Wednesday, August 8, 2012

CDinosaur

I knew it had been a while since I'd set foot in a brick-and-mortar music store, but wow. Here's what I ended up taking home from Zia Records tonight:
  • Awolnation, Megalithic Symphony: new, $9.99
  • The Lumineers: new, $12.99
  • Beatles, Rubber Soul: used, $3.99
  • Beatles, The White Album: used, $16.99
  • Shawn Colvin, Fat City: used, $2.99
  • Shawn Colvin, A Few Small Repairs: used, $2.99

At the checkout counter I asked, "Is it me, or have prices gone way down?

The guy ringing me up confirmed that they had. Especially for used CDs.

"The digital download crisis has been going on for so long," I said, "that I figured it would never happen. That the music industry would be in denial forever."

The guy said, "There's a rumor going around that by the end of this year, nobody will even make CDs anymore. Of course, it's only a rumor."

Googling around later, I found an article from Side-Line Music Magazine claiming that except for special limited editions, the CD format will be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012. They say they can't get official confirmation, but they seem pretty sure it's going to happen.

I dunno. While the demise of the CD is bound to happen eventually, it seems like someone would have announced it if "eventually" were less than a year away.

On the other hand, the timing seems right. CDs at reasonable prices? Can't have that.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Noooooo.....<>

Beth

Brian McDonald said...

Don't worry, Susan, you didn't fall into a parallel universe where the record companies actually do things that make sense. They're still charging a bunch for CDs. When I look for stuff, I'm often looking for things that aren't on major labels, but when I do look at major label stuff, it's generally in the $14-17 range for single-disc albums.

And the rumor (and article) are complete nonsense. Just because the record industry isn't making as much money as they used to from CD sales, they're still making millions. Why would they throw that away? Not everyone has a high-speed internet connection, and not everyone likes to buy things online. Hell, some people still play cassettes.

I googled "CDs to be abandoned", found that SideLine article, and a few others who were referring to the SideLine article, and then this one from the NME.

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=146&title=are_major_labels_about_to_abandon_the_cd_1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

He pretty much dismantles the SideLine article, and provides actual numbers and such.

cinderkeys said...

"The writer claimed that he'd contacted EMI, Universal and Sony, all of whom 'declined to comment'. Which is a puzzle, because when I tried to get a comment from a major label it took precisely 30 seconds for them to reply saying the whole thing was "nonsense'."

Heh heh heh.