"CD-format to be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012..."

Well, for one thing you'll lose physical liner notes that you can hold in your hands.

 

Well, it makes no sense to me! I'm not suggesting downloading won't eventually be the dominant vehicle for music consumption, nor that it has some fundamental advantages (holds the most promise, for example, for the broader availability of hires music), just that it strikes me as absurd to believe CD's will be dropped by the major labels by the end of next year.

Plus, I don't think the incremental costs of producing a physical disc are nearly as much as people think. Not more than a couple of dollars I'd think. Don't have to sell too many discs to quickly make a profit. Ok, perhaps not the profits the music industry was reaping even 5 years ago, but enough to keep the format off the scrap heap for some years yet.

 

If the vinyl albums I buy include a free download card, I use it.
I figure I paid for the album might as well use the download card.
Same thing with DVD digital copies.
I paid for it, might as well get my moneys worth.
Not all CDs/DVDs come with digital downloads, but it is convenient when it does (especially for something I like).

Darryl

Darryl

 

True, I don't think most of the public really cares about the sound quality.

 

Oh, really?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-10.1-160-GB-RB110-1046NR/17298975

Nah, downloading music on that thing will be a PITA. No space at all.

OK, but don't tell me that (I'm talking to wayneklein here) someone can't afford it. What else are they spending their money on? I'd like to know if these people a) are on food stamps b) have savings c) what type of cars they drive d) if they have satellite or cable TV e) what type of house they have f) what type of TV they have g) how many kids they chose to have, etc.

I have a close relative who couldn't afford 200 bucks to send his kid to come visit us for a week, and this guy is making a fortune where he works (he's a partner in a company). You know *why* he said couldn't afford 200 bucks? Because he trades in his car every year or two for the latest model, lives in a bigger house than he needs, has a motorcycle or two, has satellite TV, buys expensive clothing, and has 3 kids + a wife who has an expensive car as well who probably buys a lot of nice clothes and things too (she's also a manager at someplace).

 

They can't afford it because they're spending the money on things that are more important (in many cases, getting out of debt).

When you have bills to pay and mouths to feed, buying a computer and MP3 player just to download music somehow doesn't factor into your life.

Why do all that when you can spend $10 on a CD to play in your 15 year old CD player that still works perfectly?

 

Exactly!
One friend is not even interested (the one that just bought a house)
My other friend will eventually be getting a laptop, but has other priorities that come first. That's not saying she can't afford it, just not on the top of her priorities list.

Darryl

 

In other words; as I said; he has other priorities in life. I bet you couldn't afford a lot of that stuff because you have other priorities in your life- other things that you spend your money on. It doesn't make your priorities any more valid than his, or vice-versa.

 

I do believe the music industry is trying to move away from the one thing I like best about vinyl and CDs: the ability to physically own it. This is probably retaliation for all the file sharing that has permeated the internet. They are trying to make it so if you want to listen to music, you have to get it from another source (Amazon's "cloud," your own personal data storage on whatever's website, etc.), listen, and go back to that source when you want to hear it again. That way, it won't be yours to copy or lend.

 

That's not the point - he CAN afford it, he just chooses to spend his money on other things. I don't fall for the economic sob story that others give out as a reason for "not being able to afford things."

It's like when people complain they can't afford an attorney/want the attorney to work for free due to "not being able to afford it", but they're driving the latest model of car while saying that.

 

That's one of my big problems with the idea of downloading music. You're not really "buying to own", you're effectively leasing the music 'till the record company or downloading service decides you can no longer have access to it to re-download it or play it anymore (or, 'till the downloading service goes out of business or changes ownership). Or 'till your MP3 player gets stolen/broken/becomes obsolete.

If that happens; you're SOL. It's way too murky of an issue for me to ever risk buying music that way. Give me cut-and-dry physical media where I know I own it; and the record company can't take the album away from me or decide that I need to re-buy it to play it on a new CD player.

 

If somebody doesn't have the money for something; they by definition can't afford it. It's not your business what they use the money they do have on.- be it clothes, a car, or whatever.

 

Which is why streaming is just a tool to listen to music, it doesn't replace ownership.

 

Mmmm let's see people with kids that they feed and clothe? Putting their kids through college? Take you're pick--there are lots of choices out there and if you're unemployed, you're in a bottom up mortgage of course it's possible to not have the money to buy the things that you and I think are so precious.

Different people often have circumstances that we don't understand or condone.

I wouldn't assume that everyone can afford something just because both of us can.

They 1) may not have their home any longer having lost it and/or be unemployed 2) may have gone through their savings because they have been unemployed for a long period of time 3) it's possible they MAY have cars that they have paid for and not be able to afford to upgrade them 4) how many kids they have isn't relevant since they could have easily had those kids before losing their jobs.

Have you been keeping track of the raising cost of food, gas, the smaller increases people have gotten in their paychecks (for the average worker)or the unemployment rate?

If you think everyone can afford it "just" because a computer is "only" $200 than you're living in a very different world than the average person.

