How the Decline of the CD is Killing Music

[westen44]

https://spinditty.com/industry/How-the-Decline-of-the-Compact-Disc-is-Killing-Music

I think he is making a number of valid points.  How much it resonates with people, I don't know.  Because, as he points out, liking CDs now is not considered cool, unfortunately. 

[uwe]

Reading that article is like reading my own mind. Yes, loss of a "sturdy vessel", "disposability of music".

The worst thing about electric cars is that none of them offer a CD player anymore - they need all the room they can get for the friggin' battery. It has kept me from getting a hybrid Volvo, no joke.

Streaming has won. But if you are like me and listen to CDs like other people read books, Spotify isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. I want full loaves, even at the bakery.

There is another aspect not mentioned in the article - streaming is killing the concept of 40 minutes or so of music by one artist as a dramatic piece. Of course you can still hear a full album on Spotify, but nearly all younger bands have stopped "writing an album of music" as an artistic concept. And you can't blame them: Why construct an album of, say, 10 tracks if hardly anyone is going to listen to it from beginning to end?

And, no, I don't think Sgt. Pepper would have had the same cultural impact had it been released over a period of, say, 18 months as 13 consecutive streaming singles.

[Pilgrim]

Well said about Sgt. Pepper.

There is a difference between streaming something once and moving on, vs. listening to a sequence of works by an artist.

Sometimes you get the clunkers with the good stuff, sometimes you get a great experience because the LP/CD is well sequenced and flows.

Also, when you have the physical object, you command the listening experience.  Put me firmly on the side of wanting the physical object.

[westen44]

As time goes on, I'm beginning to find myself interested in more obscure bands who in the long run may or may not "make it."  Years from now, it may not even be possible to find much evidence that they even existed.  In the comments below the article, someone posted about this, too.  I'm noticing that they tend to come out with EP versions of CDs instead of releasing full albums sometimes.  If you're a fan who isn't able to follow them on tour, you may or may not be able to get your hands on the EPs which are released on a limited basis.  This is music which may or may not end up being streamed long term.  Personally, I would like physical copies of CDs or EPs to always have with me to listen to, but as the author of the article said, that isn't always going to be possible. 

[patman]

I like CD's also.

I love jazz.  When I was in music school I would scour the used record stores for music.  Now I can buy a box set of 4 to six CD's from Amazon for 12 bucks...it's a lot easier now to find music.

I hope I will still be able to find a new car with a CD player when the time comes.

[Pilgrim]

You can't find them with CD players now.  Simplest answer is to rip the CDs to a USB memory drive and plug that in.

[lowend1]

The worst thing about electric cars is that none of them offer a CD player anymore - they need all the room they can get for the friggin' battery.

The CD player started disappearing from cars years ago. My 2016 Dodge Challenger did not come with one, and it is a reasonably well-optioned car with one of the factory's optional infotainment systems. I keep my favorite music loaded both on my phone and on SD card, for which the car does have a built-in slot.
The point of the article is well-taken, however I think the root of the problem is with much of the younger set's general lack of interest in owning anything - whether it be houses, cars, CDs or Gibson basses. Indeed, the concept of "ze colleckshün" may become archaic in the near future...

[amptech]

The worst thing about electric cars is that none of them offer a CD player anymore - they need all the room they can get for the friggin' battery. It has kept me from getting a hybrid Volvo, no joke.

I'm surprised, Volvo was the last to offer minidisc!
I even concidered buying a 2005 XC90 for that reason.
On the other hand, I don't see why my Toyota's or Sony car MD players should need to be replaced for a couple of decades. But to be shure, I stock a couple of extra MD players in case hydrogen cars become an alternative up here.

[uwe]

Jake E. Lee (my favorite guitarist with Ozzy) makes a nicely perceptive argument for music on a physical carrier:

Jake E. Lee saved up his allowance to buy this album (Led Zeppelin III) and it became his favourite Led Zeppelin album. This is what he had to say on it:

“I heard “Immigrant Song” on the radio and it was such a nasty riff and a spooky song and I was like, great, this album’s going to be bitchin’. And I took it home and that’s the only song like it on the whole record. It pissed me off.

I tried to take the record back and they wanted to know why. And I said,

“Because I don’t like it”.

“You can’t bring a record back just because you don’t like it!”.

And I was stuck with it for the next month, until I could buy another new album. So it was the only new music I could listen to then. And then it grew on me. After a month, it was and still to this day is, my favorite Led Zeppelin record. And the reason I wanted to address that is, I kind of feel like our Red Dragon Cartel record “Patina” is like that, most of the songs on there aren’t immediately accessible. That’s how it was when you had to buy a physical album. Like it or not, you were stuck with it, so you listen to it a little bit more and you start to like it a little bit more."

