August 18th, 2009
Good riddance: Digital music sales to surpass CDs in 2010?
Does anybody actually buy CDs these days? I don’t mean going onto iTunes and buying an album. I’m talking about an actual plastic-case CD. An don’t even get me started with vinyl albums. Apparently, digital music sales are doing so well that it’s projected they will surpass physical music sales by 2010. According to data from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, via Ars Technica, not only will they surpass physical sales, but they’ll make physical media obsolete by 2016.
This information may come as no surprise with recent news from the NPD Group stating that iTunes holds 25 percent of all U.S. music sales. CDs made up 65 percent of sales in the first half of 2009 — the other 35 percent came from digital sales, which is a 15 percent increase since 2007. IFPI started measuring digital music sales in 2004, which at that time, only constituted two percent of total music revenue.
So, it’s clear that digital is the way music is heading, and it will most likely be the No. 1 format sooner than you think. Personally, I’m fine with that. I used to love having CDs, but I find now that the minute I get a CD, I burn it into my iTunes library so I can put it on my iPod, and so that it shows up on my Last.fm when I listen to it. Also, I can rate albums, put certain songs into playlists, etc., etc. You can’t do any of that with a clumsy CD. They get scratched eventually, and then you can’t play them. I find it annoying every time I have to move and lug around boxes of CDs. Even if I put them into those big CD books, they still weigh a ton. So, I’d be happy to be rid of those monstrosities.
I do admit that special releases that come with giant booklets or extra DVDs, for example, are worth buying, but in general, they’re more trouble then they’re worth. Plus, you can usually find the digital version for less money. As for vinyl, well, I mentioned I didn’t want to get into it, becuase it’s such a touchy subject to a lot of people. But, we can’t ignore it in this discussion.
Call me a hypocrite, because I just talked about how I hate lugging boxes of CDs around between moves, and vinyl is even heavier to transport, but vinyl is something special. We all know how rich the sound is from a vinyl record, and how complete you feel when you’re holding that wax in your hands instead of clicking on the album in your iTunes. Vinyl is normally more expensive, and therefore, it’s more of a special purchase. If there’s a band you really like, then you pay the extra couple bucks to get the vinyl. The nice thing about vinyl these days is that many of the records come with a download code which allows you to download the songs for free to your computer. I think if all vinyl records came with download codes, the sale of vinyl would skyrocket. That being said, it already has made quite a comeback. Vinyl sales increased 89 percent from 2007 to 2008, and Best Buy now has actual sections specifically for vinyl.
I have no doubt that vinyl will never be as popular as CDs, and with the growth of digital, both CDs and vinyl will someday be a thing of the past. I wonder how long it will take for the next generation to think CDs are cool in that retro kind of way?
Jennifer R. Bergen is a journalist and blogger living in New York City. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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