Is this the end for your CD collection?
Digital music is here to stay - and it's coming of age. With more ways than ever to acquire and listen to your favourite tunes online, does the industry think the writing's on the wall for CDs?
After the chaos of the late 1990s and early 2000s, where LimeWire and the naughty, file-sharing version of Napster reigned supreme when it came to acquiring digital music, there's been something of a shakedown.
It wasn't until 2003 that legal music downloads really became popular (and easy to obtain) with the launch of Apple's iTunes Store. In fact, iTunes is now the top music retailer in the US, with a catalogue of more than six million songs - and a colossal four billion tracks sold so far.
But that's strictly a retail service. And although the tracks you download are now DRM-free (meaning they don't have any kind of copy protection applied to them), they are still only 256kbps AAC files. That goes against the grain for many punters who, as B&W's Danny Haikin says, don't want to be restricted to one format.
"Different formats will co-exist; people listen to different music in different ways. Last.fm, for instance, is far better than radio for what it is, but sometimes you want to sit in a beanbag and listen to Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl."
Four billion tracks have been sold on iTunes
Digital as a step to physical ownership
But in the face of streaming and paid-for download services, is physical CD ownership set to die out? "No," says Daniel Ek CEO of Spotify, "a lot of people will dip into the music first on Spotify, and if they like it, they'll buy it on vinyl or CD."
That goes for bands, too – mega-superstars U2 released their new album No Line on the Horizon exclusively on Spotify a week before the CD came out; the band clearly sees it as a teaser to drive physical sales.
U2's new album was released on Spotify first
"I for one love and continue to use vinyl," Ek adds.
That Daniel Ek, the founder of such a trendy, tech-savvy service still buys music in physical form might seem surprising. But think of it this way: since the iPod stormed onto the scene in 2001 (and even before that, with the now-dead MiniDisc), people have been predicting the demise of CD. If some pundits are to be believed, vinyl has been convulsing in its death throes for the best part of 25 years.
Last.fm founder Martin Stiksel feels the same way. He's a vinyl and CD collector, and says he has no plans to stop. "As new technology comes in, the old is marginalised – it's the same in the digital domain," he says. "But people still want physical products on their shelves at home."
Richard Mollet of the BPI agrees: "Rumours of the CD's demise are exactly that," he says. "By value, 86 per cent of music sold in the UK is in physical form." While sales of singles are now almost exclusively digital – 95 per cent are purchased from the likes of iTunes – albums remain physical, with just eight per cent downloaded.
Stiksel is keen to stress that just because Last.fm can be accessed via a computer or iPhone, listeners needn't be tied to those devices. He recommends – and uses – a decent soundcard or outboard digital-to-analogue converter to get the best results.
Meridian: sales of high-end CD players are rising
In fact, Meridian, which recently acquired the amazing Sooloos system, finds sales of its high-end CD players are actually going up. "The people who want the best from their collections buy better CD players," says Roland Morcom, Meridian's director of business development.
One eye on the future, one on the past
He thinks Sooloos can enhance a CD collection, despite being a music server. "If you've a decent-sized collection, chances are only your newest and favourite CDs will be on rotation," he says. "The Sooloos system makes it more convenient to browse your collection visually – like flicking through a shelf full of vinyl."
So, even in the cutting-edge digital domain, the people who develop these products still have one eye on that age-old tradition of sitting on the floor while listening to a record - and poring over the liner notes in a gatefold album cover.
But not everyone agrees. Gilad Tiefenbrun, managing director of high-end hi-fi giant Linn, is sharpening his quill to write the compact disc's obituary. "Many people retain a genuine affection for vinyl, which has a special joy of ownership and gives people a tactile connection to the music," he says.
"Music downloads are a practical solution and, with the advent of high-resolution files, deliver the best audio quality we've ever heard. Unfortunately, CD is stuck in the middle – it will disappear within a few years."
Could this seemingly symbiotic relationship between streaming services, paid-for downloads and CD be in for a change already? Things are moving so fast that there's another player on the horizon: high-resolution music.
