Is there any future for CDs?

[Poisoned Youth]

Are there USB car audio formats that memorize and save track/album position when you stop the engine? I prefer album listening over shuffle, and hate it when I have to try and remember where I left off.

IMO your best bet is to skip USB and go Bluetooth. If you have a phone/iPod/MP3 player with music on it (or a streaming app), you can just pair the device to your car if it has a BT discoverable player. Otherwise, you can purchase a BT receiver for $15 that plugs into your Aux jack in your car you can pair your device to.

In any event, you can use your phone/iPod/MP3 player to create playlists, play in shuffle mode, etc.

[LidaUnaBass]

We give away free CDs at gigs (hopefully that will happen again in the next 6-9 months). No one wants one. I hear over and over, I don't have any way of playing a CD. And unlike many of us, they don't even want the MP3. They don't have MP3 players and it's just too much work for them. Streaming is the mass delivery system for now. Before and after a gig we will get some youtube hits, but unless people add you to a play list, you get forgotten easily on streaming services.

[spellbound]

I still like to buy CDs, but the frequency has declined with income. Used to love to browse through them, but the record stores are all gone now. I don't have a phone, ipod, bluetooth, streaming (or any other kind of) app, or mp3 player. The only formats I can play are LPs, cassettes, and CDs, for as long as the respective players last. When those music formats and players die out, I'll be left with a houseful of useless plastic/acrylic/vinyl with little or no resale value. Cremate my music collection with me, and there'll be a plume of black smoke viewable from space. Guess we'll have to come up with a way to recycle it all and save the planet. Maybe I can build a house out of jewel cases. No way this dinosaur will get any money for them. I'll keep playing the music I have for as long as I can.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

see sig, folks--there's still time to get this on your Best Of 2020 lists!

I take it you're a fellow John Brunner fan?

[JKL2000]

CDs are more similar to floppy discs than vinyl records. Asking if CDs will come back is like asking if floppy discs will come back.

This is a moronic analogy. Floppy discs were slower than CDs and eventually downloads for installing programs and storing data. It doesn't take any longer to spin Close to the Edge on a CD than on a hi-res download file, so from that perspective you lose nothing with the CD. If you value physical artwork, the CD gives you that, albeit in a smaller format than vinyl. Some people actually like that. Downloads just don't. So it's not the same, at all. Stop pretending it is.

Well, I DO kind of miss the "ritual" of the floppy disk.

I think the CD still has some cashe' that "download only" releases don't

Only in some places. I actually think some Bandcamp editors might see a CD release as a red flag when evaluating releases.

Tangentially related: My young son told me a good joke today:

A father says to his Generation Z son, "Son, why don't you try going outside and playing?"

His son replies "Ok, dad, I will. Send me the link."

That joke sums up my life these days pretty well!

[JKL2000]

What will happen with my collection, when I'm dead and gone, I don't give a rat's ass.

As Roger Ebert said about not fearing his own death, "I didn't have any complaints BEFORE I was born." Before we were born, we wern't worrying "What will be happening with my CD collection BEFORE I've amassed it?"

Tangentially related: On NPR this morning, I heard a piece about scientists who are prototyping coffins made from living fungus (really!), so that after burial, they enrich the soil (not everybody's goal!).

[Koreabruce]

Meidad: Although the name Luc Henrion doesn't ring any bells, the music sounds like what I remember hearing.

[MIO Records]

To think that record shop is now as rare as shoemaker shop or sending a letter in an envelope.... wow.
I went with my boys two weeks ago in Tel Aviv and saw a tiny vinyl shop: the boys never saw turntable and vinyls and they are 8 & 10, they were really keen on..... well..... IRON MAIDEN vinyl's, guess why (EDDIE!) and made me buy them the Funko pop 4 set of Eddie because of that. They love music but could not understand the concept that i spent thousands of hours in such shops in my life. You can search for any song on your phone.... try to explain the 80's, 90's to them.

s-l300.jpg

[Munster]

My son, 16, once asked me why I never played my black CDs. I didn't know what he meant, until he pointed to my vinyl collection

[moecurlythanu]

^ That Funko Pop was made for Jen Rune Blackwings.