I can totally relate to that. A lot of albums I rate as among my favorites today I did not like at all at first listen: eg Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality - I thought it way too dark and heavy at first listen, Deep Purple's Come Taste The Band - Bolin sounded so radically different to Blackmore, or David Bowie's Station To Station - I had heard only the still glammy and dystopian, yet vivid Diamond Dogs before and loved that, Station To Station was  a much more somber and distanced affair. It took me endlless repeated spins until it clicked, today I can never make up my mind whether DD or STS is my all time favorite Bowie work (it's not Ziggy Stardust, I find that a bit cluttered in its T. Rex'y arrangements and not as timeless as the other two).

If I was a kid today, I'd probably never re-stream those albums again after the initial disappointment/non-comprehension.

[Pilgrim]

The thing that bugs me about using a USB drive for music is that you have to format them differently in order to be able to control the way the radio reads file names and lets you control the playback.  I've never really figured that out, so the best I can do is put it on random and let it go. I'm pretty sure that my 2008 BMW 3-series, our 2016 Jeep and the replacement radio in my 1983 280ZX Turbo all use different file structures anyway.

[Dave W]

The thing that bugs me about using a USB drive for music is that you have to format them differently in order to be able to control the way the radio reads file names and lets you control the playback.  I've never really figured that out, so the best I can do is put it on random and let it go. I'm pretty sure that my 2008 BMW 3-series, our 2016 Jeep and the replacement radio in my 1983 280ZX Turbo all use different file structures anyway.

You need to use an all-tube USB drive, not one of those newfangled solid state ones. 

[uwe]

I recommend:

[gearHed289]

Jake E. Lee (my favorite guitarist with Ozzy) makes a nicely perceptive argument for music on a physical carrier:

Jake E. Lee saved up his allowance to buy this album (Led Zeppelin III) and it became his favourite Led Zeppelin album. This is what he had to say on it:

“I heard “Immigrant Song” on the radio and it was such a nasty riff and a spooky song and I was like, great, this album’s going to be bitchin’. And I took it home and that’s the only song like it on the whole record. It pissed me off.

I tried to take the record back and they wanted to know why. And I said,

“Because I don’t like it”.

“You can’t bring a record back just because you don’t like it!”.

And I was stuck with it for the next month, until I could buy another new album. So it was the only new music I could listen to then. And then it grew on me. After a month, it was and still to this day is, my favorite Led Zeppelin record. And the reason I wanted to address that is, I kind of feel like our Red Dragon Cartel record “Patina” is like that, most of the songs on there aren’t immediately accessible. That’s how it was when you had to buy a physical album. Like it or not, you were stuck with it, so you listen to it a little bit more and you start to like it a little bit more."


If I was a kid today, I'd probably never re-stream those albums again after the initial disappointment/non-comprehension.

I had a similar experience as Jake with Zeppelin I. I literally grew up on my sisters' copies of II, Houses, Physical, and to a lesser degree IV. The first one I actually bought was the debut, and I was put off by all the bluesy stuff. I tried to exchange it for Queen II, but they wouldn't take it back. I can't say it became my favorite, but it definitely grew on me and became influential on my playing at the time (I had literally just started playing bass then).

And no, most kids won't re-stream something that doesn't immediately appeal to them.

[patman]

I always liked the bass tone of the first two albums.

[lowend1]

I had a similar experience as Jake with Zeppelin I. I literally grew up on my sisters' copies of II, Houses, Physical, and to a lesser degree IV. The first one I actually bought was the debut, and I was put off by all the bluesy stuff. I tried to exchange it for Queen II, but they wouldn't take it back. I can't say it became my favorite, but it definitely grew on me and became influential on my playing at the time (I had literally just started playing bass then).

And no, most kids won't re-stream something that doesn't immediately appeal to them.

The Ramones' debut album. I had read so much about them (in magazines like "Rock Scene" that dwelled primarily on the NYC music scene) without actually hearing them that I ran out to buy a copy as soon as it came out. After all, they wore leather jackets, so they must be awesome, right? Mmmmm... no. I got through the first couple of songs before deciding that it was some kind of cruel joke - no lead guitar, the singer seemed to have some kind of weird vocal affliction and all the songs sounded the same. I looked at the album on my turntable and noticed that it was warped. Seizing the opportunity, I immediately hopped on a bus back to where I bought it, complained that it was defective and I wanted my money back. They obliged, and some 46 years later I still refuse to own a copy. I did see them live though (because The Runaways were opening).