CD format to be abandoned by major labels by end of 2012

[Thad E Ginathom]

Amazing! They have come to know that even a cheap source can be listenable if given a better speaker. Good for them!

 

[deepakgang]

Its not only about buying digital music, its also about how easily its pirated. You can download the files from torrent client, write it on a cd and use it in your player if you like the physical disc. Online streaming have changed the way everyone buys/uses music and movies. In that way going online can be the way to try for the music companies.

Google is apparently coming up with an iTunes rival Application soon. I have read that when Google was having the discussions with music companies for licensing etc., the major requirement from the companies was to make pirated music/sites less available for the general public over search. Google I believe will mend its ways a bit for mutual benefit.

e-books are different because it changes the way you are used to reading. You have to hold a device and press buttons to flip pages and so on. But when you download music as opposed to buy a cd, you have just changed the way you get it. You can still play it on your device, lie down or sit back and enjoy it the same way you are best used to. Thats why I believe it is and will be accepted much faster by everyone but for the broadband and other technical issues associated with it.

 

[deba]

You must remember that only in India and other developing countries this is going to be an issue. Most first-world countries already have high speed internet access everywhere.

I am concerned about India. USA and most EU Countries have good Internet penetration therefore complete abolition of CD / DVD and Blu Ray will not be possible for a country like ours but definetly its market will reduce since many of the Internet Users from the western world at present prefer online streaming and downloading of media.the revolution started long time back.

The pace at which 3G and other Internet / Mobile Technology is implemented by our Govt. it will take at least another decade to get real high bandwidth connection along with a bunch of financial scam !! )

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

100,000,000 Indian internet users, I read in the newspaper. For some reason they didn't also mention that that is less than 10% of the population.

 

[square_wave]

100,000,000 Indian internet users, I read in the newspaper. For some reason they didn't also mention that that is less than 10% of the population.

This is exactly the point.

Where will the rest of the folks go for their music (90 percent of the population)? The current mediums will remain for a long time.

I was recently at a music sale at Landmark. The place was full and people were buying bucket loads of cds. That too in a city like Bangalore.

The smaller cities have lesser pc penetration !

 

[dillihifi]

My views are a little different

Currently the group that buys the ACD for music are probably the very same who have internet connectivity or really look for the good quality or other factors.

For the majority in smaller towns for music nowadays it is the mobile or a car stereo which has a SD card slot. There are several shops who fill a 2 GB card with music for around Rs 25. They do not buy CDs.

 

[arin]

The reality is that most of the people(more than 99% in india and around 95% in US) get their music for free. They won't pay even a rupee for a song which they like.

Shocking: 95 Percent Music Downloads Still Illegal

Scrapping the CD is better economically for the labels no doubt but the problem is that the audiophiles will suffer if a song has an mp3-only download. In US a major portion of the earnings comes through iTunes and Amazon but in India the scene is worse.

How many albums are released in India now-a-days ? the music industry here survives on OSTs and money which get routed from cinema halls to the pockets of the artists. Another source of income for the artists is the live shows. This is the reason why so many international artists too ,like Bon-jovi, U2 are going on world-tours.

I am sure no one in my friend circle buys a CD except me. No one cares. In fact they are shocked even to hear that someone buys a 150rs CD when they have "songs.pk" at their disposal. Possibly the next generation will ridicule us for filling bookshelves with shining round pieces of plastic.

 

[arj]

just wanted top bump this not so old thread.
we seem to have quite a few Vinyl'philes in this forum as well. and going by the obnoxious rates fopr LPs this might be a longish trend

In my case the last 1 year i have Only boought LPs !. unfortunately have also grown rather fixed on the kind of music i listen to...not much of new stuff

 

[SaurabhK]

I think also that there is a great over-estimation of the actual reach of the internet, especially broadband internet.

People might assume a very high percentage of broadband connection in a country like UK, but that is very far from the truth. There are still large areas where it is not even technically possible to get a broadband connection. One family I know live less than 80km from London, and yet could not get broadband until very recently. Among those who can get it, I have heard that the market is more-or-less saturated with something like 30 or 40 percent of potential customers just not interested. When we sit in front of broadband internet, it is easy to imagine that the world, or at least the highly-developed world, does the same, but it is actually not at all the case for quite a lot of it.

Looking at the price label on one of my LPs, the other day, I felt a pang of pain that Steve's Cut-Price Records, a dingy little shop in a North-London market street had long-since ceased to exist. A somewhat more recent casualty, a 2nd-hand record shop, I was sad to find Reckless Records no longer existed, last time I went to look for it. The survival of small, independent businesses in London streets where rents have rocketed is one thing, but when one hears of huge HMV stores closing their doors, that is another, and their trade will be as much DVD, phones and games as music CDs.

Maybe the days of the CD are numbered --- but lets hope it is a fairly large number yet. I don't doubt that niche and minority interest music, including the ethnic classical and folk musics of the world, will continue to be available for quite some time.

Incedently recently saw Music World in India also has converted prime shelf space to selling jewellry..
Landmark in calcutta which had awesome collection of CDs .. is now reduced to a few shelves .. shelf space is now taken over by Kids toys..
Also saw a small cd shop in Noida ( used to buy most of my music there for years .. owner was pretty knowledgable about al genres.. unlike Planet M who asks you if the album you want is from Bollywood or Hollywood) converting into a bakery...

