Is the CD Becoming Obsolete?

mrnomas writes "What's to blame for the declining CD sales? Is it that manufacturers are putting out more and more 'safe' (read: crap) music while independent musicians are releasing online? Is it because iTunes is now the third largest music retailer in the country? Or is it just that CDs are becoming obsolete?" Quoting: "Forbes.com [ran] an article showing that CD sales are expected to be down 20% in 2008 (slightly higher than the 15% drop initially predicted). Why such a drop? What's truly happening is a gradual shift away from physical media to downloadable formats. What this indicates, so far, is that US sales of digital music will be growing at an estimated rate of 28% in 2008, however physical sales will drop even further, resulting in a net overall decline.""

Re:I miss vinyl

[xs650]

No worry, there will always be a market for vinyl. [seekingo.com]

Re:I miss vinyl

[the_other_one]

Wow, talk about market penetration!

Re:Not yet

[king-manic]

Fully agree - but CD quality was never as good a vinyl through the right equipment. Bob Dylan had a lot to say about that a few months back. To his ears there just haven't been any CDs that have achieved what vinyl, with the right engineers handling the mix, used to.

Ohhh. really. I have a pair of thousand dollar cables to sell you.....

Realistically most ears can't hear the distinction between new vinyl and a CD / MP3. I can't tell reasonable bitrate Mp3, CD, or vinyl. They simply are good enough for most.

Re:Not yet

[MillionthMonkey]

Inhalants cause hearing loss, just so you know.

I was just noticing the other day, it gets really quiet around here after I blow the dust out of my keyboard with that canned air stuff.

Re:maybe the FIRST time you play the vinyl

[Tim Browse]

I play my vinyl records all day with no damage using my ELP Laser Turntable. Now that optical players are available, only a Philistine would actually drop a goddamn needle into an analog track these days.

Or someone who doesn't have TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to drop on a record player, perhaps.

Re:maybe the FIRST time you play the vinyl

[MillionthMonkey]

I bet you don't even have bubblewrap around your speaker wires.

Re:Simple explanation: gifts

[Anonymous Coward]

It's like buying your mom a frying pan so that she'll make you pancakes.
Yeah, but come on. I like pancakes.

It's just enabling her to give you a gift. A gift of pancakes.

Re:Are you honestly claiming...

[austexmonkey]

> Are you honestly claiming that you can hear frequencies higher than 22.050 kHz?

Its possible. Are you completely sure that the grandparent poster isn't a cat?
 

DVD-A has been ruined...

[Twisted64]

DVD-A can never be successful, and the reason is quite simple - the acronym has been used already, and many of us can never forgethow. [imdb.com]

Re:I Still Buy CDs

[Gazzonyx]

I buy CDs, too. The physical medium is great; the first thing I do is import the CD to my computer (MP3 or AAC), then I take the CD to my shop bench. I then procede to sharpen the edges with a grinder and cut it into the shape of a ninja star.

The bent appeal of this is the irony of me launching my own personal CDs at the RIAA when they come 'a knockin', Tony Montana style, from a custom CD launcher. I was going to only download MP3s, but the mental image of me on the balcony shouting, "Say 'ello to my little friend!", and then throwing ipods just didn't quite capture the effect I was going for and was overwhelmingly more expensive.

Re:Are you honestly claiming...

[Bloke down the pub]

Actually, yes. I can. Last time I had my hearing tested, I heard frequencies up to 24.5kHz.

How did the test work - if you barked when the signal sounded you got a bone as a reward?

Re:Are you honestly claiming...

[Anonymous Coward]

Im in ur slashdot, writin posts

Re:Are you honestly claiming...

[cayenne8]

"On the other hand, some people still use analog for various parts of the recording chain because they like a certain sound they get from a particular piece of equipment, and attribute this strictly to an analog/digital difference, even though digital components could reproduce the analog sound if someone took the time to make it do so (usually by analyzing the modifications made to the sound by the analog equipment and then reproducing them on the digital)."

Yeah...but, why do it? I mean, it is 'fun' to plug into an old tube guitar amp, and crank it up.

Tube amps are fun to use at home too...stereos the glow are cool.

:-)