“Keep raising the prices! If less people are buying CDs, gouge the wallets of those who still are. ”

Well thats just stupid.. because that will cause more people to download rather than pay.. Thats why so many people download these days.. not only music, but movies and programs.

Because we are already being charged an arm and a leg for it.

Im sure you would find if prices of cd’s were actually lowered.. sale increases would rise. Yes they would be sold for cheaper.. but I’m sure record companys would make even more money because more people would purchase them.

I’m a musician and I’ve spent a lot of time and effort working on my album in my spare time, researching, learning, just the whole thing has been an experience from start to finish. I’d be gutted if I went to all that effort to go through the stages, reach the end and present the music in a certain way and then find out someone thought so little of my work that they could just pinch one or two tracks off for their ipod without a thought for the rest.
The money isn’t the issue for me. This is a big chunk of my life we’re talking about, a snap shot of where I was and what I wanted to do at a major point in my life.
From my perspective, I really want people to have a respect for everything that goes into the album, more then just the money aspect.
Although there are artists out there who have abused that and haven’t put as much into their work.
They’re letting down the team really.

Who cares about CDs? They’re played out (no pun intended). Fuck ‘em.

I saw today where an indie label, Superfrothco, now only releases their stuff on USB Flash Drives. That’s probably the last possible step towards no format at all - just downloading out of the air. It’s here.

Media will just be something for us folks at home to stick stuff on to get it from A to B: CDs, discs, diskettes, Mini-discs, USB Drives, Zip drives, hard drives, cassettes, 8-tracks… it’s ALL just temporary meaningless crap. The music itself has finally transcended the package it came in.

The Doors are no longer pressing copies of their 6 original studio albums on CD. Management says that the people who want to own a physical copy of it probably already do and the new generation will simply buy it on I-Tunes. Once I heard and confirmed this I knew that the end was on its way. Technology; a shortcut to thinking.

“Hey, yeah, or we could stop looking at music (and other art) as a commodity to be bought and sold, since it isn’t.

Wow, freedom. Imagine that.”

Yeah…. SCREW the artist, they don’t need to make any money from their art. They can survive on the street like a popper or go work in a factory. And then they can stop creating art because they don’t have time or money to do so.

Beethoven and Bach worked for free did they? Music always has been and always will be a commodity just like all art.

Just wanted to say that as an already starving artist, thanks for taking MORE money out of my pocket. Oh that and UP YOURS!

Have a good one…..

“Hey, yeah, or we could stop looking at music (and other art) as a commodity to be bought and sold, since it isn’t.

Wow, freedom. Imagine that.”

Yeah…. SCREW the artist, they don’t need to make any money from their art. They can survive on the street like a popper or go work in a factory. And then they can stop creating art because they don’t have time or money to do so.

Beethoven and Bach worked for free did they? Music always has been and always will be a commodity just like all art.

Just wanted to say that as an already starving artist, thanks for taking MORE money out of my pocket. Oh that and UP YOURS!

Have a good one…..

Hey, yeah, or we could stop looking at music (and other art) as a commodity to be bought and sold, since it isn’t.

Wow, freedom. Imagine that.

I have been buying 8 tracks,cassettes, albums, then Cd’s for what like 40+years. I agree with alot of people. I remember when Cd’s first came out they were cheaper to make than cassettes and albums,but did the Greedy Music execs give us a price break no they charged us more for the CD. Which is a shame cause I like the physical item to hold. the cd in my hands with the artwork,booklets, etc.So the Music industry has nobody to blame but themselves.No they have to charge us 18,19, 20 dollars for a Cd.The old saying what goes around comes around!

