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Monday, November 14, 2011

The End Is Near! Late 2012 for the CD format!

From The Digital Bits:
thedigitalbits.com

It seems the online magazine Side-Line is among a number of publications reporting that all the major music industry labels are preparing to abandon the Compact Disc format by the end of 2012, in favor of download/streaming only releases via iTunes, Amazon and other digital music services. You know, I'm really not all that surprised. (Though I WILL be surprised if CDs disappear completely next year, given all the indie labels and distributors that still do well with the format.) Nor am I really all that bothered by it. I'm a big music fan, but it's been a while since I purchased an album on CD myself. Actually, what I've been doing lately instead is trying to track down 24-bit vinyl rips of a lot of my favorite albums, which sound FAR superior to regular CDs anyway. I find that, as I get older, when I spend my hard-earned money on music what I really want is high quality. MP3s simply do not cut it anymore for me. For example: When I purchased Peter Gabriel's recent New Blood album, I made sure to get the 24-bit, high-resolution version he offered online. And I'm damn glad I did. Now... I certainly recognize that I might be in a minority of all music consumers, but I'd bet there's still a LOT of guys like me and Matt out there, who have built up nice audio systems (related to home theatre viewing) and who have come to really appreciate high quality music presentation. In fact, Matt's recently become a vinyl hound, going to monthly LP shows to find copies of a lot of his old favorites. For a long time, I thought the whole vinyl resurgence thing was a joke. Then I heard the 45 RPM LP version of the Foo Fighters' Wasted Light. DAMN! It's so much better than the CD, there's almost no comparison. The only thing that captures that same level of sonic quality is a 24-bit digital presentation, not ripped from CD but created directly from the recording masters. So personally, I really don't have a problem kissing music CDs goodbye... as long as the labels FINALLY start offering their "download/stream only" releases with a lossless option.

1 comment:

  1. Orders have been received and completed. I will sticker the world to make them happy.

    ReplyDelete