I'm assuming that you're what? in your 20's? Don't have a mortgage? don't have kids? I don't know but different generations are facing different obstacles and assuming that everyone can afford something because it's pretty inexpensive in your view or mine is an awfully big assumption.

Anyhow we're getting waaaaayyyyy off topic here so maybe we should have a separate thread for "Can Everyone Afford a computer or is it truly important to everyone".

 

The same source relied upon in the original article indicates this decision was made by the CEO of Netflix, and we know how brilliant his business decisions are these days...

 

I'm not talking about streaming. I"m talking about downloading. And if physical media goes away; downloading will replace ownership (IE: ownership of physical media) and nobody will ever actually own music ever again because Big Brother Record Company will be in control of how you download and how you're allowed to access that music.

 

I might be more persuaded by an article claiming that WalMart, Target, Best Buy and other retailers were planning to eliminate CDs by Christmas 2012, but the demise of CD manufacture altogether seems a stretch.

 

Agreed; I download stuff for my wife quite often but still prefer the physical medium for my listening.

While the posted article is generally on track with the direction things are headed, the writer seems to be seriously lacking in the credibility department. Based on the final sentance, it almost seems as of the author was casually using the CD story to get to his/her real issue - the potential death of print magazines. Maybe the author was doing their part to usher things along...

Either way, I've got so much music I could be happy just working through my existing CD collection for a long time to come.

 

Not sure how they would be able to take it away. Have access to your computer and wipe it out (like the Kindle can do). Simply put in on a hard drive not hooked up to the computer. Or burn it to a CD. Change the format computers and MP3 players can play? There are and will be programs that can crack it.

While I prefer CDs and think they are a superior product I feel I own my downloads just as much. They aren't a physical thing to start with but when I burn them to a CD or a hard drive they are just as "real" as my store bought CDs.

Now in the future this may shift but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The minidisc was my last (bad) bet on technology. Hard to say what's around the corner.

 

I'm ok with the major labels getting out of the CD business, provided they show a little more willingness to license titles to independent audiophile labels.

 

I have a close relative who couldn't afford 200 bucks to send his kid to come visit us for a week, and this guy is making a fortune where he works (he's a partner in a company). You know *why* he said couldn't afford 200 bucks? Because he trades in his car every year or two for the latest model, lives in a bigger house than he needs, has a motorcycle or two, has satellite TV, buys expensive clothing, and has 3 kids + a wife who has an expensive car as well who probably buys a lot of nice clothes and things too (she's also a manager at someplace).[/QUOTE]

Yes, that sounds like MOST people

Please, this is an example of someone who is upper middle class (or higher) and NOT represent of the average person today.

If you want to use an example you'll have to try better than that. If you drive through East Oakland I doubt ANY of these are their problem nor for other people that live in impoverished areas. Heck, it's not even representative of many of the people I've met near me who have lost their homes, etc.

If this is the worst you can think of or a perfect example of someone who **can't** afford a computer then you live in an isolated bubble.

Very true.

The big question isn't IF the CD format will become obsolete but WHEN it will. Again, the major labels have proven to make stupid decisions on a regular basis (from the idiocy of the root-kit issue with Sony to not realizing the value of digital downloads and trying to squash them until it was too late. Then going after their customers).

 

If the CD dies what money will made from downloads ?
Will it offset the cost of producing,shipping and retailing CD's ?
Where will I spend the money that now goes for CD's ?
I have only bought 2 digital downloads of music and don't think I will be purchasing any more thank you.
The musicians say that they only make money from their live shows and not their recordings.
Where are the record companies planning on getting their customers from ?

 

As the original article noted, I don't think that the cost of manufacturing a CD represents the bottleneck, so to speak. It's the cost of keeping physical items in inventory, the cost of returns of physical product, etc. that corporations want to get rid of. If you walked into a Tower Records three or four years ago, when they still existed, how many hundreds of thousands of dollars were tied up in inventory, sitting in the racks for months or years, waiting to be sold? Digital distribution eliminates that problem.

 

I would guarantee you that this scenario of ending physical CD releases is being discussed right now at the major labels. I tend to doubt it's going to happen in 2012, though. My best guess is 2-5 years, but each label won't do it at the same time; I think the end is going to be a slow, gradual fade-out, not a sudden blackout.

I'd be extremely surprised if new, major-artist CDs were still being released by 2020.

 

This is the lamest load of tripe I have seen in a while. I am surprised you're all considering this with any seriousness whatsoever. "The industry" does not operate as a cartel and "they" certainly wouldn't come to an agreement as to when "they" might stop producing CDs. And even if one believed "they" would, "they" wouldn't set a date of about a year from now. Despite all the cries of doom and gloom, and despite the reality of continuing steady declines in sales of physical product, most record companies, and certainly all the majors, will continue to produce physical CDs as along as they perceive there is enough of a market in them to make money. No way do they think that day of reckoning is sometime in 2012.

I have never heard of side-line.com before. After this nonsense, I'll be sure not to visit there in the future.