My Brother has been very happy with his strange way of using CDs. He buys a new CD then burns a copy. He has two of those old 100 CD or 500 CD players which he manually puts the name of the CD in with the CD player remote. He never handles the CD copy but they just play over and over again in the CD changer. He then puts the CDs on E-bay and sells the original. This works for him. I have never heard of him getting a skip or CD burn failure.He sees no difference to having a copy to having the original plus he has no CD boxs or racks of CDs. The system works for him in all my amazement!
I never download music! Having said that I do not have a CD player either. I do purchase CD's though and then transfer them to my hard drive.
For my format of listening (Itunes) I have yet to hear downloaded music sound better than burned CD's. Also considering the price nowadays is almost the same,download/CD I would much rather retain a hard copy along with liner notes and such. I my hard drive went up the swanny at least I have my CD collection to re rip it all!
Also reading the OP's first post I am old enough to remember the exact same question when CD came out.. Is vinyl dead!
For me, the great thing about folks downloading music is I now get to purchase second hand CD's for next to nothing!
The prices of CDs aren't bad at all, if you know how to buy them. Do what I do, buy them used. I get most of my CDs in "like new" condition for $0.50 - $4.00 on Amazon, plus shipping. Sometimes the case arrives cracked and you can tell it's the fault of USPS, but they get ripped to my computer anyway. I only save the CD for backup.
It should also be pointed out that buying used CDs is usually less expensive than legal downloads. I've been finding used CDs for $2-$5 each. Downloading has completely demolished the used CD market. Getting a full album is usually less than iTunes today.
I buy most of my CD's used too. Not sure how much better the SQ is but I get a whole album for about what it would cost to download a couple of songs. Plus you get the album art and liner notes. I've ripped quiite a few CD's from stuff I've checked out at my local library too. In the long run that may seem like a more convoluted or complicated way of downloading something but I like the concept of listening to an entire album, and again you get the whole experience of the album art and liner notes although you dont get to keep it.
I think part of the appeal of vinyl is the album art. Of course there other reasons people like vinyl but I'm gussing part of it is just holding the album in your hand and thoroughly examining the artwork. The first record I ever owned way back in the day was Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, a classic cover IMO. Lot's of folks talk about King Crimson around here and The Court of The Crimson King, another classic cover. Right now the screensaver on my computer is the cover from Dark Side of the Moon. I guess what I'm saying is music is not the only medium in an album.
CD's sort of took a little soul away from the presentation versus the way vinyl was packaged and digital downloads are sucking even more life out of the presentation IMO. Just the way it is I suppose but I dont have to like it.
CDs are still working for me. A well-recorded CD still has a fine sound - it's a different sound than vinyl, but don't believe the equipment sellers and audiophile magazines - you don't need high-rez or megabuck equipment to enjoy good music.
I buy CD´s, a lot. 320 kbps mp3 would be "enough" for me, but I have the money to buy my music, so I buy it. And I´m not paying if don´t get anything physical. I´ll admit that I´ve payed for couple of digital singles though, just because they weren´t released on a disc.
I think part of the appeal of vinyl is the album art. Of course there other reasons people like vinyl but I'm gussing part of it is just holding the album in your hand and thoroughly examining the artwork. The first record I ever owned way back in the day was Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, a classic cover IMO. Lot's of folks talk about King Crimson around here and The Court of The Crimson King, another classic cover. Right now the screensaver on my computer is the cover from Dark Side of the Moon. I guess what I'm saying is music is not the only medium in an album.
CD's sort of took a little soul away from the presentation versus the way vinyl was packaged and digital downloads are sucking even more life out of the presentation IMO. Just the way it is I suppose but I dont have to like it.
That's so true KneelJung, The Cd art work and printed Info to me is also part of the artist "Thoughts while recording the Music" As you say the Vinyl Lp's had a even more impressive "sight to behold", you got these great songs and the Artist/Musicians artwork that they thought help explain their album...... I've collected LP's over the past 40+ yrs but the one that BLEW ALL OF US AWAY, was the release of the Beatles "Sgt. Peppers" LP. That cover and music changed the way Lp's and Cd's would be recorded and display The Musicians Songs for ever more.. "Sgt. Peppers" was the 1st album to have the Lyrics printed on the back cover, (EVER)! Plus I remember all the pictures cut-outs etc.etc. that you got with that famous LP...Those were the days......Let alone how totally New "their"(the Beatles) presentation of their songs were recorded......and as you said, So many albums/Cd's after that one started to really explode onto the music scene and continues to this day....Keep on collecting!
most downloads these days are by torrents, and that they're becomingly increasingly common as a way to quickly and efficiently distribute digital stuff.
I buy CD's; but, my adult sons do not. It's not that they don't appreciate the sound, they do; but, with only a song or two on any particular CD of any interest to them, they don't see good value in buying more than what sounds good to them. That's why downloading appeals to them.
I don't think they're obsolete. Like books, there will always be some demand for a physical item to own or collect, at least for a certain subset of people. The purely digital will never fly for many decades, if ever. It's very possible things like CDs, DVDs, and books could become more of an niche interest than for the mass market. But there will always be demand in some quarters.
It's still early for Kindles. I can only imagine Kindles being collectible in the future. May there will be a limited edition version that actually looks and feels like paper.
I don't think they're obsolete. Like books, there will always be some demand for a physical item to own or collect, at least for a certain subset of people. The purely digital will never fly for many decades, if ever. It's very possible things like CDs, DVDs, and books could become more of an niche interest than for the mass market. But there will always be demand in some quarters.
You're off by at least 1 year for rock albums and 11 years for non rock. Ella Fitzgerald The Cole Porter Songbook came out in 56 and is credited as the first gatefold LP. There were gatefold 45s before that. Zappa's Freak Out came out as a gatefold in 66. I don't know if there was a rock album before that, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Edit: According to wikipedia, Dylan's Blond on Blond was the first and it came out 6 weeks before Freak Out. Don't know if it was a gatefold though.
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