Does no one hear how crappy and flat MP3s really sound? They’re barely a step up from the cassette tape. I love my MP3 player for convenience and when I’m working out, it’s not bad, but for serious listening and even in the car, I listen to the CD.

there’s another solution: let’s all assemble and boycott itunes until they go out of business. include extra songs like rare and unreleased ones on a cd that you can’t buy from itunes. come up with creative cover art that’s so good you’d be a fool to buy digital music over jewel cases. you can’t digitize cover art and jewel cases! and what if your ipod blows up or erases your songs? who the hell wants to re-buy all those songs again? that ought to convince people to stay with the cd. sure, they can get scratched, but that’s why “rippin” was invented. inspire people to not use itunes or limewire, but to go to sam goody or fye or (if they still exist…damn you itunes!) the awesome tower records!

o.k heres what i do: i literally steal the cd(s) i want. its’ not hard, just be sure to remove the nasty door dingers from inside the disc package. theyre called ‘chiclits’. once removed, you won’t have a potentially bad scene when you go to leave. i have over 400 hundred cds in my personal collection, 95 percent of which i stole. i recently stole nin’ latest. awesome cd! do i feel ‘bad’ about this? lol, uh, nope. stealing from billionaires doesnt seem to bother me

We get left behind? Hardly. That’s the whole myth of technology hype. “JOIN US OR ELSE”. It’s nearly totalitarian, really. YOU DON’T “NEED” TO BUY INTO IT. You have the power to make your own decisions with Corporate America mandating them.

Isn’t it interesting that even though a digital download has absolutely no manufacturing, shipping, or ‘broken goods’ related costs attached, artist are charged by the labels at the same rate as physical CD’s? In my opinion it’s outright stealing, but it happens every single day. No matter what your argument is, things are changing, and if we don’t adapt we get left behind, PERIOD!

Just in case people didn’t realize, this RS blog entry is pure sarcasm. All they are doing is further harming the CD cause.
I’d like to see RS have the plums to defend an unconventional perspective - don’t assume the prevailing trend is the healthiest one. Go on, offend your readers & their materialism.

DC, your comments are ridiculous. Plenty of people who listen to innovative, nonmainstream music prefer a physical format, the same way true photographers prefer developing their own tangible prints than having some corporation crap them out for them or seeing them on display on a fluorescent monitor. People like to own things for themselves, so they feel a sense of pride & personal investment in the thing in front of them. The same way people collect books & art because they find inspiration & identity in the content, true audiophiles do the same for music. Converting your entire life to digital isn’t advisable. iPods, like all technoutopian status markers, are for the most peripheral and vapid consumer. The people who don’t care about art and obsess over the means (the iPod itself) are the same people who don’t read, watch intelligent film, or understand the philosophical implications of all they are participating in. The same people also are probably married to their Blackberry and are incapable of producing a unique thought without the aid of some gadget. It’s just all really sad. There are consequences which we have yet to really consider. One day soon, it seems humans will only be born with fingers in order to push buttons. Scary, isn’t it?

I love my glossy CDs too, but raise the price of a CD? WTF?!

Down with I-Tunes!

I’d add something to the conversation, but I’m a little late getting here, and besides:

1. Overpriced CD’s
2. Disposable Artists
3. Singles mentality

I couldn’t really add anything else I guess.

And, like most everyone else I still like CD’s. Do not rob us of the simple pleasure of seeing row after row of albums and being unable to figure out what to spend your loot on.

DC, I somewhat agree with you, but, now corporate rock fans (ie fans of Nickelback) are somehow finally learning to use computers, so now, if you look at the Billboard charts most of it is indie (whose fans like actually having a physical product with linear notes and a cover… or I do at least…) and hip-hop (which I cannot explain)

im gonna have to agree with most of you. i have friends who have downloaded over 10,000 songs off limewire of bit torrent, or something similar. i RARELY even download things off itunes, i always go to the cd store (independant is best) and i really enjoy having an actual cd, something physical. i have a huge collection, and i really enjoy looking through all the great cd’s that im proud of purchasing. this is too bad, because the art of cover art is gone, and more importantly, people dont even care if they have the actual music, like a cd, as long as its free.

i thought itunes was getting rid of DRM?

