Do you think CDs will be the last physical form of music?
 

Hey guys, as time has gone on, many different physical formats of music have been introduced but with the huge popularity of digital based music, do you guys think that the compact disc (CD) will be the last physical form of music? (or at least for a long time?)

I was wondering this the other day when my father told me that he collected a bunch of vinyl when he was younger only to have them be made completely out of date by a new form of media. I thought to myself that with all the CDs I've collected, it would suck if a new form of physical music came and made my collection out of date.

So what do you guys think?

I would think the record labels would try to promote/patronise/fund some sort of new digital format, as they want to be able to charge inflated prices for music (as they always have done) and can't do that with downloads where people can pick a single track if that's all they want. How many albums do you have where, had you the choice at the time (vinyl or CD) you might not have chosen certain tracks, if you could pay less? That's the way music is going now, and I expect the record industry to do all they can to limit people's choices and get themselves back behind the seat of power.

How they're going to do it, I have no idea. I suppose it all depends on what's next? 3D music discs? DVD concerts with albums? Interactive albums? Holo-discs? Who can say? But I'd think physical music will be with us for some time yet: can't see the Cigars letting go of the reins while there's life in their overpaid bodies!

By the way, which one's Pink? ;)

I imagine some sort of flash disk would be the next storage medium. Makes for pretty tiny album art. Actual walk in music stores are probably a little redundant though.

Yeah, I can see that being a possibility. I wouldn't be surprised.

I think it's the last physical media for music, at least for some time to come. SACD and DVD-A came and went (for the most part) and I don't see BD-Audio gaining much traction outside of a niche audiophile community.

We already see the clues with digital downloads slowly creeping up to overtake CD sales. Even with the vinyl anomaly right now, I see CD's dropping down to niche status within about 5 years, and vinyl/SACD/the rest not gaining much traction outside what's already occurred.

It's the reality of the situation -- I like physical media since it's not lossy in nature, but most consumers are quite happy with high-rate lossy files from Amazon or iTunes. And if they go lossless and high-res, that will be the final nail in the coffin for physical media for sure.

There is no doubt that CD will be the last physical thing before digital age will really take over. Tapes are long dead.

I can see vinyl outlasting CD. It has both novelty value and quite the loyal following. But in terms of the last "new" physical technology, yes. It will be the last one that will have caught on.

USB Flash Drive albums just didn't have the same appeal. There are only so many of those things you can use.

Vinyl will survive CD. My understanding is that it's doing well amongst audiophiles and general collectors, whereas nobody really appreciates the CD.

But the thing is that blank CDs is still around quite a bit.

Only because cars don't all have aux inputs for ipods.

That is so true. In fact very few cars actually have room for a ipod or aux inputs but many have room for a CD player.

I find it hard to embrace the digital age of music and find it sad that the CD and vinyl will eventually be phased out - vinyl has made something of a comeback, but I can't see it lasting, except for collectors.

It's not pleasant to realise that I'll never again experience the excitement of rushing to my local music store to pick up a new album, eagerly looking at the track list and artwork on the way home, wondering what it will sound like.

For some reason I see chips being a replacement.

The music industry is lax in adopting new technologies. The movie industry has moved onto newer/better formats like Blu-ray and with that my entire collection of DVDs was made redundant with the advent of high definition TV. I have not bothered with collecting Blu-rays except for some major series like Harry Potter, LOTR, etc.

Coming to music... I see the CD staying around for a while simply because the music industry is not looking to change. They could have gone with digital downloads especially in lossless formats like FLAC but they only make MP3s available (which I personally don't listen to) and so many folks like me have no other alternative than the audio CD.

My audiophile friends though prefer SACD & Vinyl formats and they go to great lengths to procure albums in those formats. I see Vinyl surviving for a while (probably growing) thanks to the audiophile community. The audio CD too will stay seeing there is no viable alternative unless of course high quality digital downloads become a norm.

It will be interesting to see if vinyl resurgence is indeed just a fad or if it will die out altogether as the generations who originally listened to vinyl begin to die out. Then again, people still listen to and collect 78's, so you never know. There will always be collectors and LP's are a lot of fun to collect.

