The fall of the CD and the rise of steaming

[HDFan]

Just found this chart (thanks to SoundandVision.com) from the RIAA showing the rise and fall of various audio formats from 1973-2017 in the U.S.:

https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/



I realized that CD sales had dropped, but the visual really shows how sales have been decimated. The steaming numbers for ad supported don't seem quite right, as ad supported was the name of the game until the paid services started catching on. The SACD vs CD colors are so close I can't separate them.

It also shows how formats come and go (e.g. cassette). Wonder what the successor to streaming will be - high res streaming?

 

[rafark]

I thought it was worse tbh. I'm glad Cd's still have a considerable market share.

 

[theluggage]

The steaming numbers for ad supported don't seem quite right, as ad supported was the name of the game until the paid services started catching on.

Well, note that the vertical scale is "value" rather than "number sold". What it is partly suggesting is that subscription services rake in the money more reliably than ad-funded ones (you pay the cost of a big ticket CD every month however little you use the service) .

The big hump in the value of CD sales from the 90s to the early 00s probably owes something to the fact that CDs started out costing twice as much as LPs when they were the new shiny for the deep-pocketed but never really dropped in price as they went mainstream - c.f. the price of a CD vs. the price of a CD player since their launch. That and the "now I'll have to buy the White Album again" factor - something that the subsequent move to "mp3" failed to deliver.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I thought it was worse tbh. I'm glad Cd's still have a considerable market share.

Likewise.

I still buy CDs, not just because I like the format, but because I dislike - actually detest - the rentier model for the consumption of music that currently exists.

 

[S.B.G]

I still buy CD's and even bought a few this past weekend. While I also subscribe to Apple Music, I do so for the convenience of discovering new music and recalling old music that I may have forgotten about. But there is something to be said for going to a brick & mortar store and browsing physical media and making a purchase. Then getting home with it and opening the album up and getting to see the artwork and put your hands on the medium and playing it.

Sadly there aren't too many places to buy music from anymore. I went to a Barnes & Noble store in a very affluent city near me and their music selection was quite dismal. It was no doubt due to the advent of streaming services that they didn't offer much in the way of physical media.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I still buy CD's and even bought a few this past weekend. While I also subscribe to Apple Music, I do so for the convenience of discovering new music and recalling old music that I may have forgotten about. But there is something to be said for going to a brick & mortar store and browsing physical media and making a purchase. Then getting home with it and opening the album up and getting to see the artwork and put your hands on the medium and playing it.

Sadly there aren't too many places to buy music from anymore. I went to a Barnes & Noble store in a very affluent city near me and their music selection was quite dismal. It was no doubt due to the advent of streaming services that they didn't offer much in the way of physical media.

Agree absolutely.

I love that experience of heading into a bricks and mortar music store, (or bookstore) and browsing the shelves and racks, rummaging in the racks for music, reading sleeve notes, comparing versions (if a classical piece), admiring the cover art; and, very often, the piece of music that you headed into that shop (store) to purchase is not the only CD you end up emerging from the shop with.

And agree that the pleasure of returning home, opening the album up, admiring the artwork and then proceeding to put it on and listen to it, sometimes losing yourself in it, far exceeds that of ripping open a parcel that you have just received from Amazon.

Though I will not deny the convenience and usefulness of the latter.

 

[theluggage]

I still buy CDs, not just because I like the format, but because I dislike - actually detest - the rentier model for the consumption of music that currently exists.

You can still get most things as a legal, unprotected digital download, either from big concerns like Apple or Amazon, more fairtrade/dolphin-friendly sites like Bandcamp, indy publishers etc. No "renting" involved - most suppliers (including Apple) dropped DRM on music years ago.

I really hope that the download option doesn't get eroded as everybody jumps on the streaming bandwagon.

I have this weird vision, a few years down the line, of having to buy stuff on vinyl (which seems to be in danger of hanging around after CD has vanished) in order to rip it for digital listening... I mean, yay for the proper-sized album art, shame about the lousy sound quality & the guy permanently eating popcorn in the background...

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Similar to Scepticalscribe and SandboxGeneral I still buy CDs. It's a different feeling. (Like I will always prefer paper books to e-books).
There is an exception though, I use a flash drive in my car with my favourite music. Easier to handle.

 

[S.B.G]

Similar to Scepticalscribe and SandboxGeneral I still buy CDs. It's a different feeling. (Like I will always prefer paper books to e-books).
There is an exception though, I use a flash drive in my car with my favourite music. Easier to handle.

Agreed.

I just ordered several CD's from Amazon yesterday; ones I couldn't find locally. Plus I bought a book, a paperback, last week at Barnes & Noble.

 

[bluecoast]

I’ve got mixed feelings about not owning my music.

On the other hand I wouldn’t like to see an info graphic detailing how much money that I’ve spent on CDs in my life. Probably a small fortune!

 

[wubsylol]

Steaming services are great for convenience, but there's something special about actually owning a CD and being able to hold it in your hand. It's good to see CDs hanging on to their market share for now!