1) get limewire shut down (i’m not even sure if most of its users realise that they’re downloading songs illegally)
2) stop licensing songs to online retailers like iTunes (though I very frequently purchase from it, I wouldn’t miss it since most of the songs I buy are exclusives or rarities that would be more widely available (on CD) if iTunes wasn’t around…

Look, the difference between changing mediums in the past and now is that no matter what the new thing was it was still vogue to own an album, but now that all your friends can have the same cd you have on their ipod for free devalues almost entirely the need to actually purchace the albums. if all of your friends stole the diamonds in thier wives rings would the value of any diamond you purchased really be worth it? you could spend all that money knowing you couldve attained it free?

Lumpy’s girlfriends must be blowup dolls for touching his girlfriend to be as much an expierience as holding a cd. wierdo.

the only time I want to read up on avril is if she did an ass to ass scene ala requim for a dream with kelly osbourne…other than that I could care less about her

Apparently, the people who still buy physical CDs and listen to Corporate Rock are pretty much the same people that still think RollingStone is cutting edge. Hmmmm…..

I know this is besides the point, but if Avril comes out on top, beating NIN, then that really says something about America.

Yikes!

As for the changes in mediums, what it really comes down to is the people. Just like people don’t miss vinyl anymore, people won’t miss CDs anymore either. I personally think that part of the whole experience of attaining a new album from a band you really like is going to the freakin’ record store, and while your driving/walking there concentrating on nothing but the new album, then getting there, going inside and spotting the long awaited album and then further enjoying the experience ( yes, this is an experience ) of phyiscally holding and TOUCHING IT (like you touch your girlfriend), purchasing it, opening it and getting all excited and tingly inside about the artwork, and about how you now actually have and own a (material) copy of that band’s album.

But this whole sort of “emotional response” to the release of a new album — the importnace of and need for tangibility, etcetcetc — died out a long time ago….. people just don’t care for this experience anymore, just like they don’t care about real art anymore.

Sadly said.

you bought your couch at wal-mart? my wal store doesn’t even have couches.

One of the other problems with downloading music from iTunes is DRM. Please realize that when you “buy” a song from iTunes, you are “purchasing” the right to play it on just five machines. If you try and play your “purchase” on another computer, or God forbid, use another media playing software, iTunes will take your “purchase” away.
It’s like if I bought a couch from Wal-Mart, but I only have the right to have five different people sit on this couch. Each time another friend comes over, I have to authorize them to sit on my couch.
Then after that…
Wal-Mart comes and takes my couch away.

hey, all of these steps wouldn’t help the record industry at all.

oh, wait…

i say insteed of making new musical machines..let go back into time. we shoudl start making records and buying record players…there cool and vintage…and plus if you wanna listen to music in the car just turn on the radio…or buy a XM….but i think replaceing record with CD’s would the the coolest thing EVER!!!!

I think the most disturbing thing about this article is that people are buying Avril Lavigne’s album.

This is sad. Peaople need respect for musicians and the record companys. Go out and spend 15 bucks on an album. Alot better quality of sound and it’s always nice to have a case and a booklet to look at while listening to your tunes. Like the new Nine Inch Nails. I love the whole cd thing where it changes from black to white by changing temperature. Nothing good comes from downloading an mp3

I like having the “real” CD as well. For back-up, but also for the sound quality. To me it’s a no-brainer. Plus, most new CDs run for anywhere from $9.99 - $12.99.. Not too far off from what Apple charges for a downgraded downloaded album.

Let me preface by stating that I work in Information Technology and definitely see value in dowloading music. However, I love music and downloading cannot replace the following (at least not yet): Sound Quality (especially with some of the 5.1 DVD mixes be released recently and something tangble to look at while listening to the disc you just picked up.

