could be an acceptable new format, but found them far too expensive. Same with flash drives. Where the per unit cost is concerned, the CD is still King.

So while the sale of the CD format has crashed, it is a long fadeout.

Meanwhile it's fun hunting through CD's at thrifts. You get far better sound quality than online in most cases, and find music that , like with all other format shifts, gets lost through the cracks.

 

[foolforthecity]

Soon we'll all have chips implanted in our brains so we only have to think about a song and it will play in our heads. All of these formats and devices will seem so quaint.

Yeah, they'll implant the chips where our brains used to be.

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

Thanks for all the replies.

I’m not concerned with making money on these. They would be just for giving out our music in a tangible form. That why I wanted to hear if other had used it and if so what service did they use.

Out philosophy is to get the music out to people which will draw them to shows.

T-shirts with a cool design are still the best merch for making money. I’m not questioning that.

Thats it!. An audio T-Shirt!. Your band T-Shirt with the music encoded into the graphic, when you point your iphone at it or scan it you get sound..........what will they think of next?.....

 

[fhm555]

I’ve been doing downloads for a while so imagine my surprise when i found some old CD’s with some stuff i wanted really bad but when i put them in my Windows 10 PC, none of the three players on it recognized the CD’s. I had to go in and tell one of them the format to use.

 

[GretschWretch]

Reel to Reel is dead. Long Live 8 Track!
8 Track is dead. Long Live Cassettes!
Cassettes are dead. Long Live CDs!
CDs are dead. Long Live USB!
Next.

And vinyl is making a comeback.

 

[cnltb]

+1.

Never owned an iPod or any of its progeny. Don't believe in the necessity of an Internet connection to be able to listen to recorded music. Plus the liner notes on most of my store-bought CDs promise "a lifetime of enjoyment" from their contents...and, well, last time I checked, I ain't dead yet.

I do own an iPod...mostly so I don't have toi be at home to learn music. When I am at home it is CDs.