[Man In The Mountain]

To think that record shop is now as rare as shoemaker shop or sending a letter in an envelope.... wow. ....they love music but could not understand the concept that i spent thousands of hours in such shops in my life. You can search for any song on your phone....

This is life. Time marches on. I fully expect that in 20 years I will have a hard time finding a device that plays my old CDs, or transfers the files into the latest 2040 format/device. And that won't bother my kids at all, except their embarrassment of me not able to conform.

[Sunlight Caller]

It’s funny looking back on the recorded music eras we have been through... vinyl -> cassette -> CD -> download / stream... As much as I loved vinyl and it defined me for so long, it was the CD that had the best utility value. I could play them in the car, on the train, out for a walk, and all with perfect quality. People raved when they were first available, and now they are not even welcome in recycling centres and charity shops.

I still buy CDs, though I can’t play them in the car, and I mostly rip them to my Mac and load the digital files to my iPhone. I’m trying to move to buying downloads, but I like the artefact in my hands too much. I’ll still buy vinyl if it’s a special release, but then I’ll grumble if there’s no download code. It’s a funny old world sometimes.

[SRS]

I also love CD's. Not so big that they take up tons of space (well enough of anything can which is where I'm at now) but still something physical with artwork, lyrics, credits!

Something else I've come across recently from Amazon is they are starting to create and sell CDs 'on demand' it seems they have arrangements with some companies (CD Baby) is one instead of keeping stock on hand, if they get an order they will just manufacture that one CD. On recent Amazon orders I've had this happen twice, the barcode will say manufactured by AmazonLLC. But these are nothing more than good quality CD-R. There are no liner notes at all, just a sleeve that lists the song titles. That's it, no other information whatsoever. In both cases I returned the disc with a note that it was counterfeit.

Has anyone else had this happen?

An artist I follow on FB recently came across that with one of his CD's and after looking into it posted the below:

It turns out that CDBaby and Amazon have joined forces so CDs available on CDBaby are now available on Amazon. Part of the deal is that Amazon can print a copy of the CD 'on demand' and send it direct to the customer. This means, of course, that neither the artist nor CDBaby has to package and ship a CD to the customer. The artist share for each CD is quite low, $3.63, and, as I discovered , there's no guarantee that the Amazon version will be packaged correctly with the proper inserts etc.
This link https://support.cdbaby.com/hc/en-us/...form_id=185303.. on the CDBaby site allows the artist to leave the "Disc on Demand" program.
So, this arrangement is not quite as sinister as I first thought but nonetheless I have written to CDBaby to withdraw from the program. Once again, thanks for all the support and advice.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Time marches on. I fully expect that in 20 years I will have a hard time finding a device that plays my old CDs, or transfers the files into the latest 2040 format/device.

Then you'll have to spin the brand new sympho release by the jointly reformed Yes/Genesis on high-tech illuminal dust-tube.

[JKL2000]

CDs are more similar to floppy discs than vinyl records. Asking if CDs will come back is like asking if floppy discs will come back.

I imagine that most cars will have Apple Carplay and Android Auto, so your best bet would be to plug your phone into your car. After that, it's just a matter of finding the right app to play your music.

I'm not an Apple guy, so I can't help you there, but I use an app/program called "Plex" which allows you to stream any music you have on your computer. So, rip your CDs to your computer, or a hard drive, install Plex on your computer and on your phone, and you should be good to go. It's also very useful in creating playlists. There are online tutorials and YouTube videos, if you have questions.

Highly recommended.

It also allows you to easily share your whole digitized media collection with friends around the globe! The media companies continue to foster the development of the technology that makes these things possible, while also probably cursing the results.

[MIO Records]

My son, 16, once asked me why I never played my black CDs. I didn't know what he meant, until he pointed to my vinyl collection

lol my son thought it's a Flying plate...

[JKL2000]

CDs are more similar to floppy discs than vinyl records. Asking if CDs will come back is like asking if floppy discs will come back.

