The article is quite entertaining to say the least. Of course, those of us who are still attached to the format due to personal preferences can enjoy reading it. I don't believe that the cd is dead as many claim, on the contrary it is still a valid alternative for many (and I include myself among these) just as vinyl has not ended up disappearing after all (and against all odds after its near extinction in the late 80's) Even the manufacturers continue betting on the format and you can see how even the big manufacturers still offer new mid-range and high-end Cd players. The convenience of the format, as described in the article is unquestionable. Especially for those of us who still buy our music in physical format and have not migrated to streaming. What is really important after all is that there is a market for everyone, for vinyl and cd lovers. So everyone goes for what they really want... Personally, I use both formats, although I haven't bought a vinyl in more than 25 years and at the time I kept my collection properly, the same thing I have been doing with my cds. And I really believe that although streaming gains more ground even in the coming years in terms of physical formats, we will continue to see both coexist for the benefit of music lovers... so so enjoy while you're here
You're on your own in Memphis, a city I've been in twice, although if Goner Records is still open, that'd be the first place I'd look. But there's over 5 million albums on Bandcamp. If you can't find anything you like there, you don't like music. You just like a couple of bands.
I also notice those incredible price differences. Perhaps its a price-volume relationship thing, they don't expect to sell a lot of the high-priced cd?
New CD prices are cheaper than vinyl which is good but it the used CDs where all the great deals are currently. There are exceptions of course but for the most part great deals can be found on used CDs. Similar to vinyl in the late 90s and early to mid 2000s.
Yes they did rise during their heyday which pissed me off at the time because I knew how cheap they were to mass produce compared to vinyl.
Many of the "non-collectible, common albums" are great albums and while I may have passed on a lot them in the past today I see them with prices that just make me go yeah I have a mild interest in that and for $1 to $4 price range why not?
Someone with a better memory for that stuff would have to chime in on when "Nice Price" and other "bargain" CD lines came to existence. 1986 or 1987 sounds about right, but that's just a guess. My comments were that I could get popular new releases in the $10-$12 range back in 1986 or so - in my recollection, that's when "price wars" started to occur. As I mentioned, the Wiz came to DC in 1986 and they'd sell popular titles at $10. I definitely bought some albums I otherwise might've skipped because they were cheap! I didn't have lotsa $$$ back then - college kid - so I paid pretty close attention to prices. That's why I recall $15 or so being common at various retailers back then - for US releases, at least. I know I "splurged" on some imports like the Black Triangle "Abbey Road", but even then, I don't think I paid massive $$$ - I got "Abbey Road" in June 1985 and suspect it cost like $22...
Yup - most of my favorite albums took a while, sometimes years, to really appreciate. That could never happen with streaming, because streaming comes with a "move on to the next song" mentality.
I'm both amazed and pleased that Generation Records is still there on Thompson street! It used to be on my "route" in the Village for weekend disc shopping (which also included Bleeker Street Records mentioned in the article). I thought with real estate prices being what they are in NYC today, they'd be long gone.
Someone with similar tastes as myself unloaded at the local thrift. Cheap CD's = self-control lacking
This enters "old man yells at cloud" territory, but I really do feel glad I grew up at a time when I didn't have every recorded note at my fingertips, for exactly the reason you mention. As a kid in the 70s/80s, my music purchasing $$$ were limited, so when I got a new album, I played it to death, no matter what I thought of it off the bat. Not that I expect a kid to look at that and say "you were lucky, old man!" On the surface, it sounds ridiculous to prefer limited accessibility to something, and I can't imagine a 20-year-old today would want that situation. But as a music fan, I question whether I would've been as invested in music if I'd been able to jump from one artist to another so easily. Would I feel as strongly about my faves as I did when I was young?
I feel like that too. I had to fight for every record I got as a kid/teenager. I have a feeling that had I been able to listen to any album I wanted on release day, it would have wiped away any need to ‘collect’ music. As it turns out, I’ve rather enjoyed doing just that. But if streaming were around in the 70s, I’m sure I’d have felt no need to own a record. On an unrelated note, even Ricky Gervais made a joke on After Life last week about ‘no one buying CDs since 2000’. We can do without his input.
Does it, though? I've only within the last year or so fully brought streaming into my mostly vinyl / some CD listening patterns, and I don't get this "move on to the next song" jones in the least, any more than I get up and skip tracks on an LP or dig around for the remote to skip tracks on a CD. There's nothing intrinsic to streaming that makes me only give a song 30 seconds before I skip to something else. Do y'all also switch channels constantly when you're watching TV? If so, it may be you, not streaming.
I think some people get flustered with the whole "giant ocean" thing. Which I get -- but when something catches my ear I'll mark it for later listening. Sometimes it will fizzle out but sometimes a few listens will grow on me. I also think there's a little confusion on an album growing on someone in a more organic fashion versus facing the options of an album they bought as more of a blind buy, at full price [note : this includes albums of artists I liked where I bought their follow-up album without thinking]. I've had the latter where you didn't want that $17 to go to waste.....and sure in a few cases they did grow on me but was that because I wanted it to, or because I forced myself to?
These aren't titles I'd pick up but I'm pleased you made what you think was a good score. Eighteen bucks for nine CDs= bargain.
I've been slowly going through the titles Gas. Weird, I haven't heard Tears Are Falling in decades. They played at my old Highschool Homecoming back in 76. I was way to young, but my aunt was there. So years of hearing about it later on equaled disdain by default As you probably know by now I'm pretty much open to anything.
Somebody will come up with a calculation showing new CD’s are (regardless of the plastic) more carbon neutral than Streaming requiring huge data centers and there we go. Digipak’s! Death of the power hungry streaming services. I have hundreds of CD’s that are playable without an internet connection! Prices on used CD’s seem on the upside too, since there is no collectible value in having 10.000 titles in your streaming account. I Love and use all the options we have!
In the late 80s, I was a CD sceptic. Now, I’m a ....well, see my description. I love CDs. Although some are undoubtedly poorly mastered, when they’re done properly there’s nothing to beat them. They are much less compromised medium than vinyl and they don’t require the excessive care that vinyl demands. But I don’t think they ever really went away, despite the industry’s attempt to rubbish them and make them un-cool. If you like physical product and you like convenience, they are the obvious first stop.
