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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."

11 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.

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Nope by NitsujTPU · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You can strip the DRM on the iTunes music. I probably shouldn't admit to it, but this is how I listen to music under Linux. I should mention that I don't share the music after stripping the DRM and that, if there were a way to do this without stripping the DRM, I would.

      I use iTunes under Windows, then JHymn (http://www.hymn-project.org/). The unencrypted files will play problem-free under Linux and can translated into MP3s without issue as well.

    3. Re:Nope by rob_squared · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sure, physical CDs still have a market, I think they'll be useful for quite a while for boxed software products.

      Remember when Norton was selling software on Zip disks? I still chuckle at that.

      Now as for music CDs, those may be heading for a downward trend.

      --
      I don't get it.
    4. 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?

    5. Re:Nope by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I take it you haven't upgraded iTunes for a while. JHymn still doesn't work if you have installed iTunes versions after 5.0.1. The current version is 6.0.4.

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  2. The Collector in Me Cringes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At th thought of not owning physical media with an album. Plus I think the CD has a bonus of liner notes, art etc. I realize most people don't care about this, but I do.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Free-er media by Gertlex · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I still think of the cd as a freer media for getting music... I can own the cd, rip to whatever format I want, and no one is going to bother me... On the other hand, I still haven't looked hard at the online DL services (the legal ones, mind you), but I get the distinct impression that they're all going to restrict me somehow. Naivity says I'm going to want to have the music files i have now for the rest of my life.

  6. Re:Urgh. by SeaFox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Digital audio sounds terrible.
    So yes, there is still a viable market for CDs.

    Good thing CD's aren't digital audio...