- Andy Kerr's blog
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Comments
What Gilad of Linn fails to realise that, if his Linn equipment is anything to go by, a true audiophile soft digital setup is hideously complex for someone who just wants to turn on the power and press play. In fact Linn themselves insist on a professional installing their DS systems.
A soft digital setup is still in its infancy, usability wise, and I for one will wait.
While I agree the CDP may die, the CD itself will not, as there simply is not enough high-quality music downloads out there yet.
In fact as far as the CDP goes Gilad may be jumping the gun here, Cambridge Audio have just released new CDPs and I'm sure they did not take the decision lightly.
whats a soft digital setup?
i think we are getting way ahead of ourselves. The highest res music downloads are very much a minority sport, still. A lossless ripped CD is still the best most will get.
I grant, tho, that many simply dont care, and some will do the necassary teting to decide that theyre fine with lower bit rates.
And we mustnt end up with everything being streamed. the try before you buy thing is the puspose of streaming, and should remain so. Physiacal or not, i want to store my music and have control over it.
"Many people retain a genuine affection for vinyl, which has a special joy of ownership and gives people a tactile connection to the music"
'Mr Linn' talks rot. I and many others from the 80's & 90's generations still retain a genuine affection for CD. It is the best medium yet IMO. What other media has these qualities: High quality sound, practical size and most importantly a 'real' ownership experience of a physical product which music lovers love as it gives you the basic thrill of collection, an album cover and sleeve notes to read and make all those interesting music 'connections' with producers/session musos and studios + all the artist thankyou's etc....
These are what make the music yours, and music lovers as a breed I suspect - unlike bland boring digital d/l's which are the music equivalent of supermarket white label washing powder IMHO - ie a totally annoymous product with no pride of possesion whatsoever.
I have bought 8 2nd hand CD's in the last few weeks from Ebay and Amazon marketplace. Looking forward to getting them a damn site more than any download I buy!
al7478 - I meant PC/Streaming/Software playback.
Last.fm founder Martin Stiksel "... people still want physical products on their shelves at home."
And yet another individual high up in the music industry who Simply Doesn't Get It. Teenagers today download *everything* and bung it all on their iPod. They couldn't give a monkeys for the 'physical object'. Anyone saying otherwise (and I used to be one of them) is deluded.
I don't like it, but at least I can smell the coffee.
"And yet another individual high up in the music industry who Simply Doesn't Get It. Teenagers today download *everything* and bung it all on their iPod. They couldn't give a monkeys for the 'physical object'. Anyone saying otherwise (and I used to be one of them) is deluded."
Teenagers grow up (thank god..). How many middle age people do you see walking around headphone clad with Mp3 players? Not many. As you get older you change your habits - listening to music becomes something you do at home more than anything. And that's when music lovers much prefer physical media as sound quality/ease of use becomes more important. And the population is getting older as a percentage.
Sorry, but you are wrong. And the continued fairly healthy survival of vinyl, CD and DVD proves that. Single sales, well that's different. But adults don't care about singles anyway.
Dazmb, I don't agree. As someone who was a record dealer for almost twenty years I can say very definitely that that the percentage of under 30's using record shops, independent or chain, has declined dramatically in the last ten years, hence the fact that HMV are now just about the only high street chain left standing. In the university town where I used to have a shop virtually every new/secondhand record shop has closed down. I know much of their sales have transferred to internet sites like amazon, but an awful lot have also gone to downloads.
You're right that as you get older you change your habits - I'm in my fifties and I listen to Spotify all the time at home, which I have put from the laptop through our Phillips DVD surround sound system. Is it as good as my hifi?No.But at the moment I'm checking out loads of albums from the past that I couldn't or wouldn't want to buy. If it was £5.00 a month I'd subscribe tomorrow. For a tenner I'll wait until they don't do it free anymore, because for that I could buy about 20 plus used or cheap cds a year.
I think the thing to remember is that most people, young or otherwise, don't own expensive hifi systems and are quite happy with the sound quality they get from, for example, a cheap micro system or a ghettoblaster (are they still called that?).