Are C.D.s outdated?

i was just reading an article about "10 things you shouldn't buy new". one of the things it mentioned was C.D.s, along with a quip to the effect of "yes, some of us dinosaurs still buy C.D.s".
i know digital music has become increasingly popular over the past couple years. i know that probably the majority of you folks out there in SGland own iPods or something similar. but are C.D.s really outdated? will buying music in a concrete form- disc, case, and liner notes- disappear entirely in the near future?
help me out, folks. i'm honestly baffled.

I perfer CDs. Last cd i bought came with a DVD and 24 songs. A buck a song would of not been worth it. And I got it for $10. I also get to pick the compression my mp3's. I doubt CD's will disappear any time soon.

After importing my whole cd collection to my ipod (some entire albums, though mostly just essential songs), I hauled them all down to Everyday Music and made off with over a GRAND in ca$h! I kept the music and ditched the plastic...freed up some room in the house, too. Now, I only buy the odd rare cd that isn't available on itunes. Then I just import it and sell the cd on ebay. Make sure you back up your music libray, though. Otherwise, it may all end in tears!

I hear what you're saying, but how many of those 24 songs are you actually going to listen to? Most bands only have 1-3 essential songs per cd...the rest is just filler. Downloads come with album art and more are coming with digital booklets (liner notes, etc.)

i dunno

i just can't see the point in getting rid of hard copys of stuff, i keep all my Cd's a vary rarely get rid of them, i asl have casstes i still ilsten to, as well as getting hold of vynal as nicking the ones ofr my mum

i only bother with MP3's when out of my hosue as its easyier, all other times i play music on CD's etc

Thats all well and good, but unless you have a decent printer, whats the point? I personally LOVE to sit on the bus on the way home and read the booklet of the cd I just bought in HMV. And the "filler" comment. I'm going to be civil on this and just say I disagree with a passion

i'm a bit obsessive about the experience of an album in its entirety. i get annoyed when a record is playing and someone skips through half the tracks. very rarely do i not listen to an entire album, start to finish, even if i only really love a couple of the tracks.

and i too LOVE peeking at the liner notes of a c.d. on the way home from the record shop, before i listen to it . but then again, i too ride the bus.

There's only three things I don't like about CDs:-
1)The stupid fucking jewel cases that destroy themselves when you open them.
2)CDs are really fragile.
3)They're way too expensive.

Ha! I listen to alot of punk and oi! So, one or two songs is all you need, before redundancy kicks in. Same with dance music. Some stuff, like Pixies, AC/DC, Minor Threat is ALL GOOD; but they're the exception. I used to read cd booklets on the train after buying them, too, but i don't miss it that much.

[Edited on Jul 30, 2005 by Sketchy_MF]

I actually listen to most of the songs, there are about 3-4 songs that i don't like on the album, it's actually like that for a lot of the bands I listen to.

I would agree with you the dance to an extent. Fragma's first album was complete shite, but things like Euphoria I still listen to to this day, simply because each song is so great

im happy with my cds. i don't own and ipod and i really don't care to.

When MP3's come with the lyrics, gorgeous artwork, band photos (Comical OTT band photo's rule, photo's of Helen Vogt and Simone Simmons are awesome too) and occassional footnotes then I'll stop buying CD's.

EDIT: meh ok so they will have downloadable inserts... but I'm a horder so

[Edited on Jul 30, 2005 by Baletempest]

I do prefer CD's. I don't know. Having all my music as just digital bits in my computer or on my ipod just seems to unreal to me. Even wireless internet makes me uncomfortable. I don't really trust anything I can't touch. For years I refused to put money in the bank.

There are also several reasons beyond the near psychotic ramble above. Supporting local music stores is always good in my opinion, because a community inevitably springs up around them, especially if they are independent. Buying used CD's helps local commerce without funding the big evil music companies. Also, people who just illegally rip cd's and then talk about how they do it because they do not want to support the music industry always kind of bother me. There are corporations much more vile than Epic Records, so if they truly followed that philosophy, they would steal everything. As for services like Itunes, I know that on many albums there are only one or two good songs. However, I do like to hear songs in the context of an album. It shows the artist's original vision right next to his or her other work.

There's my two cents.
Cheers,
Ché

I still only buy CDs at this point, but everyone knows I'm an old fart.

My mate is a fucking arse for doing that. He'll even play a track for 30 seconds, then skip it, because "its the best bit"

Totally. I'm a definite "album" person. A songs gotta be pretty bad for me to skip it. I can't even listen to mixed tapes, because if I know the album I'll be looking forward to the next song, then... psyche! someone else will start playing. Grrr.

i'm not against digital music or anything. i'm really just intimidated by the technology. i wouldn't know where to start. i didn't know what an iPod was until last year.

buying downloaded music has a long way to go before i'l be jumping on that bandwagon. there's no way i'm paying the same price for music that sounds worse, i can burn less times, won't transfer to my mini disc player, and i don't get any album art with (nine inch nails - with teeth excepted).

My friend's iPod just died on him and he lost everything on it. I'm not sure how many original cds he still owns, but most of his music may be gone for good (unless he can borrow from others or find it free online.

When I hear people say things like this, I always wonder WTF kind of bands they listen to. I wouldn't listen to a band that couldn't make at least one entirely good album.

same here

same here ... I still like buying cd's, if I download a few songs off of an album and I like them chances are I will go out and buy the CD

I put most of my music to mp3 (except for the tunes I really just can't stand listening to) and sold them off-I made a decent buck, as opposed to a few hundred discs laying around I have just a few DVDs; I kept all the discs that I listened to in majority or entirely......an album's gotta be damn good or have a great flow/theme to it to be kept as an entire "album". Which would be many of my favorites, thankfully....King's X (new album in September, *coughcough*whoring*coughcough*)...KMFDM....Type O...many film scores...

CDs aren't going anywhere. There's far too many people without computers or an understanding of the technology. There will always be people who want a solid copy, or something to add bulk to a library, etc.....until a definite better format comes along (ha!), then no. They're not going anywhere for a loooooooong time.

Define "better". There are certainly better sounding formats out there, but quite frankly I don't think enough people give a shit about sound to replace CDs. The success of 128kbps MP3s proves this. The vast majority of people care about convenience, and that's it. Sure, there a niche codecs here and there and many true music lovers rip their CDs with higher bitrates and so on, but on a large scale I think people really buy the "CD Quality" line for the most part, so I can't see much progress format-wise.