There is a theory being floated that the major labels are in collusion about the fate of the compact disc. If the rumors are to be believed 2012 will see the end of the CD and maybe the end of the world, though the two seem unrelated.
In place of the CD will be the download services already in place like iTunes and Amazon. By not producing physical media the labels will save money on production, distribution and warehousing all those Celine Dion CDs that never sold. There will still be some CDs produced but only special editions, box sets and the mega-hits that are on display at registers when you’re buying your coffee.
If true, this leaves a few problems:
- The old – This group has no idea what a MP3 is and does not care. You’re lucky they even have a CD player, but it came with their combination VHS/DVD player as an added bonus. Their car also has a CD player and that’s where they listen to that Harry Connick Jr CD that they love so much.
- The poor – Digital audio requires one or more of the following: a computer, smart phone (with an expensive data plan), a digital music player of some sort, a stereo capable of accepting external input.
- Audiophiles – Lossy formats, low bit rates, digital rights management, proprietary audio codecs, lack of anything resembling liner notes on most digital music, no street cred.
- Independents – Smaller labels and the unsigned will lose some of the economies of scale and distribution that have built up around the CD. If such a large chunk of the business abandons the CD then the smaller labels will be left with an abandoned format. While many have moved to online distribution there are still independent record stores that stock and sell these smaller labels and make good money providing this place for shoe gazers to flip through stacks of bands nobody has ever heard of.
You’ll drag CDs from my cold dead hands.
