What's going to happen to CDs ?

[lojo]

Vinyl is huge and seems here to stay for at least the next generation 

Cassette tapes and previous formats of tape seem to have disappeared 

So is Cd going to be collectible ? Or at least have enough fans to keep it alive 

 What does everyone predict ?

I sold my records when I thought I was going to emigrate years ago , or I think I'd have revived my use of it by now . I'm purely digital stream and Cd now , and rarely buy CDs , but often think I should at least be buying my favourites on some sort of format other than pure data 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2018 by lojo

[BrunoBass]

I had thousands of CDs, and about three years ago I realised that I hadn’t physically played a CD in a very long time. Every CD I had was on my Mac, backed up on a couple of hard drives and shared to my iPhone, iPad etc. So, with the exception of a handful of CDs that have sentimental value I sold the lot on Music Magpie. I had no use for them and don’t miss them at all. 

I do have all the vinyl from my teenage years though, and one of these days I might get round to buying a turntable to actually play them on.

Edited May 19, 2018 by BrunoBass

[Count Bassy]

Personally I think that the Vinyl resurgence is just a flash in the pan. I'd give it 5 years at most. Who wants a medium that inherently degrades every time you play it?

As for Cd's it's still my preferred medium, but then I'm an old Fogey.

Just a thought - If you copy your CDs to another medium and then sell the originals are you not in breach of copyright?

 

 

Edited May 19, 2018 by Count Bassy

[Baxlin]

Hope "hard copy" in whatever form doesn’t disappear, if only because I’d miss the sleeve notes.

[Machines]

I dumped all my CDs. I have Spotify and my car has Bluetooth but no CD player.

[Twigman]

I still CD everything.

I had to fight to get my band to commit to releasing our soon to be released new album on CD as well as vinyl and the download formats though, despite many of our 'fans' having got upset that last years's 12" vinyl EP hadn't been available on CD.

 

[lojo]

6 minutes ago, Twigman said:

I still CD everything.

I had to fight to get my band to commit to releasing our soon to be released new album on CD as well as vinyl and the download formats though, despite many of our 'fans' having got upset that last years's 12" vinyl EP hadn't been available on CD.

 

That surprises me I would have thought the order of importance would be Digital (for its ease) , CD then Vinyl ? 

[JimBobTTD]

It is all a ruse. You don't need books, CDs, hifi system, magazines, videos, DVDs or TV...all you need is your laptop and a subscription to lots of things at only £9.99 per month each. Oh, and cloud storage for all your backups at £9.99 a month for when your laptop breaks.

"Why am I so poor?" the junior office worker mused, listening to Spotify though bluetooth headphones on his iPhone X while clicking away at his laptop. His £4.20 large coffee with cream from Starbucks cooled next to him. 

[uk_lefty]

I have around five or six hundred CDs and recently wanted a new hifi. I won't spend silly money on one but found it hard to actually buy one with a cd player. When I buy digital music I often go for the instant download with cd in the post option for a few quid more because I can see me losing all my data or my laptop packing in. But actually sitting in my living room and putting on a CD? With a wife and child? Only when I'm alone working at home, pausing every time my boss or a customer calls. I need MP3 on my phone as commuting in to London on the train is the only time I get to listen to music, except in my car which has a cd player but it's a ball ache to keep rotation of CD's, much easier to Bluetooth my phone to the car stereo.

Come to think of it a lot of CD's I've bought in the past five years haven't come out of the shrink wrap yet because I listen to the album's digitally.

[casapete]

I just hope there are enough people of my age / attitude to make hard copy music still viable for some time yet. Never one to embrace new technology quickly (was late to the party with CD format,swearing vinyl was king ),I still can’t get my head round not owning some music I love rather than just playing it. Probably comes from a few years working in a large record store in the 70’s, and spending a large part of my wages there too! Although not overly materialistic, my music collection is one of my few things I would hate to give up, along with instruments of course. Our kids already don’t have any means of playing cds in their houses, so I guess it’s just another of those things that move on. And don’t get me started on turning off analogue radio.....

[PaulWarning]

when trying to sell my bands latest CD I was shocked by how many people said "We haven't got a CD player", whether they'll make a comeback, like vinyl, has only time will tell, but it is bad news for artists trying, at least, to recoup the cost of recording an album, having said that I don't play or buy CD's o any more, I listen to them on spotify, so I can't really complain, can I?