This goes without mentioning the need to keep up an archive of your downloaded music “just in case.” What a pain. With the original disc, you can rip it as many times as you like. With the original disc, you get a built-in archive with better sound quality and the cool packaging as well. CD or DVD wins over downloading for versatility, quality and overall experience.

I love the DVD-Audio releases…I don’t understand why all artists don’t release 5.1 versions of the album. Everybody has DVD players and surround sound, and they’re not easily piratable.

Oh, and vinyl. Which kicks ass in so many ways. I don’t buy CDs because why would you?

But vinyl and DVDs of new releases I’d buy every time.

until these “artists” make a artistic album, I will not buy one. Too much money wasted for an album filled with radio and mtv friendly singles. Music has changed..for the worse. Besides, if it wasn’t for the internet and file-sharing outlets I would never, ever experienced music that has never been released on cd, only hard to find vinyl. Therefore, you can keep your liner notes and production credits. Have fun!

It made mevery happy to read some of the stuff i have read here today.

Dear Dudes and Dudettes-

I completely agree with Colleen she has hit the nail right on the head!!! Thank you Colleen for believing in the value of owning something truely love.

To add to what Colleen has already put so eloquintly. I think a further prblm with people not buying CD’s is that the music labels constantly put their money behind the wrong artists. Please stop pushing a pop culture to albums that arent worth buying in the first place. The problem no one buys albums is because most artist now a days only put out two maybe three good songs. Then the rest is just fill in between stuff. Go find the next band that can put out an album without having to release singles or promote it even as their own (Zeppelin) and can still sell millions because the album as a whole is amazing from begining to end. Stop pushing artist to come out with one smash song and sell it on itunes for 1 dollar… Not really gonna make a lot of money that way. Plus who is going to want to play music that is only going for 1 dollar on some digital forum. Oh yea and stop signing sh!ty bands and artist. Evolution is based on progression and not regression therefore bands should be getting better not worse. But only if you help them to do so.

Thanks for listening.

I completely agree with Colleen. I almost always buy CDs over digital tunes[every once n a while I buy things off iTunes] but I mainly enjoy owning the physical form of the albums that I really appreciate. I hate where things are going, and I wish it would realize how easy it is to delete those little files from your computer. [Even accidentally, like I did once….ugh..]

I just wanted to also point out that for all the internet buzz surrounding indie bands, you might expect piracy to be highest in this musical niche. It isn’t - indie CD sales are one of the few areas that remain upwardly mobile. I wonder why that could be?

Think about it.

I have just recently moved to what I like to call the hills! I came from Dearborn Michigan which is next door to Detroit and one of my favorite music stores was their (Dearborn Music). I would always go there, and pick up a new Album (I left school during lunch once to pick up “The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldier”) And it was great fun talking about our favorite music together! Now there is nowhere to pick up my music except WalMart (wow fun, they like to chat about music with me, and they never have anyting I want). So now I buy off iTunes a lot, but who am I supposed to chat with? And I think this social problem can solve the problem that is being talked about in this article… We need a place to chat, and get excited! There is a huge decline in music stores, and I miss talking about “The White Stripes” or “The Strokes”. If anyone can solve this it will probably be Apple (they are very forward thinking, so please help)!!! I am moving back soon, it sucks here!

