CDs Are Dying Three Times as Fast as Vinyl Is Growing

Disagree on newspapers )).

 

I now figure that I am to the point (or maybe already past it), where I have enough audio gear, both tube and SS to outlast me.

Which was my intention.

Things that have advancing technology, like TV sets, I don't worry about. I can always buy a replacement for aging technology.

I have vintage gear that is already a half century old or even older and I expect that it will be around for a long time to come.

No worries here. I have even laid in a nice supply of tubes!

 

I have a 3910. 13 years old and still going strong.

 

Can’t spot Electric Ladyland 50th on Spotify here in the UK. Haven’t seen anything about sales figures either. Guess it wasn’t cheap?

 

Most people I know have hand-me-downs from their parents or an older sibling that seem to work fine. I think buying them is probably tricky, but my guess is there are plenty of kids through people in their 30s/40s who have simply raided the attic / basement / garage and found something that works for them. I have a lot of vintage gear, and aside from my tube amp, I've had to do little to any of it – that stuff was built to last, and if taken care of, it did.

 

I honestly think the 'mall music store' could be saved if stores opened dedicated to vinyl. And I mean, if an album is available out there on the market, make it available in your store.

No more "one little section of vinyl and a small selection of overpriced CD's" and calling that a music store. If it takes rolling back the decades to save the physical music store, DO IT. And hey - cassettes have a niche audience now, carry those as collectables.

 

Now, that makes sense. Built to last it was!

 

People still go to malls?

 

It's about £40 from what I've seen on ebay, although I haven't been looking too closely at prices since I read the reviews here.

 

Seems to work in Canada with Sunrise records. CDs do better up here because Canada postage rates are so much higher(shipping and receiving)

 

The mall across the street from me is thriving - and it's one of three within five minutes of each other, on the same road even. One of them even died out and reopened recently under new management.

Even though Pittsburgh's grossly overmalled (we had 25 of them at one time), most of the ones that have died out were because of severe mismanagement.

 

Not sure if you know anyone that runs a store, but this is just completely impossible. I know the gent that runs my local shop which is all vinyl and honestly maybe 20% of his stock comes in and sells quickly. Maybe 60% will sit for a few months or a year and sell. And about 20% never sells. So 80% of his business is just storing product that doesn't sell quickly.

Expecting a physical shop to be able to afford the the upfront cost of bringing it in and floor space to stock every lp available is a bit ridiculous. The only reason online stores like Amazon can have access to such a huge selection is that they have huge warehouses to store it in and a worldwide market to sell it to.

 

as great as that sounds, it's impossible. For reasons posted by the Canadian above. Same rule applies in the USA

 

Just to throw some more anecdotal information on the pile:

Next month, the flagship location of Newbury Comics, New England's biggest record store chain, is closing their flagship store on Newbury Street in Boston and moving into a bigger location a few doors down. It's a three-story space with comics and collectables on the top floor, apparel on the second floor, and vinyl on the first floor. No CDs at all.

 

Unfortunately. HMV is in adminstration again in the UK and may or may not survive- although that is more to do with the decline in DVD sales and the ridiculous situation regarding rents for businesses in the UK as it is to do with decline of the CD. No-one is denying that is happening. BUT we are on a thread where the CD is said to be dying - and yet 32 million were still sold in the UK last year. That's still around 6 or 7 more units than vinyl - which is apparently plateauing.

 

As German general Gerd Von Runstedt stated of the German general retreat just before Market Garden was launched in WWII, "Apparently we are retreating faster than the Allies can advance."

Bob

 

Not quite sure of your point, but Operation Market Garden failed.

 

CD sales may be dropping do to streaming and other free music sources but my CD collection is still growing.

 

I just love music. If I happen to own it on vinyl I'll listen happily. If I own it on CD, I'll happily listen. If I stream it, I listen happily. If I have it on tape..yeh you get the idea. One exception, 8 track (although I would listen it I had the need) and old MP3 files, those were cringe-worthy I'll admit. But if it's the only way I have a bootleg I still may listen. Not picky.

 

No kidding. I've taken to doing searches for items I once deemed "too expensive" to ever be able to own. I found a 2-CD set of a title from the UK that was selling for more than $100 a few years ago -- I just ordered it from a third-party seller on Amazon for the price of $0.99 + shipping. Listed in "very good" condition, too, but even if it's not in great condition, for $5 total I won't be complaining.

Storage is real problem I'm having right now; I must've added 200 CDs to my collection last year, because I feel like I need to take advantage of the ability to buy anything and everything for next-to-nothing prices. (I did the same thing with vinyl back in the early 1990s.)

 

Probably a big mistake. Not ditching their CDs, but moving. Seen it many times before. Successful business moves to a bigger store, then wallop, store is closing down.

 

And vinyl isn’t overpriced?

Vinyl has plateaued imho. It will decline in the coming years once again and the only remaining shops will be the ones that weathered through the last vinyl purge.

 

pretty sure we can find the exact same statement from others from the past few years. sure, it will decline again SOMETIME, just like we're all gonna die SOMETIME.

 

Wow. This is the first news to make me really worry about the future of CDs, at least the prospect of buying new ones. I live nowhere near the area and only know of Newbury Comics by reputation, but that certainly seems like a huge deal for them to ditch CDs completely.

Time to find a new hobby. I'll probably keep collecting used CDs, but I guess no more new music in my life. Sure as **** not going down the vinyl or streaming only route for new music.