Death of CDs?

[paul secor]

I don't know about this, but I would imagine that if the larger companies are hurting, it affects the smaller companies to some degree - distribution, presence in stores, etc. Perhaps someone like Chuck or Stereo Jack can comment further and offer more expertise than my conjecture.

[captainwrong]

To those who think CDs are going to hang on like the LP did, I'm not sure I agree with that. The two main reasons I can think of why the LP continues to endure are audiophile snob appeal and hipster snob appeal. Real audiophiles are probably going to go for the LP as long as it's available and there's nothing intrinsically cool about CDs. I really think, like it or not, CDs are going to go the way of tape based albums (cassette, 8-track, reel) over time. I could be wrong, but as long as more people are buying more mp3 players than CD players, it only stands to reason that this is the market the music industry is going to cater to.

[ejp626]

Oooo! Do they do old BBC comedy shows like "I'm sorry, I'll read that again"?

MG

Yes, they have a lot of episodes (123): ISIRTA. I don't know if that is the complete run or not.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Oooo! Do they do old BBC comedy shows like "I'm sorry, I'll read that again"?

MG

Yes, they have a lot of episodes (123): ISIRTA. I don't know if that is the complete run or not.

Wow! That is really interesting. And you get a hell of a lot for your money.

What is an mp3 CD? Can I play it in my normal CD player (which doesn't accept SACDs)? Or is it only playable on computers?

MG

[ejp626]

Oooo! Do they do old BBC comedy shows like "I'm sorry, I'll read that again"?

MG

Yes, they have a lot of episodes (123): ISIRTA. I don't know if that is the complete run or not.

Wow! That is really interesting. And you get a hell of a lot for your money.

What is an mp3 CD? Can I play it in my normal CD player (which doesn't accept SACDs)? Or is it only playable on computers?

MG

No it won't play on a normal CD player. It will play on most MP3/CD hybrid players and on all computers. Of course, you can extract the mp3s are play them in an iPod or other stand alone mp3 player. Actually many DVD players can play mp3 CDs, but not all. You could always take shows you really liked and burn them to a CD (the compression won't get better of course) but that would be kind of labour intensive.

Edited January 25, 2008 by ejp626

[makpjazz57]

I will be reluctant to go all-digital unless forced to, simply because I love jazz photography and jazz liner notes and also enjoy checking out the graphics. For example, MaxJazz tends to put more emphasis on photography vs. words and that's fine. They use some of the best photographers in the biz - for example, Jimmy Katz. I'd miss seeing all the photos and at best, only seeing the cover photo on a CD (from a digital download).

Marla

[Guest Bill Barton]

I will be reluctant to go all-digital unless forced to, simply because I love jazz photography and jazz liner notes and also enjoy checking out the graphics. For example, MaxJazz tends to put more emphasis on photography vs. words and that's fine. They use some of the best photographers in the biz - for example, Jimmy Katz. I'd miss seeing all the photos and at best, only seeing the cover photo on a CD (from a digital download).

Marla

Absolutely! This was the main reason I felt somewhat cheated when the CD era began. Having to have a magnifying glass at hand to read the freaking liner notes was and still is a pain. And relegating quality photography to these tiny formats is enormously annoying.

If and when digital takes over completely let's hope some way to obtain high quality artwork and readable annotation is figured out.

[Chalupa]

Vivendi chief says music industry gloom overdone

By Kate HoltonSat Jan 26, 11:09 AM ET

Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy has no plans to spin off the music unit Universal and he said on Saturday he believed the gloom surrounding the industry had been over done.

Speaking at the annual Midem conference, Levy said the music industry was going through a huge transition at the moment, with new business models for mobile and Internet services appearing all the time.

But he predicted there would still be a viable market for physical products like CDs for many years to come and he said the industry's future lay, as always, in spotting the right creative talent.

"I think altogether today there is an exaggeration in the industry," he told the conference.

"Of course it is not doing that well, but look at us, we have flat revenues, a good two digit margins and it's not as dark as what many people describe."

The music industry has been hit in recent years by Internet piracy and the rapid growth in digital sales but the planned job losses at British company EMI have highlighted the issue even further.

Levy joked that Universal could benefit from its rivals' problems, by gaining more staff or bands, but he said that ultimately a stronger competitor would benefit the whole industry.