I wish the industry would realize, though, that some of us STILL would never put all our eggs into one intangible, deletable basket. Sure, I download stuff, but only to listen to on my computer. I ALWAYS buy the physical product - nothing compares. I guess the lure of intricate packaging, lyrics & liner notes, and an aesthetic context mean nothing to the average iTunes consumer of today, who only want to “dial up” (as Patti Smith says) the latest Fergie or Mims tune. I’d rather have people pay for music digitally than steal it, but I still hold the CD purchase to be the most preferrable choice, ultimately.
And those of us who still need the platform should NOT be forced to “upgrade”. This isn’t merely a VHS to DVD conversion period. This is something completely new & separate: it asks you to convert your precious library into data bits and nothing more. If your music library isn’t so precious, this might seem a viable option; or, if you merely listen to your iPod while you commute or whatever (as a portable, temporary listening platform), it might be acceptable. For people like Rob Fleming of High Fidelity, however, such a concept is sacrilegious. For some of us, those CDs and vinyls are like children, and we are proud to have them on display and enjoy having to care for them. How will you show your children your prized music collection? What’s carries more charisma, a crate or trunk full of old vinyls (or CDs), or a flat-screen monitor Steve Jobs rendered-listing of your
surviving mp3s? Even those one-hit wonders look a lot more appealing in physical form. Have people not even considered the long-term implications of converting their entire lives into digital bits? Computers are supposed to aid human activity, not usurp it.
Not everything has to be about convenience. After awhile, it takes the joy and personal satisfaction out of everyday life, while ironically complicating simple tasks as it does so. (All that conversion surely isn’t even worth the hassle [convenience is a double-edged sword, eh?]; keep in mind most people end up deleting their entire catalogue with a few erroneous button pushes).

I wish this article were a little more sincere. For me, it is as simple as this: To make people buy CDs again, make them believe they are worth purchasing.

i remember that i paid $40 for a copy of the wall. its a double album. its the wall so i paid it.

If the majority of new cd releases are $9.99-11.99 the week of release, why not just keep them that cheap? Keeping the price high isn’t going to raise sales; we’ll just buy them used off of Amazon.

People don’t want to buy CDs anymore because the media companies are shoving too much down our throats. People are spending so much on cell phones, iPods, Plasma and HD-TVs, ringtones, video games, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and all the other crap that marketing dollars go towards, that inevitably there are going to be cuts somewhere else. The RIAA is just greedy and has this obnoxious sense of entitlement to our money. The media companies can’t encourage people to buy one thing and get upset that they’re not spending on other shit anymore. Some of us have to pay rent you know!

limewire is the greatest thing ever!! free. the last album i bought was god shuffled his feet by the crash test dummies. and i got that used. music sucks ass now. everyone thinks rap is great. hanson > 50 cent.

Kudos to Trent for making some art and putting some thought behind it.

Speaking of…shouldn’t he get a cover story out of YZ? The Girls From Grindhouse? Pathetic.

Spin magazine said it well: There’s no reason in the world that cd’s should be more expensive now than they were 10 years ago. What, in 20 years of cd manufacture, they still can’t be made cheaply? We can’t expect the kids nowadays to drop $18.99 on “Sticky Fingers” because they’re curious about these old Stones farts they keep hearing about. If you still enjoy having a physical cd in your hands, why not make it affordable enough for more people to enjoy the same?

How about making a good album…if people actually made good albums, and I mean full good albums, than people would buy them.

But they keep throwing this crap in our faces, no wonder we don’t buy anything lately.

Listen my friends, every medium has had its rise and fall. LP, 8-track, cassette, and now CD. It’s evolution. Really though, the record business has had it coming. For years they told everyone that CD’s were the way to go when really CD’s can get ruined and scratched so that you have to buy all your albums over agains so that they make more money. The cost of a CD is overpriced to begin with, so I don’t feel bad that they’re losing out. Boohoo to the execs who now wont be able to afford to keep their gold plated private jets. Digital music goes right on to your hard drive and then onto your MP3 player, no skipping or scratches. It also has allowed for Indie artists who nobody would have known about make themselves heard.

The truth of the matter is that they can try all they want to get people into the store with gimmicks and all that, but it comes down to paying or having it for free or at a discount. I guess they will just have to come up with something truly sensational to get people back on their side. With all of that money, you’d think they would be able to think of something. I will agree though that I enjoy having LP’s and CD’s. There’s something really special about putting on my vinyl or my cd’s. It’s a real treat when you can find albums on vinyl that they just don’t make for CD. But there’s nothing we can do now, it’s the digital era, and it’s been a long time coming. It’s a use-once-and-throw-away society we’re living in, and our music is just another reflection of it.