My record store friends tell me the bottom is falling out of the CD market. I've noticed that the trade rate for old CD's has also dropped precipitously. The theory is that CD's are perceived as being utterly disposable and don't make for much of an artifact, plus you can burn your own. I personally think it's a great medium though, especially for the car. I have an IPod jack in my car, but CD's sound waaay better.

I hope record stores figure out a way to survive somehow. It would be a shame to lose that experience and community.

The thing with chips is that if you lost the case, those things would be a bitch to hang on to and not lose.

Yes, I think CD will be the last physical form of music. I don't see any reason anyone would come up with a new one.

I've stopped buying CD's altogether, although I still occasionaly buy vinyl, play it, and enjoy owning it (though I don't buy nearly as much of it as I used to.)
I doubt CD's (or any other physical form of music) will ever be as collectible as vinyl (except for some rare titles/pressings.)
And I have noticed the music stores in my area are offering 25% to as much as 50% less for used CD's than just a year or two ago.
The last time I took some CD's to sell to one of my local music shops, the owner asked me if I was transfering my collection to hard drive.
I told him I was and he said it seems that most people are doing the same.
He told me CD sales were steadily dropping and vinyl was holding steady for the time being.
I just don't see the point of creating a new, physical form of music playback now that the age of hard drive and offsite data storage is here.

I can see vinyl outlasting CDs, but they will be a niche medium just like they are now. There will always be a small amount of people with a passion for collecting physical music and vinyl is becoming the medium of choice for these folks rather than CD. I'm not sure how long this will last but I certainly can't see CDs becoming a cult format like vinyl.

I can envision some sort of packaged artwork with a download code somewhere on it that you could physically purchase from a retail store if it ever comes to CD's being phased out.

Although analog, and magnetic media are out, and CD is still a digital form, it's sad to watch all this going to the wayside. Like Vertigo said, I miss those days too.

I know that with some vinyl copies, there will be download codes you can download the same album you just bought for your mp3 player when you're on the go, which I think is a really smart idea. I can definitely see vinyl outlasting CD's, I mean hell it's been around in one form or another for over a century. Bands will still continue to record and put out CD's, but I think they will become harder and harder to find as retail stores slowly start to phase out their collection, and if you want to buy a CD you'll either need to do so online, or at a live show, much like how it is now. I can definitely see some potential for USB devices, especially when they start to become common place in cars, although seeing as how aux ports are still pretty new, I doubt this will happen within the next decade.

in the future music will come out from your thought the digtal chip in your body will let u scan from your eye digtal files and drag and drop them into the world ..so if u like u can share with other people or listen to it out in the open if u want

Really, is this for definite?

but before u can share your music with other people they have to pay $1.29 due to the chip being made by apple and them raping us LOL

The day they integrate human thoughts and data bits will be the day the world implodes in on itself.

I can see the USB stick being something used more regularly within the next decade if they are marketed right and especially if the price of getting them in bulk goes down. Still, they can be very tricky to have around if one's not careful. One will have to get together a storage unit for a USB collection that will appeal to the music listener to solve a little bit of the collecting problem, one style for the home and another for the car. I feel it's more in use with the underground music community with some Mainstream releases hare and there, but there are advantages. At the very least, they should be a precursor to what will happen next for those who like to have some physical form for their music - who knows what will happen long after we're gone.

(Silly Trivia Note: I think there was an Indie company that released music on Floppy Disc. If someone would have made it trendy way back in the beginning days of computers, it would have been neat for a while!)

The CDs are more like Cassettes and 8-Track Tapes now - there are those who don't care to really upgrade now or stuck with a low speed internet that makes downloading a pain. Instead of having to deal with a munched tape, it's a scratched disc, but still with better sound than the Cass' boxed up fidelity. (Damn, the 8-Track was a great idea, but...). There's still a lot of Underground bands unleashing them (Empty CD-rs in bulk are very affordable, too), and that's what will keep it going for at least the next couple of generations in my view. I can see the mainstream weeding them out quicker, though.

