With vinyl record manufacturers working beyond capacity, new releases on CD's hit the market long before their vinyl versions. Because of price-gouging, CD's tend to cost less than their vinyl counterparts. CD's still offer bonus tracks not available on vinyl.
Was trying to figure out how streaming and physical sales were both up, at the same time. Then I read this part: Net revenues from physical products bucked the recent trend in unit sales and grew 5% to $485 million in 1H 2019; however, this growth was the result of a reduction in physical product returns, and on a gross basis the revenues from physical product would have been down for the period. So I agree that perhaps things are starting to stabilize, or at least slow down. But they technically aren't on the rise for CD's and it could just slide down again.
This isn't difficult to figure out. Firstly, people enjoy collecting, so if they listen to something they really like on Tidal, they might be induced to purchase related merchandise, including CDs. Secondly and most importantly, discographies on streaming services are fragmented. There are pitifully few Arrau Schumann recordings for instance, and almost no albums from Neil Morse. Very few artists offer complete discographies on streaming. If people are stimulated to explore and enjoy music by the convenience of streaming, they might wish to pursue their passion deeper by getting fuller discographies on CD. I've been collecting CDs for almost 30 years and own thousands of them, however as a result of my subscription to Tidal recently I've been buying even more that what I used to. Prices for less common out-of-print CDs have risen markedly, which is a sign there is a healthy demand for them.
Or it could be as the RIAA had pointed out in their report. And that I cited here. You're preaching to the choir btw - I buy CD's and LP's all the time, as do many of us here. And I do what you do, as far a music discovery. But I'd be deluding myself if I thought what we do here on the forum is what the general music population plans to also do.
You'd be deluding yourself too if you believed we don't exist either. Just because the soda market is huge doesn't mean a market for fine wine can't exist as well. Clearly CDs won't return as a mass medium, however there is a healthy, non-negligible market for them among music connoisseurs like ourselves. In Spain and the U.K. CD sales are increasing, while in the U.S. they have stabilized, which would indicate that the punks who don't care for them have already ditched them and those who do will keep purchasing them at a healthy rate.
Vinyl and cds are not just audio to me. I also have a certain amount of pleasure reading the liner notes, looking at the pictures, and stuff like that. So it's a visual thing too. If it's all streamed I don't feel like I own it. It's more like listening to someone else's stuff that I have access to.
More often than not, that is simply not the case. Look through threads on the forum for new releases and see how many state that the CD and LP sound identical. There are not that many. There are however many examples of people having both formats and moaning that the CD is crushed whilst the LP sounds much more open and dynamic.
I haven't noticed. My experience tells me the opposite. Can you quote some examples of simultaneous CD/LP releases where this is the case?
I'm not sure what this reply has to do with what I was talking about. I was talking about albums I can't get on CD because no CD release exists because a record company has made the decision that it's not worth it to release the album on CD -- some times it's a case of a decision having been made not to put out any physical media release in any format; sometimes its a decision that has been made to put out an album on streaming/download and vinyl but not CD; sometimes it's a case of a catalog album that has been allowed to go out of print on CD but is still available as a download or stream. I have increasingly found over the last couple of years that music I'm interested in listening to is not being made available by record companies on CD.
A niche market, of course, can exist. But for big owners of music copyrights like record companies, to continue making CDs, the business of manufacturing and offering CDs has to be sufficiently profitable to justify the investment in their production vs. spending that money in some other area of the business that provides at greater return. Maximizing ROI. I don't think it's really a question of "music connoisseurs" -- there are really very, very few audiophiles or collectors. It's a question of markets where money can be made by offering special packaging: like the multiple cover/various packaging editions of Taylor Swift's Lover this year being sold at retail stores, if you can get young fans to buy all four editions, or pay a premium for the special edition with all the diary pages and extra swag, well that's a business reason to put out a CD. Or markets like Japan, the second biggest market for music in the world, where physical media is still in demand and people haven't converted to streaming at the same rate that they have in the US, which is the biggest music market in the world and generate about twice the annual revenue that the Japanese market does. (And of course there are these smaller markets too, like Spain, they're not the big markets that drive the large scale trends, but the have to be serviced with what consumers want too). It'll be interesting to see if a substantial "music connoisseur" super premium CD market develops. In the past, that kind of premium, specialty market has been one that has been served by specialty label who have been able to license material from copyright holders to put out specialty editions. I wonder if a business licensing music to specialty CD providers who offer special, limited edition, CD releases will become part of the market. Or if CD will continue to show up for some releases and in some markets as long as production is cheap enough and enough retail outlets exist to sell CD. Retail support is also important to think about, because manufacturers are only going to produce CDs if retailers will place bulk orders for CDs. No one is going to produce CD to have boxes of them sitting around a warehouse. If the number of retailers carrying CDs continues to dwindle (and the 2019 1H RIAA numbers I think look better for CD because we don't see the returns last year like we saw when Best Buy et al got out of the business), so will the number of CDs made. Also, with lower demand music and releases, I think you'll see what a continuation of what we have been seeing in lower-demand corners of the music market -- physical media editions will quickly be allowed to go out of print after the initial sales period, and then the only available physical release will be used, or maybe there will be on-demand CD-R offerings, which certainly will not satisfy collector types.