No CD should cost more than $9.99

It’s just a part of the further evolutio of popular music. We are going back to a more single oriented market like in the 50’s and 60’s where the whole album gets bypassed for breakout hit songs. Also I think it is also a rebellion of the middle classes against what they see in the music industry. Why not download for free when the artist you are downloading i.e. Justin Timberlake lives a multimillion dollar home and is worth like 30 million in himself. We can say to them well since your rich anyway why do you need my $20 for an album. I think a fan will now buy those that they are passionate about and download the passing fads of popular music.

One simple way to save the big record companies is through downsizing the amount of talent they sign. With the presence of Myspace, I-tunes, and countless other platforms for introducing new music, big companies are simply hurting themselves by investing in bands that are unproven in retail. The truth of the matter is that record companies see a return on only ten percent of their initial investment, and with shrinking album sales the profits are drying up as well. They should research Limewire, Soulseek, bit-torrents, Myspace, independent label sales, etc. to correlate their signings to the public demand. At the same time it is necessary to couple this with a price reduction, and additional perks, ie. bonus dvds and such. The record companies are selling what is quickly becoming an extravagance, they simply have to convince us that it’s better than what we can get on our own, like movie theater popcorn.

Just another form of the evolution of music mediums.
I beleive the CD or some form of it will always be around. It will just find its rightfull place in the scheme of things.
True, what others have written about audio quality..DL’s still can’t beat the cd. Hopefully a higher fidelity form like the DVD will replace the CD.

I agree with the guy “James” one post under me. It isn’t about the art or heart and soul poured into it, its just consumption. The next thing. I used to use Napster (original) and it was just too much, i couldnt appreciate anything. I stopped all illegal downloading and am proud to pay for all my music. Having spent my hard earned cash, i look a lot deeper at the music. Granted, i use Rhapsody to evaluate purchases, but hell I’m still paying with that. I whind up appreciating the music and artist a lot more, and that makes it all the more worth spending the cash.

In response to the guy above him and just under me, I buy about 1-3 cds a week.

It’s incomprehensible to me why people don’t buy CDs as much as they used to. Sure there’s downloading and free stuff, but if you love the artist that much then i feel like you should support them. they barely make enough from album sales because the label gets most of it. Plus the indie bands who still play small shows need all the cash they can get. Every CD counts for them.

I miss seeing spectacular, wonderfully written and produced albums go gold and platinum. I remember when albums went platinum in days, not months. Buy CDs please!

James - you are right on the money about downloading being like eating food. I used to be a heavy downloader with leaks and stuff, and there was so much I never listened to, and I never gave albums really focused listens. Leaks ruined the feeling of me running into the record store and picking up the album I have been anticipating and ripping off the plastic. I promised to myself I wouldn’t download Icky Thump when it leaks. I also said that about Neon Bible, but that idea didn’t last long.

I’m curious: how often do you guys buy music? I usually buy an album or two a week.

For me, mp3 et al just don’t cut for my ears. Even if we eventually get ‘CD quality’ from a digital download, it’s only as good as your sound-card anyways. For most who download, it’s a form of consumption; like eating food. For these people it’s not about the art of music, it’s about the next thing. They won’t ever spend money on an actual CD. How do you stop this and get them to pay? Mohammad only knows.

Cd’s are a thing of the past. If you really want to support a band ….go see them live. Start with the Kings of Leon!

And…when their PC’s CRASH(!) - it’s also inevitable(!) - they’ll LOSE all the music files they PAID FOR forever. WHY pay for them twice, three times, etc…BUY THE CD!!!

Jack up the prices? Another advantage to digital music is it’s cheaper when you buy it. iTunes = 9.99, Best Buy 9.99-14.99. I don’t understand your theory Rolling Stone.

I just buy physical albums when it’s a band that I really love. For example, a System Of A Down albums can be downloaded via BitTorrent, but MCR’s The Black Parade, I bought the first day it cme out.

