Business CD sales grow for first time since 2004 - 2021 CD sales were up more than $100 million from 2020.

https://www.axios.com/cd-sales-grow-for-first-time-since-2004-0745a5ce-a2f3-4ed3-8b1e-14b20f0b218e.html

Dust off those plastic binders that lived in the back seat of your car and fire up the boombox, because compact discs are back.

• CD sales enjoyed year-over-year growth for the first time since 2004, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's annual sales report.
• Combined with the decade-long vinyl sales explosion, overall physical music sales grew for the first time since 1996.

Why it matters: Streaming is the new lifeblood of the music industry, but physical music is enjoying a resurgence that can no longer be dismissed as a passing fad driven by hardcore collectors.

By the numbers: Physical music sales exploded to the tune of $1.65 billion in the U.S. last year, according to the RIAA data.

• CD sales grew to $584.2 million nationally last year, up more than $100 million from 2020. By comparison, 2021 vinyl sales increased to $1 billion annually, up from $643.9 million.

Zoom in: It's especially good news for local record stores, like Grimey's on East Trinity Lane. Co-owner Doyle Davis tells Axios that vinyl is still king, but CD sales have "held their own."

• Davis has noticed strong CD sales for new albums, especially when there is a delay in the vinyl release, and pointed to the new album by Adia Victoria last year as an example.
• "I think really this is about young people who are finding they like hard copies of music in the digital age," Davis says.

Be smart: The CD was the music industry's leading format in the 1990s, peaking at $13.2 billion in annual sales in 2000.

• You know what happened next. Napster and illegal streaming sites gave way to paid streaming, which now accounts for $8.6 billion in annual revenue.
• In addition to record stores, artists have appreciated the rise in vinyl — and now CD sales — because it gives them another avenue to sell their music.

What they're saying: "I just think the whole thing is great," Davis says. "It speaks to the health and the overall comeback of physical media in general."

---

Time to bust out your Discman, frens. What's old is new again!

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

If you need that kind of portability then throw it on a single device and go, those lil cards are designed to disappear into the aether.

Almost lost an SD card once by just leaving it on a desk. Turned out it was under my computer speakers. Mousepad probably shoved it there. Thankfully, it was in a case.

 

[Clockwork_PurBle]

I love physical media. I don't wanna pay however-much a month just to have access to one or two shows/movies I like on Netflix or Hulu.

 

[Dieter Laser]

I love physical media. I don't wanna pay however-much a month just to have access to one or two shows/movies I like on Netflix or Hulu.

Physical media is important as hell.

There are tons of films that are just lost, either due to music rights or just being owned by assholes.

Wanna see Dogma in HD? That’ll cost ya $100.

How about Airheads? Maybe $350 if you’re lucky.

And that’s all modern content, you start looking for rarer, older films / music/ tv shows it starts getting even harder.

And with streaming services only getting temporary licenses there’s no guarantee that you’ll still have the same content to pick from in 6 months, let alone a year or two.

Plus you’ve got the services like Disney+ editing their content for the network, literally re-editing scenes for woke points and shit.

If you want guaranteed access to media, or you want it at the highest quality, you need physical media.

Most “4k streams” can fit onto a single layer DVD. What they call “hi def audio” is usually 160kbps AAC streams, etc….

 

[NickDigger]

Physical media is important as hell.

There are tons of films that are just lost, either due to music rights or just being owned by assholes.

Wanna see Dogma in HD? That’ll cost ya $100.

How about Airheads? Maybe $350 if you’re lucky.

And that’s all modern content, you start looking for rarer, older films / music/ tv shows it starts getting even harder.

And with streaming services only getting temporary licenses there’s no guarantee that you’ll still have the same content to pick from in 6 months, let alone a year or two.

Plus you’ve got the services like Disney+ editing their content for the network, literally re-editing scenes for woke points and shit.

If you want guaranteed access to media, or you want it at the highest quality, you need physical media.

Most “4k streams” can fit onto a single layer DVD. What they call “hi def audio” is usually 160kbps AAC streams, etc….

Much of what you posted is physical media newfag fear-mongering. First off, Dogma and Airheads are not in any shape or fucking form "lost", they've been torrented for years, sourced from the blurays they were released on. So please luck up what "lost" means.

Second, you can find uncompressed bluray rips floating online. Unless it's a lesser known film, in all likelihood you can find full rips of any major Hollywood film.

Thirdly, if you're squeezing 4k video on a single layer DVD, congrats, you've compressed the shit out of it and it looks like ass now. If you're torrenting a 4K "stream", downconvert it to 1080p and put it on a BD 25 at least. Fourth, 160kps AAC? Netflix supports Dolby 5.1 and even Atmos (which requires a sizeable living room to take advantage of) at 640kpbs. That 160 is likely something you read from an already re-compressed torrent.

