Vice: Does Anyone in the World Still Buy CDs?

Here's something to get us all riled up on a Wednesday morning Does Anyone in the World Still Buy CDs? - Noisey »

We went down to HMV, Fopp and Rough Trade to ask people: why?
Each week, us good people at Noisey get a hoard of little square parcels delivered to our office. And each week, we open these parcels dutifully, a little flutter of expectation in our bellies as we wonder, for the briefest of moments, what it could possibly be. A little square coffee table book perhaps, or a tiny frame to put a photograph in, or the flat end of a spade to bang things with. But no – each week, without fail, these little square parcels contain a shiny, buffed up CD alongside a friendly and unassuming, "Listen to me?" note – and we ask ourselves, not for the first time: what the actual ****?

To most of us, the compact disc has been redundant for over a decade now. Ever since the iPod came along and we realised we no longer had to walk around the streets clutching a walkman the size of a dinner plate, CDs have gradually disappeared from view, like porn mags or video rental stores or successful marriages. The iPod has since gone that way too, because now everything is virtual, and the only way people listen to music is by sending money to large companies on a monthly basis so they can let you listen to songs when you have the internet, forever indebting us all to corporations for entertainment and rendering physical property ultimately meaningless.

All these memories of popular bygone items got me thinking: if CDs are redundant, which we can all agree they are (unless you need them as a piece of sporting apparatus), then why do so many shops still sell them? And more importantly, who dispenses with their cash for these compact discs of Christmas past? Granted, music shops are rarer than they used to be (RIP Virgin Megastore, Tower Records, Zavvi, and all the forgotten soldiers), but many of them still exist. The fact they are now even harder to find means there must be people who are leaving their houses and getting the bus to Fopp to drop actual tenners on CDs. What's going on? What are these people buying? To find the answers to such questions, I spent the afternoon at select stores meeting CD buyers, so I could interrogate them about their frankly freaky life choices.

 

CDs are my absolute last resort. I download from HDTracks/Pono/ etc and I prefer HRA

 

I'm estimating I have brought over 30 CDs this year so far.
Several box sets, a heap of bargain buys and a few 2nd hand discs.
Have many more on order such as the Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Yes reissues and many more

 

Neil? Is that you?

 

That 'journalist' is trying way too hard.

 

I found the article funny and most of the people I l know that are under 35 feel the same way.
Personally I'm annoyed that I have one of those new cars that doesn't even have a CD player.
I have thousands of CDs but I mostly buy vinyl these days.

 

I love physical product - downloads are great - but I like to sit and look, read sleeve notes and just have the enjoyment of the physical object. The Beach Boys downloads over the last couple of years have been great but I have had to make physical copies of them.

 

@daisythejones is the twitter account of the "journalist". She really should be told what an poor, factually inaccurate article she's just written.

 

I buy cd's. And I will continue to buy cd's.

 

Still buying cd's and vinyl, whichever suits me best really. Running out of room for vinyl, cd's too so need another clearout of the less wonderful but even that is tough to do.

 

Vice is just a pathetic excuse for a website, anyway.

 

Whether the journalist is trying to be humorous, I don't know. All I know is I hate seeing articles (and threads on here.)writing the CD off. To me it still feels like a new exciting format.

 

Just reminded myself I have one of those rare trips to Berwick St, Soho next week to go shopping and always end in Fopp. Great shop, always a fun visit to find a bargain or two.

Yep, still love buying cd's.

 

I think the article is an attempt at humor.

 

Attempt being, indeed, the keyword here.

 

It was a bit of fun. What facts were there, to be inaccurate?

Tim

 

Interesting post, You'd think the CD would be among the endangered species and the extinct, but it has hung in there. How can this be explained? Virtual has been predicted to happen since the 80's, we see it in films such as Blade Runner (emotionally inexperienced replicants who share the same fears, pleasure and pain and wonder as humans do.... but have not developed empathy) I see still, new CD's at Best Buy, Walmart, etc. I am not including used CD's since there will always be a low cost option for used media items, and as some titles can not be found anywhere else.

Virtual changes life style, culture, perception, and fashion too.. how we socialize, how we look. As Eric777 mentioned, (I think a duplicate, deleted post?) this article makes me sad. It's also reflective, looking back and ahead to what music and the world is becoming!

 

I buy cds. I will continue to buy cds. I like having the product in my hands. Maybe it's a geezer thing, going back to the 60s when I used to stare at the album cover while listening to the music. I don't care.

I've tried the hi-res stuff, and I really like a lot of what I've downloaded, but after getting stung on several overly compressed, poorly mastered titles, I've all but stopped buying that format.

 

Person who wrote the article sounds like an idiot, but some of the people he interviewed sound very intelligent and articulate, especially the first one. Kudos to them for printing that instead of just printing responses that backed up their opinion (like the last one).

 

Love CDs. I'll never stop.

 

I try to buy vinyl but do occasionally pick up a CD as well. Thought the article was pointing out a cultural difference in a humorous way. Was surprised some young folk still buy CDs.

 

The "good people at Noisey" have their own set of beliefs, ideas, and values, and anyone who doesn't fit into their little boxes is beyond their understanding; they think 'old' and 'weird' are birds of a feather and go together, 'old' being anyone or anything over the age of 30(ish).

 

I counted 6 actual statements (plus loads of others wrapped up as questions)-

"To most of us, the compact disc has been redundant for over a decade now" - For "over a decade"? No.

"everything is virtual, and the only way people listen to music is by sending money to large companies". The only way? No.

"if CDs are redundant, which we can all agree they are". I don't agree, and neither do plenty of others.

"But CDs are a bit **** aren't they?" -No.

"They don't even sound that good" - Some don't, plenty do. When they don't it's not the fault of the CD medium.

"they're so easy to lose and scratch", only if you're an idiot.

 

Still plenty of porn mags for sale on the top shelf. It's always useful to have some hard copies around if the internet goes down or your computer breaks

 

Just got the new Wilco cd in the mail. Love it!