R.I.P. CD's (1982–2012)

[TeenFink]

IT'S ABOUT FRIGGIN' TIME!!!!!!!!

From http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=46980_0_2_0_C

You read it well. The major labels plan to abandon the CD format by the end of 2012 (or even earlier) and replace it with download/stream-only releases via iTunes and related music services. The only CD formats that will be left over will be the limited edition ones, which will of course not be available for every artist. The distribution model for these remaining CD releases would be primarily Amazon which is already the biggest CD retailer worldwide anyhow.

3 weeks ago we heard it for the first time and since then we have tried getting some feedback from EMI, Universal and Sony. All declined to comment.

The news doesn't come as a surprise to those who have been working in the business. In a piece that was published in a Q&A with the Alfa Matrix people back in June 2011 in the 1st issue of "Matrix Revelations", our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker said the following when asked if a CD would still exist in 5 years: "Yes, but in a different format. Normal CDs will no longer be available because they don't offer enough value, limited editions on the other hand will remain available and in demand for quite a few more years. I for one buy only limited editions because of the added value they offer: a nice design, extra bonus gadgets, etc. The album as we know it now however will be dead within 5 years, if it isn't even sooner. I predict that downloads will have replaced the CD album within the next 2 years. I don't see that as something negative, it just has run its course, let's leave the space to limited editions (including vinyl runs for bigger acts) and downloads instead."

It's a move that makes completely sense. CD's cost money, even when they don't sell because there is stock storage to be paid; a label also pays money to distributors when CDs get returned to the labels when not sold and so on. In short, abandoning the CD-format will make it possible to just focus on the release and the marketing of it and no longer focus on the distribution (since aggregators will do the work as far as dispatching the releases to services worldwide) and - expensive - stock maintenance. In the long run it will most surely mean the end for many music shops worldwide that only stock and sell CD releases. In the UK for instance HMV has problems paying the labels already and more will follow. It makes the distribution of CDs no longer worth it.

Also Amazon will benefit from this as it will surely become the one and only player when it comes to distribution of the remaining CD productions from labels. Packaged next to regular album downloads via its own Amazon MP3 service it will offer a complimentary service.

The next monument to fall? That will be printed magazines as people will want to consume their information online where they also read most of the news.

What are your feelings? is it a move that you like or not?

Update: We were approached by several people working with major labels, who indeed re-confirm that plans do exist to give up the CD. We keep on trying to get an official confirmation, but it seems that the matter is very controversial, especially after Side-Line brought out the story.

[Thomas Marshall]

Well mp3s are lossy and I want my audio lossless which is both vinyl and cds! I'm waiting for hd blu-rays to be properly used for artists. Albums on those will be truly awesome. 

[DammitDave]

I can see it now: "thanks for coming out, tip your bartenders and servers, and make sure to take out your smartphone and download our new album right now!"

 

That's more punk rock than me!

[DammitDave]

"The next monument to fall? That will be printed magazines as people will want to consume their information online where they also read most of the news."

I wonder how many people have dropped their phone or tablet in the bowl when they want to read the USA Today on the toilet.  Make sure to wash your hands before using the touch screen!

[MikeL]

LOL!  That did happen to a friend of mine:)

DammitDave said:

"The next monument to fall? That will be printed magazines as people will want to consume their information online where they also read most of the news."

I wonder how many people have dropped their phone or tablet in the bowl when they want to read the USA Today on the toilet.  Make sure to wash your hands before using the touch screen!

[Bill Streeter]

Yeah don't hold your breath because that's never going to happen. 

Thomas Marshall said:

Well mp3s are lossy and I want my audio lossless which is both vinyl and cds! I'm waiting for hd blu-rays to be properly used for artists. Albums on those will be truly awesome. 

[Rockin Rod Strychnine]

This is just a badly written article which so far is the only web-site that has such a story.  Billboard hasn't written anything.  Neither has Rolling Stone (which you know would have jumped on this if there was a shred of truth).  While major labels are probably having problems with their r & b and hip hop sales, there is an uprise in labels that sell back catalogs and oldies collections, Sundazed having the most success.  But there isn't one quote from an industry insider even with the "update".  CDs will most certainly disappear but not by the end of next year.  That's like saying that vinyl was going to be done with by the end of the 80s.

[MR. HIPSTER!]

I'm excited! I have never really been a big fan of cd's myself. 

   I am also a man who gets asked and hears others ask, "Why did you put it out on cassette?"

However, this article mentions the digital download becoming the head honcho. I like the digital download. I like the idea of not lugging around, wait... I dont purchase or listen to cd's. 

