The death of the Compact Disc is closer than you would ever think. Most say that the CD will die within the next ten years, but after my experience tonight, I give it three years. Tops.
It all started last evening, when I started up iTunes and saw that the new Gnarls Barkley album "The Odd Couple" was for sale. I had read that it leaked, so I figured that it was releasing today. I was wrong. The music was only available via download, not in conventional CD form. I went to Target and they had none in stock. If Target can carry niche CDs by Vampire Weekend and MIA, I figured that they would have Gnarls (who went platinum last time out). Nope.
Turns out that the CD will be for sale as soon as it hits retail, that it went on iTunes due to the leak. I don't believe it at all. This was a test to see what kind of demand music will have when there is no physical product available. I know for a fact that Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, et al get media in about six weeks average before its release date. Most would have had the CD in stock. My theory is that Downtown Records told retail to sit on the CD for a week to see how well it would sell without the product being in stores. Think about how much the label could make by not having to ship anything, let alone produce artwork and casing. One gold selling CD could make a label a couple million dollars only being available in digital form. Obviously it is a good business model, but I feel cheated buying air and not having a physical product.
It all reminds me of when my dad went to buy an LP at Title Wave around 1988 or 89. The clerk told him he could order it for him for an extra $5, or he could just buy the cassette or CD which they had in stock. I remember how sad he was that vinyl was dead and how much he complained about cassettes and their inferior quality. That is the same way I feel about digital over CDs(or vinyl for that matter). It's the end of an era, and there's no turning back.
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