The CD is dead....thank God

[brent]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/s ... DFA59EE%7D

For this reason we are only going to offer very high end MP3s from a proprietary site, and 5.1 surround MP3s.

[executioner]

We all knew it was happening. I buy a cd(9/10 used) and listen to it once and put it on my computer like most people. Also radio is on the same dying route as the CD. The only radio that has seen any growth in the last 5 yrs is AM talk radio and spanish listening. Clear Channel is finally up for sale after losing millons. The only problem is that they are so huge that whoever buys them will no doubt either break them up or dissolve most of the stations. Some Labels have even stopped releasing their music to radio and are just doing it for the internet listening providers.
I think radio was the top reason for Petra's downfall(yes there were other factors) but this was the main reason. All the albums from "No Doubt" to "Revival" were soley made for radio. Just think about it for a minute and picture in your mind if Petra would have released "JAH" in 1995 instead of "No Doubt" kept on releasing that style over the last ten years. I KNOW Petra would still not only be around but still be relevant in the market.

[brent]

We all knew it was happening. I buy a cd(9/10 used) and listen to it once and put it on my computer like most people. Also radio is on the same dying route as the CD. The only radio that has seen any growth in the last 5 yrs is AM talk radio and spanish listening. Clear Channel is finally up for sale after losing millons. The only problem is that they are so huge that whoever buys them will no doubt either break them up or dissolve most of the stations. Some Labels have even stopped releasing their music to radio and are just doing it for the internet listening providers.
I think radio was the top reason for Petra's downfall(yes there were other factors) but this was the main reason. All the albums from "No Doubt" to "Revival" were soley made for radio. Just think about it for a minute and picture in your mind if Petra would have released "JAH" in 1995 instead of "No Doubt" kept on releasing that style over the last ten years. I KNOW Petra would still not only be around but still be relevant in the market.

Yeah, and TV is next. NBC just laid off 700 employees from their news departments. The big focus will be subcription programming on the internet.

[executioner]

NBC/Universal Entertainment Division really sucks right now. About the only thing anyone is watching on NBC is Sunday Night Football and Nascar. The are still making very good money, but the margin has gone down(unlike the other networks) from 2 years ago.

[calicowriter]

I think it is sad. I personally don't want to live my life attached to my computer. I have to work at one for 8+ hours a day, and I do writing and personal stuff on one at home. I can't begin to fathom watching programs and listening to all my music on one.

The only thing dumber is watching video on a cell phone.

It's sad that this short attention span society will miss out on so much. I can recall buying albums and CDs where there were songs that I didn't care much for at first. But the more I listened, sometimes I found that songs that didn't "hook" me right away would end up meaning the most.

[executioner]

I think it is sad. I personally don't want to live my life attached to my computer. I have to work at one for 8+ hours a day, and I do writing and personal stuff on one at home. I can't begin to fathom watching programs and listening to all my music on one.

The only thing dumber is watching video on a cell phone.

It's sad that this short attention span society will miss out on so much. I can recall buying albums and CDs where there were songs that I didn't care much for at first. But the more I listened, sometimes I found that songs that didn't "hook" me right away would end up meaning the most.

Your words ring true in my life. There are so many songs out there that are so important in my life that unless I bought the CD I would have never heard. These are some Petra songs that I've grown to admire and cherish, but were never radio singles so I would have never heard them if it wasn't for the CD.

What's in a Name
Marks of The Cross
Stand in The Gap
Life as we Know it

[charl]

I tend to go with audio files for singles and buy CDs when I want entire albums, and I think many people do that as well.

I love liner notes and voraciously read them with each new album I buy. That is where you really feel something is missing with audio files. Also they don't seem to have as high a sound quality.

As for the single, this is the way the music industry has operated for most of it's history. The important thing was for a band to cultivate a following who would buy most of their releases.

I personally hated the cutting out of the single in the 80's-in Canada they became non-existant. Especially irritating was that it was done for the purpose of forcing us to buy entire albums for one song. Most of the time I just wouldn't buy them at all.

[p-freak]

As long as there are dinosaur-people around like myself who have computers running on Windows 98 with only 2Gig harddisc, CDs will be around.

Personally I would like to see vinyl re-introduced to the general market.

