Are CD's on the way out?

chet · March 27th, 2008, 10:26 PM

Is I-Tunes the way of the future of recorded music along with I-Pods etc? Will it be "Download the songs you wanna hear from I-Tunes and store them into your I-Pod"?

I asked a kid whose band had recorded a CD recently and that was his answer.

I'm hoping the vinyl record makes a comeback for listening to your favorite music, myself.

jazztele · March 27th, 2008, 10:32 PM

jeez, i hope not. the digital age has really killed the "album." everybody just downloads the tunes they like and they're done with it...

as a jazz fan, i like liner notes...this is why i still buy CD's (and a ton of vinyl, too) i like seeing who the musicians were who played on the record...if CD's go away, I'm going all vinyl. i hope it doesn't come to that though...

Telakaster · March 27th, 2008, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chet

Is I-Tunes the way of the future of recorded music along with I-Pods etc? Will it be "Download the songs you wanna hear from I-Tunes and store them into your I-Pod"?

That's what it is now. CD sales have dropped steadily since the iPod.

chet · March 27th, 2008, 10:50 PM

I was watching the VH-1 Classic episode about Def Leppard's "Hysteria" album and started thinking about it.
When they made that album they had 3 major avenues of marketing thier work:
Vinyl Record
CD
Cassette Tape.

Now there's been the I-Tune download added and the cassette tape eliminated but I think it's easy to copy the download. Kid's (or anyone else) can copy it and give it to whomever they choose for free.

TDPRI · March 27th, 2008, 10:53 PM

Every place I go to with new vinyl is booming with sales. I went to one today and they said again that vinyl is more than replacing CD sales.

But downloads are way above that, I know.

I've never bought a download, because I don't believe that MP3s are acceptable quality sound. If I could buy Apple Lossless downloads I would buy quite a lot of those. But not until they are available in Apple Lossless or some other lossless format.

I got the new Shelby Lynn "Just A Little Lovin'" LP today. I bought my wife the CD in January and it is really good. So, I had to have the LP version.

bowlfreshener · March 27th, 2008, 11:21 PM

I am currently taking a class in maintaining and upgrading computer hardware, and my instructor actually stated that he was surprised that MP3s are popular due to its high rate of compression that not all of the frequency range is not accurately captured on MP3s, but considering that a lot of listening these days is done on small speakers or earphones, people just don't notice it as much....I don't know how true this is, but if its true, as long as there are audiophiles, there will be vinyl and CDs.

pengipete · March 28th, 2008, 12:02 AM

As technology moves on & storage becomes less of a problem, file size will be less of an issue and digital data quality will increase. There are already lossless formats such as FLAC and mp3's can already be compressed at higher data rates for better sound quality.

Add to that the likelihood of another new technology in the data formats and you'll probably find that by the time physical disks finally disappear, you won't miss them. There's still the chance that AudioDVD could take off with the introduction of hi-def or we may even see portable music seen a completely different direction with video player taking precedence over audio only recordings.

Bowlfreshner's final comment about vinyl and CD's is absolutely the first time I've ever seen anyone make that argument for CDs - vinyl yes but nostalgia for CDs...

Now I really do feel old.

David Barnett · March 28th, 2008, 12:54 AM

I'm worried that there won't be a next generation of audiophiles. Between MP3s and ultra-compressed mastering, good sound quality on new music recordings is all but dead.

Bernie · March 28th, 2008, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pengipete

Bowlfreshner's final comment about vinyl and CD's is absolutely the first time I've ever seen anyone make that argument for CDs - vinyl yes but nostalgia for CDs...

:

One good thing that CDs did bring was, with the longer and more compact format, old catalogs were revived, vaults of tapes were researched and new discoveries were made - alternate takes and outtakes - were included in the reissues. This kind of material was a gold mine for fans and completists. These sets often came with great new liner notes and booklets with all kinds of great info. I'm a jazz fan, and there were many great box sets and reissues in the "CD years". That stuff never would have seen the light of day had it not been for the "new" CD format. Will this continue with the MP3 or other "non-physical" format? Sadly, probably not.

beep.click · March 28th, 2008, 01:31 AM

I downloaded the free MP3 version of the new NIN album. A few days later, I went back and bought the complete 4-disc download -- $5. I chose the FLAC (lossless) format for the download; the music came with a 40-page PDF "book," and a bunch of computer graphics.