It's not just a feeling, if you're listening to it on a streaming platform, you don't own it, that's just literally true. Just like if you stream a TV show on Netflix you don't own it, or if you lease a car you don't own it, or if you go out for a meal you don't own the food or furnishings. It's a service.
"Prices for less common out-of-print CDs have risen markedly, which is a sign there is a healthy demand for them." - Classical CD I know I won't pay some of the prices I see "I have increasingly found over the last couple of years that music I'm interested in listening to is not being made available by record companies on CD."- chervokas Too true.
I am getting tired of paying $5.99 for standard/slow shipping on a CD through Amazon. At this point, I am only purchasing discs through MusicDirect or eBay, otherwise I am pretty much going back to iTunes. I just can't afford to pay out the rear for shipping on this stuff. And then sometimes Amazon will pull this "Add On Item" bs where you can't buy the CD because the shipping costs more than the disc. At this point, malls and Best Buy's CD/DVD section will make a comeback.
Obviously we exist, but the question is the numbers. Look at the new Tool album, as an example, and this was a band that avoided streaming for a very long time. Their CD version was released same day but 1) was a limited pressing and 2) wasn't a standard CD price to begin with. You want the $12 CD? Nope, doesn't exist yet - buy the download or stream it. That's not something we would have seen 13 years earlier. I'm enjoying the buyer's market on used CD's today on one hand, but on the other I don't know where things are headed as a result. Possibly something akin to the SACD market and the demographics there. New releases for non-jazz / non-classical / non-classic rock titles could simply dry up.
I recently bought the Elton John reissued lps and also the newly released japan shm mini-lp cds. have to say the mini-lp cds will be my go to for listening. They sound fantastic. I'll still spin the vinyl time to time, but in this case, I'm not so sure the vinyl tops the cd IMHO. As for the subject matter on hand. I still buy both cd, SACD & vinyl. Example the upcoming Abbey Road. pre-ordered the cd box but also the vinyl. I think they can both co-exist easily. Well in my world of music they can.
A Prime membership is one of the best values in my life. I forgot they even charged for standard shipping...
More recent releases purely from the top of my head: Rolling Stones - Blue and Lonesome Buckingham McVie album Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant Roger Waters - Is This the Life David Bowie - Blackstar Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks Bob Dylan - Modern Times Radiohead - In Rainbows Slipknot - We are not your kind These are just a few I can think of but if you check out new releases the vinyl is often hailed as being a superior version. Of course there are then quality audiophile re-releases which are also in a different league. Things like Rumours 45 RPM, MFSL releases and so on. Although most of my vinyl is older Analogue cuts which I have never heard bettered. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Iron Maiden etc.
Thank-you. I could probably quote as many where the CD is a good as the vinyl. And I would argue with your quality audiophile re-releases though, because those companies usually take as much trouble over the CD as they do the vinyl. And I know from experience that MFLS CD sound very much like the vinyl.
Tool's latest album is being offered as of this moment for $158.99 on Amazon, and is selling for around $100 on Ebay. I don't follow this artist and have no idea what the story behind this is, but clearly at least some people want their CDs. As I said earlier, I have seen steep price increases for many CDs (when they are available at all and haven't flown from sellers' inventories). I was keeping an eye out for the Haydn String Quartets set by the Festetics Quartet. A copy finally showed up at Amazon for $100. It lasted for all of four or five days before it was snatched up. Demand for CDs is clearly there, even if not as a mass medium. When a title is not released on CD we must rather ask ourselves what corporate strategy is the music industry pursuing. That streaming is profitable doesn't mean CDs can't be. It is like saying that because a big mac is profitable for MacDonald's they won't sell you ice cream to go along with it. I'm certain record companies appreciate my $100 for a classical box set to complement the $7 a month I pay here for my Tidal subscription.
It was a limited pressing with unique packaging (video screen included with additional material). There is no standard CD yet...so unless someone wants to pay those ridiculous prices, the only other option right now is the download or streaming. Steep prices on limited pressing or OOP items only shows that there's is a collector's market out there. I'm sure that will continue for a long time, same as LP's. But as a mass consumer item for new releases, that window is starting to close. The corporate strategy is pretty obvious - again, look at the latest RIAA numbers. 80% of their revenue is coming from streaming....so that's where their focus is right now.
Yes but what do they plan to do with their dominance once CDs are pushed aside? My answer to that is that, loving music, I'm purchasing as many CDs as I can.
It's a continuous revenue stream and what other companies are doing - for example, software subscriptions. Move your average consumer to streaming only and they will keeping paying you for decades. Just look at all the posts from @schnitzerphilip on that same topic as those particular comments are on point. As for what I will do? Same feeling, I'm buying up used CD's / LP's now for catalogue stuff I want to keep around for a long time and new CD's / LP's for new releases with the same idea. If new release CD's become niche and/or LP new releases decrease over time, I have contingency plans for that as well. I'm also good with digital downloads as long as they're fairly priced, but at the rate things are going those will be gone before CD's are.
