U.S. CD sales grow for first time since 2004

[Cybrarian]

U.S. CD sales grow for first time since 2004

CD sales enjoyed year-over-year growth for the first time since 2004, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's annual sales report.
 

Combined with the decade-long vinyl sales explosion, overall physical music sales grew for the first time since 1996.
 

Why it matters: Streaming is the new lifeblood of the music industry, but physical music is enjoying a resurgence that can no longer be dismissed as a passing fad driven by hardcore collectors.
 

In addition to record stores, artists have appreciated the rise in vinyl — and now CD sales — because it gives them another avenue to sell their music.

 

 

[Cloth Ears]

Looking at that and seeing everything is in dollar values...I wonder if the amount of music is increasing, or just the dollar value? IIRC, when CDs came out, they were more expensive than the 'same' album for the first few years (until '88?). And now, the 'same' LP is more expensive than the CD (no idea about digital downloads).

[audiofeline]

The amount of CD growth for the last few years appears to be minimal.  The stacked bar graph is deceiving.

[mrbuzzardstubble]

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/14/22976557/cd-sales-increase-2021-recording-industry-association-of-america

[Dingbat]

On 31/3/2022 at 2:09 AM, mrbuzzardstubble said:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/14/22976557/cd-sales-increase-2021-recording-industry-association-of-america

 

Yes, this graph is much easier to read. The graph from the OP reminds me of what the management in my company wants to see, and which ends up taking way too much of my time to facilitate.

[075Congo]

Looking left to right across that graph wonder what the next "format" will be once streaming runs its course. I'm still stuck in the "orange" zone and have avoided entry into the "green" zone. I leave streaming to my coffee shop and other places and buy CD's of artists that appeal........latest one was Sam Brookes from Bristol (UK).......feeling good I bought both his CD's directly from him.

[blakey72]

I just think cd and vinyl sounds better than streaming. For casual I stream, for serious cd or vinyl. It would of course depend on what front end you are running but I still buy cd's.

[emesbee]

I've never stopped buying CDs, but will buy digital downloads if that is the only option (WAV format as a minimum, I refuse to pay for mp3).

 

[Ian McP]

With postage rates through the roof, especially US, bandcamp is your best option.

WAV or FLAC options.

[Nada]

On 17/04/2022 at 8:47 AM, 075Congo said:

Looking left to right across that graph wonder what the next "format" will be once streaming runs its course.

 

This assumes that history will repeat and there will be a new disruptive format  to replace streaming.

 

Looking at the top graph there was wave after wave of new technology and formats that have displaced the dominant media. Records fell to cassettes that fell to CDs that fell to digital downloads and now streaming.

 

In this trend cost and convenience have driven consumer choice. Music audio streaming has arrived at the ultimate point of no physical media, no maintenance, no need to leave home,  low costs and ultimate convenience. 

 

So where's the room for anything new?

 

Anyone?

[rantan]

15 minutes ago, Nada said:

Music audio streaming has arrived at the ultimate point of no physical media, no maintenance, no need to leave home,  low costs and ultimate convenience. 

 

Just an annotation to keep it real.

It should be borne in mind that despite the lazy convenience of streaming, it is the artist/s and bands that really suffer.

They earn a pittance of what they do via physical media sales, which is fine if you are a household name artist, but streaming does not provide a sufficient income to new artists to even have a basic wage.

[bob_m_54]

4 minutes ago, rantan said:

 

Just an annotation to keep it real.

It should be borne in mind that despite the lazy convenience of streaming, it is the artist/s and bands that really suffer.

They earn a pittance of what they do via physical media sales, which is fine if you are a household name artist, but streaming does not provide a sufficient income to new artists to even have a basic wage.

I agree. I think the only way to address this is to bring in a mechanism where a user is on a pay for play system, where they pay per song they stream. And the artist is guaranteed royalties from each played track.... Or if any free streaming is available, it should be of a suitably low bitrate as to act as a "preview" only.

 

yeah, unlikely to happen eh.. a shame really.

[Nada]

Streaming is meant to be aiding some new independent musicians breaking through and getting paid,  so its not all bad news.  Rolling Stone ran a story "Merchant bank Raine Group estimates a 32% increase in the profits of indie artists, thanks to DIY uploads and rapid global growth".

 

Bandcamp is a good musician friendly streaming site for now.

 

Has technology evolved to the point with streaming that we are no longer victims of the music industry constantly pushing new media to resell music?

 

 

[ray4410]

1 hour ago, Nada said:

Streaming is meant to be aiding some new independent musicians breaking through and getting paid,  so its not all bad news.  Rolling Stone ran a story "Merchant bank Raine Group estimates a 32% increase in the profits of indie artists, thanks to DIY uploads and rapid global growth".

 

Bandcamp is a good musician friendly streaming site for now.

 

Has technology evolved to the point with streaming that we are no longer victims of the music industry constantly pushing new media to resell music?

 

 

Has technology evolved to the point with streaming that we are no longer victims of the music industry constantly pushing new media to resell music?
good point,i started my music collection journey very early with vinyl,first aust pressings them American imports then had to have the same album's  on mobile fidelity and so on and on,then we got the perfect sound forever cd,then we had to have xrcd,sacd dvd audio Japanese  imports and so on,so many so called superior sound re releases of albums that you already have paid for but because of our need for better sound quality or so the record companies imply we hand over more cash, admittedly some do live up to the hype,i for one do not have a problem streaming music which i pay a subscription for as i have supported the software side for many years also not to mention the hundreds of dvd and bluray music concerts which i have bought.

Edited April 18, 2022 by ray4410

[maximus]

I'm streaming via a Qobuz account and would gladly add to the monthly bill to aid an artists income.

