No More Music CD's ?

[PrimeTimer]

The day the music died...

Just read an article that Best Buy is going to stop selling CD's. They say it's because more people subscribe to online music than play CD's. Wow. I feel so old fashioned or out of touch and a little left behind. I still play CD's on an old Sony "boom box" I bought in the 90's. I wish I still had a record player and some vinyls. I just might save up for that. Meanwhile I think hubby and I are going to have to rush out to the used CD store and do a little shopping. Why do people like to pay endless monthly fees to hear music on a digital device instead of buying a record or CD? Is it because they can take a digital device wherever they go? I don't think music sounds the same on a computer. I don't necessarily like all this "digital stuff". And of course live music is the best. 

[iolaire]

Last weeks the deal websites I follow were promoting various LPs from 1980-90's bands.

[Charlie B53]

I have STACKS of reels for my reel to reel.  Boxes full of cassettes.  Not much vynal any longer, most of it sprouted legs.

None of my cassette decks work, the drives eat tapes as the belts age.  I so want to plug everything into my computer and digitize it so I can load it all on a big flash drive and take it everywhere with me.

I just haven't made myself do it yet.  May have to see if I can find a new cassette deck, haven't the slightest idea if or where to find belts any longer.

But I do still have my turntable, just in case.

[kristina]

Some years ago the BBC disposed of their vinyls and they "ended up" in charity shops, where they are still available. Usually one vinyl costs between 59 pennies or 99 pennies. There are some wonderful vinyls, where Sir Neville Marriner (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) conducts. Sir Neville Marriner was an English violinist who became "one of the world's greatest conductors". He also founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
.... There are also some interesting Radio-programs like Classic FM or Radio 3, where one can listen to wonderful classical music .
Unfortunately with Classic FM one has to "put up" with lots of commercials in between the music, but one soon learns to quickly switch the Radio off and put it back on again after a few minutes...

[KarenInWA]

I subscribe to Apple Music and use my iPhone to listen to it .I plug it into an audio cable in my car and it sounds fantastic! I can do the same thing with my Bose stereo at home. I also have one of those dock speakers that charges the phone and plays music at the same time. I pay $10/month plus tax and have access to lots of music that I can either stream, or download to my phone if I choose.

I'm sure my audiophile uncle would not agree with my feelings on the sound quality, but I appreciate that I can have all that music without all the clutter!

KarenInWA

[Paul]

I still collect 8mm Cine film, and that went out in the 1980s.

[Michael Murphy]

If you have a computer you can burn music on a blank cd.

[Riki]

When I want a specific music CD, I go to Amazon.  They usually have it.  Otherwise, I buy from iTunes.  Then I can play it on my computer or put it on my phone.  If I go to a live show, I tend to buy the CDs that the musician has on sale.  I have a few of those

[Michael Murphy]

Just as I was born 78 records were replaced by lp’s and 45’s, then came 8 track, cassettes, CD’s, DVD’s what’s amazing is recording method keep dieing but i am still alive. 

[kristina]

I'm sure my audiophile uncle would not agree with my feelings on the sound quality, but I appreciate that I can have all that music without all the clutter!

KarenInWA

The good thing about vinyls is, that at the time of their production (1940's to early 1980's) all the record studios employed the world's best recording sound-engineers and listening to these vinyls is a real treat !!!!
Another point about vinyls with classics is, that at that time musicians also played wonderful instruments, some of them two to three hundred years old and the sound is just pure magic! Have you ever listened to an 1811 Clementi-pianoforte on a vinyl? Pure magic!!! Or listening to a real Stradivarius violin on vinyl? Pure magic again!
On these vinyls we can hear "antique" instruments played by musicians who love music plus some genius sound engineers and one is on to a real treat ...
Best wishes from Kristina.

[Paul]

The good thing about vinyls is, that at the time of their production (1940's to early 1980's)

Vinyl records are reading this and quoting Twain at you: "The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated." You should have said "at the time of their production (1940's to right now)" because some small record companies are still releasing on vinyl!

some of them two to three hundred years old and the sound is just pure magic!

I will never forget the time I was listening to the radio and they played a recording of Oscar Wilde reading "The Ballard Of Reading Gaol". Up to that point I had not realized we had recordings that far back. I felt a tingling in the back of my neck and my eyes leaked as I listened.

[Rerun]

I'm thinking that is why concerts are so EXPENSIVE.  The musicians are making no money on CD's.  I have I heart radio and can call up any song I want.  I pay $6.50 a month.  Now they advertise it is free so why I pay money I have no Idea.  There is no one to call.  But, I love it so  I keep it. 

