The Death of the Compact Disc

I just started a separate thread about this news but I suppose it qualifies for this topic too.

As of March 30th, CD Baby will be closing down their online store. They will continue to distribute their customer's physical product to Amazon and other online retailers though.

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/cd-baby-retail-store-closing-1203506690/

I still buy cds & dvds (I refuse to start over with blu-ray) almost daily. I don't believe they will be gone anytime soon. I'll be a long time dead when they are.

mc666 wrote:

I still buy cds & dvds (I refuse to start over with blu-ray) almost daily. I don't believe they will be gone anytime soon. I'll be a long time dead when they are.

I agree that cds will be around for quite some time. We may find less physical stores like we used to back in the day. But cd shops are still around.

Online purchasing is also possible. And bands still release old and new material on cd.

So I guess we are temporarily safe.

I buy so many CD's lately because they are so dirt cheap, but then so were vinyl records were at one time and I am sure at some point down the line they will make a comeback. That being said I am 49 years old and I grew up in the age of physical media and still like owning a physical item.

Streaming is worse for the environment than CDs. Those massive servers consume our power. And you do it each time you play the song.

manny wrote:

I buy so many CD's lately because they are so dirt cheap, but then so were vinyl records were at one time and I am sure at some point down the line they will make a comeback.  That being said I am 49 years old and I grew up in the age of physical media and still like owning a physical item.

Agreed. I almost can't believe the prices I am paying for some stuff. Discs that people were asking $12-15 last year are I am grabbing for $5-6. It's crazy.

manny wrote:

I buy so many CD's lately because they are so dirt cheap, but then so were vinyl records were at one time and I am sure at some point down the line they will make a comeback.  That being said I am 49 years old and I grew up in the age of physical media and still like owning a physical item.

I've bought 93 already this year. I bought a ton of Frontiers albums for $5.98 through Amazon. NEH Records has their $5 sale section, and I buy stuff from there all the time. So many options out there for cheap albums.

I do most of my glorious CD listening - in my car - about 30 hours a month in my car.
Well, my first shock in 2014 - was that new cars no longer have CD players. “ That’s on the Out “. ( people love that phrase)
Then when the factory bought one broke - eventually found a shop that still sells / installs new CD players.
Like the government - making things difficult for the average heavy metal American.

Lari wrote:

Vinyl resurgence: undeniably it affects some. But I understand vinyl is still not a major seller. 99% of people don't even have vinyl players.

According to this article, vinyl will overtake CD's soon: https://www.cnet.com/news/vinyl-records-will-soon-outsell-cds-for-the-first-time-since-1986/

Glower wrote:

I do most of my glorious CD listening - in my car - about 30 hours a month in my car.
Well, my first shock in 2014 - was that new cars no longer have CD players. “ That’s on the Out “. ( people love that phrase)
Then when the factory bought one broke - eventually found a shop that still sells / installs new CD players.
Like the government - making things difficult for the average heavy metal American.

Same here, I listen in my truck. I do have Bluetooth device that plugs into it so I can listen to podcasts on my phone but mostly it's CDs. A 2000 Ford Ranger, at one time it had CD and cassette but that player died a long time ago. About 10 years ago I had a CD player installed.

Most of my CD listening is in the car too. As odd as it might sound, those 40 minutes to work in the AM and 40 minutes home in the evening, with the music crankin', are my favorite parts of the day.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Most of my CD listening is in the car too. As odd as it might sound, those 40 minutes to work in the AM and 40 minutes home in the evening, with the music crankin', are my favorite parts of the day.

Same for me. Barely any time left to listen to music at home.

I love the part of the eve when I head to my shelves to choose what music I will be spinning the next day!

I get an hour or so each night after the wife and daughter go to sleep. I sometimes fall asleep on the couch in the man cave with a record spinning or concert DVD playing. I have almost zero interest in regular television, movies, or sports the last few years. It's all about the music. As far as the listening in the car goes, I love my new car, but I don't love the lack of a CD player. Thank God for Ozzy's Boneyard!!! If I had to put up with regular classic rock radio I would be running people off the road!!

So, how does the CD make a comeback much like vinyl did? It was down for a couple of decades and is hot again; will the disc make a surge in popularity sometime in the 2030's? If you feel this way, why do you feel this way?

If horrible cassettes made somewhat of a return, why not CDs? My only suggestion would be to improve the space saving aspect and make them slightly smaller and thinner. The artwork would need to be modified, but they already did that for cassettes anyway.

The big question is, when is the 8 track tape going to make a comeback?

Troublezone wrote:

If horrible cassettes made somewhat of a return, why not CDs? My only suggestion would be to improve the space saving aspect and make them slightly smaller and thinner. The artwork would need to be modified, but they already did that for cassettes anyway.

That brings to mind some of the CD singles I have.

I was thinking of showing the benefit/ value to bring the consumer back. Offer one good version, not a deluxe with 3 useless bonus tracks for 4 bucks more. If you are gonna give a bonus , make it worthwhile. Also, cut out the f#%kin cheap a$$ digi packs! A nice jewel case with liner notes and artwork so it's an event like it was in the old days. The quality needs to come back. You can definitely feel the difference between a CD made in 1988 and one from 2008. The quality of the packaging, artwork, and the disc itself tells the tale of corporate avarice and disdain for the consumer.

Vinyl touts the "180 gram re master" on hype stickers all the time, so CD's should do something similar. Maybe find a way to make the SHM/ 24kt re masters more affordable for some of the faves of Metal? Also, re release some hard to find titles, so it rekindles interest and keep the price low. People aren't going to pay $16-18 for a disc in a shi$$y package when they are getting an LP for around $20-22 with full artwork and an audio/ visual experience.

Just a few ideas.

Was driving home from work after a very late day / night - with this CD playing.
This song really stood out for me at 1 am - on the quiet suburban streets.
But it is funny - car time = metal time

I just think better music, don't offer streaming, and more touring is the best way to make the compact disc come back.

the sentinel wrote:

Also, cut out the f#%kin cheap a$$ digi packs! A nice jewel case with liner notes and artwork so it's an event like it was in the old days.

I am so anti-digipak. When I do want to buy an album, I try and determine first if it's in a digipak, and if it is, is there a version in a jewel case too? Even if it means sacrificing some bonus tracks or a live disc or something, I'd get the jewel version.

There are times I decided to get the LP instead, if digi was the only CD option. Or I just decided that Spotify sufficed instead of a crappy digi.

007 wrote:

The big question is, when is the 8 track tape going to make a comeback?

Don't give 'em any ideas!

Fat Freddy wrote:

007 wrote:

The big question is, when is the 8 track tape going to make a comeback?

Don't give 'em any ideas!

The 8 track is why I don't think CDs will come back the same way.

8 track felt like a beta version of cassettes, and CDs were basically the beta version of a digital collection.

Or a stepping stone the path.

I’ve seen digipak - never knew what it meant.
I have stayed away from it.
And when it says CD- R what’s it mean ?
I don’t buy that either.

The weird thing about cassettes were that with vinyl and cd you could skip right to the track you wanted, however, with tapes you had to fast forward to it and even then you had to make sure you pressed stop just when the song started.