Trent et al have a good idea turning the cd into a collectors item of sorts. Making it more than just a medium to transfer the sound to a device able to play it. Interesting packaging art(10000 Days anyone?) and interesting little tricks(binary message on year zero) will always interest more serious fans. CDs wont die, but like other mediums, they will slowly fade away. They’ll be around for a good while longer, particularly in certain genres which piracy rates are low.

Year Zero is the first album I wanted to buy that I had to download (napster). I had to download it because I couldn’t afford the real copy. I will definitely go to the store and buy it eventually, because I want a real copy, but for now, it will have to wait.

This story reveals a problem people aren’t talking about, the economy. Minimum wage is way too low, and people aren’t buying as much of anything because they can’t afford it. The jobs can’t shell out more cash because the people aren’t buying. The hired hours than decrease due to a decreased demand. It’s awful.

I need to pay for the necessities, and if I can barely do that, how am I supposed to go out and buy a cd?

This article is funny but I think some folks missed the sarcasm. Also, what we should really be concerned about are the 200,000 tone deaf idiots that bought Avril’s album.

By the way, if you are worried about losing your music if your computer crashes, simply back your CD collection up (via DVD or external hard drive or via personal back up/storage sites). Storage is cheap in any case and backing up is painless and easy. I have my whole CD collection on two hard drives; one I store with my computer, the other in a fireproof safe. I have not bought a CD in years and never will again. Digital is the way to go. Sound quality is irrelevant to me as MP3’s sound just fine as far as my ears are concerned.

I like owning the actual cd as oppose to just having it stored on a computer. I still by about 2 cd’s per pay period…even if its used cd’s but I still even download myself. If I really like it, then if I come across it at a store, Ill purchase the “actual” cd. If not, once im down burning an album off torrentspy or whatever, Ill put it on my ipod and Ill even burn a copy myself so I can have the cd now. Easy ways around it.

The whole point is, man, that you no longer have to pay for music. Search it out on blogs, find unsecured MP3s. I’ll never understand it, but apparently all my friends just have their ways of procuring music. It’s sad that cover art, liner notes, and tangible MUSIC is becoming a thing of the past, whether aficionados still want it or not.

well, I did Backups of all my CDs and burn them on DVDs

DVDs are pretty tangible to me.

and I prefer my iPod better Than my old diskman or Walkman…
(I can plugg it on my Hi fi and my car)

This is bullcrap. There is no way that mp3’s could ever fully replace a hard copy CD. I mean, think about it, there was once a time when sound afficiandos said that CDs were a trend and would never replace records. Yeah ok, I guess it happened. But the fact is… I don’t want my music being stored just on some hard drive that could magicaly crash one day. I want a tangible piece of SOMETHING in my hands for the money I spend on this music, dammit!

the cd is dying, yes, but theres still a bigger problem record labels are not facing yet: MUSIC SUCKS TODAY!

the biggest consumer of music these days are not teenagers — it’s the baby boomers. and i dont think they care about whats being played on mtv today.

we have to get back to the days when we had talented artists making the air and tv waves, not people who can hire the matrix to write songs for them because their daddy has a fat wallet.

the record industry should focus on box sets and artists who are great but still not digital like led zeppelin and the beatles.

word

I vote for #6! Seriously. I’d much rather the world go back to CDs or LPs.

Was the death of the CD something that actually needed to be conceptualized? It’s like, DUH! Personally I think it sucks, as MP3’s just don’t sound as good and I take the packaging as part of the project. However, rollingstone might be on to something with that concert ticket bit they mentioned… One of the most annoying things about concerts nowadays is the cost of the ticket (we need not mention the bizarre weeknight night shows). However this outrage is only exacerbated by scalping assholes who then hike the price another $50 to $1000. If there were some way to curb all that inconvenience with a CD purchase I would almost guarantee the devoted fan would shell out for the disc. However, if these record companies start shitting all over that with ridiculously high prices that would just be an extra nail in their all ready unremarkable and self earned coffin.