The Eagles came here and it was like $400 a ticket.  OMG!  It was sold out!  Garth stayed for 7 shows.  I forget how much his was. I didn't go.

 

[Paul]

I'm thinking that is why concerts are so EXPENSIVE.  The musicians are making no money on CD's.

A few years back Prince did a tour over here (Britain) at the same time as his new album came out. He really angered his record company by doing a deal with a major national newspaper, allowing them to print copies of his CD and give them away in their paper. The newspaper cost a fraction of the price of the album (if memory serves, the CD cost £6.50 or £8.50, the paper cost about £1). So all Prince's fans bought the newspaper rather than the CD and the record company lost a fortune. However Prince was working on the theory that, as the free CD was inserted into every copy of the newspaper, a hell of a lot of non-fans would get copies too and play it anyway. He hoped enough of these would like the music and go see him in concert as a result, making him more money in extra ticket sales than he lost in album royalties.

[SooMK]

It's my understanding that vinyl has returned in a big way. When we were downsizing my millennial daughter took the turntable, the speakers and most of the LPs. They have since replaced the speakers but listen to the LPs. I buy songs from iTunes. One of my guilty pleasures is spending time browsing iTunes, listening to clips of music I'd never be exposed to otherwise, as well as old tunes from back in the day. Then I buy a little of this and a little of that. It's like a once a year binge. I use Pandora and Spotify only rarely. I follow David Crosby on Twitter and he rants about the only way musicians can make money is by touring. The streaming music companies pay fractions of a penny on each song to the artists.

[Paul]

he rants about the only way musicians can make money is by touring.

No sympathy from me. I remember when artists could make a living from recording. Three albums a year, each taking about two weeks to record, that is a whole six weeks work a year! Now they have to go out on tour. Perform sets of up to two hours. That is a whole two hours work a day, sometimes as many as three days a week. The poor overworked multi-millionaires. True there are rehearsals, but we are still talking a fraction of what a "real" human being has to do. If they want to complain, then give them a ten hour shift in a factory, five days a week for minimum wage. Let them find out what hard work is like!

[Riki]

he rants about the only way musicians can make money is by touring.

No sympathy from me. I remember when artists could make a living from recording. Three albums a year, each taking about two weeks to record, that is a whole six weeks work a year! Now they have to go out on tour. Perform sets of up to two hours. That is a whole two hours work a day, sometimes as many as three days a week. The poor overworked multi-millionaires. True there are rehearsals, but we are still talking a fraction of what a "real" human being has to do. If they want to complain, then give them a ten hour shift in a factory, five days a week for minimum wage. Let them find out what hard work is like!

Paul, you are forgetting that a lot of those artists also have to WRITE the songs they record, and that takes a hell of a lot longer than a few minutes.  It can take months to wdrite a full album

[Paul]

Paul, you are forgetting that a lot of those artists also have to WRITE the songs they record, and that takes a hell of a lot longer than a few minutes.  It can take months to wdrite a full album

Yeah but we were talking about them not making money from CDs. As performing artists they make little money. But the composers get a really good royalty, so if they wrote those songs they are making good money from the CDs/downloads/etc..

[Riki]

Actually, they don't.  When an artist records an album, any money they make goes directly to the recording company to pay recording costs and promotion, among other things.  Any money they might get from royalties, which isn't much unless they have a huge hit, or anything they make from performing goes right back to the recording company.  If the album is a flop, an artist can go into debt very quickly

[Paul]

Actually, they don't.  When an artist records an album, any money they make goes directly to the recording company to pay recording costs and promotion, among other things.  Any money they might get from royalties, which isn't much unless they have a huge hit, or anything they make from performing goes right back to the recording company.  If the album is a flop, an artist can go into debt very quickly

Yes, that is true as an ARTIST, which is why they are not making money from CD sales as an ARTIST. But the composer and lyricist are a different ball game. They get paid a percentage of the sales price of the CD no matter what. They have a better union than artists, so they make good money out of an average selling CD and great money out of a chart topper. Even if the record company can (as they often do) fiddle the books to make it look like the CD made no money, the composer and lyricist still get paid, because their payment is a percentage of the retail price, regardless of marketing costs, recording costs, or actual/book profits. If the artist also wrote the songs they get this money. So they are on easy street. They don't have to worry about not getting much for performing. This leads to a lot of tension in bands where one member write the songs, so makes a fortune, others merely sing or play instruments, so earn a lot less, even if they are more important to the band (eg. lead singer, fan's favourite, etc.).

[kristina]

It's my understanding that vinyl has returned in a big way.