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Originally posted by Sykonee There will always be a need for a physical format. And vinyl's still far too niche to fill that role (even though, apparently, vinyl sales were up this past year). CDs are here for a while longer, just in a reduced role: the middle format.

Yep. Vinyl is doing relatively great compared to CD's as far as growth is concerned.

"Although vinyl albums gave way to CDs years before SoundScan launched, it's worth noting that vinyl sales hit a 17-year high in 2008 with 1.88 million, up dramatically from just under a million in 2007. Radiohead's In Rainbows was the top vinyl seller with 25,800 copies."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/...n-numbers_N.htm

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Originally posted by Cpt.Cocaine Not really. You get cover art, you often get booklets with interesting info about the works, you get to physically organize your collection, you get a reliable copy immune to data corruption, there's no annoying DRM... There's tons of valid reasons to prefer a tangible format.

David Byrne wrote a great article about cover art and packaging. He argues that more often than not, the musicians have little or no input on the creative direction of their album artwork. His point is that people attach that packaging and imagery to the music when in most cases that artwork has no relevance to the music you are listening to.

http://journal.davidbyrne.com/2006/..._packaging.html

Regarding your other points, with a digital collection, you have more ways to organize your collection. If you're worried about data corruption, then backup your music on DVDs. And eventually we'll see DRM-free music across the board. I think iTunes just announced all music from the "big four" labels will be DRM-free. Hopefully we'll get lossless audio in the near future as computers and networks get faster and faster.

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Originally posted by PETRAN I think that (unfortunately) the format of the cd will eventually collapse completely. With the easy availability of mp3s one would wonder how on earth those musicians are going to survive. A possible (a little bit crazy but functionable i think) solution that i thought off, is that every musician could set-up a site giving his music for free hemself/herself (with any other information, pictures, goodies etc.). People who just happen to like his/her music could give "charity" to the musician (if they like). Plus musicians would still get money from live performances. i htink that the real good musicians would end-up having more money in this way than the traditional "standard purchase" way.

yeah most bands make their money off live shows anyway. the album acts as more of a promotional tool

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Originally posted by Cpt.Cocaine I think this is inevitably what we're headed to. Mp3 piracy isn't going to stop, and digital distribution is only going to get bigger. More and more people are getting access to music, while more and more potential artists are getting access to creating it. I think eventually (possibly soon), we'll reach a point where the music distribution industry will collapse and there won't really be any significant profit to be made. People sure as hell aren't gonna stop making music though.

I disagree that there isn't significant profit to be made. Sure it won't be like a "good old days" when the labels charged people $15 when they only cared about the singles that the labels were pushing on them in the first place. They need to find new ways to make money, whether that's through merchandise, partnering with brands, or licensing music for film and TV.

Musicians need to perform live if they want to make lots of money. Even the electronic musicians who rely on studio trickery need to find ways to translate that to the stage. Perhaps they can work with visual artists to create some kind of audio/visual show. Look at Daft Punk for example. They pretty much trigger pre-recorded loops in their performances but people pay big money to see them because of the spectacle they created.

Yeah that's kindof what I meant. No money in the distribution of the music itself (CDs, legal mp3s, etc), but income from other related sources like concert venues.

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Once bread becomes toast, it can never go back to being bread again.

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Originally posted by flavdave Look at Daft Punk for example. They pretty much trigger pre-recorded loops in their performances but people pay big money to see them because of the spectacle they created.

heh, I sure did!

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