Report: CDs are officially over
Posted on November 6, 2011 - 10:35 by David Konow

The public hasn't really been into music CDs for quite some time, but now it's reportedly official. 

Yes, major record labels will finally cease production of CDs next year.

This definitely doesn't feel like any big news flash, and like any lingering death, it's not surprising when it finally comes.

As SideLine reports, what's left of the major labels will abandon CDs for good by the end of 2012. 



As expected, they will shift to downloads and streaming exclusively, which is where music has been moving along anyways.

The music business is usually pretty slow to react to things, and at one point they were thinking music by subscription would save everything, so now it's obvious to everybody that the writing is clearly on the wall.

With the collapse of the huge chains stores like Tower and Virgin, Amazon will reportedly be the only (major) entity left carrying CDs, and as SideLine continues, CDs will only be made in the future for limited edition releases. 



Unsurprisingly, SideLine tried to reach EMI, Universal and Sony for comment, but all three labels declined to respond.

When CDs finally broke through in the '80's with the Beatles releases, the sound quality was indeed terrific, and we all got used to the format change from vinyl, some faster than others. 



Now CDs bring reactions of disgust from modern day music fans who grew up in the download age, and as we just reported on TG, vinyl's been making a hell of a comeback these days as well.

As underground metal label Relapse Records founder Matt Jacobson told me, "About a year ago, I thought I could see a day where it's only vinyl and digital, and it's actually happening sooner than I thought. CDs are so disposable, I have so many of them, they get in the way. The digital is great because it's convenient, and it doesn't take up twenty-five shelves of space."

CD-format to be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012

You read it well. The major labels plan to abandon the CD-format by the end of 2012 (or even earlier) and replace it with download/stream only releases via iTunes and related music services. The only CD-formats that will be left over will be the limited edition ones, which will of course not be available for every artist. The distribution model for these remaining CD releases would be primarily Amazon which is already the biggest CD retailer worldwide anyhow.

3 weeks ago we heard it for the first time and since then we have tried getting some feedback from EMI, Universal and Sony. All declined to comment.

The news doesn't come as a surprise to those who have been working in the business. In a piece that was published in a q&a with the Alfa Matrix people back in June 2011 in the 1st issue of "Matrix Revelations", our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker said the following when asked if a CD would still exist in 5 years: "Yes, but in a different format. Normal CDs will no longer be available because they don't offer enough value, limited editions on the other hand will remain available and in demand for quite a few more years. I for one buy only limited editions because of the added value they offer: a nice design, extra bonus gadgets, etc. The album as we know it now however will be dead within 5 years, if it isn't even sooner. I predict that downloads will have replaced the CD album within the next 2 years. I don't see that as something negative, it just has run its course, let's leave the space to limited editions (including vinyl runs for bigger acts) and downloads instead."

It's a move that makes completely sense. CD's cost money, even when they don't sell because there is stock storage to be paid; a label also pays money to distributors when CDs get returned to the labels when not sold and so on. In short, abandoning the CD-format will make it possible to just focus on the release and the marketing of it and no longer focus on the distribution (since aggregators will do the work as far as dispatching the releases to services worldwide) and - expensive - stock maintenance. In the long run it will most surely mean the end for many music shops worldwide that only stock and sell CD releases. In the UK for instance HMV has problems paying the labels already and more will follow. It makes the distribution of CDs no longer worth it.

Also Amazon will benefit from this as it will surely become the one and only player when it comes to distribution of the remaining CD productions from labels. Packaged next to regular album downloads via its own Amazon MP3 service it will offer a complimentary service.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=96359

(No, I'm not sure why it was A+E either.)

As someone who still listens almost strictly to CD's, I'd be disappointed if this spelled the end of the format completely, but honestly I'd also be kind of surprised if it did. Despite the doomsday-type proclamations of those articles, I suspect the long-short-term scenario will ultimately be that most people who prefer the CD format will have no trouble finding them on the internet. The articles also seem primarily concerned with major labels, and that leaves a huge chunk of the music industry totally unaccounted for. I imagine smaller labels of varying sizes, many of whom are comprised of artists who treasure old-world values when it comes to music making (artwork, liner notes, the whole package as it is), will still have hard-copy formats available on their website or through Amazon, if nothing else on a made-to-order basis.

