MY opinion is that "CD's" will be around for a quite a few more years. SURE (And we can only HOPE) that the "CD" will become a dead and useless thing to the RIAA & its' industry.

Thus...

GLASS-MASTERED compact discs MIGHT die a cruel death because of the LACK of "big-name" RIAA labels buying them...

...but does ANYONE think the recordable CD is on the death-bed?

----------------

The ONLY thing that is becomming an "endangered species" is the RIAA record labels. If they think they can migrate to iTunes (or whatever other "Internet option") ...they are gonna be jumping into some COLD water.

If you are a CD-R manufacturer, fear NOT.


f you are a so-called "TRUE" glass-mastering CD plant... well, you were likely either owned by the RIAA and/or your ONLY customers WERE the RIAA labels.

DIE WITH THEM!

This topic was the subject a recent Lefsetz letter:

"There was a curious note on the front page of the "L.A. Times" Business section at the end of last week. They were dropping stock tables from the paper.

It never made sense to me as a kid. All those pages wasted with information that held no interest for me.

And then, as I grew older and knew more about stocks, it occurred to me that the information was OLD!

But now it appears it's not only old, nobody even looks at these pages anymore, because those owning shares are checking the prices on the Web, the listings in the newspaper are IRRELEVANT!

Oh, let's look at the other side of the coin. Not EVERYBODY has an Internet connection. This is the way it's been done FOREVER! Why CHANGE?

Well, first of all, to save money. Yes, you can use fewer pages and those that remain you can fill with information more interesting to more readers and/or ads.

Does all this sound familiar? Does all this remind you of the record business?

Already this year we've experienced two bombshells. The dropping of film cameras by Nikon and now this elimination of stock tables from newspapers (not only the L.A. "Times", but the "New York Times" and "Chicago Tribune"). It seems that the digital/Internet revolution that was supposed to come in 2000, yet never quite arrived and was laughed at by old wave businessmen, has finally come to roost. And it's wreaking havoc.

Oh, in the old days it was about being too early. But now with 68% broadband penetration, the time is nigh. Music is going to move to the Web almost overnight. You're going to see a DRAMATIC difference within twelve months. One day CD sales are just gonna tank, and the record industry is just not ready for it. (Hell, it could take up to two years, don't hassle me on the exact time frame, but be SURE, it's gonna be sooner rather than later, not five years, but IMMINENTLY!)

Look at it from the consumer's side. He's now inured to music on his computer. It's all over the Web. More and more people will have iTunes on their machines. More and more people will purchase iPods to carry said music with them everywhere. Suddenly, the VAST MAJORITY of the public will see no need for the CD.

Oh, I know you love the artwork. And that the versions on the CD SOUND better. But film has advantages over digital imagery, and it's disappearing. Who says that music must be sold with packaging? Where is it written that there must be a cover photo? Bands centuries back didn't have liner notes. Not that people won't want information, hell, they're getting a PLETHORA of it on bands' Websites. You COULD print it out if you wanted to, but why?

That doesn't mean you can't have high quality files on your computer. Hell, iTunes rips in lossless format if you so desire. But it appears that most people are satisfied with 128 AACs. At least for ripping. As for purchase...

Well, it's less about quality than the price. The price just isn't low enough. However you want to deliver the tracks, via individual purchase, subscription or P2P, people feel that the price is too high. You've got to be able to get more for less. Or else people will get tunes elsewhere. Maybe even via the black market on Russian sites, where they're about a dime a cut.

It's no use arguing. This isn't about philosophy. This isn't about purveyors establishing a price. This is about what the market will bear. The key is to make music so cheap and so easy to acquire it doesn't PAY to steal. Or, in the alternative, to monetize the stealing, at a LOW PRICE!

The Web has changed the playing field. Even Rupert Murdoch admits it. (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/14/murdoch_newspapers/) Why the record companies believe they're immune is beyond me.

They can whack off manufacturing costs immediately. And most distribution expenses too. They can SAVE money. There are ADVANTAGES to the new model. Look how a hit single can sell on iTunes. Just imagine, if price of acquisition were lower maybe TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE WOULD PAY FOR AND OWN THE TRACK!

Granted, not for a buck.

But, if price is cheap enough, maybe twenty million people will own THOUSANDS of tracks.