"We like to have strong competitors," he said. "I hope that after the shake up (at EMI) there will be a strong set of major companies that will help the music industry to grow."

Universal is the world's largest music company, with artists such as Amy Winehouse, Mika and U2, and Levy said he was very committed to the group.

"Back in 2003 the numbers didn't look very good," he said "(But) as a shareholder of Universal, I have seen the numbers go up quite sharply. We had in '03 a 3 percent operating margin business and we have today a 12 percent operating margin business.

"We do have a lot of satisfaction ... and we're very committed."

DIGITAL TO GROW

He said digital entertainment would continue to grow, due to the developments in technology, broadband penetration and globalization but he said this would not necessarily mean the immediate demise of the CD.

"If we (have the right creative policy) and if we understand the technology well and the consumer well, then ... digital entertainment will continue to expand and will be very successful," he said.

"It is a transition into a very diversified model, of which CDs will still play a part. So I do not think it is black and white."

A report released this week by the international trade body, the IFPI, said global music sales were expected to be down around 10 percent for 2007, despite a 40 percent increase in digital music sales.

[EulaM]

Didn't check way back into all of the posts, but the other day I saw in a magazine, Time or Newsweek I believe, the new trend setter and it's the large LP's once again, however, this time around, there's a twist, the artwork will not only be on the jackets, but on the records themselves. The whole record will have whatever the promoter or artist chooses for it.

The ones I saw were for pop or hip hop and they looked really great. What great collector items these will be, especially if they put decent talents on them. I can envision whole walls in your homes under fold out glass with record after record being displayed as art work Saw a lot of things being done in a similar fashion during the late 50's, and early 60's.

[Guest Bill Barton]

Didn't check way back into all of the posts, but the other day I saw in a magazine, Time or Newsweek I believe, the new trend setter and it's the large LP's once again, however, this time around, there's a twist, the artwork will not only be on the jackets, but on the records themselves. The whole record will have whatever the promoter or artist chooses for it.

The ones I saw were for pop or hip hop and they looked really great. What great collector items these will be, especially if they put decent talents on them. I can envision whole walls in your homes under fold out glass with record after record being displayed as art work Saw a lot of things being done in a similar fashion during the late 50's, and early 60's.

Cool! The rebirth of picture discs... Gotta love it.

Back to the digital trend: It seems that most of the discussion on this issue revolves around MP3 technology and IPods, etc. as the alternative to CDs. What about lossless digital audio formats? Do folks see FLAC, Apple Lossless, TTA, etc. making inroads? Being something of a "low budget" audiophile myself, this seems to be the way to go if you're going to move in the direction of strictly digital storage of music. There is no question that the difference between an MP3 file (even one at 320 kbps) and a FLAC or Apple Lossless file converted to WAV is discernible even to an untrained ear.

[porcy62]

Lots of High-End lossless digital music servers at CES this year.

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2008/

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Porcy get flour all over that LP while making Gnocci?

[porcy62]

Porcy get flour all over that LP while making Gnocci?

Gnocci?

Ah Gnocchi!

BTW that wasn't my TT.

Mine is like this:

[GA Russell]

Universal is the world's largest music company, with artists such as Amy Winehouse, Mika and U2, and Levy said he was very committed to the group.

"Back in 2003 the numbers didn't look very good," he said "(But) as a shareholder of Universal, I have seen the numbers go up quite sharply. We had in '03 a 3 percent operating margin business and we have today a 12 percent operating margin business.

Thanks for posting this, Chalupa. Very interesting.

1) Who is Mika? Anybody I should have heard of?

2) Interesting that profit margins are way up while sales are flat, not declining, for the company. Makes me wonder to what extent the majors' problems are due not to the changes in the industry but rather to the incompetence of specific employees.

[porcy62]

1) Who is Mika? Anybody I should have heard of?

I thought he is only a top F1 driver, Does he sing too?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Mine is like this:

Must be a bugger to dust.

MG

[porcy62]

Mine is like this:

Must be a bugger to dust.

MG

I use my Kirby (home vacuum cleaner) as air compressor twice a week.

[Chalupa]

Music industry tries carrot after years of stick

By Kate HoltonMon Jan 28, 12:56 PM ET

Away from the headlines of job losses, grumbling artists and falling global sales, the music industry is trying new business models to boost digital sales and offset the decline in CDs.