Clearly, the digital era creates options that didn't exist in the past, for artists and consumers alike.

I love my CDs and LPs, and I've been buying a lot of oldies lately. I hope the CD format DOES continue, because I love to go the store for the cat food and also see what music is on sale that day...

P.S. I could care less what Apple and iTunes are doing. I can't even SEE the iTunes store, because I don't meet the "minimum system requirements."

Nogbad · March 28th, 2008, 03:03 AM

I would miss the real Artwork! CD already reduced the amount of imagery and information the buyer gets. I dont buy M3 and never will. Even if CD goes out of production today, there is enough back material to keep me interested for the rest of my natural!

cowboytwang · March 28th, 2008, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Barnett

I'm worried that there won't be a next generation of audiophiles. Between MP3s and ultra-compressed mastering, good sound quality on new music recordings is all but dead.

Like they say "for every action there is an equal or greater reaction".

The more that degraded downloadable mp3 files sell, the more high quality vinyl sells go up.

Same thing happened almost 40 years ago with 8-track tapes. They were easy and convenient (until the tape broke or got caught in the player). You could actually listen to what ever song you wanted to in a vehicle, instead of just the radio. Of course the sound quality kind of sucked. At the same time the 8-track was the big thing some very high quality vinyl, and audio equipment, started selling big.

Mp3 files are easy and convenient, some folks sacrifice quality for convenience, and then there are some who don't know the difference.

eddiewagner · March 28th, 2008, 03:38 AM

i have just finished the process of ripping all my old cds to itunes. now i have all the stuff neatly on a ipod classic 80 gb. the hifi-tower that dominated our living room has shrinked to only one receiver, one cable and two smallish speakers. wonderful! the sound is good enough for me. i will never ever miss the heaps of cds lying around or crawling in front of a dusty shelf to seek for a certain cd. the only thing i miss a bit is the artwork and some linernotes. other than that i am a totally happy mp3/ipod-convert.

David Barnett · March 28th, 2008, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowboytwang

The more that degraded downloadable mp3 files sell, the more high quality vinyl sells go up.

Go up how much? Looks to me like vinyl is still very much for a vanishingly small minority of tweeks.

Big John · March 28th, 2008, 05:08 AM

Good question, i'm sat squarely in the middle of the fence on this one !!
On the one hand, i love listening to really good, really well recorded music through a good system, there's really nothing like it so i would mourn the loss of CD's.
On the other hand the 'handiness' of Mp3 would be hard to lose too, i really just want to hear great music and there are times when i don't care 'how' i hear it just as long as i can hear it, it's the old saying "listen to the music not the gear !! "
Then there's the cover of course and that thrill of a 12" sleeve with all that information to read .......
I dont want to see any of it going really but while major labels own the acts and the medium with which you hear those acts we are kind of stuck with what they give us aren't we ?
Smaller 'net based acts are usually accessed by Mp3, major acts by CD, as long as we can hear it somehow.

cowboytwang · March 28th, 2008, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Go up how much?

22% this past year!

How about a few news stories?

Sagging CD Sales Put Vinyl Back In The Groove
Putting a New Spin on Vinyl Records
Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin
The return of records to the record industry
Analog isn't dead; Vinyl record sales recover

Wildhawk · March 28th, 2008, 05:30 AM

CD's are done.

The media they're put on and equipment needed to play them are ancient.

A complete anthology can be put on a flash drive/card or stick. CD's were a stepping stone to the digital age.

bowman · March 28th, 2008, 06:10 AM

I'm waiting for the REAL breakthrough - massive amounts of non-compressed, vinyl-quality-or-better music, stored on a tiny little device that fits in your pocket, wirelesssly connected to the speakers of your choice with no signal or quality loss, Ah hell, let's just make it wirelessly connected to your head, and the liner notes and graphics would play in your head at the same time.
Wait, I think that already happened to me back in the 60s...
Actually, I am about to take the I-Pod plunge myself - I have way too many CDs in my house that don't get played because they are hard to dig out. I'm still going to keep my favorites on the shelf, however, because there is no substitute for uncompressed music.

Eric Karonen · March 28th, 2008, 07:14 AM

From Billboard:

"Elvis Costello's next solo studio album, curiously dubbed "Momofuku," will arrive April 22 via Lost Highway. For the time being, the set will be released only on vinyl, with a digital download code included in the package."

