Post by Professor Gommel on Mar 24, 2007 13:00:07 GMT -5
The end of the CD era...
The writing has been on the wall for a while. Digital formats are the new way and CDs are becoming obsolete. It pains me to realize this, as I am an avid music fan with over two thousand CDs littered about the house, (much to my wife’s chagrin… ’til she wants to borrow something, anyways.) The same thing happened to me when the LP entered its declining years. Resistance, denial, renewed loyalty, debates of the merits of various formats, (some "debates" getting uglier than necessary,) but it happened nonetheless, and LPs are history.
The death of the CD, however, I believe is a good thing, despite how much I love my music collection. Oh sure, ecologists preach about the plastics and product wastes, (although, ironically, you’d be hard pressed to find a tree-hugging hippie who would turn down a lost Grateful Dead recording,) but I am talking about the bottom line: What’s in it for me?
CDs, as with any recording, have always been a mixed bag. A great release may have some radio hits, some awesome underappreciated masterpiece, a tune or two that have personal appeal to some, possible a cover or two, and, too often, some filler tracks.
From a consumer perspective, moving the music from releases of 10 to 15 tracks at a whack back to singles, (such as the buck-a-pop iTunes store,) frees me from purchasing anything more than the tunes I want. It should also, (in theory, anyways,) up the ante for bands to create better music, with each song or tune now needing to stand on its own merit and not coat-tailing the hits.
For those who NEED a physical item, (for piece of mind, or perhaps equipment dependent on it,) most Mp3 programs, like iTunes, easily allow a person to burn a CD from one’s preferred tracks, customizing each disc to its listener.
From a band’s/musician’s perspective, this should, (again, in theory,) free up the musicians of the burden of producing a certain required amount of tracks before recording and selling their music. From a financial angle, recording costs for a smaller amount of tracks are greatly diminished, meaning a marketable product is more quickly released, meaning royalties and profit are quicker to appear, meaning further recording costs are more easily met and bands can utilize more of their time performing to support current products and promote future ones.
Plus, there’s that whole plastics issue.
Now most of you may say, “Yeah… uh, no shit!” and others I’m sure will disagree on the basis of considerations I may be unaware of, (or just 'cuz ya like to argue, ya basstids!), but I thought this was an interesting enough topic for discussion. Have I left out points, or overlooked something in favor of one side or the other? Whatcha think?
The writing has been on the wall for a while. Digital formats are the new way and CDs are becoming obsolete. It pains me to realize this, as I am an avid music fan with over two thousand CDs littered about the house, (much to my wife’s chagrin… ’til she wants to borrow something, anyways.) The same thing happened to me when the LP entered its declining years. Resistance, denial, renewed loyalty, debates of the merits of various formats, (some "debates" getting uglier than necessary,) but it happened nonetheless, and LPs are history.
The death of the CD, however, I believe is a good thing, despite how much I love my music collection. Oh sure, ecologists preach about the plastics and product wastes, (although, ironically, you’d be hard pressed to find a tree-hugging hippie who would turn down a lost Grateful Dead recording,) but I am talking about the bottom line: What’s in it for me?
CDs, as with any recording, have always been a mixed bag. A great release may have some radio hits, some awesome underappreciated masterpiece, a tune or two that have personal appeal to some, possible a cover or two, and, too often, some filler tracks.
From a consumer perspective, moving the music from releases of 10 to 15 tracks at a whack back to singles, (such as the buck-a-pop iTunes store,) frees me from purchasing anything more than the tunes I want. It should also, (in theory, anyways,) up the ante for bands to create better music, with each song or tune now needing to stand on its own merit and not coat-tailing the hits.
For those who NEED a physical item, (for piece of mind, or perhaps equipment dependent on it,) most Mp3 programs, like iTunes, easily allow a person to burn a CD from one’s preferred tracks, customizing each disc to its listener.
From a band’s/musician’s perspective, this should, (again, in theory,) free up the musicians of the burden of producing a certain required amount of tracks before recording and selling their music. From a financial angle, recording costs for a smaller amount of tracks are greatly diminished, meaning a marketable product is more quickly released, meaning royalties and profit are quicker to appear, meaning further recording costs are more easily met and bands can utilize more of their time performing to support current products and promote future ones.
Plus, there’s that whole plastics issue.
Now most of you may say, “Yeah… uh, no shit!” and others I’m sure will disagree on the basis of considerations I may be unaware of, (or just 'cuz ya like to argue, ya basstids!), but I thought this was an interesting enough topic for discussion. Have I left out points, or overlooked something in favor of one side or the other? Whatcha think?