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

Me and My Cyber Soap Boxers...

Three quick points:

1. I'll be extremely happy when you are extremely suprised in 2020.

2. To think that we'll all be 'happily downloading' our fave artists off the clouds in a mere eight years goes against 100 years of habit-forming physical media collecting--all of which was/and still is very profitable for the labels-- and would seem to be a tad bit pie-in-the-cyber-sky dreaming...

3. "New-Major Artists" is an oxymoron...

 

December 20, 2012 - CDs become obsolete
December 21, 2012 - The world as we know it ends

 

Any e-reader is handled the same way. You won't be owning your favorite books either.

 

Amazon does ship CDs, books, etc. to anyone anywhere in the world, but you can't download from online download stores based overseas.

 

I thought Amazon.com (for example) only shipped to the U.S? And Amazon.ca shipped only to Canada?

 

I honestly don't believe it will be this fast and would be surprised if this were actually true.

Is it being discussed? Most likely. But until CD sales get to a point where it's not worth the money to produce them anymore, then I think it will be phased out. My guess is ~5 years at least that we might see this start to happen, and by 2020 it will become a niche product much like vinyl is today.

Just a guess, but of course I could be completely wrong.

 

They do ship all over the world. You have to sign up for an account with Amazon.com in the US and Amazon.ca in Canada, but you can use your account on any Amazon site and order any CD, DVD, book, etc. anywhere. I have even bought a R2 Annie DVD from Amazon.co.uk and I am in an R1 community.

 

I don't think too many posters here believe the article as written. Its a poorly sourced article and has no credibility. But it does bring up the greater issue of if and then when will physical media no longer be mainstream. Its a gateway to discuss a larger issue and that's the discussion here.

And although the big companies may not collectively decide to stop producing CDs one of them at some point will try it. If it works the others will follow and if not the one company will scramble to get back in. I don't think you'll see Universal making gobs of CDs two years after Sony stopped most CD production (or vice versa). I think they'll be in sync fairly quickly either way.

 

This is something that would have a huge effect on the companies via the stock market.

It would effect so much more than the CD market, it's all just pure rumor. A rumor I've been hearing for several years now.

 

Well hopefully SOMEONE will continue to produce them for a while.

 

I buy all my DVDs and Blu-Rays through Amazon.com. I loathe the bilingual covers they use this side of the border. Plus, Alliance and Maple can't be trusted to use the same transfers. Never had a problem getting US discs shipped up here, plus Amazon use their own distribution network, which means there's no danger of being slapped with hefty customs charges.

 

Remember back in the 70's, Clive Davis, then head of Arista Records, was asked what the next format might be, seeing as vinyl and cassette sales were on the decline? He described some sort of spherical electronic device that would be the next recorded media source. Computers were at this point huge monsters used in businesses and simple(by today's standards) computerized games in arcades and in devices we hooked up to our TVs. Well, we got the CD, then the DVD and now the Blu-Ray.

 

He was close. It's just more square

I fail to see why the 'non audiophiles' of the music consumption industry fail to acknowledge the necessity for both full quality and everyday quality music. It seems to me that high-rez, vinyl, CD and the ubiquitous streaming at low bitrates fit together very well.

They do for me, and it seems for many others on this forum.

 

Who knew Steve Jobs would lead the 'end of the CD'?!?

 

Wouldn't rule that out. The larger media and entertainment industry, music and movie, having "deals" against your best interests with your ISP and probably your governments, impacting the whole internet etc, is something some have discussed and are concerned about. And it would be (if it is not already) a valid matter for serious concern.

Yes it is a strange situation.

Although really the optical disc and digital technologies are essentially children of the 1960s and '70s. Cassettes were only rising then and vinyl was doing great, they were just whining then 'cause they expected more and more and more, as usual.

 

those with huge collections will see a large increase in value...

 

It is quite funny and interesting to watch the CD lovers being in denial about the writing on the wall, just like the record lovers in the 80s ..... and claiming they would rather give up on music itself, than get a PC ... Ha ha

 

no denial here...if they went away tomorrow I have enough to last a very long time...been collecting those silver beasts since day one.

 

No "denial". It's not a I win, you lose situation. CD will have a place, like LPs (and even tapes). Secondary market will remain open for those of us that enjoy CDs.

I do feel kinda bad for those who gave up or are given uo their collections for MP3s or whatever. I think they will regret the decision and be unable to out those collections back together.

 

I know, most of the people on here have collections of physical media to last them many lifetimes..... not my point, my point is the denial about losing the importance in the real world out there ...... vinyl masssively declined in the 80s/90s in favour of CD - CD declines in the 00s/10s in favour of digital downloads ..... and so on

 

Though CD's are declining in sales the numbers are still huge. Probably more than vinyl at it's peak. Take into acoount that 9 million people in UK don't have access to computors and probably a lot more wouldn't know how to download and burn music. Locks out a large part of market for music sales of which on physical formats would not be replaced by equivalent download sales. Owners of MP3 players are still a minority in spite of media hype and those with file storage and servers in the home pretty small in percentage terms.

Basicaly this is not going to happen any time soon as it does not make commercial sense. There would be a huge backlash from the media and vast public that still appreciate the CD format for their music. By saying only limited editions would be available implies CD would still exist but with a huge price hike. Also would kill minor artists and new talent.

 

Look, I live in London, one of the major conurbations in the world. I work in Covent Garden, one of the major retail areas within London.

In Covent Garden, there is exactly one retailer selling CDs, Fopp, and the majority of its stock is sold at £5 or less.

In the huge Westfield mall in West London, same story. One retailer (HMV) stocks CDs, and they're displayed behind the DVD and BluRay.

Where I live, the only place to buy CDs is in a charity shop, used.

Rightly or wrongly, the industry has decided that the CD is dead as a mass market retail item. at work, nobody I know buys music on any physical media, so I guess the industry has probably called it right.

Times up for the CD.

 

Are blank CDs included in the "huge numbers" that CDs are sold ?

 

No more physical media, so no more physical stores too. I like to wander in stores searching for a CD, because it's a small buy I can afford, but I'll never do the same, wandering watching Ipods and TVs and screens, and whatever I gotta have a budget to get. It's the death of that rare kind of masculine window-shopping.