The unthinkable happened.
In the first half of 2020, the CD lost in the United States, the mother of all markets, the last of the redoubts in which it beat the LP.
For the first time since 1986, vinyl sales outnumber compact discs in revenue, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Considering that
streaming
music
sweeps them both away, the compact disc is in a state of unprecedented weakness. Is it time to get rid of them?
Already, this same thing, but the other way around, it was raised in the nineties.
When CDs, lighter, stronger and smaller than vinyl began to become the dominant format, the now called
boomers did
not have time to get rid of their old LPs.
Something that many now regret while searching Discogs, the largest second-hand record sales website, in search of that Neil Young record that was thrown away in 1999 and for which a Japanese now asks them for the equivalent of a week's salary.
Poor people, you don't have to do blood.
This is the only known industry in which there has been a technological reversal.
In 2007, the year vinyl began its comeback, the difference was colossal: 450 million CDs versus 1,300,000 for vinyl.
The LP was a niche, juicy, but niche.
Nothing seemed to predict that in 2020 CD sales would plummet by 47.6%.
RIAA blames Covid-19: Store closures have hit CD sales badly.
But there must be something more when the vinyl ones have grown almost 4% in that same period.
“One reason may be that they are different buyers.
The vinyl one looks for the exclusive edition.
The CD guy went to the stores for a novelty and, taking advantage of the visit, he also took four cheap records that he saw in the buckets.
And that has disappeared with the shops closed ”, explains Daniel Vidaur, who has been working for multinational record companies for two decades.
In reality, all physical formats are residual.
Vinyl sales barely represent 4% of industry revenue.
Those of physical formats, 7%.
They outperform digital downloads (6%), but the boss is
streaming,
which accounts for 85% of revenue.
Still, let's open that melon, as Matt Charlton did in
The Guardian
: “Here are the
millennials
, reluctantly following in the wake of the
boomers.
They have CDs, vinyl, iTunes, and streaming.
With the pandemic, it was time to clean up: so while we return to having something similar to a normal life, do we dare to take the last step and dispense with our CD collections? ”, He asked himself a few days ago.
Vinyl on CD?
The answer is yes, ”says Fernando Delgado, director of the PIAS record company in Spain and Latin America.
“Although I don't think the CD is going to radically disappear.
What is going to disappear is the cheap and dodgy format.
Although who knows, people do not have a player at home and cars are starting to come with Spotify ”.
Catalan David G. Balasch, promoter, DJ and head of the Passat Continu label has an impact on this.
“There are still consumers loyal to the CD format due to issues of space, comfort and sound quality, but it is in decline in recent years.
Less and less manufacturers are betting on readers on their computers.
Apple stopped including CD slots in its computers almost 10 years ago.
He was also banished from the world of DJs and clubs, by USB readers.
Nor did the arrival of
streaming help
, eliminating the debate about sound quality.
Listening to music in low qualities has become normal ”.
Let's ask a seller.
Inma Barbero runs the Bacomat chain of stores in Vitoria Gasteiz.
For 50 years, his family has seen the ups and downs of player sales of all formats.
“As a standalone module, the CD player is in total decline.
What is being sold are high-quality devices, which can be worth 3,000 euros, for a very niche market that is very
freaky
, which values sound quality a lot and is willing to buy a lot of money.
The sale of mini CDs, which are worth 250 euros at most, is a trickle that decreases every year.
This is also noticeable in the offer.
If before there were 15 models per brand, now there are three or four.
However, more and more turntables are being sold.
Many for gifts, with a
vintage
look
, to place in the living room ”, he explains.
It is fashionable to have a record player in the living room, of course.
“Above all, throw away the vinyl.
The more special and exclusive it is, the better.
And I would tell you that the price almost does not matter ”, points out the director of PIAS in Spain and Latin America.
But the CD has buyers.
For example, the Fleet Foxes album went digital in November.
And now, on the 5th, we put on sale the sale on CD and LP has been very similar.
Only 100 more copies have been placed on vinyl than on compact ”.
What if the dead man is resurrected?
For this reason, despite all the regrets, there are those who believe that predicting the death of the CD is hasty.
This is the case of Daniel Vidaur.
“What has been seen for a long time is that you have to publish in multi-format.
Before a CD and a vinyl were released, now you have to have different editions: double CD, single, colored vinyl, standard vinyl ... Vinyl has more pull, but the CD is still there.
I think it will be maintained ”.
Abel Figueras, head of the Galleta Records microslabel, and a great connoisseur of the second-hand market, believes that there is even the possibility of a rebirth: “I not only believe that it will pass, but that it is already happening.
For example, within hip-hop, there are labels such as Gourmet Deluxx or Coca Reef that are dedicated to producing sweet editions in short runs and at unicorn blood prices in the three physical formats (CD, vinyl and cassette tape), selling out in all the cases and revaluing at the speed of light in the most speculative second-hand market.
I am convinced that the CD continues to work ”.
In defense of the CD
So what?
Is it safe to destroy your collection?
There are diversity of opinions.
"I'm working on it," confirms David G. Balasch, who has about 3,000 CDs.
“It's funny to talk about this as I am in the process of selling my CD collection, for many years in boxes in a storage room.
With the exception of some special editions or commemorative boxes, most are of little value and are easily accessible through
streaming
platforms
.
The prices that are managed are ridiculous, which gives clues about the little acceptance that it also has among the youngest consumer ”.
Abel Figueras thinks otherwise: “Personally, I do not feel sure that any source of information and / or knowledge depends exclusively on the cloud.
I want to believe that in the event of a global digital collapse we will be able to access all that information and / or knowledge with physical sources.
There will always be people who keep their collections.
With possible purges, of course, due to lack of space in the shitty floors in which we are confined, sale due to precarious situations or simple cleaning of “dead skins”.
I am on that team.
In addition, a good collection of CDs without plastic boxes can be kept in a few 250-CD capacity notebooks.
Long live the
discogenes
syndrome
and knowledge! ”.
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