Post subject: CD-format to be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:50 pm
Former PJ Drummer
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:00 am Posts: 16093 Location: dublin Gender: Male
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.
The next monument to fall? That will be printed magazines as people will want to consume their information online where they also read most of the news.
What are your feelings? is it a move that you like or not?
Update: We were approached by several people working with major labels, who indeed re-confirm that plans do exist to give up the CD. We keep on trying to get an official confirmation, but it seems that the matter is very controversial, especially after Side-Line brought out the story.
Post subject: Re: CD-format to be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:00 pm
Former PJ Drummer
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:56 pm Posts: 19957 Location: Jenny Lewis' funbags
I couldn't tell you the last time i bought something from a major label artist, but i'm sure this will trickle down to the independents soon enough.
This is my post on the subject on another forum from earlier this week.
I'm torn on the idea of phasing out CD's and physical media in general. On one hand, i'm a collector, and because i came of age in the nineties my collection is comprised almost entirely of CD's. Admittedly i rarely even listen to CD's these days except in the car. I just like having that collection and i hate the idea of abandoning it. I don't want to get into collecting a different medium because i'll feel compelled to repurchase everything and i've mostly resisted vinyl for that reason. It's expensive, hard to come by, and a pain to ship.
On the other hand, it is silly for companies to keep manufacturing these things when people either simply aren't buying them, or like me, buy them and stick them on a shelf and listen to music digitally anyways. So in that way I support creating a limited or special edition physical release for the diehards and collectors and otherwise keeping the rest of the distribution model digital. As an added bonus for smaller bands and labels (especially ones who adopt download services outside of itunes like bandcamp, et al), i could envision a lot more money going into the artist's pockets this way instead of going towards recouping costs from manufacturing and distributing a CD that will probably never turn a dime for them. Major labels and their artists?....probably not so much. itunes takes a pretty big cut of sales from what i've heard.
Personally i'm a fan of giving music away for free but that's just my viewpoint. I like the model where a band offers up it's music for free or pay-what-you-want, but also has a CD for sale for the collectors. Most of the bands i listen to make their money touring anyways. Consider the music as an enticement to get you to come and pay your $20 to see the show and maybe buy a shirt.
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