On #3, don’t you think Rolling Stone does the same thing? Putting the same top-40 and classic rock artists on the cover every week (Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Pink Floyd)…there’s no major media push for the artists that ARE selling. The Shins, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, and Bright Eyes have all had top-4 releases this year, and none of them have made your cover. For shame. You’re no better than FM Radio, Rolling Stone.

You know what the problem is?? It’s not that digital media is better than the CD, but it’s that music today is so formulaic. No one really cares enough about the music to want to buy it. Really, the only people I see buying CDs are metal fans (Trivium, DragonForce, etc.) and Classic Rock fans (Led Zep, Def Lep, the Beatles, etc.) Music today is focused around THE SINGLE and selling it and giving it enough airplay. By doing that, it doesn’t make people care about the rest of the album, and people don’t want to spend $15.00+ for one song they like. So they go to limewire and get their fix. It’s depressing.

Well I still buy CD’s at a good price at Target and Best Buy so I don’t know what the big deal with the pricing is. But I also think that having a physical CD is much better then MP3. The reason is that if your computer crashs youd loose all the music you downloaded unless you buy blank cds to burn them all, which inevitably costs more in the long run (plus blank CD’s dont have artwork and look bad)

The more the record industry dies and the more bands use the DIY outlook, like The Arctic Monkeys, the better music will be. Because then scum-sucking twats in suits won’t be dictating music so much and the bands themselves will. The decline of the CD and large record company should be welcomed by everyone.

Steel Dragon is right. the cover art is dying. but if you think about it, the cover art was an anacronism from the vinyl era. CD are too small for it. rollingstone did an article some time ago about why classic covers were better than the covers of the last 15 years. the size of CD has something to do with that.

But the relevant thing here is not the death of CDs, but the death of the music industry as we know it.
The next medium is digital music, and digital music is impossible to control.
sure, you there are legal downloads, but… how many people use them?
How many people around the world want to pay for something they can get for free?

We are about to witness the biggest change in this industry since it´s creation.

How about be able to download the album easily from the internet after buying the CD. I’d love to have the “hard copy” and still from the ease of downloading from something like iTunes instead of ripping the cd.

Kill the internet. For real. I’m saying this as a 17 year old: The internet blows. My friends download hundred upon hundreds of songs from limewire, and I think I’m the only one to have bought a CD in the last few years (I proudly own over 200) This internet is crap anyways.

The last “new” CD I bought was Wolfmother’s debut. At 10 bucks. Retail. That’s what record companies should do. Lower the prices. That’s always been a problem, and what better time to drop prices than now? Yea, I’ve got nothing new to add, but the last time I seriously considerd buying a CD was Pink Floyd’s greatest hits, only to find out it costs more than 30 bucks. Guess who kept his money?

raising prices is not an answer, its part of the problem. not only do people want digital, but its always less on Itunes than it is to buy the cd. most say why spend 18 bucks when I can spend 9.99? lowering the price of CD’s to match would be better. the price of CD’s has been an issue even before the digital world began taking over and look what happened. Digital tracks also have worse sound quality, something that is not discussed often enough and maybe should more often. Bands also make less on Itunes (costs less and record companies take same percentage as cd plus apple’s percentage)…theres many more issues other than these above that people could be talking about to save the CD…

The world is heading back to the single song sales of the pre-Beatles era. I can’t wait for the first payola scandal to break! Then again, the way radio plays the ever loving shit out of so called hits these days, you know somebody paid somebody a bundle.

I hate to say it, but I agree with this article. The cd is dying. Very sad, but technology continues to progress. I have about 12,000 cd’s, and I am just starting to convert everything to digital (long process).

Also gone is the art of cover art. No one is really getting that creative anymore. It’s a shame, with the decline of the cd will also come the decline of great art.