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Music Businesses

CD Sales Grow for First Time Since 2004 (axios.com) 65

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Dust off those plastic binders that lived in the back seat of your car and fire up the boombox, because compact discs are back. From a report: CD sales enjoyed year-over-year growth for the first time since 2004, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's annual sales report. Combined with the decade-long vinyl sales explosion, overall physical music sales grew for the first time since 1996. Physical music sales exploded to the tune of $1.65 billion in the U.S. last year, according to the RIAA data. CD sales grew to $584.2 million nationally last year, up more than $100 million from 2020. By comparison, 2021 vinyl sales increased to $1 billion annually, up from $643.9 million.
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CD Sales Grow for First Time Since 2004 More

CD Sales Grow for First Time Since 2004

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  • DRM (Score:5, Insightful)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Friday March 11, 2022 @05:24PM (#62348845) Homepage

    Willing to pay for DRM-Free, Uncompressed WAV audio!? Fuck yeah I am. And when I get a CD, it goes into my PC, gets ripped to FLAC, and then stored to never see the light of day again!

    Zero commercials. Zero randomness to my playlist. Always what I want to listen to. Zero compromise.

    • For me it's more than that, I like the physical cd and the artwork and inlay card etc.
      I also own a lot of vinyl. If your favourite music isn't mainstream, it's surprising how much is missing from the various streaming services. I have bought flac files directly from record labels before but it's rare enough to find. Plus all the unlicensed white label remixes and bootlegs. Most of that is pretty much irreplaceable with anything streaming.

      • What are you talking about? I never cashed in my CD. Joke's on NationsBank!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Megane ( 129182 )
        I've actually played CDs on stand-alone players a bit in the past year. Part of it is that I've decided that I don't like the little scratches that come from my laptop's slot drive, so I won't use it for ripping anymore.

    • Same. It's amazing how little space a few hundred CDs take up when they're in a storage binder with just the front cover art. Zero monthly fees and minimal resources to access it from anywhere.

    • I rip my CDs to my NAS for home use and a USB stick for the car. Storage is cheap and plentiful so I rip them as WAV files. FLAC is presumably lossless, but why perform a compress/decompress for no real reason?

    • And when I get a CD, it goes into my PC, gets ripped to FLAC, and then stored to never see the light of day again!

      So...you're swapping a digital music file for another digital file that you created yourself? Hipster nostalgia for a given backup system?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Willing to pay for DRM-Free, Uncompressed WAV audio!? Fuck yeah I am. And when I get a CD, it goes into my PC, gets ripped to FLAC, and then stored to never see the light of day again!

      Zero commercials. Zero randomness to my playlist. Always what I want to listen to. Zero compromise.

      How could you miss two of the biggest advantages of CDs?

      1) No recurring payments required - you bought it, it's yours, and short of being robbed, it'll stay yours. You can listen to it forever without paying another cent if you w

      • Also artists can stop selling tracks, albums, EP.

        They remove some work they did say 5 - 10 years ago because they feel the music doesn't represent them anymore. Their decision.

        But if you have a CD copy, you still can listen to those very songs - you grew very fond of - despite it being deleted from the music publishing system. Original mixes which reminds you of a certain place and time in your life.

        Imagine not being able to get Pink Floyd - Relics, because they feel it doesn't represent them anymore. Or a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ncc74656 ( 45571 ) *

        There are services that sell lossless music files (in your choice of formats) that you can download, store on your NAS, back up to BD-R or tape, etc. Some of them even sell music in better-than-CD quality (24-bit 96 kHz, for instance). Once you've downloaded your files, they're as much yours as any CD or record you might buy.

        To name one example, I've been buying from Qobuz lately. They apparently do streaming as well, but all I've ever done is buy CD-quality lossless albums from them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

      I completely lost interest in CDs when the loudness wars peaked. https://www.soundguys.com/the-... [soundguys.com]

  • For the automakers taking CD players out of cars. (And no, I don't miss it).

    • For the automakers taking CD players out of cars. (And no, I don't miss it).

