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Is the Physical CD Still A Viable Market?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the more-thrones-out-of-cds-needed dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With iTunes and P2P networking dominating the online music scene, does the physical CD have any place in our future? Slyck is running an article on the study conducted by the NPD Group." From the article: "Since its peak sales year in 1999, there has been a steady deterioration in the number of physical CDs sold and shipped. The most immediate blame is typically placed on piracy, however over the course of the last six years this has proven superficial to reasons of more substance."

5 of 410 comments (clear)

  1. Nope by grub · · Score: 5, Insightful


    CD? Dead. CDR? Alive and kicking! >:)

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Nope by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I own a computer. I own an iPod. I own a mobile 'phone with an RS-MMC slot and an MP3/4 player.

      The only way I can buy music that will play on all of these is to buy the CD and rip it to AAC myself. If I buy WMA audio, I can't listen to it on my iPod or 'phone (or my computers, easily, since none of the run Windows). If I buy iTMS music, I can listen to it on my iPod and computer, but not my 'phone.

      Eventually the record labels will have to realise that DRM helps vendor lock-in, but does nothing to prevent piracy, and that it works against their own commercial interests. In the intervening period I will avoid online music retailers.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Nope by Sloth503 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why is piracy the probable cause of CDs having already hitting their peak in sales? Why isn't it crappy music? Seriously. Why make the jump from CD sales are down to piracy before the jump from CD sales are down due to lack on interest in the talent?

  2. Sure, bars, music festivals, ren fests, etc by Isaac-1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know this is not what the author was talking about, but there is plenty of life left in the lowly music CD in the form of short production sales. You know the types where the band sells them after performing for $10-15. Also as production costs drop, on burning speeds increase there may well be a market for all sorts of other on demand CD writing. The music store is the thing that is in danger, not the CD.

  3. Why CDs are necessary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    CDs are necessary because they offer a constant, nondegrading which is free from the compatibility and format hassles of digital distribution and which you can be fairly guaranteed will work on simple, easily acquirable, and arbitrary hardware into the reasonable future.

    Of course, the people actually selling CDs are no longer offering this, now that they load up their CDs with "copy protection" technologies which circumvent security measures, often mimic viruses, and in some cases fill the error-checking bits with garbage, thus hastening degradation of the CD-- and which the consumer is giving no warning that these technologies are present.

    Which is why I don't buy CDs anymore.