The Rapid Rise (& Fall) of the CD

Cranky old men talking past one another on a forum about the death and revival of physical media is quite entertaining to read. As audiophiles, we're stuck on the idea that people purchasing physical media is heavily weighted by a desire for good sound quality. Nothing could be further from the truth. Streaming is viewed as personalized radio listening for 95% of the listening consumers, SQ has nothing to do with it but convenience does. Those who buy the physical formats/digital downloads do so because they collect music first and foremost and for a variety of reasons - nostalgia, sound quality, resale, etc. 

I work with a lot of young people every day. Everyone in my office is under 45 with the exception of myself. Those who do buy vinyl buy it because they like the sound of vinyl (cracks, pops, hiss) and are most likely listening to that vinyl on $300 wireless TT setup with Bluetooth speakers. Gasp! 

Using the anecdotal evidence of who attends hi-fi shows that vinyl is predominately the purview of Boomers and middle-aged Gen-Xers  because that's who attends the shows is not proof of anything. The hi-fi shows are attracting that demographic because that's the demographic with the disposable income to drop on hi-end components regardless of media format. The average Millennial and Gen-Z looking to up their game will be looking at modest mid-fi upgrades so maybe, they're willing to drop $1500 on an integrated with some wireless speakers.

But I digress. I honestly don't care what format people use to listen to their music. For some of my younger coworkers who are really into music, I've been suggesting that, if they're looking to upgrade their listening experience, even if it's Spotify, perhaps start with their headphones/earbuds first. If they're strictly streamers, buying an upgraded external DAC and headphone amp for their laptop is a step in the right direction.

@mahler123

"I had written before about my nephew, otherwise a fairly intelligent guy, buying an lp and then being shocked to learn he couldn’t play it in a computer disc drive. One of my son’s girlfriend, who truly is an idiot, buys LPs and plays them them on some box of a contraption that includes a turn table, speakers, usb port and Bluetooth transmitter. It retails for $50 and she then raves about the sound of her $40 Barnes and Noble vinyls."

LOL! Thanks mahler123, made my day ;)

Honestly, I think it's all pretty good. 

We have LPs for the "analogue forever" crowd. There's CDs for those who simply must have 0% background noise. And we have digital streaming for pretty much the ultimate in convenience, access and variety. There's pros and cons to each system and I for one enjoy all of them.

And on top of all that, the gear to listen to it all keeps getting better and better.

I dare say we're living in a Golden Age right here, right now. 

Happy listening.

I was at the AES Convention in NY at the Javitz Center when SONY first showed there CD player. The line to there Demo booth was long. The player was $700.00.

They had a Distro system set up with 5 headphones so you could listen to the Player. We all thought this was the bomb...!!

Now ...DAC's are popping up to go back to analog..LMAO.

We need to be careful about selling all our CDs and vinyl just because these streaming services have taken over. There are several scenarios that could happen like musicians taking their music off the streaming services or the streaming services raising their rates to exorbitant levels. Once the streaming services think they have a monopoly, that's when rates might start to rise. Also, I couldn't listen to Neil Young for a long time except for what I had purchased because he wasn't on Spotify. 

Granted, one of the best things about CDs was the ability to listen in the car and most new cars don't even have an option for a CD player anymore but remember, when you have a streaming service you own nothing but when you purchase a CD or vinyl, you own that music. Just stuff to keep in mind.