[brent]

Not me. There is very little bass below 50Hz on records. All of the cutting manufacturers are gone. The cutting engineering and compressor techniques lost, except for just a handful of guys that still have their hearing. There is more to the process of LPs than any other format we have had so far.

[Pethead1]

I do not know what an ipod is how it works or why anybody would bother. I guess I will have to stay with what records and CDs I have if this happens.

Kinda like all these peopls saying they are for choice but they take the fat out of every and will not give people a choice as to reather they want it or not.

[greenchili]

If that means more older tunes available online, well.......

Anyways it's an odd quandrum. I like having an original CD but I cannot deny the fact that after an initial listen I usually pop it into my computer and load it onto my ipod.

The CD then just sits on a shelf.

But in my case it's more a preservation thing. When LP's and Tape were the big thing I would record them onto MA tapes (eventually Sony MD) and play those to death, thus preserving my originals.

Sometimes I wonder if these guys are reading the statistics a little too literally. No denying that mp3 players are changing the way people listen to music, but I don't think it is as drastic as they make it sound.

[brent]

No denying that mp3 players are changing the way people listen to music, but I don't think it is as drastic as they make it sound.

It is that drastic. It is not just the big bad boogie men record companies noticing the 25%+ drop in CD sales. The pressing plants have seen the drop in business, their supplies for bulk supplies have seen it.

This is the reason that people have tried to push the next evolution in digital music, like SACD (using DSD, now DXD), DVD-A and now BlueRay DVDs. There is a Warner Brothers disc that has all three major formats combined on one disc. The idea is to bring back physical sales.

It hasn't caught on globally yet, and PDC will be one of the first to release this way, but 5.1 surround MP3s are here. There is also a near CD quality, 1092kbps MP3 from MusicGiants. We will release those as well.

Personally, I think anyone that does not have an MP3 player is now considered a non customer. They have their music, and they may make an occassional purchase, but they are pretty much done in the industry's eyes. So everything will continue to be marketed that way (especially since the major labels are beginning to give in to iTunes over seas), and CD will see maybe a price drop on single discs, or the release of bonus material discs like we are starting to see now (music, video, games).

Cell phone music, sports, news, bunnies marketing has been started. ESPN bailed on their services, so I think we will see the kids, who seem to be obsessed with cell phones buy into entertainment services.

Get ready for the video game + music + video discs. The bunnies industry WILL become mainstream with rap and urban music video/music packaging. It has been started, and it is only a matter of time.

[winterlens]

It hasn't caught on globally yet, and PDC will be one of the first to release this way, but 5.1 surround MP3s are here. There is also a near CD quality, 1092kbps MP3 from MusicGiants. We will release those as well.

Was that 1092 a typo for 192? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you can max out a theoretical limit for CD quality before you hit 1092kbps. (Sorry, dork moment here.)

[brent]

No typo. 1092kbps. It is a WMA lossless format. It does not have the data compression (crappy quality) of all other MP3s.

An iTunes MP3 encoders go to 320kbps.
iTunes store, Walmart, Napster and most P2P networks have music encoded from 128kbps to 256kbps.
XM Radio, Sirius and web streams range from 48 to 96kbps.

CD quality means 16-bit word length snap shots of the analog signal, sampled 44,100 times per second. While this is a debate, most people in the industry would like to see us use a 24-bit word length, 48 or 96kHz disc for music. It would sound better for sure. It would allow the industry to release a product that sounds better, and is not convenient.

Unfortunately, we no longer care about sound quality as a culture, nor does the most purchased music demand it. So, we duct tape a pillow to our butts and step onto the slippery slope with higher quality MP3s. People want convenience? They don't want to go to the store? They don't want to mess with iTunes? No biggy. We have you covered.

[St_Augustines_Pears]

Personally, I think anyone that does not have an MP3 player is now considered a non customer. They have their music, and they may make an occassional purchase, but they are pretty much done in the industry's eyes.

Hey, looky there! I'm now considered a "non-customer" by the music biz. I have a very small CD collection. I don't download music on my computer. I don't have an MP3 player...by the way, is that the same as an Ipod? Shows you how much I know about new-fangled technology.

Heck, I don't even have a cell phone. I like the fact that people can't contact me 24/7.