[scompton]

I do remember when LPs stopped being sold and it happened all of a sudden.  I went on a 3 month trip and before the trip, about half of all record stores inventory was LPs.  When I came back from the trip, I couldn't find a store that carried LPs any more.  I could see the same thing happen with CDs. 
 
I can't find anything on current market share, but what I can find says that 1.17 billion tracks were downloaded in 2010 (only a 1% increase) and 326.2 million CDs were sold (12.8% decrease).  That looks like 25% market share for digital downloads.  I'm guessing that the vast majority of the digital downloads are also pop.  I could see pop CDs going away soon.  It'll be like the late 50s and 60s when 45 singles were big sellers.  
 
I doubt, and hope, the market share is big enough to kill CDs for other genres yet.  I'd love to see number by genre.  I imagine classical digital downloads have a pretty small market share.

 

[mibutenma]

Absurd 2012? Really?
 
Most downloading is of songs. Songs not albums.
 
If your serious about music and want the music you buy the album then you always own the rights to it.
And you can rip it any size and format you want.
Streaming will never be a viable option due to licensing and all those strings.
Streaming oh well it was available but sorry it's not longer available now you can never hear it again.
Downloads probably also have some sort of licensing as well.
I really don't understand this whole downloading thing it was a song or two I see that but as albums. No I don't.
 
And there are still tons of people out there who don't have computers and don't have internet.
 

 

[Rossinator]

Quote:

And there are still tons of people out there who don't have computers and don't have internet.
 

 
And then there are people like me who have satellite internet. Or worse, dial-up (if they can't afford satellite internet).
 

 

[zotjen]

I doubt we'll see the demise of CDs anytime soon. For starters, the publisher of this article isn't exactly well know and all of their sources are unsubstantiated. It's also assuming too much - specifically that everyone has a PC, tablet, etc, along with a high speed internet connection to download music. Another thing - if and when CDs are gone, I bet that we are going to see an increase in the cost of digital downloads, similar or equal to current CD prices.

 
Quote:

I've been expectimg this. I think Big Music would like to go to subscription services.
 

As much as I like subscription services (I'm a Spotify subscriber) there are going to be issues with it when big name acts such as Coldplay refuse to allow their songs to be made available to subscription services.
 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20127921-261/coldplay-snub-sounds-alarm-for-streaming-music/?tag=mncol;2n

 
 

 

[ardgedee]

This reminds me of the format fragmentation going on in the 80s, when on the same day you could find certain country music acts only on cassette, vinyl, or 8-track, and alternative rock acts only on cassette, CD or DAT (remember Rykodisc? Its claim to fame was to be the first label to eschew vinyl).
 
I can imagine the major labels cutting off certain physical media for certain artists when it's established that there are effectively no sales going on there, since manufacturing and warehousing disks costs money. If an artist's online sales are some large multiple of her CD sales, then CDs are effectively continuing to be manufactured more for the promotional reason of having things in record shops to stay in her fans' eyes, because CD sales' contribution to the bottom line isn't going to be meaningful.
 
The major labels have done a lot of stupid, antagonistic and dunderheaded things with regards to digital media and fan behavior, but underneath all that there's still some pragmatism to be found.
 
Trent Reznor observed a few years ago that CDs are effectively a pointless medium for music sales since you can get the same music faster, better and cheaper online, but that treating the CD or vinyl LP as more than just a vessel for sound files can continue to justify its existence. So Nine Inch Nails' recent albums have all been visual and tactile experiences as well as music media. I'm not a NiN fan, but Reznor is a canny businessman and has a good sensibility of what he needs to do to keep his fans happy and allow him to continue being a productive artist, and I respect that. Other musicians and labels have been paying attention, and even Capitol Records has issued The Smile Sessions in a couple different editions, ranging from a $30 2-CD box with booklet, poster, and pin to a $6,000 5-CD, 2-LP, 2-single package with hardbound book, lightbox sculpture and full-size surfboard.
 
You'll be seeing more things like this in the coming years. I don't think the CD is going to go away, but I suspect its status as the primary distribution medium for A-list and B-list major artists is going to change.

 

[CatboyMac]

Quote:

SD cards instead of blu-ray? Why not!... as long as it comes with nice packaging and a booklet.

Because flash media is still absurdly expensive.
 

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

(I'm a Spotify subscriber)
 

What's all this hype about spotify? I went to the site today, it says "not available in your country".
 
How is it better than last.fm etc.?
 
 

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

treating the CD or vinyl LP as more than just a vessel for sound files can continue to justify its existence. So Nine Inch Nails' recent albums have all been visual and tactile experiences as well as music media.
 

 
x2
 
This is the exact reason why teenagers - today!, are buying vinyl more than ever.
 
 
Not to mention, hard-drives crash, a lot!! - not everyone is geeky enough to do x4 SATA mirror raids CRC checked at 5 A.M., no one in their right mind will spen $5000 on a music collection on their hard-drive, or an e-book collection for that matter.
 
NOT GONNA HAPPENIN'
 

 

[Magedark]

Spotify allows you to search the database by albums or artists and listen to them. Think access to all songs you want to listen to, not what's recommended to you.

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

Spotify allows you to search the database by albums or artists and listen to them. Think access to all songs you want to listen to, not what's recommended to you.

Why can I not has?
 

 

[Magedark]

Licensing issues probably.

 

[tjohnusa]

Quote:

I would never buy digital music especially when there are music sources such as youtube and others. CDs would be the only thing I would pay for my music. Are music CDs becoming extinct? This is a joke. A bad one.
 
 

Really...youtube...apperently you are missing the whole "quality of sound" this site is tying to premote. I do see this as an oppritunity for some folks to get into buisiness.....this will be the new frontier of music premotion. Just think....the acient companies will have to adjust quickly and we all know they can't do that well. They have been dictating what is new and popular for way too long so I think the death of CDs is a good thing.....only time will tell. 
 

 

[scompton]

Quote:

 

Why can I not has?
 

Try MOG.  It's similar in that you can search for a particular album and stream it or download it.  I think you have to pay a monthly fee to download.   I saw no real reason to switch from MOG to Spotify for what I use it for, which is checking out albums I'm thinking of buying.  It's saved me from buying albums that I didn't like, and made an album jump to the top of my to buy list.

 

[nikp]

Quote:

Really...youtube...apperently you are missing the whole "quality of sound" this site is tying to premote. I do see this as an oppritunity for some folks to get into buisiness.....this will be the new frontier of music premotion. Just think....the acient companies will have to adjust quickly and we all know they can't do that well. They have been dictating what is new and popular for way too long so I think the death of CDs is a good thing.....only time will tell. 
 

You're missing out on the "others" part. People in the internet share their music freely. File format is usually in FLAC / 320kbps mp3.
 

 

[deadlylover]

Quote:

Try MOG.  It's similar in that you can search for a particular album and stream it or download it.  I think you have to pay a monthly fee to download.   I saw no real reason to switch from MOG to Spotify for what I use it for, which is checking out albums I'm thinking of buying.  It's saved me from buying albums that I didn't like, and made an album jump to the top of my to buy list.

 
We get shafted here in Australia, as pretty much all the popular music streaming sites don't really work for us due to licensing or some such nonsense.

 
I hope CD's die, so I won't have to pay insane amounts on shipping costs just to buy them. I might have the highest ratio of cost-to-CD's here on this forum, ~$1400 to 30-odd CD's.