      My biggest complaint is my car's audio system really makes it obvious what bit-rate the file is encoded at. A 128kb/s MP3 really sounds like crap.

    • A DIN socket can often be retrofitted to many cars giving plenty of choice of head unit.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Xenx ( 2211586 )
        While true, steering wheel controls and other "features" are more common and tied to the OEM system. There are often ways around it, but it does complicate things.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Megane ( 129182 )
          Don't forget the back-up camera! They made it a required item ten or more years ago. It does add extra cost, but even worse is that the camera and steering wheel controls (and other stuff like hands-free phone support) lock you into the specific wiring for your make of car.

    • For the automakers taking CD players out of cars.

      Also, there's really no major manufacturers building decent portable CD players anymore. It's all no-name junk these days. I strongly suspect people who are buying these things are doing so for the collectability aspect of owning a physical object, and are still just streaming the actual music.

      • Even when the major manufacturers were making them, most of them were crap. Now that mp3 players are available for silly little money it's insensible to use CDs longer than it takes to make a mp3 (or whatever)

  • There's only one real scenario where having albums on vinyl makes sense (theoretically): If that album was recording on analog, there is some argument to be made that music might transfer to an analog medium better than digital.

    But here's the thing. I'm guessing roughly 99% of music since 1999 has been recorded digitally. How does it make any sense to then try and press a digital-recorded audio stream back onto analog? There's no way that makes sense.

    CDs still make sense to get the best most pure audio

    • If we're talking "theoretically", then another possible analog use case would be to smooth over the effects of audio sampling in the manner the recording artist wants. The recording equipment most likely uses higher date bit rates to record the music. So the CD would itself be an imperfect copy of the original recording. This fidelity gap might allow for the production of a vinyl record specially tweaked by the artist to mimic the recording environment that (again theoretically) could sound better than the

      • Go and understand sampling theory before spouting this rubbish

        • The original digital recording can be made at 24 bits/sample, 192k samples/channel/second or higher. CDs are 16 bits/sample, 44.1k samples/channel/second. A few people can hear the difference. Vinyl records can have a frequency response above the 22.05 kHz limit of CDs.

          For most uses, CDs are much better than vinyl, but a case can be made for vinyl for very limited niches.

    • Re:Records don't make sense; CDs are better (Score:4, Informative)

      by Tapewolf ( 1639955 ) on Friday March 11, 2022 @05:59PM (#62348963)

      There is a certain appeal to that, and yes, some people do still do this (Slugbug, for instance) but it tends to be the domain of audio nerds these days. However there's an interesting quirk about cutting vinyl. It has a crude data compression scheme where you can vary gaps between the grooves depending on how loud the audio is. Louder and bassier audio requires a wider groove wall, quieter audio does not. So you can pack more audio onto one side by varying the width depending on the content of the signal.

      However, for this to work, you need to know what the audio is going to do one rotation ahead of the cutting stylus so it can be used to alter the groove wall spacing. The old way of doing this was to play back the master tape on a special deck with an extra playback head placed so that it delays the recording by 1.8 seconds or whatever the duration of a single rotation is. The more modern approach is to use a digital delay - which means that it's the digitised signal being cut on the record. (With the Slugbug album they disabled the variable spacing system and cut the album direct from tape)

    • There's only one real scenario where having albums on vinyl makes sense (theoretically): If that album was recording on analog, there is some argument to be made that music might transfer to an analog medium better than digital.

      Some people believe there's some sort of magic kept in the "analog chain" that gets lost when music is digitized, but that's all snake oil. The real reasons vinyl records sound different comes down to mastering, the RIAA curve [wikipedia.org], and the limitations inherent in the medium itself.

      I own a few older CDs that subjectively sound better than the later remastered versions, because the remastered versions have more dynamic range compression [wikipedia.org]. I say subjectively, because some people actually do prefer the louder, mor

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Misagon ( 1135 )

      I think most people who buy vinyl (and CD's too) don't do it for the musical experience first, but for the tactile and visual experience.