I'm all for physical media, but please, research this shit before you post again. There's enough retards inhabiting the physical/preservation arena who know fuck all about video/audio encoding, the difference between streaming and downloading (as in actually having a file on your own hard drive), and what the fuck lost actually means.

 

[Dieter Laser]

Much of what you posted is physical media newfag fear-mongering. First off, Dogma and Airheads are not in any shape or fucking form "lost", they've been torrented for years, sourced from the blurays they were released on. So please luck up what "lost" means.

Second, you can find uncompressed bluray rips floating online. Unless it's a lesser known film, in all likelihood you can find full rips of any major Hollywood film.

Thirdly, if you're squeezing 4k video on a single layer DVD, congrats, you've compressed the shit out of it and it looks like ass now. If you're torrenting a 4K "stream", downconvert it to 1080p and put it on a BD 25 at least. Fourth, 160kps AAC? Netflix supports Dolby 5.1 and even Atmos (which requires a sizeable living room to take advantage of) at 640kpbs. That 160 is likely something you read from an already re-compressed torrent.

I'm all for physical media, but please, research this shit before you post again. There's enough retards inhabiting the physical/preservation arena who know fuck all about video/audio encoding, the difference between streaming and downloading (as in actually having a file on your own hard drive), and what the fuck lost actually means.

I’m talking official releases.

Maybe work on your reading comprehension before you talk about a hobby you know nothing about.

I never said I wanted a compressed stream, I was simply referring to the fact that most 4k streams run between 4.5 and 8gb tops, and that’s terrible vs the 60-70gb you’d get on the physical release. And 160kbps is what Spotify and Apple Music consider high bitrate, the only halfway decent app is Tidal.

And news flash, most people into mainstream steaming apps wouldn’t know where to find a legit torrent from a hole in the ground.

This is about physical media, not what you can torrent. If I’m going to torrent a 4k film I’ll torrent an uncompressed iso because I’m an adult.

Congrats, we all have Usenet access and unlimited hard drive space, doesn’t replace my desire to own the legit physical copies.

 

[NickDigger]

I’m talking official releases.

Maybe work on your reading comprehension before you talk about a hobby you know nothing about.

I never said I wanted a compressed stream, I was simply referring to the fact that most 4k streams run between 4.5 and 8gb tops, and that’s terrible vs the 60-70gb you’d get on the physical release. And 160kbps is what Spotify and Apple Music consider high bitrate, the only halfway decent app is Tidal.

And news flash, most people into mainstream steaming apps wouldn’t know where to find a legit torrent from a hole in the ground.

This is about physical media, not what you can torrent. If I’m going to torrent a 4k film I’ll torrent an uncompressed iso because I’m an adult.

Congrats, we all have Usenet access and unlimited hard drive space, doesn’t replace my desire to own the legit physical copies.

>I was simply referring to the fact that most 4k streams run between 4.5 and 8gb top
That's recompressed video from a torrent. It's way bigger than that in order to stream at around 20mbps with surround sound at 640kbps

>And 160kbps is what Spotify and Apple Music consider high bitrate, the only halfway decent app is Tidal.
Then specify that instead of lumping it in with "4k stream", ESL nigger faggot.

Those people on mainstream steaming apps can suck shit.

>This is about physical media, not what you can torrent.
And yet you advocated for squeezing 4K streams on a disc. You can stop weaseling your way out what you don't know about.

>Congrats, we all have Usenet access and unlimited hard drive space, doesn’t replace my desire to own the legit physical copies.
Fine, but don't write off torrenting as an alternative, and learn what "lost" means. You're making physical media adherents look retarded.

 

[Dieter Laser]

>I was simply referring to the fact that most 4k streams run between 4.5 and 8gb top
That's recompressed video from a torrent. It's way bigger than that in order to stream at around 20mbps with surround sound at 640kbps

Run the test yourself, you nigger. Netflix 4k streams barely push 8-10 gigs total, tops. Go look at any Netflix rip and you’ll see for yourself if you’re too lazy to stream it and test it yourself.
>This is about physical media, not what you can torrent.

And yet you advocated for squeezing 4K streams on a disc. You can stop weaseling your way out what you don't know about..

I never said to do that you fucking moron. I said the average 4k stream can fit on a fucking dvd. It’s a dig at the absolute shit quality of what’s called HD streaming.

And I never said torrenting was useless, it’s def the worst way to go about downloading but that’s your decision. But for a physical media collector it’s not what we are looking for. Nor is it going to work for most people.

Sure, I can hit download and wait 15 minutes for a 70gb iso, but how many other people that want to watch a film are going to have the time, network connection and appropriate hardware to do it. Especially once you start managing hundreds of TB worth of data, it’s just not practical for most people.