The camera and newspaper companies woke up to reality. And gave up holding on to the past and entered the future. Every year CD sales go down. Do the labels think they can retard this trend? Do they think the miniscule sale of copy protected tracks for a buck will replace lost revenue? A new business model is needed. The labels can either jump ahead of the consumer and corral him into something in the future or keep running behind him, railing that he's not buying the music in the format they want to sell it to him for at the price they desire."

As long as vinyl is still being pressed (in some fashion or another, as it is today), then CDs will still be with us. Personally, I prefer the physical package over a digital file. I am a big collector and to me, collecting files just doesn’t cut it for me. Files also can become corrupt, not to mention hard drives crashes and computer viruses. I don’t want to worry about things like that just to listen to music. I have had many CDs for 20 years and, they still sound great. Even if sales in North America tank, there will always be a market in Japan, and not just for the RIAA companies. Here is a related link on this topic I created last August.

Collectors Value

CDs will go eventually, but for now they are stuck. Cant get rid of them, they provide most of the industries income. Cant replace them, because few people have any reason to use something else. And as long as they are available, the most paranoid of download-DRM and DVD-audio copy prevention is absolutly usless.

I do use digital players like the i-Pod shuffle. But I also think that CDs are still important because they are a good way to group musical pieces together - and combine with appropriate cover art.

Sure, I realize that you can set up custom playlists in the good digital mp3 players. But somehow it is not quite the same as having a CD where you can list all the tunes and artists on the CD label with some nifty artwork.

Hey all - I am doing a project for school about the guys who distribute CD's ... any idea where I can get some good information about how much labels sell CD's to distributors for and how much those guys make by selling to other people like Wal-Mart or for higher prices, Virgin Megastore and stuff like that? Thanks in advance!

My thoughts on the viability of CD's going forward is that there are still plenty of people who don't have ipods (i.e. if you go outside metropolitan areas or universities) or are not going to be rushing to get digital music in their cars so they'll still be demand for CD's, it'll just fade over time.

Anyone who fears the death of the CD only needs to walk into my apartment. People are using CD's to burn their MP3's and other data for safe keeping like me. They're my favorate means of backing up my hard drive, them and DVD's. I do think however the market is changing from large outfits like the RIAA to the average computer user users.

Recordable CDs are a convenient way to back up data and transfer large files. If it were magically impossible to put music on one, they would still sell millions of them for other legitimate uses.

What the RIAA does means nothing.

apple isn't worried. word has it iTunes is booming with kidz downloading their stuff at a record rate. you people are wasting time. have a better chance of finding a yeti. cd are the past get with the times. buy an ipod

One reason I'm not running out and buying an iPod is all the C.R.A.P. which was explained by ZDNet Executive Editor David Berlind:

C.R.A.P.

If I get something from iTunes and use it on an iPod, I can't take it on a trip and play it on another player belonging to someone else. However, if I have a non-DRM CD, I can take it anyone it should play on anybody's CD player without any problems. Moreover, iPods are a little overrated, not to mention overpriced. I may very well get a digital player sometime in the future, but it will have to be free of the C.R.A.P.

I agree. I won't purchase any CD or digital download that has DRM affixed to it, and that even includes Apple's so-called mild DRM.
That, plus the fact that we're boycotting RIAA material.
There aren't many indie songs on iTunes, are there?

"You people are wasting time."
"Get with the times. Buy an iPod."

Get lost.

"There aren't many indie songs on iTunes, are there?"

There has to be. Apple sells lots more downloaded music than the RIAA.

"There has to be. Apple sells lots more downloaded music than the RIAA."

Apple sells more downloaded music than the labels, but how much of it isn't RIAA-affiliated?

""There has to be. Apple sells lots more downloaded music than the RIAA."

Apple sells more downloaded music than the labels, but how much of it isn't RIAA-affiliated?"

well, that is where i got some NOFX, Miser, Supercell, and Deaf Pedestrians...(all indie bands) since i couldnt find their stuff anywhere else

Okay; that's good information I needed to know.

I admit being uninformed about what Apple offers.
(I don't have an iPod and haven't looked at iTunes at all.)
Sorry.

I've setup a few ipods for some clients of ours, but I've never considered purchasing one. I'm content with my little vr3 mp3 player... I got it at walmart last year... you can get it for under $40 dollars now....