At the annual industry meeting on the French coast this week, much of the talk was dominated by a new service called Qtrax, which plastered all available space with huge posters declaring the CD dead and estimating that over 1.2 billion illegal downloads would be made during the event itself.

Qtrax plans to offer millions of tracks for free with the backing of the music majors, though on Monday it was still in talks for deals with the four big music groups.

It plans to act as a legal online file-sharing site, funded through advertising, and it is one of several services that have been launched after criticism that the music industry has been distracted by the fight against piracy, when it should have been developing alternative services.

CARROT AND STICK

Janus Friis, who once terrified the media industry with file-sharing network KaZaa, told the Midem conference that the industry was beginning to move from the "stick" to the "carrot" approach, citing legal online services Last.fm and Imeem as leading examples.

"You have the carrot and you have the stick, and you kind of need to use both, but the carrot has become much more important," he said. "Last.fm and Imeem are beginning to be great Internet services."

London-based Last.fm has more than 15 million active users and is known for its song-recommendation system among fans. It announced a deal last week to allow users to stream a song free, up to three times, while a link connects a user to a legitimate music store such as Amazon or iTunes.

Social network Imeem is also built around music, is supported by advertising and boasts 20 million users. Steve Jang, Imeem's chief marketing officer, told Reuters the site commanded great loyalty from its users because it was much more than just a retail offering.

As part of the transition, U2 manager Paul McGuinness told the conference that the time had come for new thinking on how the music and technology sectors worked together, saying their "snouts have been at our trough feeding free for too long."

He touted the idea that music could be provided as part of a subscription service for an Internet service provider in the same way that some mobile phone companies have worked, with the revenue being shared.

But it is not just the payment systems that are changing.

When Guy Hands, the new owner of British major EMI, unveiled his plans for the struggling group recently, he said he would look into the role of corporate sponsorship arrangements, where an album or tour could be backed by a sponsor.

Veteran music promoter Harvey Goldsmith told Reuters that the idea of combining musicians with a brand was not new, but warned it had to be handled carefully.

"Some acts like the Arctic Monkeys would think their street cred was under attack," he said. "But the truth is it's an opportunity. You have to remember that a band is also a brand, and if you can link the two and it makes sense, then it's cool.

"But it's just as valid for new, up-and-coming acts as the established ones, because what better credibility can a big brand have than discovering a new band."

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Mine is like this:

Must be a bugger to dust.

MG

I use my Kirby (home vacuum cleaner) as air compressor twice a week.

Does it blow as well as suck?

MG

[porcy62]

Does it blow as well as suck?

MG

Yes, I have only to replace the dust bag with the hose and add a plastic filter on the vacuum side. It works great. I use it for the dust all over on my system.

BTW Let's make it clear that we are speaking about vacuum cleaners, otherwise you'd censore your own post.

Edited January 29, 2008 by porcy62

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Does it blow as well as suck?

MG

Yes, I have only to replace the dust bag with the hose and add a plastic filter on the vacuum side. It works great. I use it for the dust all over on my system.

BTW Let's make it clear that we are speaking about vacuum cleaners, otherwise you'd censore your own post.

Well, I was going to say something about wanting to come back as your turntable, but thought better of it

MG

[riverrat]

What about lossless digital audio formats? Do folks see FLAC, Apple Lossless, TTA, etc. making inroads? Being something of a "low budget" audiophile myself, this seems to be the way to go if you're going to move in the direction of strictly digital storage of music. There is no question that the difference between an MP3 file (even one at 320 kbps) and a FLAC or Apple Lossless file converted to WAV is discernible even to an untrained ear.

Yes I think lossless files are the WAV of the future. I chose FLAC as hopefully the file type that will remain around the longest. That is the big question for me.

[Guest bluenote82]

I don't think CDs are going anywhere for a long time simply because it is the most versatile and best sounding medium available right now. I love MD and LP the best though.

I own an Apple iPod Nano and I'm not that impressed with it and it's collecting dust as we speak.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I own an Apple iPod Nano and I'm not that impressed with it and it's collecting dust as we speak.

Nyah! Our dishwasher collects cassettes!!!

MG

[Guest bluenote82]

I own an Apple iPod Nano and I'm not that impressed with it and it's collecting dust as we speak.

Nyah! Our dishwasher collects cassettes!!!

MG

It does? Well you better throw it out!

Edited February 21, 2008 by bluenote82