The Death of the CD?

[Beef Oven]

Judging by my local Tesco, I would encourage them to pay fewer staff to work there!

The pressure from manufacturers to download materials seems rather like Tesco's attempts to persuade shoppers to do the jobs of the staff - i.e. checking out the purchases themselves, presumably in the hope that they can pay fewer staff to work there.

[John Skelton]

Thank you, but I prefer caramels.

I read that as camels.

The odd occasion I've listened to music while traveling / in the street I've found it very disorientating: it takes me so far out of my surroundings, away from other people, I feel like a ghost - but a ghost under threat. Don't like it / can't do it. Music shuts everything else out for me if I'm listening to it, and if I can't shut everything else out I can't listen to it.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I have LPs, cassettes, CDs, an ipod, a main computer and a netbook. Downloads are backed up either on an external hard drive and/or a CD. I know where all my CD's and LPs are, they are in alphabetical order by composer, it its a compilation LP then, its either the main or 1st composer on the CD/LP that they are listed under. My CD player is 22 years old and still (touches wood) performs perfectly, all of my CD's seem OK with no problems, even a couple that are bronzed and have been like that for 10 years on more still play fine. I purchase both CDs and downloads (but as I mentioned above copy teh downloads to CD and an external hard drive). I would certainly never rely totally on downloads on one computer even backed up on that computer, computers are too vulnerable to breakdowns, viruses and solar flares.

[Don Petter]

I am also puzzled by anyone suggesting that CDs get scratched. Like others I have several thousand and none of them have ever suffered in that way.

It is difficult to envisage how or why one would scratch a CD, anymore than one would scribble on the pages of a book.

[Panjandrum]

I certainly haven't given up listening to CDs, and almost all of mine play satisfactorily. However, it is worth pointing out where the CD format qua format has its defects.

One inescapable fact is that the download gives one the opportunity for (almost) instant gratification, paticularly useful when one has been whipped up into a frenzy of enthusiasm for a paricular work or performance. Moreover, it has the distinct advantage of enabling one to choose only those tracks one wants. For example, the other day, had I purchased the CD version, I would have had to duplicate the identical performance of the Finzi cello concerto in order to get the only performance I was interested in (viz the violin concerto); thereby saving lovely dosh for other goodies! Another such purchase was Karen Geoghegan's sparkling performance of Weber's Andante e Rondo ungarese for bassoon. None of the rest of the recital appealed, but got that work for the princely sum of 75p! You can't do that with a CD.

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes, PJ - that is a point we haven't made nearly often enough! Last night I purchased a lossless Hyperion download of an outstanding performance of Poulenc's Gloria (incl. cover art/notes) with the Britten Sinfonia/Layton, for £3! Current cashflow means I wouldn't have bought the CD if that had been the only choice. Finding Hindemith's Der Schwanendreher still in the saved items, I got that too for a similar price. It can certainly encourage adventure! The only problem with the excellent Pristine is having to buy complete albums; a new one they'd done had the Poulenc Gloria, but included the Organ Concerto which I was keen to avoid.

Don't think I'd ever bother ripping my CDs though. That risible Brennan advert tells everyone why! It really did look like a spoof when it first appeared. Actually, it still does...

I certainly haven't given up listening to CDs, and almost all of mine play satisfactorily. However, it is worth pointing out where the CD format qua format has its defects.

One inescapable fact is that the download gives one the opportunity for (almost) instant gratification, paticularly useful when one has been whipped up into a frenzy of enthusiasm for a paricular work or performance. Moreover, it has the distinct advantage of enabling one to choose only those tracks one wants. For example, the other day, had I purchased the CD version, I would have had to duplicate the identical performance of the Finzi cello concerto in order to get the only performance I was interested in (viz the violin concerto); thereby saving lovely dosh for other goodies! Another such purchase was Karen Geoghegan's sparkling performance of Weber's Andante e Rondo ungarese for bassoon. None of the rest of the recital appealed, but got that work for the princely sum of 75p! You can't do that with a CD.

[Don Petter]

Why do some posts turn everything on its head by putting the subject quotation after the response, which makes for very strange reading? Just curious, in case I'm missing something.

[Bryn]

I take it that the quotation is there by way of a footnote, a reference.

[mathias broucek]

That risible Brennan advert tells everyone why! It really did look like a spoof when it first appeared. Actually, it still does...

I agree that the add is EXTREMELY weird. Do Brennan sell many?

[Bryn]

Any company which seeks to promote its wares by means of advertisement effectively masquerading as editorial (any "Advertisement" notice appended notwithstanding) has surely got to be dodgy?

[LeMartinPecheur]

I am also puzzled by anyone suggesting that CDs get scratched. Like others I have several thousand and none of them have ever suffered in that way.

It is difficult to envisage how or why one would scratch a CD...

DP: you clearly need lessons from my 10-yr old daughter She has wrecked a whole pile of CDs and DVDs that I foolishly lent her. Fortunately, most of them became playable again afer passage through a clever little machine from gizoo.com that polishes, or in extreme cases grinds out, most scratches....

...except of course any on the label side that go through the aluminium: they really are terminal

[Flosshilde]

I take the point Alpesinfonie, but I have some older CD's that have died on me now. Also my CD player is picky and I have a number of new ones that it refuses to play properly. Ripping them to my computer has overcome the problem.

Until your computer conks out, & data on the hard drive can't be recovered.

[Bryn]

Until your computer conks out, & data on the hard drive can't be recovered.

Backups. Multiple backups.

[Flosshilde]

Hotel rooms?

I'm usually sleeping, or changing to go out for the evening. If I want music, it's much more fun to seek out a concert.

Railway journeys?

I travell in the quiet carriage & read.

At the gym? Anywhere where there's other people's noise?

I think about something else (when I'm at the gym it's usually what I'm going to have for dinner )

[Flosshilde]

I read that as camels.

So did I!

The odd occasion I've listened to music while traveling / in the street I've found it very disorientating: it takes me so far out of my surroundings, away from other people, I feel like a ghost - but a ghost under threat. Don't like it / can't do it. Music shuts everything else out for me if I'm listening to it, and if I can't shut everything else out I can't listen to it.

Well said. It's also dangerous, as you can't hear people behind you (or in front or to the side), or traffic, & irritating for other people - have you tried getting past someone while they plugged in & oblivious to everything around them?