      A vinyl album has more surface area for artwork to be experienced together with the music. CD's have less, but still some. Digital files have none.

    • But here's the thing. I'm guessing roughly 99% of music since 1999 has been recorded digitally. How does it make any sense to then try and press a digital-recorded audio stream back onto analog?

      Yes, recorded digitally, but recorded at 24-bit 96kHz. A CD is only 16-bit 44.1kHz, and that isn't quite enough to capture all the subtle detail that creates a realistic 3 dimensional sound stage. It's close, but not quite enough. If SACD had taken off (and DRM is what prevented it from doing so) then there'd be no debate between the digital and analog crowds: digital would be the clear winner.

    • Well, they do. The question is, do you care? MP3 is way more convenient, and it sounds good enough.

      Of course, I rip the MP3 off of CD.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jwdb ( 526327 )

      But since I'm lazy and want to have unlimited access to nearly all recorded music, I'll just use Spotify and chuckle at anyone else.

      Right up until Spotify removes your favorite artist?

      Streaming's very convenient, and probably cheaper in the long run for most people, but there's consequences to not actually owning a copy of what you're listening to.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by imidan ( 559239 )

      I sometimes buy an album I really like on vinyl. Usually, it comes with a digital download in a few formats, too. When I'm working in my office or travelling in the car, I'll play the digital version. But sometimes, in the evening, it can be nice to sit in my living room and put the lights low and play vinyl records. As someone else said, for me it's about the tactile dimension, the little ritual of flipping through albums, looking at cover art, and pulling out one to play. I am under no illusion that the s

  • We have had vinyl come back, now CDs. Can't wait for the 8-track comeback.

    • 8-track is a transitional format. It had kind of a long run because it was cheap, but its comeback is about as likely as HD-DVD.

    • The soothing tape hiss adds so much clarity and depth to the music. Still, it does not beat the beautiful crackle of a good old wax cylinder.

    • We have had vinyl come back, now CDs. Can't wait for the 8-track comeback.

      Probably not going to happen. Most of these comebacks are due to collectors who are buying the things to hang 'em on the wall. Vinyl album covers look great, CDs not so much, but have you ever seen a wall of 8-track tapes? That's just wrong.

    • The magnetic disc sound medium that you could just record over when you were fed up with the music: https://youtu.be/uJswPveBviA [youtu.be]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )
      The good news is that all 8-track tapes now are probably unplayable without repair. That little piece of foam behind the tape is made of the stuff that turns to dust in 10-20 years. Zoomers don't know how to repair anything, so 8-track will never come back, good riddance.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Osgeld ( 1900440 )

      nah first it was records, then compact cassette now CD's, all of which have a novelty factor and a coolness, 8 track sucks in every way and was never cool

  • I've RTFA and it didn't mention why CD sales have increased. Anyone care to speculate on the reason(s)?

    I've always preferred to own my music on CD because I'm not at the whim of a streaming service or censoring of tracks "for modern sensibilities". Also, it can be cheaper to buy the CD version of an album and convert to FLAC than to buy the FLAC version.

    • I've RTFA and it didn't mention why CD sales have increased. Anyone care to speculate on the reason(s)?

      Internet points.

      Today's generation collects music on physical media so they can post pictures of it (usually with their feet in the bottom of the frame) on instagram/snapchat/tiktok and show off how quirky and unique they are for buying things.

      • This...which also might be confirmed by the sales of records vs. record players. Besides, a $35 album? I mean damn. Nice insta-art collection.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nagora ( 177841 )

      I've RTFA and it didn't mention why CD sales have increased. Anyone care to speculate on the reason(s)?

      I've always preferred to own my music on CD because I'm not at the whim of a streaming service or censoring of tracks "for modern sensibilities". Also, it can be cheaper to buy the CD version of an album and convert to FLAC than to buy the FLAC version.

      Well, you answered your own question. Vinyl has these characteristics too but has the disadvantage that it's shit.