 

[jls001]

In my case the last 1 year i have Only boought LPs !. unfortunately have also grown rather fixed on the kind of music i listen to...not much of new stuff

Almost similar story here: a good majority of my music purchases in the last year has been LPs, but I still walk into music stores a lot, picking up the odd CD every now and then. Sale times are different, though. I walked out of the ongoing Landmark sale with an armful of CDs. 70% off is too attractive:lol::lol::lol: And I keep going back to check if they have replenished the stock (which they do, btw).

The downside to the surging popularity of LPs is the ever increasing cost. The other day, Razzaqbhai at Fort (DN Road) wanted Rs 800 each for 4 shiny LPs (a best of compilation of Steve Winwood, a Christopher Cross album, and two more which I can't recall). I wanted to dump them on his head. But this is still nothing compared to a Beatles or Pink Floyd record in pitiable condition going for a couple of thousands.

 

[SaurabhK]

Vinyls would take off only if they were not so ridiculously priced. Seriuosly 900 bucks for Veer Zara... ?? Are they insane..

 

[arj]

I think it has a lot to do with the economics of getting them pressed and maybe royalty for the music as well ?

 

[deba]

the CDs have come of age... they'll meet the fate of the tapes...


CD-Format To Be Abandoned By Major Labels By The End Of 2012 ~ MARINA BOY ENTERTAINMENT BLOG

Not at all ......Standard Audio CDs will stay for a long time.......SACD and DVD Audio has not been able to mass market itself nor Internet downloads will become the de facto standard very soon due to bandwidth limitation...........

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Vinyls would take off only if they were not so ridiculously priced. Seriuosly 900 bucks for Veer Zara... ?? Are they insane..

Vinyls "took off" years ago: chased and soundly beaten by CDs. They will never be back, except among the minority of enthusiasts. If new ones are pressed to cater to that market, they are necessarily going to be very expensive due to the economies of scale. I'm not talking about relative merits, but about physical and economic realities.

The downside to the surging popularity of LPs is the ever increasing cost. The other day, Razzaqbhai at Fort (DN Road) wanted Rs 800 each for 4 shiny LPs (a best of compilation of Steve Winwood, a Christopher Cross album, and two more which I can't recall). I wanted to dump them on his head. But this is still nothing compared to a Beatles or Pink Floyd record in pitiable condition going for a couple of thousands.

Have you taken into account how much they cost in the first place? Recorded music was never cheap. Now, for good-condition, old vinyl, we have to a collector's item premium. Only the other day I noticed a (GBP) 16 price tag on an LP bought second-hand god-knows how long ago. Did I really pay that much, I wondered? Maybe twenty years ago? It must have hurt!

 

[gobble]

Vinyls would take off only if they were not so ridiculously priced. Seriuosly 900 bucks for Veer Zara... ?? Are they insane..

Have you taken into account how much they cost in the first place? Recorded music was never cheap. Now, for good-condition, old vinyl, we have to a collector's item premium. Only the other day I noticed a (GBP) 16 price tag on an LP bought second-hand god-knows how long ago. Did I really pay that much, I wondered? Maybe twenty years ago? It must have hurt!

There is another reason to stay away from Vinyls - absence of quality analog recordings today. The art is lost, the skilled people are few. No point spending $$$$ on a Vinyl setup to hear an analog rehash of a poorly done and overcooked digital mastering.

I hose to spend that $$$$ on a DAC instead. There are no current productions of Carnatic material on Vinyl anyways.

The only time I would go Vinyl is if and when I have kids - as an education to them for the lost art and beauty of music reproduction of a bygone era.

The money saved on not going Vinyl+phonostage I will spend on upgrading transport. hyeah:

--G

 

[jls001]

Have you taken into account how much they cost in the first place? Recorded music was never cheap. Now, for good-condition, old vinyl, we have to a collector's item premium. Only the other day I noticed a (GBP) 16 price tag on an LP bought second-hand god-knows how long ago. Did I really pay that much, I wondered? Maybe twenty years ago? It must have hurt!

New LPs are available, starting at Rs 685. So selling an old one for 800 was a bit too much for me. And they were not even special titles. I understand there are folks who happily pay Rs 20000 or more for specific RD Burman titles (I don't recall exactly which), or Simla Beat albums like this, or Simla Obsession.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

New LPs are available, starting at Rs 685.

Is that Indian or Western music?

Back in the pre-CD days, how was Western music priced in India, compared to abroad? Was it on a par? In my early twenties, in London, I was not earning much more than 20 a week --- so, even if a record was only 2, it was a lot of money to spend.

 

[jls001]

Is that Indian or Western music?

I remember buying a Norah Jones album (Come Away With Me, I think) for 685. Also, a Melody Gardot album for around the same price. One was from Rhythm House and another one was (I think) from Reliance TimeOut. New Indian LPs are 900+. The only one I bought (AR Rehman, Vande Mataram) is a big lemon.

 

[Sean de Silva]

New LPs are available, starting at Rs 685. So selling an old one for 800 was a bit too much for me. And they were not even special titles. I understand there are folks who happily pay Rs 20000 or more for specific RD Burman titles (I don't recall exactly which), or Simla Beat albums like this, or Simla Obsession.

Razzak at dn rd always overprices his LPs ( lol i guess hes smart enough to realise the value and demand for records once again) . I've picked up a few audio cds from him and touch wood they work perfect till date!

 

[Sean de Silva]

Not at all ......Standard Audio CDs will stay for a long time.......SACD and DVD Audio has not been able to mass market itself nor Internet downloads will become the de facto standard very soon due to bandwidth limitation...........

+10!

i was busy cleaning my audio cd collection when i saw this thread. i'm a huge (read diehard) audio cd fan! very old school!