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

[square_wave]

Analogue is great. The magic of analogue mastered LPs is mesmerizing.

But you cannot be very adventurous if you want to check out new music. The sheer amount of hi definition digital downloads available nowadays is so tempting.

I am of the opinion that unless the mastering is done in the analog domain, the final media better stay as a high def digital download.

 

[TaureanBull]

Thats the likely fate as the things are going but dont agree with the time frame of end 2012. Possibly another 4-5 years or more.

 

[jls001]

More gloomy news: the Planet M outlet at Shoppers Stop in Andheri West (Mumbai) which used to occupy huge floor space is now closed. Also, the standalone shop in JP Road near the Sports Complex has made way for a shiny new Philips Lighting shop (not that they used to stock much music in the first place).

Even more gloomy news: Landmark is cutting down on music CDs across all stores.

PS: if the future is digital downloads, why are we not seeing corresponding action in this space for Indian music buyers?

 

[rraghuram]

Definitely gloomy indeed! Go grab some cool cds at super discounts at Landmark. I recently bought 3 discs for a total of Rs.249/-. I wish I had known about this much earlier. I randomly dropped in to check out some books and they have upto 70% off on most of the stuff. I was surprised to see the sale come back so soon as it was only about 6 months ago that they had a similar sale. I didn't waste time and headed upstairs to the music section and lo & behold - 70% off on a lot of dvds and 3 music cds for 249 bucks. Picked up Neil Young's Fork in the road, David Gray's greatest hits, and DMB's Googrux - all non-starters I suppose! But still, decent music to check out for 80 bucks each. No harm done if they turn out to be clunkers!

 

[square_wave]

The future is not gloomy. The disc will be replaced with Flac or Wave downloads directly from the label. So no more problems with quality deterioration due to pressing / disc manufacturing artifacts and all that. They will all sound the same. I find this a move in the right direction.

 

[musicbee]

The future is not gloomy. The disc will be replaced with Flac or Wave downloads directly from the label. So no more problems with quality deterioration due to pressing / disc manufacturing artifacts and all that. They will all sound the same. I find this a move in the right direction.

I'm not too sure about HQ d/l going mainstream. Steve Jobs and iTunes have got the people used to crappy rips at $0.99 and now nobody wants to spend more. That's one reason for the decline in the sales of CDs... instead the record industry keeps blaming piracy only as the issue.

I've been buying on Amazon for years. I"ve bought a few mp3 albums myself but mostly I buy CDs and have them sent to the US address I'm put up at or else send them to my sister or sister-in-law who carry them on their frequent trips to India. However, I have noted that when CDs are not in stock or not available on Amazon the mp3s are always available.

Such has been the growth of iTunes and their crappy bitrates that even Amazon followed suit with mp3s at even cheaper rates to complete with Apple.

If anything CDs will also become a niche product and expensive like Vinyl. I don't see HQ d/l being offered and people willing to pay more... and also most will not want HQ content as it will take more space in their iPods and mobile phones and truth be told that's how the majority of people listen to music and they are not even aware they are missing anything.

People like us who spend on CDs and audio equipment are few and declining. None of my friends even have a system anymore... its either iPod or iPhone or else a PC with mp3s and Creative speakers.

As a kid I used to boast I had over 500 tapes and now I can boast I have over 1000 CDs... but frankly I'm the only one boasting and listening. The world has moved on to mp3s and the iTunes variant and iPods/mobile phones.

 

[anm]

0.99 usd per song is not cheap!

 

[musicbee]

0.99 usd per song is not cheap!

It is when they only download the hit songs... nobody really bothers with listening to an album as an experience these days... and most albums of these days have only 1 or 2 good songs.

Musicians these days make money with tours, shows, merchandise, etc. Very few depend on album sales.

 

[jls001]

The future is not gloomy. The disc will be replaced with Flac or Wave downloads directly from the label. So no more problems with quality deterioration due to pressing / disc manufacturing artifacts and all that. They will all sound the same. I find this a move in the right direction.

The other day I was reading an old issue of Hifi News and Record Review magazine (from last year) where they carried an article that explains how they test if the HD downloads that they review are indeed what they claim to be. Unfortunately they found that some supposedly HD contents were nothing but upsampled from the 44.1 kHz PCM masters. That too not done in the proper way.

So I think quality is still a bit dodgy at this stage in the life cycle of HD music downloads.

On the positive side, most were what they claimed to be (say, 96 kHz sampling rate).

The move to HD downloads is perhaps in the right direction, what with cheap or pirated mp3s having rained on the parade of the music labels, but my gripe is where are those HD downloads? There are too few to choose from. AFAIK, HDTracks doesn't even allow downloads outside of USA. Linn does only classicals. I don't even know if ECM or Naxos (just to quote two labels) have started downloads, but then again their titles are niche.

I am yet to see the rainbow or the silver lining to this dark cloud, save for my collection of LPs.

PS: sorry for the rant.

 

[nastyrak]

I know for a fact this is not going to happen. Look at LPs for example. I still collect those as a hobby. CD may be a little different but once less and less people stop using them, it'll become a "style" to own them.

