"Put the Compact Disc Out of Its Misery" article. Comments?

700$$ for an 8 track tape. The audio world HAS gone nuts.

 

BTW, Star Wars is another film that is only available on VHS right now.

 

AM radio sounded bad when I was a kid. I still enjoyed listening to it. It's the music. When I began listening to equipment and sound, I began to miss the point.

 

Mikey, do not tell the 8trackheaven.com site that you think the audio world has gone nuts over an 8 track selling for $700.

 

I agree with you. While I've been collecting audio formats and audiophile formats for many years, I've turned away from totally dissecting every little thing I listen to. I still enjoy my 8-tracks, the few beat up old records I have still sound better on my Zenith cobramatic than on any of my high-end gear, I still enjoy am radio, my 78rpm collection of classic early rock and roll, even my playtapes. I still get the charge I got when I was a kid, and I no longer worry because there's a 'dropout' or head alignment prob in the mastering stage (as long as it isn't hyped as 'better sounding' when it's really quite the opposite). But I admit cds leave me cold most often and out of the 4 or 5 thousand I own, very few get significant replays unless I love it and it just isn't available any other way. Give me vinyl, reel, 8-track or DVD-A over any of the others and I'm most happy

 

ah, but if you heard it, you'd know why

It appears in a few weeks everyone will have the SACD m/ch mix, which may be great, I haven't heard it. However, it won't be the original Alan Parsons discrete quad mix which was on that particular 8-track, that 8-track -only-, and not available any other way except for the horrible matrixed SQ vinyl (which doesn't decode discrete, I've heard it on a well calibrated tate II and it still doesn't compare).

 

I prefer LPs over Cds, but I thank god EVERYDAY for CDs.

The "Compact Disc Revolution" made it economically worthwhile for record companies to release old forgotten catalogs. It also created the "remastering" craze which in turn FORCED record companies to FIND not only "tapes" but also THE original master tapes. Before 1981 most record companies couldn't care less about original master tapes. They were content making LPs from 36th generation tapes.

Would we have compleat Robert Johnson box sets if it wasn't for CDs??

As for new formats, when I see Columbia House or BMG offering 11 SACDs or DVD-As for 1 cent I will declare the CD dead.

BC

 

Interesting comment. I think of "equipment and sound" as a double-edged sword. In some cases, with the advantage of a quality mastering like so many DCC titles, I'm able to appreciate the music as never before--almost like hearing it for the first time. Other times, unfortunately, I can't get past the imperfections in the "sound" and, as you say, miss the point. To this day I've yet to get the same thrill from the Stones' "Satisfaction" as I did many years ago when it came pounding from out of the single speaker of my '60 Ford Fairlane. Of course, being 16 may have something to do with it.

 

The human ear isn't accurate enough to notice the inaccuracy introduced by CD, at least not in most cases. Besides, in the whole process, there are more inaccuracies introduced than those which are intrinsic to the CD format....

 

It's always about the music for me firas and foremost!

 

Am I crazy or didn't we already have a thread about this article? Anyway, bravo to those of us who care more about music than technology. Live music is still the best. And there are no bad CD's, but there are plenty of bad engineers and record producers.

 

I just remember one year, when CDs occupied one row at Tower. Then by the end of that year, LPs had 1 row and CD took over! I was amazed. I think the record industry forced the CD on us for bigger margins, but little did they know that the CD would be their eventual downfall. They did not have the insight to predict the impact of fast, affordable PCs, and the internet would have on their profit margin. They have no one to blame but themselves for short-sighted profits.

 

How could the CD have been their downfall? They sell gruntloads of them at ridiculous prices. I believe the problem is the inflated lifestyles of rich and famous musicians with their sycophantic A&R people, producers, and hangers-on that needlessly bloat the production costs of recorded music (Not to mention superfluous videos. I could make the case that MTV alone killed the record industry). Jeez.

 

ATR, you missed my point. They are crying bloody murder at MP3 and Napster. If they had just sticked with LPs, the whole Napster thing might not even exist today.

JEEZ!!!

 

another thing about cd that hurts the industry is it's durability. Back in the stone age of lps, time was you'd buy a record you love (say, meet the beatles) wear it out and have to buy another one. Many, many people did this. The tonearms with 5 gram weight could destroy a record in just a few plays, but people would still play them until the surface noise drowned out the music. Then, you'd just cough up another $3 and buy another one 8-tracks were much the same way, but with those, the prob was usually a break in the splice and people not knowing how to fix it, or a jammed on the inside tape (same consumer response). Cassettes could wear out too but I'm referring to the golden age of 60's collecting, whereas in the 70's this is the era that cassette came into it's own. I still consider them a substandard format worthy of nothing but the car, but that's just me Reels were great but hard to find and cumbersome to use, playtapes were a non-starter (and rather lame with 2-4 tracks on them), singles were hot but also wore quickly. Fewer people were as picky about protecting their vinyl in those days. But as I said, that was basically irrelevant, as if you didn't screw up the vinyl your stylus would
Very few people saw records as having any kind of future value, which is why nice ones go for a mint today!

