Is this the end of CD's?

[kudeta]

Taken from "The Age" newspaper in Melbourne Australia
Is this the end of CD's as we know them?

"Before the euphoria dies away, and just before those red-eyed black iPods start hurtling out of the shops, let us consider for a moment the deeper significance of Apple's deal with Bono and the boys of U2.

They may look grungy but they are hardheaded businessmen as well as trend-setting musicians.

Apple is a business that also sets trends. Who would have thought a computer company would so radically change the direction of the recorded music industry?

U2's deal, in which the band will market its massive 400-track digital box set - the entire U2 collection, including stuff not previously heard - suggests the end of the CD as we, and the big labels, know it.

It may take a year or so but sooner rather than later - even in Australia, which remains an iTunes Music Store wasteland - music will be sold digitally. Buyers will be able to choose the tracks they want, not what the record companies want to flog.

They may do it through their own computers or they may go into record stores and order their own compilations from a music kiosk, burn their disc and have the label and case booklet printed on the spot."

"U2 manager Paul McGuinness told The Times: "Yes, it spells the end of the CD, but it's happening anyway.

"Having said that, the entire legal downloading business is still only 3 per cent of the total. The digital box set is really available only to those with broadband or high-speed internet. It'll be pretty pointless with dial-up."

The deal is said to be the most lucrative ever signed by a rock band.

As for the black iPod: "It is just another piece of U2 merchandise," McGuinness said.

Certainly, sir. And as well as that, the U2 deal added $US2 million ($A2.64 million) to the share value of Apple"

I for one still havent got into MP3's to listen too. All the viruses you end up with on your PC I dont think is worth the hassle. And I know that any CD I burn I tend o get bored of very quick or lose easily. For me I would much rather buy a CD and listen to that. Generally the quality is better also.

What do you think?

[Bruce]

IMO, a networked server with an entire library of digital lossless compressed music available over Ethernet/wireless networks (including the capability to download various music compilations to an iPod) is the future. i.e. in your own home you have a content server (computer) that serves multiple playback devices.

Source material can originate from media purchased in the form of downloadable digital material, DVDs, CDs, LPs, and digitized, if necessary, for storage on the local hard disk.

Small RJ-45 (Ethernet), USB, or Firewire connectors are easy to fit on almost any device for high-speed data transfer (Prepros, receivers, settop boxes, iPods, etc.).

The key for widespread adoption is to enable the storage and retrieval of lossless data compression formats (and even DVD video with DD/DTS formats). While some may be OK with compressed formats like MP3, the large capacity of hard disks means lossless compression is easily handled.

[Evil Twin]

IMO, a networked server with an entire library of digital lossless compressed music available over Ethernet/wireless networks (including the capability to download various music compilations to an iPod) is the future. i.e. in your own home you have a content server (computer) that serves multiple playback devices.

Source material can originate from media purchased in the form of downloadable digital material, DVDs, CDs, LPs, and digitized, if necessary, for storage on the local hard disk.

Small RJ-45 (Ethernet), USB, or Firewire connectors are easy to fit on almost any device for high-speed data transfer (Prepros, receivers, settop boxes, iPods, etc.).

The key for widespread adoption is to enable the storage and retrieval of lossless data compression formats (and even DVD video with DD/DTS formats). While some may be OK with compressed formats like MP3, the large capacity of hard disks means lossless compression is easily handled.

Your lack of confidence in the CD format is disturbing...










Of course, what you describe above is similar to what I'm building in my own living room- all lossless encoded- but it still drives a Benchmark DAC, and most of the software comes from CD's or hybrid SACD's originally.

That same Benchmark DAC is also driven from a CD transport.

While some of the big names may embrace this distribution model, there's WAY too much music I listen to (evelyn Glennie, Bela Fleck, Jacque Loussier, Wayne Horvitz, etc, for this to be likely for me.

OTOH, for the folks who only buy what the big labels try to force on the market (Brittany and the like), this wouldn't suprise me....

[Joseki]

There are some other implications of the new music distribution method. The first, most obvious one, is the death of the 'album' as the unit of measure for music. We've been here before. Prior to the LP, all recorded music was sold in terms of singles. Clearly this changes the art form. Artists must record great singles. This has an immediate positive effect in that artists can no longer put out a cd with 3 good songs and 9 tracks of filler. But there are some downsides.....

The reliance on singles changes the landscape in a couple of very interesting ways. First, the cost of producing and marketing music goes down. This will enable smaller artists to put out music with or without the help of a major label. There will not be the intense pressure to produce an instant hit as the record company did not have to invest nearly the same amount of money. Perhaps the days of artist development will return. The second byproduct of the return to singles is the death of the album. Could Green Day's American Idiot have been produced in a world where individual songs are available for $.99? Even if the entire album did get produced, how is the artistic intent preserved when any/all of the songs can be purchased individually? The order of the songs is crucial to the work as a whole - how is this going to be preserved?

We are at a watershed moment for music distribution and appreciation. The death of the cd is almost certain. In less than five years, the killer app will be a media center as described by the contributers above. Music will still be purchased but it will not be in physical form. The big question is 'How will this change the music itself?' I am on the edge of my seat.....

David

[Chris D]

Well, I do think that albums as we know it will cease eventually. Yes, digital media will start to play a bigger and bigger role. It's inevitable at this point, I think. You may get packaged deals of some sort. I don't know how to prevent the eventual high-quality recording single song swapping that media companies are managing to hold at bay for now. Eventually technology will just make this too easy.

However, I think recording quality will ALWAYS be a factor. College girlie Jane may not care about the recording quality, and will be okay with a low-grade MP3 of a song playing on an internal computer speaker. But I for one can't stand MP3 recordings. (unless I'm in a noisy environment where it just doesn't matter very much) So I'll always go for the high quality recordings, myself.

Kinda cool that U2 is taking a step here. They're still my favorite band.

[David Meek]

With the fast moving changes in media and distribution, I do see the demise of the CD as the primary method of musical purchase in the next 6-8 years. Especially for the giant inventories of existing "catalog" music, where it makes good business sense to have the media available in a downloadable format. This gives the labels a much easier, much more cost effective (read cheaper) way of marketing/distributing/maintaining their inventories.

New musical releases do raise some interesting questions though. Will we still see 8-10 song "albums" being the primary grouping for new efforts by artists, or will there be a single song dribbled out to the internet/radio as the artist/corporation needs a new cash infusion?

One caveat for me is quality. If I can't get as good (or better) sound quality from the downloadable music as compared to redbook-CD or SACD, I'm really not interested.

[Bruce]

David,

I agree!! I only want digital music in a lossless compressed format, I'm simply not interested in reduced quality compression like MP3.

Hard disk storage is large and relatively cheap for storing digital media, and jukebox software is readily available. Fast Etherenet (100MB) and WiFi 802.11g are more than adequate network mediums for distributing and controlling digital music throughout the house.

The critical piece is the "client" device at the end-user location for decoding the digital signal. A smart thing to do would be to include an Ethernet input port on all new receivers, prepros, DACs, etc. with support for various lossless compressed formats. I realize this is probably not cost effective which is why devices like the Sqeezebox might be a good solution.