Predicting the End of Physical Media?

[Johnny Vinyl]

Disagree. Several generations away. As long record companies can mine back catalogs with Deluxe Editions with lavish packaging and DVD content, like
the recent Bruce Springsteen, REM, and King Crimson releases, they will continue.

The pronouncement of death of physical media is one of the major embarrassments for Stereophile and TAS. I have back issues
from 2007 claiming they had a few years to go. Here we are at almost 2013 and I still have magic shiny discs arriving in my mail box
from Amazon because a tiny, tiny fraction of artists are offering lossless downloads.

Andre - That may be, but the move to DD is far outpacing any physical format sales. I do however remain optimistic about physical discs and think they'll be around for many decades to come, albeit on a much smaller scale. And as long as there are literally billions of LP/CD's to be found on the used market, their death is overly exaggerated.

 

[Andre Marc]

Andre - That may be, but the move to DD is far outpacing any physical format sales. I do however remain optimistic about physical discs and think they'll be around for many decades to come, albeit on a much smaller scale. And as long as there are literally billions of LP/CD's to be found on the used market, their death is overly exaggerated.

Don't get me wrong..the trend is absolutely downward for physical media..no denying. But a long way to go.

Lossless downloads do not even have a standard way of tagging metadata. I have bought FLAC downloads with no metadata, screwed up metadata, and just bizarre looking metadata.

 

[treitz3]

I've picked off lots of bargains and what's left on my lists is mostly CDs sold at high collector prices. Do I wait and hope or pay collector prices to get the recordings now?

Hmmm, that's a good question. In many cases, it's situation dependent. I keep an eye out all of the time for what I refer too as "Buy it Now" music. Some of the purchases I have made in the past two years, I have seen a huge jump in the prices folks are wanting to get. Some, upwards of a hundred dollars or more in just this short amount of time and that's even if they show up for sale in the first place. Every once in a while, someone will sell something that they have no idea the true worth of. When I see these types of sales, I do not hesitate. I buy it immediately, whether it be vinyl, SACD or CD.

Tom

 

[garylkoh]

Don't get me wrong..the trend is absolutely downward for physical media..no denying.

Isn't that what I said? It's going down, and I think that it's accelerating.

If we have a look at the 99% of new artists out there that audiophiles won't/don't listen to, the trend is quite clear. There are many also with good sound/mastering. Check out the Ed Sheeran I mentioned, and Widespread Panic, and Of Montreal, and Kimbra - even Billy Van's latest (which you would have to BitTorrent).

I still collect old vinyl, but instead of buying a re-issue of something performed 30 years ago, I'd buy something new that my 30 year old hipster wife recommends.

 

[Andre Marc]

Isn't that what I said? It's going down, and I think that it's accelerating.

If we have a look at the 99% of new artists out there that audiophiles won't/don't listen to, the trend is quite clear. There are many also with good sound/mastering. Check out the Ed Sheeran I mentioned, and Widespread Panic, and Of Montreal, and Kimbra - even Billy Van's latest (which you would have to BitTorrent).

I still collect old vinyl, but instead of buying a re-issue of something performed 30 years ago, I'd buy something new that my 30 year old hipster wife recommends.

Then we agree...downward spiral...but FAR from dead.

I too hesitate to buy the 17th remastering of something I have purchased multiple times before.

I buy a LOT of new music from NEW artists as well.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hmmm, that's a good question. In many cases, it's situation dependent. I keep an eye out all of the time for what I refer too as "Buy it Now" music. Some of the purchases I have made in the past two years, I have seen a huge jump in the prices folks are wanting to get. Some, upwards of a hundred dollars or more in just this short amount of time and that's even if they show up for sale in the first place. Every once in a while, someone will sell something that they have no idea the true worth of. When I see these types of sales, I do not hesitate. I buy it immediately, whether it be vinyl, SACD or CD.

Tom

That's exactly how I bought my 2 Billy Joel Columbia SACD's ($100 for both), and earlier this week a vinyl copy of Supertramp - Breakfast In America on A&M Audiophile vinyl for a measly $15 in VG++ condition.

 

[treitz3]

Hello, John. Have you ever gotten around to listening to that Billy Joel SACD yet? I believe it was "Glass Houses", if memory serves.

Tom

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hello, John. Have you ever gotten around to listening to that Billy Joel SACD yet? I believe it was "Glass Houses", if memory serves.

Tom

Hi Tom - It was "The Stranger" and "52nd Street" that I picked up. Sadly I have yet to hear either. We were supposed to do so at a get-together a while back, but one thing led to another. I'm hoping by Xmas time to have a player (Oppo BDP-83) that I can incorporate into my 2-channel vinyl setup. The buyer has committed to selling it to me, but it depends on some things happening on his end as well. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. In the meantime I'm enjoying my Classic Records versions of both........

 

[LL21]

Hmmm, that's a good question. In many cases, it's situation dependent. I keep an eye out all of the time for what I refer too as "Buy it Now" music. Some of the purchases I have made in the past two years, I have seen a huge jump in the prices folks are wanting to get. Some, upwards of a hundred dollars or more in just this short amount of time and that's even if they show up for sale in the first place. Every once in a while, someone will sell something that they have no idea the true worth of. When I see these types of sales, I do not hesitate. I buy it immediately, whether it be vinyl, SACD or CD.

Tom

+1

 

[treitz3]

Hi Tom - It was "The Stranger" and "52nd Street" that I picked up.

DOH! They say the mind is the first to go. I guess this is proof, eh?

Tom