 

[NetFreak]

0.99 usd per song is not cheap!

Its cheap by US standard. In India songs cost just 6 - 15 Rs, IMHO this is reasonable.

I used to pay 20 -40 Rs per cassette in 1990s, so it is even cheaper than that.

 

[malvai]

It is when they only download the hit songs... nobody really bothers with listening to an album as an experience these days... and most albums of these days have only 1 or 2 good songs.

Musicians these days make money with tours, shows, merchandise, etc. Very few depend on album sales.

Musicians ONLY make money when they tour.... The royalty from the actual sales have never really benefitted the artist. its always been a very small amount to begin with. The real money for them has been the live gigs.

In the digital age, with easy and rampant piracy, their source of income from royalty shrank even more!

There is virtually nothing that labels can do about it. and they should not either... IMHO, they should look at piracy simply as 'radio air play"...

 

[musicbee]

Musicians ONLY make money when they tour.... The royalty from the actual sales have never really benefitted the artist. its always been a very small amount to begin with. The real money for them has been the live gigs.

In the digital age, with easy and rampant piracy, their source of income from royalty shrank even more!

There is virtually nothing that labels can do about it. and they should not either... IMHO, they should look at piracy simply as 'radio air play"...

Not entirely true. Most big guns have a multi-year and/or multi album deal with the record company where they will either make N number of albums or else all albums for N number of years will be under that record company... and for that the real big guns have had contracts of 50 million to 100 million dollars. Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, U2, Janet Jackson, and many more... have had such record breaking contracts... and these were only for albums produced. Michael Jackson had such a record breaking deal in 2010 for $200 million for 10 albums in seven years.

The new trend of signing contracts for concerts, tours, merchandizing items, DVD releases, and even special TV programs was started by Lady Gaga.. now of course everyone is moving in that direction.

The record companies though continue to make money for years to come... they keep releasing multiple compilations and greatest hits packages and box sets and fans will continue to buy (even with no new songs in them). I know cause I have enough such box sets from Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Jethro Tull and more.

 

[Nikhil]

Digital downloads are great. I don't think CDs are going to disappear overnight but eventually they will. We are already seeing numerous digital storefronts being set up. Its much more convenient. I recently bought a couple of CDs online from the Landmark website and used Google to preview the songs on the albums. All this while sitting on my couch. Compare this with going to a music store and then waiting for the listening station to be free to audition the CD (if you could).

I was quite ready to jump on the MiniDisc bandwagon some years ago. No reason why I shouldn't be excited about the new digital options.

 

[KDM]

I will never ever pay for a digital download. I do have MP3s that I have downloaded but those were for sampling purposes only. I always delete the download if I do not like it and buy the albums I do, deleting the mp3 files.
Therefore, for me, it's very simple - no more cds, no more purchased music!

I DEMAND physical copies of books, CDs, BDs, virtual's simply not good enough for me.

 

[saketb]

I will never ever pay for a digital download. I do have MP3s that I have downloaded but those were for sampling purposes only. I always delete the download if I do not like it and buy the albums I do, deleting the mp3 files.
Therefore, for me, it's very simple - no more cds, no more purchased music!

I DEMAND physical copies of books, CDs, BDs, virtual's simply not good enough for me.

+1 on that.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I DEMAND physical copies of books, CDs, BDs, virtual's simply not good enough for me.

"virtual" might not be the right word for it, because that collection of bits and bytes on your hard disk, assuming it is an ordinary WAV, FLAC, OGG, or even MP3 without any form of DRM (Digital Rights Management) is physically yours as much as a CD or LP is.

That's the only kind of downloaded digital music that I would ever buy. In fact, lets extend that to media, because I would not be interested in downloading any music, film or book that had any kind of licensing system that restricted my use of it, or could be taken away from me --- and if this is what you mean, then I am with you 100%.

I can still understand the attachment to the physical thing. For instance, when I go to bed, I leave the electronics outside the bedroom door, and take a real book with me (oh... I don't fancy a digital replacement for the wife, either hyeah.

The other aspect to the music thing is... they sold me the LP; then they got the same money, or more, out of me for the CD; I am not paying the record companies yet again for the same thing.

 

[arj]

"... they sold me the LP; then they got the same money, or more, out of me for the CD; I am not paying the record companies yet again for the same thing.

Couldnt agree with you more !
I am anyway buying LPs or music which I dont have on CD and on CDs only if i know i will not get them on LP. when I do get to Hi Rez (if and when they do have the music I like) it would be the music mutually exclusive of the above 2..or free like Linns offer

D*mned if i pay anything more to them

 

[vizmarg]

Digital downloads dont work for me till the date I pay for lossless formats.. why to pay for compressed music? Gimme lossless music and I wont touch a single pirated song. Availability with supreme quality at a price.. am game for it!

 

[jai1611]

The new Diana Krall album, Glad rag doll, hasnt been released on CD in India :-(. Its only available as an mp3 download on flyte.