 

I didn't miss your point. I just disagree that digital recording and storage formats are killing the recording industry. And I suggested what I thought were some more important problems in the entertainment business.
It was inevitable that the LP would be replaced, and even the article that started this thread suggests that SACD and DVD-A are already obsolete before they've even been established as viable commercial formats. It was also inevitable that digital recording and storage would be nightmarish for copyright protection. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't have been invented.

 

I'm glad they invented the digital format...The consumer is finally in control.

 

In Control

>>>>>>Michael has hit the nail right on the head.

The REAL problem is that the Record Industry is an industry that is TERRIFIED of the consumer being in control. They have never had to deal with that since the biz started in 1901. They were always used to forcing THIER vision/product/catalog on the customer, and were highly succesfull at it, all thru the 20th Century, basically. Thats why as recently as NOW you still have "Greatest Hits" comps that omit key chart hits, are mastered from sub par sources, with shoddy artwork, etc...because it was the A&R guys vision, not the consumers vision.

They werent like the Electronics industry that was forced to change almost on a monthly basis based on consumer demands. Electronics companies that did not change to meet these demands went out of business, pure and simple. Nobody wanted black and white TVs anymore, so out they went. Nobody wanted Monoraul music systems, so out they went. Did the Electronics companies cry that technology was ruining their profits? No they didnt. They rose to the challenge in the best Amercian tradition, and gave the public what they wanted, and they made TONS OF MONEY.

So, the Record biz now finds themselves in a postion they never evisioned....music and technology have merged in EVERYONES minds.....EXCEPT the Record Companies. They just refuse to believe that THEY have to cowtow to the customer...because they never had to before.
The industry is scared. Terrified. The old paradigm is no more.

Instead of recognizing and aquiessing to overwhelming consumer wants, like digital downloading, MP3 burning, pocket digital music, etc, what do they do?? They try, at every turn to "prohibit" their customers from these very same wants!! Are they for real??
If there was EVER a recipe for disaster, thats it.

Copy protection on Cds so that I, the owner, cannot Rip it to my hard drive? WRONG.
Music that expires after 48 hours, forcing me to pay again? WRONG
Suing people who download a new song because its NOT AVAILABLE as a single? WRONG


They try to , once again, push THEIR vision onto the consumer. And so, we have SACD, and DVD-A , two formats with an obsolete delivery platform (A spinning disk, how VERY 1970s) that basically, nobody asked for!!

Do the masses REALLY care about Surround Sound? No, they dont. They DO care about file portability, playing music on their PCs, and the freedom to manipulate the music within their own personal technology, ANY way that works for them. And that means Ripping, Burning, and Sharing, whether the Record guys like it or not.

"No No No, say the Record Companies...you cant do that!!!"
They even tried to sue Apple Computer for using "Rip, Burn, etc" in their Ads. It is almost not to be believed.

Oh yes they can. And they will. The market drives the industry, not the other way around. And the Record Companies better learn that lesson, and fast.

If I were running a Record company, I would do all of the above because thats what MY CUSTOMERS WANT. I would know that I could offer a faster, better quality download , SAFe, virus free file of a better sounding music master than KazAa, and I would know that I have a huge vault of titles that if made available via download, would generate a profit for me. I would not be maddingly concerned that the profit wasnt Huge. I would not say "this title must sell 50,000 copies (or downloads) or I will not issue it".

I would find out what my customers are asking for , and I would give it to them, at a good and fair price. And if I only made a 30% profit by doing this , I would be happy because I would not start off 10,000,000 dollars in the whole by overpaying to sign a mediocre artist that had big hits in the 70s . I would use common sense.

Sadly, Common Sense is what the Record Industry lost along the way.

End of soapbox.

 

Re: In Control

One word....GREED. Paybacks a bitch. They screwed us for years...Just recently going through my thousands of Cee Dee's and getting disgusted after counting the times I've purchased a Cee Dee for ONE SONG!!! They blatantly left off to bait me into REPURCHASING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN....How does it feel? I've paid my dues in the past with thousands of LP's now with thousands of Cee Dee's...GUESS WHAT?....I'M DONE.