Alain Levy, chairman and CEO of EMI Music, says the music CD is dead. He notes that the majority of people just use CDs to rip their music on their computers to transfer the songs to digital music players.
Back in September 2003 I first wrote about the demise of the traditional music CD. Later that year, I had an epiphany. I didn't want to see my CD collection anymore. I had no use for it. I started ripping every CD in my collection and never looked back. The CD has been dead to me for three years except for a few minutes when I'm ripping the files to high quality DRM-free MP3 files. Once they're digitized, I'm in charge. They're playing off my computers or they're playing on my iRiver. I'm at 1214 complete albums and I can't imagine going back.
So yes Mr. Levy, the CD is dead. It has been for quite some time.
In all reality the CD was never alive. When the CD first hit the market it was meant for small playing devices such as boomboxes and Sony discmans. For some strange reason, manufactuers and corporations tell us what is better even tho' sometimes that is not the case. We were brainwashed and convinced that the CD was better than vinyl as the case with VHS vs. Beta. I find it disppointing that in the 21st century we are substituting convenience over quality. Food for thought......We have the purest of resolution with a recording on vinyl and then we replace that with a less superior format known as CD, yet the true audiophiles still prefer vinyl. Since the 80's and 90's of CD the manufacturers relize how shitty CD sound and they want to mimic the high resolution of vinyl so they invent DVD Audio Discs. By this time too much time has passed and the majority of people don't care while the true music lovers are still purchasing vinyl. I find it disturbing that people are so into this downloading fiasco and by this time you're getting even less quality than a CD. Downloaded music sounds artificial. The bass sounds very digital and muffled. There is absolutely no mid range and the highs sound tinny. The point is, if digital music is so great why do the good artists still record in analog?