Going Digital! The End Of Compact Disc's?

Back when MP3’s and digital music was starting out; I was heavily reluctant to jump on the band wagon because I prefer to have a physical product. That wasn’t the only reason though – I didn’t want to be tied to one company like Apple/iTunes, if you have an iPod (remember them?) it worked exclusively with iTunes. So, I felt I couldn’t shop around for the best price and what about my established CD collection, how would I listen to them through a system which insisted you were exclusive music buying and listening partners. So, I always found reasons to stay with the majestic compact disc!

I am the first to admit I’m not a great fan of change, but with technology I do embrace advances. I was the first person in my circle of friends to buy a DVD player, I have the latest gaming console and will buy the next gen model when it’s released. Those advances have always improved on its predecessor it’s well known digital music actually doesn’t improve sound quality as things stand it actually compresses the output and can’t give the same sound quality as the aging but still superior Compact Disc. Yet another reason to stick with the tried and tested even if the music industry admits that CD sales are down year on year and the format will likely come to an end in the not to distant future. With many bands and artists actually stating their next album may be the last to be released on compact disc.

Everyone has their own reasons for which format is their favourite way to purchase and listen to music. So why have I stopped buying CD’s?

It all boils down to cost, not because digital albums were cheaper. I have always been willing to pay a few quid more for a physical media over the years. I’d also accepted that given my taste in music that I would pay two or three more pounds than you would for more mainstream chart bothering releases. That was OK though because I still felt that was reasonable, given the smaller labels and artist’s trying to make making music a financially viable option – so I saw it as supporting the artist’s and labels.

Last year though I saw massive spikes in price hikes on CD’s not ones that could be justified as staying in touch with the rate of inflation. I’d seen price rises over time, small ones and very rare. I’d come to accept £12.99 as a regular price, anything less was a bonus on rare occasions and occasionally slightly more. Then as if overnight my average cost went spiralling up to £18.99 an increase of a whopping £6! I buy a lot of music and want as many albums as I can get, so this increase meant going from a possible four albums to two, so I started to think hard about finally going digital and how I would store and listen to music going forward.

Many could argue I should accept the price hike and support my favourite bands and labels – but I had my doubts that this £6 was going into the band’s pockets or even the labels. With the uncertainty of Brexit looming, I wondered if the price hikes reflected that situation – but we hadn’t technically left Europe yet so why was this increase coming now? And would costs balloon even more so once the UK officially severed ties? To be fair I have noticed a reduction in prices recently but not back down to £12.99 or even a slightly more acceptable £13.99. But a jump from £12.99 to £16.99 is still not reduction enough to make me return to CD’s.

So, from a need to buy lots of albums within a budget I could afford I made my decision to go digital. That’s not to say I have noticed a couple of other benefits from my change, but I have to honestly admit they were not part of my reasons to change format.

I have a large collection of CD’s and storage has been a problem for some time. My Shelves have been full for a while now and I always want to have all my collection available at all times. You never know when you’re going to feel the need to dust of an old CD, if it’s not easily at hand then you’re likely not to get it out again. So disappointingly but with my ever-growing collection I have had to box up large chunks of my collection. My conditions been centred around how often I listen to an album and how likely I am to return to it in the future. Still hated doing it, but I needed shelf space for new CD’s!

So, going digital means my CD collection can stay where it is, with no more boxing needed! Although this means it will never have any new friends added and people may believe I stopped buying music in 2019! Also storing my collection on an external hard drive means my entire collection is there before my eyes, nothing hiding in a box under my bed or in a cupboard. Of course, it’s not as pretty to peruse without all the album artwork on view, like when your digging through your CD’s, but everything is there for you to conveniently look through.

Also, from an environmental perspective going digital has its benefits. Don’t get me wrong it’s not for green reasons I changed, but a side effect I’ve noticed afterwards. Obviously, I am creating less plastic waste! So, in time that should be good for the environment and as more and more media goes digital the entertainment industry should be far greener than it currently is.

Obviously, the biggest downside is sound quality of MP3’s, but hopefully over time as technology improves this will change to the point where it’s not an issue anymore.

Another downside and why I like the physical product are the booklets, I know some miss been able to observe the album artwork easily but for me it’s the booklet as a whole. Something I’ve always done when I purchase a new album is to go though the booklet and on my first listen following the songs along with the lyrics. Also having the CD Case at hand helps you know the name of each track so you know the names of your favourite songs!

I know a few people who went digital eons ago and when discussing music refer to tracks by their track numbers, something that goes over my head! Keeping an eye on song titles is harder digitally without booklets especially depending on your favourite way of listening to music which don’t always display a song name.

Another big downside for me is checking lyrics, we all miss hear lyrics at times and while this doesn’t dampen the enjoyment of a song per se – for me though it is always nice to know the true lyrics! Sometimes this can intensify the message of a song but misheard lyrics can also lessen this impact of a song. So, something I really hope they do as CD’s are phased out is attach digital booklets to downloadable albums as this is something I really miss!

Even though going digital is far from perfect I can’t see myself returning to CD’s now!

Between writing this article and getting it published (I actually wrote this a few months ago!) I picked up Room Experience’s ‘Another Time And Place’ album which came with a PDF file, which contained the booklet that would have came with the physical copy. So, it is possible for all digital releases to have this, I’m not sure on the costs or logistics of making this happen but it’s something I really hope bands and labels actively pursue in the future. They don’t have to be replicas of CD booklets to appease me either outside of the album artwork they could be quite basic layouts just containing lyrics, album credits and all that stuff. They could also adapt presentation to what they can do with a PDF basic or flashy is inconsequential as long as it’s included with the album would make me a happy music fan! I think people consume music so differently now, it’s disposable and easily passed over but these booklets help with connectivity and visuals that will imprint on you.

Woody