Ready to dump your CDs?

I don't think anyone who participates in this forum (an old-school web message board dedicated to the work of a guy whose job revolves around putting together expensive "audiophile" disc reissues of music from 50 years ago) is in any position to make any kind of prediction about where the industry is going to be a few years from now.

There's a lot of knowledge here, but we are an insignificant niche in an already contracting music market.

 

Yes 55000 songs in the air now......
I am not too suicidal since there were very FEW albums I don't have the original CD copy of...The beauty of collecting physicality is being able to replace these "accidents".
BTW, I am enjoying the new iTunes library and Yosemite and in my case my 160GB classic with 17000 songs will stay put as is and won't be synced for some time.......

 

Since the mid 1990's until late 2000's I almust gave up on CD's and just listened to vinyl records (new and old) - and mp3's and later on lossless files just to hear certain music.
It's only in the last six or seven years or so I've really discovered and realized just how great CD's can sound, and I also have come to appreciate the intricacies and aesthetics of 1980's discs.
I partly blame this forum for that. Nowadays I rarely listen to vinyl records anymore, and almost never buys them. CD's, on the other hand, is always on my want list.

 

You don't think people can separate their own personal preferences from a pragmatic view of where the industry is likely to go?

 

I don't see things changing much in the near term:
- Million selling CD's will never be worth more than pennies. (1987 Abbey Road for $0.01 on Amazon.)
- Titles of interest that are not that common (often LP's originally released in the pre-CD era that eventually saw a low profile CD release) skyrocket when out of print, but labels know if they didn't sell while in-print on CD they won't sell if reissued.

My hope:
Most new releases continue to be issued on CD. Downloads did not overtake CD sales the way CD's and Cassettes killed mainstream vinyl (in 1989 Vinyl LP's accounted for less than 4% of music sales, yet virtually every pop/rock title, save for a handful of CD only compilations, was available on vinyl), and now download sales are plummeting. I don't know if new CD's will be stocked in any bricks & mortar location down the road, but I hope I can always buy new CD's online and that sales never get to point where labels pull the plug and go all in on streaming.

It is a bummer if I think about how the monetary worth of my CD collection is nominal compared to the investment, but the same was true for many vinyl collections circa 1990. I smile when I think about all the good times in my adult life when my CD collection has provided the soundtrack. I'm not giving that up any time soon.

 

My cd collection is priceless no matter what others may think of it's value.

I mean...I can let go of a few cd's I have that I don't value musically, but not 99.9% of them.

Quite honestly, the only 'new' releases I care about on cd are old reissues, previously released or not. And then...only if the mastering is acceptable to me and/or the extra content. And that keeps me busy along with acquisition of older pressed cd's available here and elsewhere. So yeah...for my needs I believe I'll be able to get cd's for a long time to come.

 

Dumping CDs is nonsense. A CD lasts longer than a harddrive.

 

One more thing... I still sometimes have a Christmas morning like experience with CD packaging. I bought the recent All Things Must Pass reissue. (I had not bought the 2001 reissue.) The CD box itself resembled the LP original box including the print on the spine. The two CD's were placed inside a Purple and Gray sleeve. The CD's had an orange Apple. There was a mini poster with lyrics printed on the reserve side.

When I open a CD or an LP and am pleasantly surprised by the inserts or packaging that is a nice memory I will likely keep for the rest of my life.

 

I've been dumping them for a couple of years now.

I'm down to about 200. Mostly from bands I'm friends with.

At one point there were about 1500.

I needed the room for other physical stuff I collect.

99% of my at home listening is vinyl and in my car it's been talk radio and podcasts for years.

 

I'm playing a SACD now by Can & it sounds superb. I will never dump my CDs & I love vinyl.

 

Usually, in here, no.

There are threads about all kinda things that boggle my mind.

Threads about vinyl, against new music...and on and on.

This forum ( as good as it is in some regards ) is very stuck in the past with many posters.

 

I dumped all my CDs (except ones with sentimental value or ones I hadn't backed up digitally) about 4 years ago. I'm 100% digital & vinyl now. I don't miss my CDs. I doubt I'll ever purchase another.

 

I haven't dumped my CD's, but I've weeded them out. At one time around 1990-91 , I had around 10,000 vinyl lp's. I was about to move from NYC to go back to school, and there was no way I would be able to fit them in my truck, so I gave away most, sold some, and kept the ones that weren't available on CD. I now have around 2,000, and haven't bought one in years, nor do I plan to. I probably use my turntable once a month. I haven't regretted it since. I know there are a lot of people chomping at the bit for CD's to finally die off, but I'm not one of them. I can't understand why people are so anxious for them to go away, how are they hurting anyone?

 

Basically, no. I think the membership here, by and large, tends to approach the real world with the same blinders on as anyone who's deep into a hobby or an obscure area of knowledge. Myself included.

 

Dump a CD for an SACD hybrid? Sure.
Dump a CD for a download? Never.

 

CDs issued in the past 5 or so years that didn't become hits but are later considered desirable are going to become expensive. Very few companies are issuing physical promos anymore, so the runs for most titles are extremely small until/unless they hit.

 

I weeded my vinyl out, long ago. Felt sad for a while.

Found new stuff to listen to, along with hundreds of CD's I already had.

I no longer feel sad.

Collecting is partially an emotional and nostalgic thing, and can become obsessive.

Put all my CDs on my new comp, as MP3 Files. Now I listen to stuff FAR more than ever. So much more convenient.

 

I have no reason to get rid of my cd collection. What for-? to save space? Other than the "rare" discs-The collection has little value on the second hand market anyway. So here they will stay for now.

 

I keep the best sounding version.
If the flac dl sounds better than the CD, I'll dump the latter.
And vice versa.

 

I feel for you. I lost about 20,000 songs in a hard drive crash 10 years ago. Now I have my main PC with everything I have ripped on it. Then a 2TB external hard drive as a backup. Plus I still have my original CDs. I'd like to get one more external to keep at my in-laws house in case of a tragic event. One can never be too careful.

 

I am sizing down my cd-collection; a local store is re-selling second-hand cd's and dvd's and is acting like a ''middle man'' for the movies and albums I never watch or listen to. Tomorrow a nice shoebox full of stuff is going there....
Strange how coveted cd's I payed full prices for ten years ago totally have lost their value.
In the thrift store nearby the cd-collection is getting more spectacular each week and surpassing their vinyl collection in nice finds...and for about two dollars each....

 

3:07 p.m. EDT, October 24, 2014

I'm still playing CDs.

 

I'll keep them as I need the original to rip and/or as a backup. I spent years buying them and there is that sentimental connection.

 

Still keeping them and buying more. They stay as hard backups on the shelf if I need them for some reason after ripping them to the harddrive.