Do you still buy CDs?

[BlueSteam]

Inspired by this thread, I'd like to know if you still buy music on CDs, buy MP3s or "acquire" MP3s from the web for free. I understand that this poll will most likely be skewed because I'd expect musicians to be less likely to steal from other musicians and for musicians to prefer the higher sound quality available on CD, but still, I think it's a worthwhile poll.

[BlueStrat]

I buy mostly from itunes these days. I don't have a killer mega-sound system and put all my spare money into gigging gear and motorcycle stuff, so mp3s (mp4s with itunes) work just fine for me.

 

CD sales are down all over, here's a fascinating little quick read article about it. The top sellers of the past decade was surprising to me. Not a recent rock act in the bunch.

 

Another year, another collapse in CD sales.

 

For the eighth time in nine years, U.S. album sales declined. That’s according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

 

Album sales fell to fell to 373.9 million units, a 12.7% decline from 2008. Total sales fell a whopping 52% since 2000. CDs still account for almost 80 percent of all album purchases.

 

Paid online song downloads continued to grow, but at a pace that was too slow to make up for lost CD sales.

 

1.16 billion individual songs were purchased digitally, an increase of 89 million units, or 8.3%, from 2008. That represents a significant slowdown in digital-sales growth. In 2008, sales of digital songs increased by 226 million, or 27% over the previous year. Digital downloads now account for 40% of music purchases.

 

For the Year:

 

• Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” released in November 2008, sold 3.2 million copies in 2009 (total sales = 5.3 million copies.)

• Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream,” which came out only six weeks ago, sold 3.1 million.

• Michael Jackson’s “Number Ones” was No. 3 for the year, with 2.4 million sales; Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” by is No. 4, with 2.2 million in 2009; Andrea Bocelli’s “My Christmas,” was No. 5, with 2.2 million

 

For the Decade:

 

• The best-selling artist of the 2000s was Eminem, selling 32.2 million albums;

• The Beatles’ were a close second, selling 30.2 million albums;

• Tim McGraw was the third-best-selling artist of the 2000s, with a total of 24.8 million; Toby Keith was 4th at ~24 million; and Britney Spears was No. 5, at just under 23 million.

 

>

[BlueSteam]

 

CDs still account for almost 80 percent of all album purchases.

 

 

So that would lead me to believe that the ability to pick and choose could be one of the culprits in the mystery of declining CD sales. A service like iTunes allows customers to choose to buy only the hits more easily than they could in the past. While those who like to listen to albums in their entirety still buy CDs over MP3s 80% of the time. That's a shocking figure to me. If 80% of all album sales are still CD sales, but 40% of music sales are digital, that means we live in a society with a very short attention span and a real lack of care for an album as a crafted piece of art. I propose the solution of selling not individual songs on iTunes, but albums at a reduced rate... say 5 bucks. That way the artist can sell more than 1 hit song, but the consumer still gets a deal for buying lower quality and easily reproduced digital files. And real fans of music as art still continue to buy the medium with the higher sound quality and "collectible" packaging. I hate this "app store" mentality that has been created where music and games have got to be 99 cents to be a bargain... It's hurting the two industries I love the most... music and video games.

 

And yes, I know this doesn't account for those who steal music...

[Jerry_L]

I do. CD's usually are competitively priced with MP3s, and they have legitimate resale value. I only buy MP3s of music that's unavailable or rare and expensive on CD.

[Kramerguy]

my wife buys some mp3's off itunes, but mostly my attitude is that if I'm paying top $$ for the music, I want a top audio quality CD with all the trimmings. Especially considering that I'm paying the same price overall (most cd's are $9.99 these days). In fact any CD with more than 10 songs, you pay more for the mp3's in a lot of cases- screw that. Amazon usually has a free shipping special, or I order in bulk and pay minimum shipping.

[BlueSteam]

I too only buy digital files if the content is unavailable or rare on CD. Still, I buy whole albums in those instances. And I also buy CDs in bulk from Amazon. =)

[tim_7string]

I'm still pretty old school in that I buy CDs rather than mp3s. I have purchased some mp3s and I have also used the "Free mp3 download" bonus with CDs I bought at Wal-Mart, like the KISS album that was available exclusively through them. I'll use the mp3 option for songs that I need to learn for my band or something.

 

Mostly, I just buy used CDs for stuff I bought on LP or cassette years ago or a CD that was stolen or won't play anymore. Sometimes buy newer albums that are used on CD as well. I'll be picking up Disturbed's "Asylum" CD from Best Buy sometime this week, as they have a deal where you can get $5 off the purchase price.

 

Also, my attitude is the same as Kramerguy's. If I'm paying money, I want the highest quality and on something that will not be accidentally deleted. CDs fit the bill in both situations.

[veracohr]

I buy CD's, but not many, at least not of new music. I also buy used CD's for some music.

[A Happy Crowd]

I still buy CDs (and also, to a lesser extent, vinyl) for many of the reasons mentioned above -- I like having a physical copy, it sounds better through my stereo than on my computer, and I don't have to worry about losing everything if my computer crashes. I'm also lucky enough to live in a place which still has some brick and mortor record shops, so I try to support them whenever possible.

[PermaNoobie]

I little bit of all of it I guess

 

I do buy CDs and the occasional vinyl (rarely magtape, unless I can't find it in another format)

 

though the "free" stuff I acquire is FREE (as in legal and authorized), not pirated

 

The digital downloads I get aren't necessarily MP3 either, Magnatune and Musicishere for instance have a variety of formats including lossless (such as FLAC) and uncompressed WAV.

I've even noticed pirated material (torrents, etc) are showing up on trackers with lossless file types

 

maybe neither here nor there : A lot of audiobooks and audiotheatre and other spoken word, I usually get digital (and that IS often Mp3) over CD, I just find it more convenient that 15+ CDs and I maintain an archive (so the first sale doctrine issues don't effect me personally, though I can see how it'd be an issue for others)

 

I didn't do the poll b/c I'm not sure the structure of the poll fits my use model and I didn't want to pollute the data

[Dan Acheron]

I still buy CDs on occasion. If I can get a CD for a good price I will usually buy it. I do buy songs on itunes but not too often.

[daddymack]

I buy CDs occassionally, mainly jazz and blues, though...in the bargain bins...usually under $4.99 a disc...

as I have yet to get a mp3 player (actually, I had one and gave it away), I have never purchased an MP3...and most of my free time at home is taken with practice and writing, and moderating these forums ( ) so the only time I listen to music now is to and from work in the car...a five minute ride...and usually, I have either a Pat Coast CD in, or a Blues Channel rehearsal CD in, or the jazz station on the radio...

[Ronan Murphy]

Mostly CDs. For about the same money as a itunes download I can get hi rez quality (which I can copy into itunes), album graphics and a format that I will be able to enjoy for decades to come.

 

When I buy off of itunes, its usually for business, where I need to reference a track for a client.

[PermaNoobie]

don't want to get the poll off track, but just reading the poll and the responses...

 

OK, I think we all know it's not literally true, but in a practical, de facto sense...

 

(to you) does

 

"downloaded music" = MP3 (format) = iTunes (music store)

 

??

[Grubgoat]

I buy CD's exclusively, and will for years. I was an early adopter to mp3 tech, but eventually got tired of being burned, in lots of different ways. I already had a big cd collection, and when I went back to cd's I re-discovered album tracks - MP3 got me obsessed only with my favorites, only with the hits. Turns out I had all kinds of incredible music I was just ignoring.

 

I carry a CD player in my pocket at work, it gets better battery life than any of my mp3 players ever did - sometimes I go 3 weeks before having to change, and I've got that thing running 10 hours a day. I leave a copy in the disc case with the original, so I'll have a hard copy forever.

 

Plus, while people are getting rid of their cd's, I'm picking them up cheap, thus increasing my collection for less money. I buy used from resale shops, sometimes I go on binges for used stuff on Amazon.com, I get one each month from yourmusic.com (which to me is a reasonable price for acquiring a CD, $6.99), and occasionaly I'll support a new artist that I really like and buy it full price, but that's rare. I just bought Kanye's new one, for instance.

[sventvkg]

I do not buy CD's anymore and I know most people that come to my shows do not either. However, it's the best way to get people your music while they are captive. I'm sure most just rip your CD to their library if you're lucky. As soon as they come up with a viable method to physically provide fans your music at a show, most of us will continue to make some CD's. I just do 100 at a time as needed through Kunaki and they work fine. No more 1000 pressed CD orders for me.

[Next Direct]

I buy CDs and some Vinyl, though I often listen to these songs as mp3s on my creative zen and through my enhanced computer speakers.

 

I don't use iTunes and I only once paid for a digital download for bonus tracks of a band I love.

[BlueSteam]

 

don't want to get the poll off track, but just reading the poll and the responses... OK, I think we all know it's not literally true, but in a practical, de facto sense... (to you) does "downloaded music" = MP3 (format) = iTunes (music store) ??

 

 

Yeah, I'm just using MP3 as a term to describe all downloaded music.

[Dessalines]

CDs

No MP3s

For music,

That makes me weak at the knees....

 

Personal choice.

[PermaNoobie]

 

Yeah, I'm just using MP3 as a term to describe all downloaded music.

 

 

I think it's pretty common (and I probably do it too to some degree even though I get WAV and FLAC, etc when I can, which is more the rule than the exception for me, esp in classical music) to just sort of default assume "oh, MP3" because it's been dominant for so long, but I'm seeing that changing.

 

It's weird, bc I think I have the attachment to CD as well (I'm from the last typewriter-using generation), but in practice I find myself slipping on that and moving to "download".

