The awful truth about CDs, do they have the same shelve life as LP's ?

I have to agree with many above.  I recently transferred my entire CD collection which I began in 1985.  Many treated with Armour All and Green marker on the edges!!!  Of the thousand or so CD's, I had trouble transferring exactly 1 track.  And to be fair, I was able to use a different CD drive and get through that one.  It is easily arguable that CDs are not "perfect sound forever", but certainly not gone in 3 decades!

It's quite possible Paul does not.  Sorry Paul.  If there are problems with polycarbonate plastics after 10 years then I suggest we should all think twice about getting in an airplane and driving our cars.

I have see discs that are not properly stored or have been mistreated (where the lacquer layer is compromised) in high humity climates/locations show signs of deterioration.  But like anything that you want to preserve its about storage and care.

The only fault I can find is that Paul may not have done much research, before his daily post. He may have received it from a trusted source.
It is not the first time I had heard about CD rot. But I always figured it had more to do with non audiophiles who don't handle their media with the respect that we do. CDs used in cars, stuck in those visor sleeves, leaving them  laying on the dashboards, exposing them to sun and heat. Oily fingerprints, on both Cds and LPs.
I have great respect for Paul McGowan, they run one the best customer service oriented businesses, I know of. I do believe a player is in the works, but they just recently released a new SACD/CD transport, so he certainly is not telling anyone it is time to move past physical discs .And it does tell you what the problems are. The OP's headline, reads like a tabloid headline, you'd see in a grocery store check out line.I read that post the day it came out, and I didn't find it overly dramatic, the sky wasn't falling.

If you have any CDs or LPs that can't be replaced by downloads or remasters, then it might be wise to make a few safety copies. If you have a decent AD converter, you can digitize LPs that will sound very good. To me it is one those mysteries, why don't commercial CDs sound identical to the master tapes, but I can digitize an LP, that sounds just like that LP, and I can remove the ticks and pops when necessary.

Paul McGowan is certainly not a flake. His enthusiasm is genuine.

jeffstar, if your gear is directed/optimized toward vinyl then most likely you don't even have D/A converter, much less A/D.  In addition nobody would spend money to buy decent A/D converter to digitize all their LPs predicting ahead of time that some might get damaged.  Even if you can copy the music from LP you cannot copy LP itself and many people will tell you that it is not the same.  On the other hand you can even renew scratched CDs by ripping and copying them to CD-Rs - giving them new life.  I have all my CDs on hard drive (+2 backups) and will never loose them.  As for Mr. McGowan - his claims are on the verge of being funny and if he claims that commercial CDs have dye he is uniformed at best.  Enthusiastic uninformed, I agree.

I'm sure there are a few out there, but it is rare for audiophiles to not own at the very least a CD player, as there is a lot of good music that is not available on vinyl.
Yes, their systems will be optimized for vinyl. On the other hand, there are a lot of audiophiles who don't own turntables.
A very good AD converter can be had for a list price of $399, the HRT Linestreamer+. Go up to $2k and you have multiple choices, including Benchmark and many others.  PS Audio is closing out their current phono stage with built in AD converter for $1k.
I have digitized many of my favorite LPs, for convenience, and to preserve them. It is nice when wanting to play one or two tracks off an album, to just click on a few links, rather than having to cue it up. Of course digital files aren't going to give you the same experience as holding that album cover in your hands. I have vinyl that I purchased over 45 years ago, the records themselves are in mint condition, which I find very impressive, as they have been played on five different turntables with the first two, not being very good. Nobody is using a BSR mini changer and bragging about how great it is. But, surprisingly, those records, are in mint condition. The same can't be said for the covers. Glued seams have come apart, even with careful handling. So those albums have been digitized, and only get played rarely, as the digital copies through a really good DAC, sound good, very good.

As to dyes, I believe he was talking about the labels. There is no standard I am aware of with the materials used, and looking at them, the different textures, and colors, makes me think that some probably have dyes in them.
Read the other posts where they talked of the labels changing color.

When I mentioned enthusiastic, I was referring to new products, and differences that may be much easier to hear on their reference system, than on a mid level or entry level system.