      • I've RTFA and it didn't mention why CD sales have increased. Anyone care to speculate on the reason(s)?

        I've always preferred to own my music on CD because I'm not at the whim of a streaming service or censoring of tracks "for modern sensibilities". Also, it can be cheaper to buy the CD version of an album and convert to FLAC than to buy the FLAC version.

        Well, you answered your own question. Vinyl has these characteristics too but has the disadvantage that it's shit.

        Ironically enough, that shit was transferred from the medium to the content over the years.

        (Now you know why people still listen to "shit" vinyl.)

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by nagora ( 177841 )

          I've RTFA and it didn't mention why CD sales have increased. Anyone care to speculate on the reason(s)?

          I've always preferred to own my music on CD because I'm not at the whim of a streaming service or censoring of tracks "for modern sensibilities". Also, it can be cheaper to buy the CD version of an album and convert to FLAC than to buy the FLAC version.

          Well, you answered your own question. Vinyl has these characteristics too but has the disadvantage that it's shit.

          Ironically enough, that shit was transferred from the medium to the content over the years.

          (Now you know why people still listen to "shit" vinyl.)

          That only makes sense if there's substantial material that is available on vinyl and not on CD or other lossless sources. Is there something in particular you're thinking of?

  • Yeah, I just love putting on my brightly 3 colour nylon shell-suit to go out jogging with my CD Walk...CD Walk...CD Walk...

  • ..when I see 14 CDs for a penny, well, then we can talk.

  • LPs are bulky, and don't play in the car, so a lot have decided to just endure the loudness war and other issues with digital for the sake of convenience.

    • LPs are bulky, and don't play in the car, so a lot have decided to just endure the loudness war and other issues with digital for the sake of convenience.

      LPs in a car? Uh, weren't we talking about CDs, not LPs? People buy LPs for art now anyway, given sales of record players.

      And hell, I wish the loudness wars was still the main problem with music today. Apparently even the kids agree. Older music, is quite popular. Popular enough to be a threat to new music.

  • So I'm noticing around 10% of my CDs are having bit rot (and have the newer CDs fixed this yet?) and I'm wondering if this growth is fueled by repurchasing all over again.

    If the newer ones aren't more robust, might be looking towards FLAC files and burning to M-discs (and what an incredible step backwards that seems).

    • So I'm noticing around 10% of my CDs are having bit rot (and have the newer CDs fixed this yet?) and I'm wondering if this growth is fueled by repurchasing all over again.

      Just curious, could you outline a bit more detail? Pressed vs. burned CDs, average age of disc that failed, type of plastic storage (binders/sleeves/cases). I have certainly seen plenty of my burned CDs fail, but I haven't ran across this issue with (professionally) pressed CDs.

      • It makes sense that it could happen since audio CDs have the metal layer near the top of the disc. DVDs have it in the center so you'd expect them to hold up better. Unfortunately I don't take quite good enough care of my CDs to be sure that I didn't damage them... but of course when mp3 came on the scene I ripped them all so they're not all that relevant any more and just sit in a binder.

      • From my own experience, I have had 1 pressed CD with pin holes that grow over time (multiple playings?). Yet it continues to playback without a problem. I have approximately 800 CDs in my collection which I started 30 years ago.

        On a different question... Since CDs come without DRM, it should be ripe for pirating and the RIAA claimed that this was the reason CD sales were decreasing. Frankly, I though this was due to formulaic noise passing as music, and audio over compression. How will they explain the g

      • There's very little of a discernible pattern to emerge. Small publishers, large publishers, very few burnt ones (mostly because I don't have many, but data CDs have held up reasonably well). All of them kept in jewel cases. Some pristine. Some scratched all to hell. Mostly centered around the early 2000s (as that's when most were purchased), but even my very first purchased and burned CDs still work

        But when one doesn't track, I can hold it up to a light and see the tell-tale cluster of pinholes.

        And I'm off

  • Let's bring back some quality to the music experience!
  • Wow, I'm surprised to hear such news. I always thought that noone is using CD's now!
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