   For people who don't own record or cassette players or other forms to import and listen to music, I don't see this being an issue. 

   As for people who purchase cd's on the regular, they'll have to get used to keeping their Down Load cards in one place. 

   Most of all I think that the environmental impact that cd's leave, and for that matter all types of music media, could be altered and improved greatly. 

Then again, who the Hell am I? What do I know?

 

 

[Michelle Magnero]

Talk about a retarded idea.  It's not like anyone actually wants to go to the store and purchase an album or hold it in their hands or look at the art or anything...or what if they might actually want to have the album just to, I don't know, own it or something?  Just doesn't make sense to me. What the hell is the point in downloading other than the fact that it is portable and on demand? What about the idea of the album as cultural artifact? This is the same type of thing that is happening to libraries and such. People have been saying for awhile now that all books will be digital too. Someone on here was saying magazines will probably disappear as well. They are probably right. Technology has made it so that people don't really care so much about the tangibility of the object anymore, or about collecting etc (and as much debate as there is about collections and the status of the collector in society, I would say that in these days collecting is fading out as well, maybe not within groups such as Hideout members, but that is just one small microcosm of society, not the larger picture.)

[kopper]

Meanwhile, vinyl sales are up.

http://www.economist.com/node/21526296

http://mashable.com/2011/08/15/vinyl-record-sales-rise-uk/

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/vinyl-sales-increase-despite...

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/08/uk-vinyl-record-sales-jump-5...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-02-25-vinyl25_...
Michelle Magnero said:

Talk about a retarded idea.  It's not like anyone actually wants to go to the store and purchase an album or hold it in their hands or look at the art or anything...or what if they might actually want to have the album just to, I don't know, own it or something?  Just doesn't make sense to me. What the hell is the point in downloading other than the fact that it is portable and on demand? What about the idea of the album as cultural artifact? This is the same type of thing that is happening to libraries and such. People have been saying for awhile now that all books will be digital too. Someone on here was saying magazines will probably disappear as well. They are probably right. Technology has made it so that people don't really care so much about the tangibility of the object anymore, or about collecting etc (and as much debate as there is about collections and the status of the collector in society, I would say that in these days collecting is fading out as well, maybe not within groups such as Hideout members, but that is just one small microcosm of society, not the larger picture.)

[Tight White Jeans]

This is really gonna suck for people with shitty internet connections and even those with broadband given the talk of ISPs putting up "tollbooths" and limiting bandwidth.  Maybe people will start going back out to see live music again *GASP*!

[jamie]

The reason why I like going to the shop and buying CDs, is its a good way to stem the flow of the infinite music available on internet blogspots that i would never have the time to download and actually listen to. When so much music becomes instantly accessable, it loses its meaning, and its no longer possible to connect with it in the same way as when you were 15 years old and could only afford a few albums a year.

 

I hate having thousands of songs on an ipod. You put it on random and end up flicking through to the next song after about 30 seconds, impatient for the next one to come on, till eventually you just skip each song in the hopes that the next one will be better. Then you just sit there in silence admiring how good your taste is while reading your playlist.

I cant imagine paying money for an mp3 file. I don't feel that Ive actually bought anything by doing that. I might as well go onto youtube and listen to the song on there, while watching a video of it.

This future we are in now really freaks me out. Culture used to be a shopping list that you chose to buy from. Now it means even less.

 

[Thomas Marshall]

A nice sentiment, Jamie. I too despise MP3's for their quality and am amazed by the sheer ignorance of not only normal people but the major labels that when you buy an MP3 you buy a crap product which is worth 0 and only has a lifespan of whatever harddrive it's on and nothing further. This isn't record collecting. I have vinyl and cds and I back my digital onto I-Tunes but enjoy listening to vinyl. Vinyl has a massive collectable factor which surpasses both cds and digital downloads.

 

This essence of collectability will keep vinyl thriving. I wished people would wake up to the digital streams but they haven't. Until 4G is recognised under our ISP's then we too won't have the speed required for instant glich free streaming of larger video files. Or audio. There is a lot of problems with relying on the Internet for streaming. Buffering. Capacity. Throttling from your network provider. How much the artist actually receives in compensation for their product. How does the artist receive it. Yet they are using this more and more over physical audio. 

 

I can't wait until the day we have a set standard where products last but largely due to money and poor long term gain understanding this isn't happening. I'd like more Blu-ray as I think the codec range on those for audio is stunning. I hope bands do work with them. I can only see an increase in vinyl sales when cds are left behind. There has to be something better than cds and scratch free.