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What will become of my beloved CDs?

I have nearly 2000 CDs (DVDA, SACD, etc) and am very fond of them, or at least the music that is on them. However, it seems that music distribution is going to someday soon be totally on-line through downloads (True? When?). So, when most all of the music on my CDs is available in higher-quality on-line downloads (with artwork, I'm sure), what will become of my CDs? Will they be the shiny-silver equivalent to 8-Track tapes? Or, will they become a novelty and collectable? Should I seel them ASAP?? Any economists here???
bday0000
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
+1 pbb! Physical media will always have some future value! Even ancient 78's have their fan collectors! I'm keeping and using my CD's. I refuse to believe the hype that Hi-Rez streaming is better! Redbook recording and playback fully satisfies the Nyquist theorem!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The capacity of humans for self-delusion is unlimited - Mr.Spock
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
On Friday I won at auction from Amoeba in LA 13 CD's for $8.90 + shipping! Including a Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool RVG for $1.80!!! All from my home via my smartphone!
glupson
7,842 posts
 
roberjerman,

There are a few of us that have not embraced streaming, but the reality is that we are dinosauri. Streaming is gaining traction big time. Reading above posts from 16 years ago, I really felt like Marty from Back to the future movie. It just happened that I stopped by a local library basement today and browsed through the CDs they are selling. $1 a piece, all donated. I would guess there was a few hundred of them, maybe 600-700, ranging from 1970s German pop star, to traditional Chinese music, to multiple versions of Beethoven’s piano works, and anything in between. Someone left them there and that is, with actually nice outcome so far, a big part of the answer to the original post. Someone had no use for CDs anymore. Not so long ago, I would browse boxes with records there. They are no more. Probably whatever could be sold was sold and remainder ended up in the landfill. They do not take them in the library anymore. Maybe, 16 years from now, there will be no library to dump your CD collection at, either.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
When it comes to digging out CDs someone did not want, two or three years ago I came across an unopened CD in that same library basement. I bought it for $1 and liked it a lot. I went on amazon to see if others had similar response. The first thing I noticed was the price. $200. It has decreased since then and is only $91 now although used and only "good" and "very good" condition. Having said that, I would not sell it for $200 despite having it on hard drives and who knows where else. I like having it, as irrational as that may be.
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