[T-Bay]

8 hours ago, Baxlin said:

Hope "hard copy" in whatever form doesn’t disappear, if only because I’d miss the sleeve notes.

This^^^^^ the artwork and pics are all part of the music experience to me. I can picture the covers of all of my favourite albums, probably 99% of all the ones I,own in fact. I also like the fact it can’t be deleted or lost in an ‘upgrade’.

[PaulWarning]

35 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

This^^^^^ the artwork and pics are all part of the music experience to me. I can picture the covers of all of my favourite albums, probably 99% of all the ones I,own in fact. I also like the fact it can’t be deleted or lost in an ‘upgrade’.

which of course, is the appeal of vinyl and perhaps why CD's are going to be consigned to history 

[lojo]

Just now, PaulWarning said:

which of course, is the appeal of vinyl and perhaps why CD's are going to be consigned to history 

Yes and the fact you can see a record going round . I do like CDs and they do have sleeves , just not as big as records but they at least have them . I googled for a CD player where you can see the something going on instead of it just disappearing into a black case but couldnt find a decent hifi one 

[lojo]

Another thing is although I think my family Spotify fee is well spent and you can download , My Sonos system only streams , so if your wifi goes down your stuck unless you've another way to play . Guess wifi goes down less and less these days 

[bubinga5]

Im sure there are millions of people out there who wouldn't dream of giving up there very expensive separates. (CD/Tuner/Turntable,etc)

[yorks5stringer]

CD's strung in a line a quite a good pigeon deterrent if the OP is seeking am alternative use...?

[lojo]

5 minutes ago, yorks5stringer said:

CD's strung in a line a quite a good pigeon deterrent if the OP is seeking am alternative use...?

Well records get used as place mats , so that's a fair answer to what may happen to CDs

[Skybone]

Must admit to being a 'physical format' fan. Though I do download, and have a usb stick in the car, physical format still wins.

Still have loads of vinyl, but only recently bought another record player, still have tons of cd's too. I often find that buying the cd with digital download is generally cheaper than just buying the digital download only. Buying physical format direct from bands is supporting them too.

It is possibly an age thing, I do recall spending far too much time in record shops, and because of that experience, still like to have a physical copy of the music. IMO, digital downloads have made music into a commodity, rather than something 'special'.

Tapes are also making a comeback, but to a much lesser degree than vinyl.

[taunton-hobbit]

I saw an item (BBC news) the other day that stated that the majority of vynil is sold to hard-core fans,

the implication being that the current 'boom' is not going to last (?)........

I've cut my cd's down to around 500, still buy the odd one........I've got a proper dj deck set up, so I hadn't

noticed the retail demise of the cd player - besides I use a pc, which will always play the medium

(along with YouTube).

Being old & crumbly I distrust the cloud stuff - I hate being dependant on third parties.

[Bigwan]

Nifty vintage coasters? 

[Woodinblack]

I have all the cds, and I normally buy CDs rather than streaming. However, they are in a box in the loft. Probably wouldn't get rid of them because they don't take the space or looking after like vinyl did, and the next time everything changes, I can just reuse them.

I miss the tactile feel of vinyl, and the covers. Cassettes I am happy to bury, the only point in them was to copy other peoples records or your own for the car

[discreet]

1 hour ago, bubinga5 said:

Im sure there are millions of people out there who wouldn't dream of giving up there very expensive separates. (CD/Tuner/Turntable,etc)

Yep, I'm definitely one of them. Linn claim their products last a lifetime and so far they're right...

[BassBus]

In the earlier days of downloads I bought quite a few from Virgin and HMV (remember them?). Soon as they closed I could no longer play them. No licence available. Lesson learnt. Whenever I buy a download now it immediately gets backed up on CD. Yes it's on the PC as well but what happens if that get corrupted, it can happen. 

I don't think vinyl is as big as some people might like you to think. I think it was last year someone gave the stats on vinyl sales. Something like 1.5 million sales in 2016 against however many 10s of millions at its height. It is a contact medium, you can only put so much on it and it takes up a lot of space. nuff said.

[discreet]

1 hour ago, taunton-hobbit said:

Being old & crumbly I distrust the cloud stuff - I hate being dependant on third parties.

Me too. Computers just aren't reliable enough to store important information without multiple backups, which is a big pain in the bum. Another issue which annoys me - waiting for a piece of software to wake up and do its thing when I want to hear some music NOW. There is no delay with vinyl! Unless of course you're a bit too stoned and it takes you ages to cross the room to the turntable...