I still buy cds and I would be pretty sad to see this go. Sure, I have hundreds of albums digitally that I otherwise would not have been able to uncover, but I still buy cds from all of my favorite bands and albums that I absolutely must have. The only thing better ( I imagine, at least) would be opening up a wonderfully packaged vinyl. Someday I will start that collection as well.

Record companies suck

That's interesting. I've argued that the vinyl format will outlast CDs; looks like this supports that theory.

You can't fault them for not wanting to invest in a business practice that isn't paying off for them. I'd imagine there are plenty of label execs who grew up on vinyl and appreciate the collector's aspect of music as much as anyone, but the social climate is inevitably such that compact discs are a diminishing return from a business standpoint. At this point the capacity in which CD's will continue to be available sounds pretty vague--"limited editions," "Amazon will offer a complimentary service," etc. That could mean a slew of different things--in honesty, a "limited edition" could simply be a pressing of a regular album with a couple "CD only" bonus tracks attached, the way a lot of artists do now for iTunes, a practice which could actually reward CD buyers. Basically, I'm not going to start getting my knickers in a bundle until I legitimately have trouble finding these things. My guess is that the ultimate ramifications of this are probably not going to be nearly as significant as they might seem.

As long as 10club keeps putting out quality work, we are all fine!

No, I certainly do not blame the record companies directly for this, as it probably makes sense as a business decision. However, perhaps if they were a little smarter at the beginning of the digital revolution, it may not have coe to this. Sure, they give what the public demands, but what the Record Companies pushed down peoples throats over the years, they certainly did not foster talent, the album format or any of the quality aspects that music lovers would reward them for. When i see the statement "music fans" I wonder who they are talking about?

I think cd's will be around for a while longer. Their production and distribution may move away from the major labels, like a lot of bands do for vinyl. More premium packaging, more direct sales from bands, more online buying, more bonus tracks and features.

Record companies did what would bring their shareholders the most return. Most companies and industries as a whole will wring out a business model for as long as it can and then move on to the next highest return on investment area they can find. As purists, or whatever,it makes us mad but why would they send the bulk of their advertising money to "good" acts instead of highly accessible ones? The highly accessible ones will bring in the most business.

No shit. A big turn off for me was that a catalog title would be $20+ and the new release would be $12-15. It was easy to buy a new release because A) it's new music and B) it's reasonably priced, but why would I want to spend $20 on a 30 year old album when I can just get it for free on the internet?

It's funny, now that CDs are reasonably priced there's no longer a market for them because people have become accustomed to digital music. Maybe if a cd had been $10 ten years ago fewer people would have turned to the internet as their primary method of acquiring music.

Considering at that point that most people were getting things for free off Napster, I don't think it would have mattered if a CD was $3 then. Maybe for some, but for the majority of what the labels would call "music fans" I think Napster still would have been the preferred route.

Well we kinda knew this was coming... I'll be the old cd collector I suppose. Gotta keep my physical library going...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Fine. Get rid of CDs. But can we also make a law, then, that all vinyl comes with a free digital download? I mean, guys, it is the 21st century, and Green Day made a musical, FFS.

I'm on board with this. I buy a ton of CDs now, but I also have two turntables and an iPod. If CDs disappear and vinyl becomes the only physical format, I don't want to have to pay twice.

Unfortunately, I feel like this will be one more thing the industry doesn't realize, and it will result in a year of illegal downloads before your suggestion is implemented.

Probably. It's amazing how many vinyl LPs I buy that don't come with a DDL. It's stupid. Especially if albums are all gonna cost me over $20. Which they almost always do (some are closer to $40).

In fact, last weekend, I bought three new LPs and only ONE came with a digital download. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but that's a sad ratio.

I think that's a valid point about price points on vinyl. If vinyl is going to run between $20-$40, the least the record companies can do is include a free digital download. I can't imagine that being a major loss for them at that point, but if I'm wrong, somebody please let me know.

There are definitely a lot of people that fall into the Napster generation, but what I'm talking about is how the record companies priced themselves out of the "impulse buy" consumer group and gradually people just got out of the habit of buying cds.

I'd merge this if I were Mod..