Michaell · March 28th, 2008, 07:35 AM

yes

they will not comepletely vanish...but they're on the way to not being seen or used much

Caffeine Patrol · March 28th, 2008, 07:54 AM

The whole MP3/digital downloading makes perfect sense if you look at it in context: a generation growing up on junk food in a disposable society requires a junk format that you can 'throw away' when you tire of it. Digital music is much like a McDonald's 'hamburger': it resembles a real recording, but when you eat a good, grilled-in-the-backyard burger, the difference becomes painfully obvious.
To be fair, I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of younger folk realizing that records are really much better all-around than any digital format.
And I have to wonder how many people whining about how much space their CDs, records, etc. took up have ten guitars, five amps,...

whodatpat · March 28th, 2008, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chet

I was watching the VH-1 Classic episode about Def Leppard's "Hysteria" album and started thinking about it.
When they made that album they had 3 major avenues of marketing thier work:
Vinyl Record
CD
Cassette Tape.

Now there's been the I-Tune download added and the cassette tape eliminated but I think it's easy to copy the download. Kid's (or anyone else) can copy it and give it to whomever they choose for free.

We did that with Cassets too.

gibsonjunkie · March 28th, 2008, 08:35 AM

I have a really good turntable and a huge Vinyl collection. I still like the sound of Vinyl, but hear less of a difference than I used to. Perhaps because I'm older, or because I can't sit and listen any more - I'm on the go, in the car, or wandering around. True audiophile sound can't really be appreciated while riding on a lawnmower listening to an iPod, or the like...

One problem is that phono cartridge prices are through the roof! To replace the Micro Acoustics 530 mp that I still use (well, that one is impossible to replace since they went out of business), but cartridges anywhere near that quality would be around $1-2000 nowadays.

Maybe an Ortofon would do, but I think we'll see digital technology improve to the point where everything else will be outdated (someday).

SatelliteOrders · March 28th, 2008, 08:41 AM

My albums didn't survive the last major move. Considering I didn't have a functioning turntable for the eight years before that, it's a wonder I didn't clean that stack out long before. There's still music there that I miss.

My cassettes, except for a select few, didn't survive the last major move, either. I gave 'em up in bulk, in part because I didn't have a working tape player. I've listened to some of my cassettes that I saved in the years since, and it's clear to me that the cassettes really didn't survive 20 years of repeated listening.

Until recently, my general usage for CDs would be to buy them, rip them, burn the music to CD when I had enough, and shelve them. My car even plays MP3 CD-Rs. Recently, I've been pulling down specific CDs for commute because it's easier for me to say "I'm on a big James Burton kick and these 3 CDs have lots of twang!" than it is to remember which CD-Rs have my Burton licks.

I've downloaded for free many cool things. I haven't bought MP3s yet. For one thing, I'm generally a Linux guy, so iTunes freezes me out there. The last CD I bought was Fidl, all about Klezmer fiddle, and I wanted the liners as much as the music.

I get the argument about non-digital music sounding better. I just don't have, and can't imagine affording in the near future, enough hardware to make it a worthwhile purchase. And for me, the ability to have on one disc the complete post-Sweetheart Byrds so I can flow randomly through Clarence White's music, or to hit "Flashlight" by P-Funk right after "Birdland" by Weather Report and finding it makes an all-time great segue, far outweighs the higher sound quality that analog affords.

What I kinda miss is the mixtape. Sending people playlists isn't the same, because you're not bound by limitations. I have a friend who'd make college rock (back when it was called that) mixes, and put classic rock in the last gap before the tape ends, just to annoy people. "It's been a long time since I rocked and ro-" You can't real

March 27th, 2008, 10:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
chet Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 5,868	Are CD's on the way out? Is I-Tunes the way of the future of recorded music along with I-Pods etc? Will it be "Download the songs you wanna hear from I-Tunes and store them into your I-Pod"? I asked a kid whose band had recorded a CD recently and that was his answer. I'm hoping the vinyl record makes a comeback for listening to your favorite music, myself.