 

[willentrekin]

It's funny to see how this thread is calling to the nostalgia of owning CDs like paperbacks.

I'm not surprised by the graph, nor by the media, but I think CDs are a false positive. Maybe I'm missing the satire in the posts.

I read almost exclusively on a Kindle. If I love a book, I usually buy it signed in the best format I can, be it hardcover or trade paperback.

I feel like that's where music is going. Streaming is the convenient way of the future. That's what's going to be in our pockets.

But if you want the "something special" . . . is that really a CD? Surely that's vinyl.

If you gave me a CD right now, I might try to put it in one of my game consoles to play. Artwork? That's surely the domain of vinyl, of which CD artwork is simply a much smaller version.

 

[cbautis2]

I still collect CDs but mostly international versions instead of US release since in Asia, CDs are still very prevalent and some are even made of "super high material" aka SHM-CD. I just recently ordered the internal version of Lindsey Stirling-Shatter Me album with a different album cover (I prefer this album cover over the US version) and a "SMH-CD" made disc (better CD material though I doubt it makes a difference in sound since digital is just 0s and 1s)

 

[S.B.G]

But if you want the "something special" . . . is that really a CD? Surely that's vinyl.

To each their own. If vinyl is 'it' for you then that's great. If a CD is 'it' to others, then that's also great. What makes a person happy is what counts the most.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

First, I won't use any streaming service that isn't lossless. Second, I like actually owning the recording I'm listening to, not just "borrowing" it and having to rely on an internet connection. I also love vinyl. Not to mention with a CD you usually get a booklet that could contain lyrics or information about the music and performers.

I prefer paper books and physical music. But that's because I'm ancient and old-fashioned. Actually I'm 20. But for these two things, I'm old school.

 

[dontpokebearz]

Pretty interesting. I'm not sure we'll see owning music (vinyl, CD's, digital) go away at all. I think those numbers will just settle into their niche. Most people listen to music and streaming works just fine. Few really love music in a way that makes them want the ownership and sound quality/characteristics you get with it.

For me, i'm hybrid streaming buying. I like to buy things in person, either at a concert or music store where an experience can be attached to it. I'm only 25 and this is a more recent habit so I only have 15 or so albums. I stream other music that I haven't purchased yet, or music that I think is kind of "cheap" and now worth buying. It works for me.

All in all though, I don't think streaming is good for the industry. It'll continue the trend of cheap music that you forget about a month later.

 

[PopBodhi]

Loving the CDs I received this Christmas, Honey by Robyn and Michael Bublé's Love (deluxe disc from Target). BTW, I stream (TIDAL) these albums when I'm away from home.

 

[fastlanephil]

I still have some of my favorite old albums on CD and also a few records(to look at the covers I guess). I create music as a hobby so, for me, what I do listen to is mostly live or on my bricked iPhone 4s for my daily walk/run. It’s all from Apple Music although some of it has been purchased from iTunes and some are my CDs and music on my Mac sent to the cloud. I also have hundreds of classical CDs that came with the BBC Music magazine. Many of them I have never listened to. Listening to long classical works inspired by life from a bygone era is difficult.

I’ll probably never buy another CD unless it’s something I’m really interested in and isn’t available on Apple Music or what ever.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Where's MiniDisc?!

 

[S.B.G]

I had a MiniDisc player and lots of discs I put together and carried around with me while I was on active duty. I really loved that thing too. It went from the Mojave Desert where my base was to the hills of Korea, to the jungles of Okinawa and the Outback of Australia. It was durable and always worked.

 

[arkitect]

I had a MiniDisc player and lots of discs I put together and carried around with me while I was on active duty. It was durable and always worked.

I have great memories of MiniDiscs. Goodness knows how many players I owned.
The discs were small and — for the time — held a decent amount of music. Less cumbersome than portable CD players…
[doublepost=1545999890][/doublepost]

Where's MiniDisc?!

I also wondered.
I suppose it was missing as it was never really a music distribution format. More for home recording.

 

[S.B.G]

I have great memories of MiniDiscs. Goodness knows how many players I owned.
The discs were small and — for the time — held a decent amount of music. Less cumbersome than portable CD players…
[doublepost=1545999890][/doublepost]
I also wondered.
I suppose it was missing as it was never really a music distribution format. More for home recording.

I was just talking about the MD player a couple of months ago in the headphones thread too.

 

[Fishrrman]

I still have MiniDiscs sitting on the other table.
Have a nice SONY MD deck as well, though it doesn't get used anymore.

 

[cube]

I started buying SACDs some years ago. I have a big pile to go through.

 

[Ralfi]

Where's MiniDisc?!

!
^ MiniDisc emoji didn’t work (There is one in the Apple Keyboard!)

I remember doing a project on MiniDiscs in year 11, thinking they were going to be huge. They never took off here in Australia though, but I loved the idea of shrinking down Walkmans to a much more portable size.

We’re so spoilt now, without any mechanical mediums to lug around.