CD Sales wayyyy down

[Guest Emperor]

People aren't buying CDs like they used to. According to SoundScan, which measures these statistics, CD sales are down 20% from where they were a year ago, and digital albums aren't making up the difference. So where are all of these customers going to get their music? Online singles, it seems.

 

The downloading of single songs has far outstripped where it was last year at this time, and has more than made up for the consumption of albums. What this means is that people are far more likely to buy a song or two from a record they like than they are to buy the entire album. Though many analysts have been anticipating this sort of shift to a digital music world for years, labels are slow adopters, which means they're unprepared for this information.

 

How many of you actually bought a CD last year? I know I didn't....

[Guest Cadsuane]

I wondered why this thread was here, then I realized it's because the Band is the music org!

 

I haven't bought a CD in YEARS, although I don't buy all that much music online, either. Most of the CDs I bought before college were pretty mediocre, except for the couple songs I actually WANTED, so it really isn't surprising that people tend to buy single songs online rather than whole albums, esp. in CD form.

 

Also, portable cd players are not nearly as useable or convenient as MP3 players tend to be, so it's simply easier to have your music in digital form rather than on a CD.

[Safia al-Maaz]

I didn't buy very many. I normally only find one or two albums where I actually like all the songs on there. Most of the time I only like one or two so I don't bother. The only CD I really like is the Shrek I soundtrack (don't laugh ^^). And a few others, but that one I listen to all the time. I usually download off of Napster.

[Corki]

I haven't bought a CD in ages. But I haven't even bought downloads either. But that is my choice at the moment. There is nothing out there in the music world that currently appeals to me.

 

However, I am actually more of a fan of a CD. I prefer having something physical to hold. I also assume this is the case as I do not own a MP3 player, and don't intend to. They isolate us even more in the an already individualistic world that we currently live in.

 

Whenever I do go out shopping, I will always look in music shops and always scavange the bargain section. I normally find something, but I haven't recently. My other favourite place to hunt for CDs is eBay as they are so much cheaper than going to a shop and buying a new CD.

[Safia al-Maaz]

However' date=' I am actually more of a fan of a CD. I prefer having something physical to hold. I also assume this is the case as I do not own a MP3 player, and don't intend to. They isolate us even more in the an already individualistic world that we currently live in. .[/quote']

 

Not necessarily. I hardly ever use my mp3 as intended: with earphones. I hook mine up to my stereo and use it that way. A lot of my friends do the same, and also use speakers.

[F Horn of Valere]

I am a fan of the radio, and if I want to get a song, I use iTunes to get it. Though I will sometimes get a CD or two if I am really impressed by a band I've listend to a lot on the radio, but that is kind of rare. 3 CD's a year, tops.

[Cersei Mikalis]

I bought one last week. :roll:

I happen to like collecting the album artwork, so that is my major reason for still buying CDs. I'm slowing down on that, though... and I do like to purchase complete album's from iTunes, although I buy singles occasionally, as well.

[DeathDealer]

I'm just too old and have yet to own an MP3 player or any digital player. My next phone will most likely be one of thos IPOD phones, though. I like CD's for driving, but will eventually get the digital hook up stereo for the auto and play my mix music. Safer than switching out CD's every so often.

 

I bought about 5 CD's this last year. That is my average. It is more of a nostalgia thing for me. That and my puter is so stone age, that downloading tends to get hairy when the puter freezes up in the middle of a download.

 

Were I to have the car stereo adapter, new puter, MP3 Player, and home stereo adapter I would still buy entire albums though. Some of my favorite songs are songs that are never released as singles. How are you to know the artists' music with only what they release to the masses?

[kait]

most of the bands i like don't hit the mainstream radio, so they rely on fans to pick up their albums. i download everything onto my mp3 player (i also prefer to connect it to speakers when i'm at home) & sort it out from there. the best way to build a fanbase is to share songs, though, & i think some artists are recognizing this & encouraging it. hopefully this way i get people interested in some great music they might not have heard of & encourage them to head out to concerts & pick up an independent artist or one that is the last mentioned on the roster of a major label.

 

if i like an artist enough to keep their music on my mp3 player, i will buy something by them. if it's an artist i don't feel needs the support, though, i let it slide. it's all very subjective, but it's how i like to operate.

[PineTree]

I went from buying tapes/cartridges, skipped CD's then to mp3's. Except for one CD which I bought as a present to a cousin of mine. Nowadays I get everything I need from the internet; music, movies, books, comics, drinks, food, shelter, ...

 

*knocking sound*

 

Um excuse me. My pizza's here.

 

*sound of a slot opening*

 

Slide the pizza under the door. Wait for the cash.

 

*scraping sound*

 

...

 

Hey buddy! Where's my tip?!

 

...

 

You were late for exactly 81 seconds. That's 1 minute and 21 seconds over the alotted time. Leave now please.

 

*opens a slit through the door to see if the pizza guy left*

 

Arggh!!! The Light!! It blinds!!!

 

*stumbles around the dim basement*

 

Just kidding. I don't even have 24 hour internet service. Yeah! Go digital. CD's get scratched and CD players just don't last.

[Taymist]

Personally I like having to hold as well so yeah I've been replacing my albums gradually and picking up bargains much like Corki. I do download things online but not much.

 

I still prefer vinyls to be honest. But CD's... maybe 5 a year.

[DeathDealer]

Vinyl is still the greatest!!

[nighteyes]

I prefer my CD's mainly as I can't afford to buy anything else but also no one wants to steal a CD Walkman especially my outdated held together with sellotape model

 

I get maybe about 5 or so CD's a year

[Auld Manriva]

I still buy whole albums, because thats still the way most recordings are produced, as a whole suite of music. Not that all are good, never were in most cases and most of the CD's I am buying are older also. I tend to buy singles from Itunes of newer music or pirate them. Depends on my mood. I will never buy another Metallica, I pirate those gits just on principle. The Ipod is the greatest invention since the wheel to me. But I never, ever walk around with the buds stuck to the side of my head. I find that so incredibly rude, I just want to slap people up side the head.

 

Please believe me when I tell you. Vinyl Sucks.. This from one who owns maybe 1500 LP's. Unless you record it the very first time you play it, then never play the dang thing again... I had the pleasure many years ago to tour the Columbia Records pressing plant in Santa Maria, CA. It was an absolutely amazing place, the technology was intriguing but it didn't impress me that we just wandered about, no dust protection etc.

 

I was a manager of a retail outlet of a large west coast chain at the time and I sorta figured out why we had so many defective returns.

The only really good vinyl ever done was from a Deutche Grammaophone series of recordings made from "virgin" vinyl. When vinyl has the stylus travel the grooves the first time, it alters the surface and is never the same and only gets worse with repeated playings. I had turntables that were like putting a spike in the grooves to a Bang&Olafson that had a stylus weight of a fly's wing. They all eventually do the same thing to LP grooves.

 

There are maybe 6 people on the planet who can pick out any difference in sound between a CD and a vinyl record. You cannot pick out the difference in dynamic range without studio monitors and a quiet room unless you have the ears of a bat. I remember when CD's first came out and people would color the edges of a CD black with a magic marker claiming this enhanced the sound. Maybe a bat could make out the differences but yer normal human ear can't.

[DeathDealer]

I like vinyl for spinning. Two turn tables and a microphone...

 

Well, no microphone for this cat, cause he can't sing for crap.

[Tigara]

I buy full albums, mostly because I have super slow dial-up internet that can't download anything. If I got high-speed, then I would probably just download.