March 27th, 2008, 10:32 PM	#2 (permalink)
jazztele Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: chicago Age: 29 Posts: 1,577	jeez, i hope not. the digital age has really killed the "album." everybody just downloads the tunes they like and they're done with it... as a jazz fan, i like liner notes...this is why i still buy CD's (and a ton of vinyl, too) i like seeing who the musicians were who played on the record...if CD's go away, I'm going all vinyl. i hope it doesn't come to that though... __________________ “For the guitar is the most unpredictable and least reliable musical instrument in existence...and also the sweetest, the warmest, the most delicate, whose melancholic voice awakes in our soul exquisite reveries.” Andres Segovia

March 27th, 2008, 11:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
bowlfreshener Tele-Afflicted Join Date: May 2007 Location: Virginia, USA Age: 32 Posts: 1,338 6 Photos	I am currently taking a class in maintaining and upgrading computer hardware, and my instructor actually stated that he was surprised that MP3s are popular due to its high rate of compression that not all of the frequency range is not accurately captured on MP3s, but considering that a lot of listening these days is done on small speakers or earphones, people just don't notice it as much....I don't know how true this is, but if its true, as long as there are audiophiles, there will be vinyl and CDs. __________________ RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

March 28th, 2008, 01:31 AM	#10 (permalink)
beep.click Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: California Age: 49 Posts: 1,507	The Times They Are A-Changin' I downloaded the free MP3 version of the new NIN album. A few days later, I went back and bought the complete 4-disc download -- $5. I chose the FLAC (lossless) format for the download; the music came with a 40-page PDF "book," and a bunch of computer graphics. Clearly, the digital era creates options that didn't exist in the past, for artists and consumers alike. I love my CDs and LPs, and I've been buying a lot of oldies lately. I hope the CD format DOES continue, because I love to go the store for the cat food and also see what music is on sale that day... P.S. I could care less what Apple and iTunes are doing. I can't even SEE the iTunes store, because I don't meet the "minimum system requirements." __________________ "It looked like a giant green gum drop to me."

March 28th, 2008, 03:03 AM	#11 (permalink)
Nogbad Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Washington UK Posts: 173 5 Photos	I would miss the real Artwork! CD already reduced the amount of imagery and information the buyer gets. I dont buy M3 and never will. Even if CD goes out of production today, there is enough back material to keep me interested for the rest of my natural! __________________ "Big Ron's Famous Twang Oil" now available. $7.99 a bottle - postage.

March 27th, 2008, 10:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
chet Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 5,868	I was watching the VH-1 Classic episode about Def Leppard's "Hysteria" album and started thinking about it. When they made that album they had 3 major avenues of marketing thier work: Vinyl Record CD Cassette Tape. Now there's been the I-Tune download added and the cassette tape eliminated but I think it's easy to copy the download. Kid's (or anyone else) can copy it and give it to whomever they choose for free.

March 27th, 2008, 10:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
TDPRI Administrator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: TDPRILAND Posts: 5,161 36 Photos	Every place I go to with new vinyl is booming with sales. I went to one today and they said again that vinyl is more than replacing CD sales. But downloads are way above that, I know. I've never bought a download, because I don't believe that MP3s are acceptable quality sound. If I could buy Apple Lossless downloads I would buy quite a lot of those. But not until they are available in Apple Lossless or some other lossless format. I got the new Shelby Lynn "Just A Little Lovin'" LP today. I bought my wife the CD in January and it is really good. So, I had to have the LP version.

March 28th, 2008, 12:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
pengipete Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gloucester U.K. Age: 47 Posts: 1,002	As technology moves on & storage becomes less of a problem, file size will be less of an issue and digital data quality will increase. There are already lossless formats such as FLAC and mp3's can already be compressed at higher data rates for better sound quality. Add to that the likelihood of another new technology in the data formats and you'll probably find that by the time physical disks finally disappear, you won't miss them. There's still the chance that AudioDVD could take off with the introduction of hi-def or we may even see portable music seen a completely different direction with video player taking precedence over audio only recordings. Bowlfreshner's final comment about vinyl and CD's is absolutely the first time I've ever seen anyone make that argument for CDs - vinyl yes but nostalgia for CDs... Now I really do feel old.

March 28th, 2008, 12:54 AM	#8 (permalink)
David Barnett Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: LIttle Rock, AR Age: 52 Posts: 5,188	I'm worried that there won't be a next generation of audiophiles. Between MP3s and ultra-compressed mastering, good sound quality on new music recordings is all but dead.