 

[Positron]

what about super audio cd? everyone always forgets them

The short story is:

1. Sony demands too much royalties on the format; even the "Hybrid: Plays on all CD and SACD players" stickers cost extra. This ensures that the format will not be a drop-in replacement of Red Book.
2. Due to encryption, it is difficult to rip the SACD layer. For a very long time the only solution is to get the earliest version of Sony Playstation 3 with original firmware. People have since found other solutions, but these still require you to get hold of some old hardware and are a pain in the ass.
3. It is dubious that people can hear a difference. I personally think SACDs for classical music are better than Red Book, and some pop SACD (such as Johnny Halliday's À la vie à la mort) sound awesome too. Still it remains the fact that most pop music is badly produced, and a high-res pig still oinks like a pig. Only a handful of classical and jazz label which pride themselves on sound quality continue to stand by the format -- most notably BIS and 2L (which also does Blu-Ray Audio). The classical music label Chandos, whose philosophy since its inception has been "at the forefront of technology", choose to release only a selection of their records as SACDs (mostly British music, because these sell).

 

[Shroom King]

The short story is:

1. Sony demands too much royalties on the format; even the "Hybrid: Plays on all CD and SACD players" stickers cost extra. This ensures that the format will not be a drop-in replacement of Red Book.
2. Due to encryption, it is difficult to rip the SACD layer. For a very long time the only solution is to get the earliest version of Sony Playstation 3 with original firmware. People have since found other solutions, but these still require you to get hold of some old hardware and are a pain in the ass.
3. It is dubious that people can hear a difference. I personally think SACDs for classical music are better than Red Book, and some pop SACD (such as Johnny Halliday's À la vie à la mort) sound awesome too. Still it remains the fact that most pop music is badly produced, and a high-res pig still oinks like a pig. Only a handful of classical and jazz label which pride themselves on sound quality continue to stand by the format -- most notably BIS and 2L (which also does Blu-Ray Audio). The classical music label Chandos, whose philosophy since its inception has been "at the forefront of technology", choose to release only a selection of their records as SACDs (mostly British music, because these sell).

The only appeal I see to SACD and DVD-A is surround sound mixes. However, from what I understand the only way to play the surround sound mixes back discretely and uncompressed on SACD and DVD-A is to have a player that does the DAC in-house and outputs each channel via analog outputs. The problem is that new SACD and DVD/Blu-ray players do not have analog multichannel output. However, you can buy standalone multi-channel DACs for pretty cheap.

Blu-ray audio discs avoid all of this by allowing everything to run full bore via HDMI. But the problem with Blu-ray audio discs is that they are almost always included as part of a super-deluxe set. For example, the only way to get Dark Side of the Moon on Blu-ray is to buy the Immersion Set which includes an additional 200 dollars worth a stuff you don't need if have the blu-ray.

 

[Extreme Crusader]

#MAKEFYEGREATAGAIN

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

So, the millennial hipster faggots brought back vinyl and now some faggots are going to do the same thing with CD's. I don't own any CD's. I just get all my music off YouTube using those downloader sites.

 

[Mortin Shart]

I'm just gonna go ahead and push the notion that trends cycle and/or history rhymes. Several years ago, I started noticing stores like Wal-Mart and Target are carrying records, and not records from when they were relevant, but like modern artists putting out legitimate record albums. We somehow skipped 8-tracks and cassettes, but I'm sure they'll come around when it's their time. Though I do remember one of the Paul brothers carrying a Polaroid around like it was the 1980's and he wasn't even born yet. So we truly live in the worst time line.

Edit: Or maybe, some consoomers are becoming smart and realizing that the online digital versions can be taken away from you without notice. I'll admit I'm one of those people who buy or rent products, make my legal backup copy and go off that instead of running the disc over and over. I know I turned some people onto it, because we had an massive internet outage over here and a lot of girls were going stir crazy because they couldn't watch or listen to anything; meanwhile I'm sitting comfy and everyone wants to fucking come hang out because I got the hookup. I'd like to think that's what we're seeing.

Pottery

 

[Screw Danlon]

Several years ago, I started noticing stores like Wal-Mart and Target are carrying records, and not records from when they were relevant, but like modern artists putting out legitimate record albums.

Vinyl collectors are the foot fetishists of music,

 

[Kheapathic]

Pottery

Pottery never died, it just moved to mass-production or individual hobbyists. I have a great aunt who does pottery/ceramics every week with a group of her lady friends, and she has the kiln in her backyard. Gardening stores still sell them too, so they're not entirely on their way out and/or making a resurgence. Just more of a niche thing, than something that's been replaced by another model.

 

[Mortin Shart]

Pottery never died, it just moved to mass-production or individual hobbyists. I have a great aunt who does pottery/ceramics every week with a group of her lady friends, and she has the kiln in her backyard. Gardening stores still sell them too, so they're not entirely on their way out and/or making a resurgence. Just more of a niche thing, than something that's been replaced by another model.

No, if it rhymes it's like pottery -_-