Vice: Does Anyone in the World Still Buy CDs?

I don't think I've ever had anything less than 'very good' from them.. As I said before, some of the cases are beaten up, but the discs and artwork have always been decent. I've not had to return anything. Yet.

 

The only new CDs I buy are for my Beatle/Macca collection - so I'll buy "New" or the Sgt Pepper set to have the physical copy (i.e. have all the 2009 remasters).
*Which is why that phantom download-only part of FITD re-issue pissed me off, but I digress

The last CD I bought, sometime in the mid 2000s... I totally forgot which one... but it was a new artist who had a couple songs I liked, this is before you could sample on YouTube, so I thought "well, that's worth a purchase instead of a download" - I got the CD... and it was a cover insert, blank on the back with no additional liner notes or info... so this new artist had no lyrics included, nothing but the physical CD, which I could have downloaded for cheaper... after that I was done other than archivals ...

 

I'm not certain "everyone" is doing anything of the kind but for those who are, I'd like to know where they are dumping them. In my neck of the woods the only CD's found in charity shops (or better) are dismal 80's "best of"s or chart compilations or much much worse: muzak, Clayderman, cheap classical labels, Top of The Pops etc. I never see anything half decent in the wilds in a similar way to the lack of quality of the average LP's for that matter. On Discogs, anything 'legacy', desirable or collectible usually goes for decent money.

 

But "archivals" are a huge boon to us CD buyers today. There is far more 'legacy' material now than there ever has been at anytime in the past. I've bought far more new CD's in the past 7 years than I did in the previous 30, counting the multiple box sets, archival releases and reissues / re-masterings.

 

I still buy CD's. Then I turn them into CDR's, so I buy those too.
I am always losing my mp3 files. CD's are hard to lose.

 

In 35 years I've lost exactly 1 CD, 1 CD-R and 1 DVD. In a constantly changing collection of several thousand titles I don't think that's too bad a batting average. In stark contrast, my hard-drive is a bit of a mess and like yourself I seem to misplace music files all over the place!

 

Predominately driven by born-again vinyl junkies.

 

True... I always suspected this hate is more part of a trend than an actual opinion. Someday, when people decide that CDs are cool again, the same people will probably spend hundreds re-buying the same CD's they dumped a few years ago. This is hilarious but annoying.

 

Oh ya there are usually tons of useless junk in the dollar bins, but many times I have found gems. I found John Prines "Greater Days" Set for $2.00. An entire Lyle Lovett collection I got for a buck each.

 

I don't find much good stuff on CD/LP in thrift stores either. I only have so much patience for flipping through family gospel group vanity records and Quicken CD-ROM's. I've found loads of excellent tapes, though. Sadly, most stores won't even stock them anymore.

 

Well I stopped buying CDs decades ago (other than Beatles reissues), and sold them off years ago, once iTunes took over my life, and CDs were just collecting dust.

Sure enough I couldn't refuse a $30 offer to rebuy the 2009 stereo box set. $30!!!!!!!!! Who could say no????

 

Haha, yes...but went over many heads judging by these posts! I mean how old is the dude in the article ?

 

After amassing thousands of cds in a short amount of time I now buy a select few from the internet every year. Basically my tastes have narrowed.

 

Yep. Ordered a few from DeepDiscount a few days ago.

 

I've had one that skipped, which they replaced no problem. I've also had a couple that were ex library with stamps and stickers. These were both expensive by Music Magpie standards, around £7 each, but they refunded and let me keep them.

 

I hate that. CD is a great format.

 

This is largely mythology, in my opinion, Most people who are "born-again vinyl junkies" also enjoy CD's and other digital formats. Most people who get back into LP's don't dump all their CD's. I buy mostly LP's now but I still have tons of CD's and listen to them. If you want to see some really bitter hatred for a format, look in most any thread dedicated to LP's. The trolling starts early and often. CD threads like this one are overwhelmingly positive - most people here have weighed in mainly to point out how they still love the CD and always will. I don't see any "born-again vinyl junkies" hating on CD's in this thread.

 

This month instead of giving Tidal £20 to rent cd quality music for a month I thought I'd see what actual cds I could get for the same amount. This tidy lot came in under that, delivered! Between the questionable quality of a lot of new vinyl and the fact I just bought a rega apollo-r, I see a lot more in my future. I'm a collector at heart I guess and files on a drive don't cut it. I love vinyl, but I'm going to be super selective in what I buy from now on.

 

Imagine being able to get a batch like that for £20 in 1985 when I bought my first CD player!

 

Some Music Magpie stuff is expensive.. Luckily the titles I've bought have mostly cost less than a fiver.

 

Music Magpie's top price for a used single CD is £6.99.

I buy from them every week. The odd disc will skip - they'll always replace or refund without a fuss.

 

Crazy isn't it! These are all from musicmagpie btw.... everything has played fine so far, maniacs are playing right now, not my favourite band in the world, but 90p well spent

 

I actually bought one a few weeks ago. It was the first one I bought since 1983. It sucked and taught me a lesson.

 

I can tell you now that INXS disc sounds great.

 

I buy about 20 CDs per month, and listen to about six every day, pretty much exclusively in the car because I have a long commute. They sound great, they're nice objects, and it's easy to swap out a CD when one is done and you're ready for the next one. I can't stand mp3s or other computer files, but they're good for listening to music on random from one's phone (I do this for '70s pop hits). Fiddling with a little menu screen in the car is just not possible when you are driving along at 65 mph and you need glasses to read, anyway. Hitting the 'Eject' button, on the other hand--easiest thing in the world. Sometimes I listen to vinyl at home, but I have to be relaxed and able to sit still for forty minutes without being disturbed (not easy with kids and dogs).

Back to mp3s, when they became popular, I started the miserable process of converting my massive CD collection, but just couldn't keep up. Metadata that comes with many CDs is badly done and so must be corrected (I'm a librarian; I just can't let it go), and metadata for classical music is the clumsiest thing in the world, and always wrong on store bought CDs. Also, levels must be standardized so you don't get a quiet song next to a loud one, and tracks that had segued into one another have to be "repaired" (either rejoin them or artificially fade them in/out).

I am a busy person and just don't have time to mess around with thousands of mp3s, so CDs are the obvious choice for me. Why people moved on baffles me, and I find this question bizarre, though numbers don't lie. CDs are great, man!