As far as streaming, DSD 512 from my Lumin T2 is really something, much better than any CD player I've owned and when you consider the cost of new CD's, it's a no brainer.

I find CD'S hit and miss, for every good recording, you'll get 4-5 average ones, this is why vinyl is so popular. I've kept my CD'S because they're worth $1 each, not worth selling, if I was really concerned about sound quality, I could easily quit my Qobuz account and sell off my Lumin, easy peasy.

 

[LogicprObe]

 

Why would you stream?

It takes ages to find the track you want.................and then it's not THE track you want!

Not to mention the ownership.

[MattyW]

Never stopped buying them. Not everything is available on Qobuz hey

[ray4410]

10 hours ago, LogicprObe said:

 

Why would you stream?

It takes ages to find the track you want.................and then it's not THE track you want!

Not to mention the ownership.

don't know what platform you are using to stream ,i stream and can have any track playing instantly and if i want to skip to another track it is as quick as i can press play,
i also still buy cds and sacds to add to huge library i already own. 

[TerryO]

11 hours ago, LogicprObe said:

 

Why would you stream?

It takes ages to find the track you want.................and then it's not THE track you want!

Not to mention the ownership.

Sorry Streaming is the easiest and fastest way to find and play either your old favourites or discover new music, especially if you use Roon and if you want the highest quality sounding files then it is hard to go past Qobuz.
Yes you have to invest a decent amount in a good quality streamer/server to get the most from it but that is no different than investing in a good quality turntable or CDP. 
As for ownership, for example, you can buy the album file or just single songs from Qobuz and you own it forever and in general, but not 100% always the case, the quality of the music file sounds noticeably better again than from Streaming or CD, that is unless you have a very expensive high quality CDP and even then that is not always assured to be better.

 

It has also taken me a while to become a true fan of streaming, but once you have your head around it and a very good system then it all becomes very clear how good it really is.

 

cheers,

Terry

 

 

[was_a]

 

I buy CDs for better sound quality i.e. noise-floor / calmness of presentation, natural tone of instruments, dynamic contrast etc. In my opinion a CD spinner is still the best digital source. 

 

I've found that the less components in a playback chain, the better. This also holds true for power supplies, no matter how well they're designed. The simplicity of a CD transport to DAC has many advantages. 

 

Ultimately I've yet to hear a streaming setup — whether piped from a subscription service or local files — that betters a good CD transport. And I've been experimenting since the early 2000s, including with network streamers and on-the-rack audio servers. 

 

But I always keep an open mind and open ears in this hobby, plus I've become less fussy in many ways. Listening to music should be easy, relaxed, enjoyable, whether in the background or the sweet-spot. And since I have a large FLAC collection on my computer, via Audirvana I'm perfectly happy 'streaming' albums to a Zen DAC and Grado headphones / little desktop speakers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by was_a

[maximus]

@TerryO

It has also taken me a while to become a true fan of streaming, but once you have your head around it and a very good system then it all becomes very clear how good it really is.

 

**Fully agree with the entire post, well explained.  I get the gist that a wide part of  SNA  haven't experienced high quality streaming in general and probably quick to undermine an entry level cheap alternative they might have heard, I don't want to sound pompous or put noses out of joint,

apologies all round if I have, but an expensive streaming setup to my ears sounds amazingly damn good.

[LogicprObe]

 

Well, I can stream from my computer to anywhere in the house............or remotely, if I want.

I much prefer putting my most played files onto my PONO and playing them from there.

[was_a]

Official figures of an uptrend in CD retail sales may not reflect the second-hand market. But you only have to monitor the rising prices of out-of-print CDs and DVDs. These price increases are sometimes incremental over short periods i.e. bi-monthly, monthly, even fortnightly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by was_a

[Dingbat]

I thought CD sales would go down the toilet, but go have a look at JB HiFi. They've got quite a lot of CDs, and I'm constantly amazed myself how I go in not intending to buy anything, and end up coming out with a couple of CDs. I'm not much interested in mainstream, I find even JJJ too mainstream. The only radio stations I find tolerable are 3PBS and 3RRR. So if I buy CDs that appeal to me, that means they're carrying a pretty big selection.

 

I'm still trying to fathom who is buying CDs. Obviously I am. And some of us on this forum. But why would the normal public buy CDs? Isn't everyone just streaming from Apps on their phones or televisions or whatever?

[georgehifi]

On 25/03/2022 at 2:05 PM, Cybrarian said:

Why it matters: Streaming is the new lifeblood of the music industry, but physical music is enjoying a resurgence that can no longer be dismissed as a passing fad driven by hardcore collectors.

 

Bet most of those "hardcore" collectors have above average systems. And I've noticed those "1st issue" non compressed "used" CD's and getting bigger and bigger money for them, the $ curve is going exponential.

 

I've been saying for a long time, get the original non re-issue CD's and they are far less compressed, and on good systems sound far better (my signature below).

Use the DR data base as the music bible for your CD cat no. purchases!

 

Where the later re-issues that are mostly more compressed, used for streamed, downloads etc, are better for mobile listening or cheap systems (cars, walking, earphone's etc etc ) as the ambient noise doesn't drown out the quite passages, as there are almost none, it's all compressed to one level.

 

I love Adele in my car stereo, from my ear buds walking.

But when I bought a few for my home system, boy was I ever disappointed in the compression they put on all of them, no quiet emotive parts just all the same level.

They left some of the vinyl alone, and didn't compress it if you notice.

 https://dr.loudness-war.info/?artist=Adele&album=

 

Cheers George 

Edited May 7, 2022 by georgehifi