March 28th, 2008, 03:38 AM	#13 (permalink)
eddiewagner Friend of Leo's Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: ROCK!linghausen/germany Age: 49 Posts: 3,604 27 Photos	i have just finished the process of ripping all my old cds to itunes. now i have all the stuff neatly on a ipod classic 80 gb. the hifi-tower that dominated our living room has shrinked to only one receiver, one cable and two smallish speakers. wonderful! the sound is good enough for me. i will never ever miss the heaps of cds lying around or crawling in front of a dusty shelf to seek for a certain cd. the only thing i miss a bit is the artwork and some linernotes. other than that i am a totally happy mp3/ipod-convert. __________________ My Drum/Guitar-Duo: www.myspace.com/captaintwangandhisrhythmcat

March 28th, 2008, 05:08 AM	#15 (permalink)
Big John Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Suffolk UK Posts: 3,893 34 Photos	Good question, i'm sat squarely in the middle of the fence on this one !! On the one hand, i love listening to really good, really well recorded music through a good system, there's really nothing like it so i would mourn the loss of CD's. On the other hand the 'handiness' of Mp3 would be hard to lose too, i really just want to hear great music and there are times when i don't care 'how' i hear it just as long as i can hear it, it's the old saying "listen to the music not the gear !! " Then there's the cover of course and that thrill of a 12" sleeve with all that information to read ....... I dont want to see any of it going really but while major labels own the acts and the medium with which you hear those acts we are kind of stuck with what they give us aren't we ? Smaller 'net based acts are usually accessed by Mp3, major acts by CD, as long as we can hear it somehow. __________________ If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly !!

March 28th, 2008, 05:30 AM	#17 (permalink)
Wildhawk Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Madison WI Posts: 404	CD's are done. The media they're put on and equipment needed to play them are ancient. A complete anthology can be put on a flash drive/card or stick. CD's were a stepping stone to the digital age.

March 28th, 2008, 06:10 AM	#18 (permalink)
bowman Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Westborough, MA Age: 56 Posts: 333	I'm waiting for the REAL breakthrough - massive amounts of non-compressed, vinyl-quality-or-better music, stored on a tiny little device that fits in your pocket, wirelesssly connected to the speakers of your choice with no signal or quality loss, Ah hell, let's just make it wirelessly connected to your head, and the liner notes and graphics would play in your head at the same time. Wait, I think that already happened to me back in the 60s... Actually, I am about to take the I-Pod plunge myself - I have way too many CDs in my house that don't get played because they are hard to dig out. I'm still going to keep my favorites on the shelf, however, because there is no substitute for uncompressed music.

March 28th, 2008, 07:14 AM	#19 (permalink)
Eric Karonen Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Age: 56 Posts: 1,174	From Billboard: "Elvis Costello's next solo studio album, curiously dubbed "Momofuku," will arrive April 22 via Lost Highway. For the time being, the set will be released only on vinyl, with a digital download code included in the package." __________________ Sounds the tough horn, and twangs the quivering string. --Pope (1688-1744)

March 28th, 2008, 07:35 AM	#20 (permalink)
Michaell Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: on the bus Posts: 596	yes they will not comepletely vanish...but they're on the way to not being seen or used much __________________ WWLD

March 28th, 2008, 07:54 AM	#21 (permalink)
Caffeine Patrol Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 277	The whole MP3/digital downloading makes perfect sense if you look at it in context: a generation growing up on junk food in a disposable society requires a junk format that you can 'throw away' when you tire of it. Digital music is much like a McDonald's 'hamburger': it resembles a real recording, but when you eat a good, grilled-in-the-backyard burger, the difference becomes painfully obvious. To be fair, I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of younger folk realizing that records are really much better all-around than any digital format. And I have to wonder how many people whining about how much space their CDs, records, etc. took up have ten guitars, five amps,...

March 28th, 2008, 08:35 AM	#23 (permalink)
gibsonjunkie Tele-Holic Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bloomfield, Connecticut Age: 54 Posts: 557	I have a really good turntable and a huge Vinyl collection. I still like the sound of Vinyl, but hear less of a difference than I used to. Perhaps because I'm older, or because I can't sit and listen any more - I'm on the go, in the car, or wandering around. True audiophile sound can't really be appreciated while riding on a lawnmower listening to an iPod, or the like... One problem is that phono cartridge prices are through the roof! To replace the Micro Acoustics 530 mp that I still use (well, that one is impossible to replace since they went out of business), but cartridges anywhere near that quality would be around $1-2000 nowadays. Maybe an Ortofon would do, but I think we'll see digital technology improve to the point where everything else will be outdated (someday). __________________ The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese...