What will you do if the labels end physical media?

[soulster]

What would you couldn't buy CDs or vinyl anymore?

It's no secret that sales of the CD are steadily falling, and the sales of vinyl are minuscule compared to CD. Even though sales of downloads are flat-lining, the labels are continuing to invest in the download market. There is even talk of iTunes offering lossless downloads next year, and HD Tracks already offer hi-rez, although almost none of it is R&B music, save the Staple Singers.

So, what will you do if physical media production were ended soon? Would you download? Would you stop buying music? Keep in mind that we are not just talking about new music many of this forum aren't too crazy about, this especially means vintage recordings from our past.

[soulster]

Da Bump! I can't believe no one here has an opinion on this!

[jobeterob]

I'd miss having a CD; what do you do when you are in your car??? But, if this happens, it happens; it's happened with 45's, LPs, 8 tracks, cassettes; I have enough CDs to play for years and years. I picked up the Motown Michael Jackson release this morning, the one they put out after he passed away [[Hello World) and I realized I'd never played it. Bad.

So maybe, more than anything, I'll need to play my old CDs.

[skooldem1]

I don't play 8 tracks or 78rpms, and CD's would fall right into that category. I would embrace the new technology and roll with the punches.

[nabob]

I would stop buying if no physical media were being marketed. I like having the CD and prefer its sound over the MP3 at 256 Kbps. However, there is no comparison for the portability of digital music. The Zune has 30MB of storage and that allows all kinds of music to be carted off on vacation beating music offerings by the airlines. Most new cars have audio jacks to accept a digital music player. The Zune turned the rental on last summer's vacation into a real jam-mo-bile driving across Canada. I'm at a point in life where I will buy only to support the notion that my purchases may influence the releases of other material. Purchases will not be made of 7th through 10th generations of Greatest Hits packages. There are higher priorities for disposable income. I have so much music that never gets a listen. This is almost like having a large reference library.

[juicefree20]

Personally, I don't think that I like the direction in which they seem to be going & prefer a physical media to own.

I believe that someday, with all of this cloud stuff, they're going to try to find an angle in which they can license the music, pretty much like they're doing with anti-virus software. I have to also say that I dislike downloads because they don't give you the liner notes that most of us have enjoyed reading since the days of the LP, much less the wonderful covers & posters that we used to hang on our walls.

Then too, though I haven't DJed in years, I have had nightmare of spinning at a gig & having the mp3 either lock up on me, or not being able to find the next song in time before the song ended,leaving my audience hearing nothing but dear air.

At this point, I don't believe that they really know what to do with this genie that they've let out of the bottle. But as nabob stated, I've become thoroughly sick of having to purchase CDs which have the same 20 well-worn retreads, in order to get 3 or 4 songs that I don't have or really need.

To be honest, that tendency is also something which I believe contributed to a lack of sales. Sometimes, a business has to give people credit for having a brain. It seems to me as these constant re-packages was a plain indication that the labels had no respect for their customers. Then they wanted to blame everything & everyone else for weak sales. How about giving the people what they wanted, music that they felt wasn't worth bothering to released due to "lack of demand"?

Isn't it just a little ironic that a lot of previously unreleased music began being issued but only after the advent of Napster, AudioGalaxy, Imesh, et.al?

For my part, I'd prefer a physical medium that I know that I own, as opposed to one which can be manipulated via the whim of a record company. And at 99 cents per song, they aren't doing you any favors because they're still winning all the way around. No printing costs for labels or CD booklets, no jewel cases & no packaging. When you add that to the cost of your digital download purchase, you're actually paying more than you would were you to buy an actual CD.

[soulster]

I believe that someday, with all of this cloud stuff, they're going to try to find an angle in which they can license the music, pretty much like they're doing with anti-virus software.

I believe you have a good point there. Streaming is very popular with many people, as is YouTube. People don't need to own any music if they can stream it for free or watch it on YouTube. There are people who copy it from YouTube. The sound quality sucks, but I guess we are at a point where people don't care about sound quality anymore.

I have to also say that I dislike downloads because they don't give you the liner notes that most of us have enjoyed reading since the days of the LP, much less the wonderful covers & posters that we used to hang on our walls.

That is my second objection to downloads. The first, of course, is the lower sound quality of most downloads. The worst of it is they charge the same price, or more, for a lower sound quality mp3 or AAC file than the CD. Now, I like hi-rez, but the labels hesitate to release hit albums in hi-rez.

Then too, though I haven't DJed in years, I have had nightmare of spinning at a gig & having the mp3 either lock up on me, or not being able to find the next song in time before the song ended,leaving my audience hearing nothing but dear air.

Well, that doesn't really happen, well, it's never happened to me.

At this point, I don't believe that they really know what to do with this genie that they've let out of the bottle. But as nabob stated, I've become thoroughly sick of having to purchase CDs which have the same 20 well-worn retreads, in order to get 3 or 4 songs that I don't have or really need.

Unfortunately, that's the only way they can get a comp out the door. Average people will only buy CDs with songs they already know, the 50 oldies radio has shoved down our collective throats for decades. That's the only way they can slip one or two of those forgotten hits in. Then you have people running these companies and compiling the songs who have no memory of history. On top of that, they usually wind up getting the wring mix or version, or but on some damn 90s remix.

Isn't it just a little ironic that a lot of previously unreleased music began being issued but only after the advent of Napster, AudioGalaxy, Imesh, et.al?

Well, I don't know if I can agree with that. I bought tons and tons of CD reissues in the good 'ol 90s.

[juicefree20]

Soulster,

As for buying a lot of reissues in the 90s, I was thrilled when they began re-releasing all of those Stax LPs, The Philly International box set, the Atlantic box set & the Motown "From The Vaults" lp. This was between 1986 to 1988. Even better was the release of the Stax box sets, which dusted off a lot of music that never reached anywhere near the eastern part of the country.

However, there was a lot of music that went unreleased because the majors didn't feel as though they'd be profitable enough. If it wasn't for Kent/Ace, a lot of music likely would've remained unreleased. But I believe that Napster, AudioGalaxy & the like proved to the labels that there was a lot of music out there that people wanted that remained untapped by the labels.

Even as I type this, there remains a lot of much-discussed & much-desired music which still hasn't seen release. I do believe that Napster helped force a lot of music that was previously unreleased, if only by proving that indeed,there was a nice sized market for this music.

As for the music hanging, I've taken pictures at clubs where either the computer froze, or a glitch in the software shut down the music & worst of all, the DJ didn't have CD players as a backup.

Needless to say, the DJs were embarrassed, looking for a hole to fall through & the crowd wasn't happy.

I guess that they weren't using a Mac!

[soulster]

Soulster,

As for buying a lot of reissues in the 90s, I was thrilled when they began re-releasing all of those Stax LPs, The Philly International box set, the Atlantic box set & the Motown "From The Vaults" lp. This was between 1986 to 1988. Even better was the release of the Stax box sets, which dusted off a lot of music that never reached anywhere near the eastern part of the country.

Dude, this was starting in about 1989. Check the dates.

However, there was a lot of music that went unreleased because the majors didn't feel as though they'd be profitable enough. If it wasn't for Kent/Ace, a lot of music likely would've remained unreleased. But I believe that Napster, AudioGalaxy & the like proved to the labels that there was a lot of music out there that people wanted that remained untapped by the labels.

Oh, tell me about it! We got the major artists like Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Aretha Franklin, but for most of it, yeah, we had to wait for the Japanese, U.K., and Canadian imports, and they didn't always do the best job of it. It's still that way.

Even as I type this, there remains a lot of much-discussed & much-desired music which still hasn't seen release. I do believe that Napster helped force a lot of music that was previously unreleased, if only by proving that indeed,there was a nice sized market for this music.

I'm a collector! I feel it!

As for the music hanging, I've taken pictures at clubs where either the computer froze, or a glitch in the software shut down the music & worst of all, the DJ didn't have CD players as a backup.

I guess i've been lucky.

[tamla617]

i dont like the thought of nothing to hold.but since we lost main label vinyl it aint been the same.not the same buzz fiddling with a cd trying to open the silly case.the sleeve notes?
we'll just have to go with what we're given,like all the other stuff thats been redesigned/refigured and just plain changed.the main market, 30 ish down couldn't give a monkeys about solid stuff.they'll be happy not to go thru the nause of putting it on their ipod when they can just download to it direct.they sit there tv,facebook,texting and ipod all at the same time.mind blowing.easy access and no appreciation.so thats where we're going to end up.
still makes me laugh when my 2 youngest kids [[15 and 18)see an lp.how can you skip tracks?why are there only 5 tracks on thing that size?how do you search the disk?

i dont see why i have to pay nearly the same price [[in uk)for a download album as a cd either

[arrr&bee]

That's interesting,but i only buy oldies anyhow so there's allllllways gonna be a market for em[classics]cd's-ipods-mp3's...burn em all i got a turntable a cassette deck and alot of records and cassettes..haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[mr soul]

Good evans I'd have to listen to the 10's of thousands I've already bought...still Mrs Soul will be delighted as she thinks I buy too many [as if that's possible]...I won't download music even if it was free.

[arrr&bee]

good evans i'd have to listen to the 10's of thousands i've already bought...still mrs soul will be delighted as she thinks i buy too many [as if that's possible]...i won't download music even if it was free.

i'm with you brother!!