On which side of the argument you fall typically depends on your age demographic. Younger folks can’t be bothered with the huge inconvenience of buying, transporting, storing, and organizing CDs, and don’t see the wisdom in doing so. All of the music they want to enjoy lies conveniently in a cloud somewhere just waiting for an opportunity to slide into the playlist rotation. People born before a certain date, on the other hand, rather enjoy having a tangible item in their hands that they can enjoy whenever they like, knowing that they helped support that particular artist in the process of purchasing their music.
For those of us who are old enough, we remember when the Compact Disc, or CD, was brand new technology, promising more convenience and higher, digital fidelity. No more scratchy records spinning on the turntable, popping and hissing more noticeably as they age. Not only would these newfangled CDs sound better and take up less space, they’re also quite durable as well as portable.
I remember back in the mid-80s when the local radio stations – yet another entity that has suffered major changes over the last few decades – would promote this exciting new technological breakthrough with great enthusiasm. We’ll be offering a totally digital weekend of music, playing only Compact Discs from Friday morning to Sunday night! It was kind of intriguing to see new options for listening to music come along, though I wasn’t about to get rid of my record collection anytime soon. (Fact is, I still have all my old records, as well as my CD collection.)
Being someone who doesn’t instantly jump on new trends, I waited for quite a while before delving into the Compact Disc world. When it was clear that CDs were here to stay, I embraced the new format, and my collection of these little shiny discs began to grow. No. they weren’t as cool as the LP records that I knew and loved, but they sounded nice and clean, and offered more listening opportunities than vinyl.
Since I was around at the beginning of the CD age, it still seems like new tech to me. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, right? What? It was over 40 years ago?!? That can’t be right! Funny how one’s concept of time distorts with age.
When the Digital Download reared its ugly head in the 90s, I never dreamed that would be the beginning of the end to the way people listened to music. Fast forward to today, and I can plainly see how these technological innovations have completely changed how we consume music, and not for the better, in my opinion. I wrote an essay about this subject called, Do You Listen To Music … July 15, 2024, so feel free to check out that entry for more thoughts on the matter.
Yes, if it’s convenience you’re looking for, digital streaming is great. Clear, clean sound, and no racks, drawers, or shelves filled with records, cassette tapes, or CDs to contend with. You can access your complete music library from your smart phone, a device that the vast majority of us can no longer live without. For a while, the MP3 player was where you kept your music, but that too has gone the way of the Dodo.
However – there’s always a however – the quality of recorded music isn’t what it once was. Music was compressed more and more, even with CDs, but now with most music coming through streaming platforms, that compression has increased to the point of taking the humanity out of the equation. Everything sounds perfect and sterile, which isn’t a good thing when you’re talking about music – a human creation that is based on and intended to elicit emotion.
In the early days of Compact Disc, the digital manipulation of the music wasn’t that bad, though it still sounded less real than LPs. As time moved forward, the industry decided that compression was king, and music that was all at the same level was easier, and therefore more profitable, for them to create. To hell with what’s best for the consumer! Once the trend of streaming took over, there was no turning back. Most of us don’t even remember what listening to records was like. Even with the pops and scratches, it was more real, more human, more alive.
If you’ve never been exposed to something, you won’t miss it. Sadly, most of the younger folks out there don’t even realize the difference, because they’ve never had any other option than streaming music. I imagine they’re so enamored with the ease and accessibility of streaming that they don’t even think about the things we took for granted such as analyzing the album art, or poring over the liner notes to learn about the writers, musicians, and producers of the project. And since everyone just has this playlist that exists in the background of their day-to-day activities, the thought of simply listening to a record is as foreign as taking your grain to the mill so you can make bread, or grooming and caring for your horse so you had transportation into town. How quaint!
And it’s not like the world makes it easy for us. The options for listening to Compact Discs are dwindling to near zero. Cars don’t come with CD players anymore, and computers don’t offer disc drives either. Thankfully, there are options for external players available. I guess if you really want to continue utilizing CDs, it’s not entirely impossible.
While I admit to using streaming platforms, I do still purchase and listen to Compact Discs. I often buy CDs at live shows, and I do this to support the artist. Yes, I can listen to and/or download the same music on a streaming platform for a nominal monthly fee, but that does next to nothing to support the artists out there who rely upon music and merch sales to supplement their income. As a working musician, I know firsthand how difficult it is to make a living in this business – more so now than ever before.
I create new music, and I still have CDs replicated so I have some way of getting my music into the hands and ears of the general listening public. And I appreciate every single person who not only comes to my shows, but also supports me by buying some merch, or throwing a few bucks into my tip jar. It’s not uncommon for me to hear the following: I have no way to play a CD, but I want to support you and your music, so I’d like to buy one. Please sign it for me. I can’t begin to tell you how much that means to me!
For quite some time now, musicians have relied upon the sale of merch as a part of their income. Now that CDs aren’t the hot item they once were, that little bit of additional compensation has shrunken significantly. For those non-musicians out there, entering the music biz is not what you would consider a lucrative venture, and any economist with any sense at all would not recommend this business model. Why do we do it, you ask? Because that’s what we do. Creators create, and performers perform. It’s either in you, or it’s not. For those of us that stay the course, we need all the help we can get in order to continue creating and performing for those who care about such things.
You might assume that the only reason I have for trying to prop up the Compact Disc and avoid its total demise is that I benefit from the creation and sale of that particular item. You would not be entirely wrong. I’m a creator and a musician, so yes, your support is very important to me, as well as all the other working musicians out there. But it goes beyond that. In my youth, I and everyone I knew experienced a completely different way to consume and enjoy music, and I desperately want to preserve that experience. I’m also worried about the details behind the music being hidden from sight - there are no liner notes connected to a playlist. Add to that the concern that the sonic integrity of music is becoming diminished solely for the sake of the industry while the listener is left with an inferior experience. As things change yet again, which they most certainly will – think AI - the future of recorded music is looking grim.
All that being said, I do have some new music in the pipeline, and I’m super excited to be sharing it in the not-too-distant future. Like most of the music I’ve created thus far, the new material will be available for digital download and streaming, but I will be making these new projects available on Compact Disc, and perhaps Vinyl as well. Hopefully, there will be more options for enjoying these formats, and not fewer. Perhaps I’m being blindly optimistic, but that’s what keeps me getting out of bed every day.
In the meantime, continue supporting the musical artists that you know and love, and keep buying that merch. If enough of us call for putting disc drives back in our cars and computers, maybe, just maybe, those cries won’t fall on deaf ears. And I promise to write some clever and informative liner notes so you have something interesting to read while you listen to my future records.
Peace!
Charlie, I knew nothing about the compression. Threw out hundreds of CDs a few years ago, but based on your knowledge, I will save them; it's just SO MUCH easier to push a button on my computer on Spotify than move 5 CDs in the changer, which STILL WORKS after 20 years! Also, did you know on Spotify you can tpye in for ex., "Paul Simon radio?" And both his songs and songs of a similar genre will appear? So the music NEVER ends!