Vinyl will be around for a while, but I can't seriously see it making that big of a comeback, although it will have a cult following. Every College area possibly has that Indie record store with regular customers who have to have their "College Indie Music LP/7' Single" kick fed. It's kind of special and still pretty damn cool. It's a tradition that should be around for a little while at least. As long there's great music pressed on the format, there will be an audience.


Another small bit of silly trivia...
Philco tried to introduce Mini-Singles that were like records or more like glorified sheets with sound (I have to more research on that). The Hip-Pocket Record players were one of those inventions that were cute until you played it in the car on a bumpy road with the mini-player in the seat next to you. You could get the discs in a way that could get candy. They were a very short-lived idea, from '68-'69. Nice try, but still FAIL...although not a mega-fail: they did pre-date the Red Box thing when all's said.

500,000 cultural elitists will attempt to prop up sales by condescending people who buy efficient forms of music. You heard it here first.

You guys don't think the CD will be able to maintain a following? I always thought that as the most versatile physical music format to date, it would hold a following fairly easily.

I HOPE CD's are the last physical form of music. Time for the world to move on! :)

yeah I guess CD will be the last physical form of music, there is a huge movement when it comes to technology! I wish there we can keep it like the vinyl does :(

For me it's way more convenient to have access to a hard drive with 1000s of albums instead of a CD with 1 (or 10 if they're in MP3). Even a stick you can get 8GB reusable storage for under $10 instead of 700MB of single use on a CD.

Still I guess this is avoiding the question of whether CDs will be the last physical form of music. I guess if you are talking about the paradigm of walking into a store and purchasing an album then maybe CDs will be the last form. I imagine maybe you could go into a store and transfer files directly onto a portable music device which kind of gets away from the physical form. So maybe that's a yes on CDs being the last.

some places here allow you to do that

:yikes:That's awesome!

I'd still like to see a digital equivalent to the album art. They could do something really cool if they felt like it.

God this is such Horsesh*t. My observation, just by participating on this site, is that a lot of this elitism and condescension seems to be coming from those who believe the only way one should listen to music is the latest way, in this case, digital downloads. I don't know why so many people here are so threatened by the idea that other people still listen to vinyl. Why do you even care?!?

Vinyl works for me because I was lucky enough to grow up with it and for a number of reasons, it's a lot of fun to collect, just as comic books and baseball cards are fun to collect for other people. My attachments may be romantic and aesthetic, but I'm not hurting anyone by having them, and I'm not shoving them down anyone's throats.

I am quite happy to embrace CD's and digital downloads also because they both have their place and I think all of these formats can co-exist. Quit buying into the idea that you have to reject the past in order to embrace the future - that's just a corporate/media construct designed to get you to buy more things.

Sorry for going off topic but this same drumbeat gets really tiresome. Think for yourself, live and let live, and be happy with what you have to be happy with.

I haven't really noticed that. To me it seems like most people are ambivalent to how others listen to music. I know I am. I buy the occasional record myself, though I guess I do mostly listen to mp3s.

I still have a pile of cassettes in my car :laughing: The radio takes both CD's and cassettes, but I have more tapes in there than discs for some reason.

i still buy cassettes

they're cheap and a lot of out-of-print stuff are on tapes

Same can be said for vinyl. I can spend 20 bucks and come away with an armload of cool stuff. Veritable tons of very cool music never made it to CD. It's a great way to experiment also - if I can buy a record for a buck or two, I might take a chance on a cool album cover or concept. That's when you find yourself getting into those obscure little collecting grooves like trying to find all the Prestige album covers that Don Martin did.

About the only format I would agree might best be left in the past is 8-tracks, though I know the format has it's fans. I just never thought it worked very well, especially when the track change happened in the middle of a favorite song. Kunk-a-chunk-a-chunk-click click click. Pretty hilarious, but I do remember when people thought 8-track was the absolute bomb and the Mod gizmos that were invented to play them were the epitome of Groovy, soooo for those who do enjoy collecting them, more power to you!

My car stereo only takes cassettes, and my choices are a bit on the limited side considering the only cassettes I own at the moment are The Replacements - All Shook Down, The Fall - Seminal Live and Blondie - Parallel Lines. But fortunately I have a cassette adapter so I can hook up my iPod to it.