 

On an intellectual level (and this might have to do with professional reasons) I view the data and the storage medium separately (though the performance of the medium and the format of the encode do come into play...like with CD ripping) so "CD" itself is just another digital storage medium to me and isn't inherently more "physical" than other forms of memory (like HDD)

 

the analog data, though, I think is less abstracted from its storage medium -- I just let those be what they are and don't back them up unless it's something pretty much completely unavailable (in which case I try to archive for historical preservation of the content)

 

In terms of failure, I am a backup/redundancy nazi (I dive with two dive computers) - Oddly, I'm finding it easier for backup/archiving as I can do a file copy as opposed to the stream reading that ripping a redbook CD goes through. My first real push to CD-->HDD archiving had me hit those CDs that had their own read problems.

Though I can see where other archivists could pref a optical & mag storage redundancy or a centralized (HDD, etc) & decentralized (individual CDs) storage organization.

In terms of on-site disaster (fire, etc) I'm not sure how much it's going to matter though [i maintain off-site]

 

There's still the first sale doctrine issue and I sometimes tell myself that matters, but in practice I wind up keeping it all.

 

I'm personally not much of a liner notes guy, but I can certainly see why that would matter to other people.

 

 

It's funny, because I sound like a "download convert" and, to some degree I guess I am, even though I still have a "I want the CD" thing.

 

I suppose it's a lot like my liquor and bacon intake -- Oh yeah, I pretend I'm not a fat alcoholic, and just as long as I don't look at a scale or my recycling can I can continue to believe that

[Poker99]

Toby Keith was 4th at ~24 million

 

[Scafeets]

Bought three in the last couple of weeks after hearing them online first. New Satch, new Eric Johnson and an All Star tribute to Jeff Poraco that I somehow missed in the 90s. I buy maybe 15 CDs a year - mostly on Amazon. I pay for subscriptions to Napster, etc. I know I can stream-rip them, but I want the liner notes, the quality audio and the peace of mind that I'm doing right by the artists.

[BlueSteam]

So what I'm hearing, at least from a musician's perspective, is that CDs are still the better way to go. I understand the convienience of buying MP3s, but I don't find buying CDs inconvienient... I mean... I have an Amazon app on my phone and I just type in what I want and then wait for it to arrive on my doorstep. Having to rip stuff onto my computer isn't a problem for me either... I look at as getting MP3s for free with the purchase of the CD... I also rip them at much higher sound quality levels than what download services offer. And then I've still got a physical copy to play in my car and in my home stereo along with the electronic copy on my computer and phone.

 

I think we can all agree that the reason for declining CD sales is not the medium itself, but other factors. Maybe kids today aren't as interested in music as they used to be. Maybe the market is oversaturated. Maybe today's artists don't have the staying power that other artists have enjoyed in the past. Maybe other forms of entertainment are stealing away sales.

[PermaNoobie]

 

I think we can all agree that the reason for declining CD sales is not the medium itself, but other factors.

 

 

I don't think we all can (agree). There is probably a melange of causes, but format could very well be part of it.

 

Things like the convenience factor of ordering, file portability, quality level, medium physical size, etc can vary based on use model...

One can, for instance, order online with no wait period, etc and play them in a car or home on a variety of media (many car stereos read thumb drives, have line ins for personal players and the optical systems will often read a variety of formats), and depending on the service you can get them in FLAC/WAV etc (though that opens up the whole thing about what level is sufficient...I mean some audiophiles will look at a typical even expensive casual home system playing a redbook CD in a living room and think the same thing "well, you aren't really interested" )

 

 

Like you mention you can see the online convenience (for other folks), but it isn't an issue for you personally

Just like I can see the first sale doctrine thing, or liner notes but isn't an issue for me personally.

 

It's real easy for us to get confirmation bias in our view and bias to our use model (earlier versions on iTunes app for instance didn't have a field for actual file name/path...the dev guys were trying to push THEIR use model of quasi-fileless information organization...sort of a paradigm that's been around for a long time, but never really took off)

[Scafeets]

 

I don't think we all can (agree). There is probably a melange of causes, but format could very well be part of it.

 

If format was the primary driver, wouldn't the recorded music business be in better shape today, instead of on the ropes? I have to believe that if every downloaded song got paid for, there would be plenty of money to go around for everyone concerned, and more songwriters and musicians could make a living wage.

Formats change every decade - In terms of relevance, the CD has lasted longer than the Edison cylinder, the 78, 45s, 8-Tracks, casettes and even the LP. It was only natural that its dominance would start to fade in the 90s.

By contrast, eggs still come in cartons, and beer in six-packs. Most things made of atoms don't require complicated containers.

Fixating on recording formats and the containers they come in is hurting the music industry from top to bottom. The film industry didn't die because of talkies, technicolor or cinerama. Broadcast TV, cable, VCRs, DVDs, Netflix, Slingbox et al made the film business more viable. What's the difference? That industry does a much better job of protecting its intellectual property rights. And because it still has a sound business infrastructure that promotes both new stars and established ones, it isn't drowned out by a bunch of amateurs, even with the proliferation of YouTube and reality TV.