Something else I've come across recently from Amazon is they are starting to create and sell CDs 'on demand' it seems they have arrangements with some companies (CD Baby) is one instead of keeping stock on hand, if they get an order they will just manufacture that one CD. On recent Amazon orders I've had this happen twice, the barcode will say manufactured by AmazonLLC. But these are nothing more than good quality CD-R. There are no liner notes at all, just a sleeve that lists the song titles. That's it, no other information whatsoever. In both cases I returned the disc with a note that it was counterfeit.

Has anyone else had this happen?

This happened to me with a VoicePrint CD I bought from Amazon. I contacted VoicePrint about it, and they emailed me back saying they had no knowledge of it, and Amazon had no permission to do it. They were very apologetic, and offered to comp me a couple of free CDs.

[JKL2000]

Few examples of spotify playlists i made:

Italian progressive 126 hours:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2H...T1CEQe1wg7xBrg

This playlist is great - thanks!

[Rick L.]

Some might argue there is no future for anything.

[Rick L.]

Just stick the songs in Audacity and cut ~25 minutes out. Doesn't really matter where. Nobody will notice.

Bill and Richard! Stop it! How dare you make fun of the mighty Transatlantic!

#dicks

[Sputnik]

Bill and Richard! Stop it! How dare you make fun of the mighty Transatlantic!

#dicks

[Gruno]

This is life. Time marches on. I fully expect that in 20 years I will have a hard time finding a device that plays my old CDs, or transfers the files into the latest 2040 format/device. And that won't bother my kids at all, except their embarrassment of me not able to conform.

Buy a $80 CD player brand new. Test to make sure it functions properly. After test, pack it back up and seal it. In 2040, re-open and enjoy or sell for thousands and acquire the 2040 current format/device. Problem solved.

I did that with a VCR/DVD combo player 15 years ago. That puppy saved my life when I needed to do some important VHS transfers and my existing VCR died.

[Steve983]

Buy a $80 CD player brand new. Test to make sure it functions properly. After test, pack it back up and seal it. In 2040, re-open and enjoy or sell for thousands and acquire the 2040 current format/device. Problem solved.

I did that with a VCR/DVD combo player 15 years ago. That puppy saved my life when I needed to do some important VHS transfers and my existing VCR died.

I've been a fan of hi fi separates all my adult life and for many years until recently there were tons of models and options to choose from. Now that I look at my usual hi fi outlets online I can see how things have changed. Hi fi, not only cd players but amps, speakers and Blu Ray players are disappearing fast. Everything is now moving towards convenience rather than sound quality which frustrates me no end. I am too wondering if I should buy a new amp & cd player for when my currents units die.

[progmatist]

This is a moronic analogy. Floppy discs were slower than CDs and eventually downloads for installing programs and storing data. It doesn't take any longer to spin Close to the Edge on a CD than on a hi-res download file, so from that perspective you lose nothing with the CD. If you value physical artwork, the CD gives you that, albeit in a smaller format than vinyl. Some people actually like that. Downloads just don't. So it's not the same, at all. Stop pretending it is.

I'm speaking in terms of what a CD will hold, not the speed. That being said, compared to loading and saving to an audio cassette, floppies were substantially faster. Just finding what you're looking for on a cassette was a royal pain. Floppies being random access were exceedingly more convenient. Not to mention, when floppies were king, computers were only capable of MIDI...not audio. Floppies could hold a great deal of MIDI data. Finally, there was a time when there was a market for used software on floppies, just like there's a market for used music CDs today.

Expanding on your analogy, when CD-ROM technology replaced floppy technology, a single CD-ROM was indeed faster and more convenient than a stack of floppies. But as software became larger, a stack of CD-ROMs was required, and replaced by DVD-ROMs. CD-ROMs got left behind, just like floppies got left behind.

And funny you should mention software downloads being a far more convenient than physical media. Ditto for music.

Bottom line: CD technology is ancient, only slightly less ancient than floppy disc technology. The only reason we still use audio CDs today is the American public refuses to let go of them. We're still pissed at having to replace our 8-Track collection, then our vinyl collection, then our cassette collection.

I tried desperately to move some Transatlantic long-songs onto floppy, but none would fit.

You joke, but on the technological timeline, the audio CD is only 1 or 2 generations removed from that.

[Mister Triscuits]

I take it you're a fellow John Brunner fan?

The album is indeed a concept album based on Stand on Zanzibar.