compact discs r.i.p.

Cue the Curtain: In-Store CD Sales Nearing an End




Posted by JR Raphael

Video killed the radio star -- so who's to blame for putting the brick and mortar music store star in his grave? It may not be funeral time just yet, but new word this week that Wal-Mart is getting ready to slash into its music-selling strategy signals the start of a long-brewing change.

Here's the deal: The mass market CD section at Wally World is on its way out, the Wall Street Journal says. Execs are sick of seeing struggling sales and wasted space and are "preparing changes" to the store's approach -- likely a significant cutback in the amount of titles carried.

They're not alone, either. Reports indicate 2008 will see a huge drop in in store cd availability across the board, with cuts as high as 40 percent in retailers ranging from Best Buy to Circuit City by the year's end. And we've all seen how few of the standalone music stores are left. Like it or not, the physical manifestation of music is rapidly becoming an endangered species.

So where do we point our accusatory finger? Who's the demon causing our old friend to breathe his dying breath? Well, Napster's the obvious candidate. But calm down, Lars...if the once-free music service hasn't come along at the turn of the century, something else would have done it. If anyone's to take the fall for physical music's fall, it has to be technology in general.

It's pretty simple, really: The demands have changed, and the industry is just now starting to catch up. I see it as a generational shift. A new batch of kids -- i.e. today's teenagers -- grew up with music always available with the press of a button. They never knew the joy of heading to the CD store the day their favorite band's album was set to come out, then heading back home with that cellophane-encased treasure in their hands. To them, music is a concept, not a tangible object. It's a disposable file, not an invaluable possession. The mindset has undergone a massive transformation, and the stores are seeing the result.

As for me? I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned. I may be a professional purveyor of high-tech information, but I still love my CD collection. Sure, I download songs -- but I inevitably end up burning them to disc and printing up a track list to go with the case. And I'd always prefer to have the real CD, complete with color cover booklet, over that.

I suppose, though, change is inevitable. I'll keep my CDs. Odds are, though, I'll have to start buying in stores less and downloading over the Web more. Only legally, of course...back off, Ulrich.

it was bound to happen and i really feel that the record companies deserve this because the amount that each artist recieved was so minute compared to what they charged per cd when they first came out. i do have fond memories of a store a couple towns over from me while i was growing up that was a video store on one side and a cd haven on the other. they would keep a card with your name on it on file and once you bought ten cds you got the eleventh one free! that was in 1990 when i got my very first cd/cassette boombox for christmas and my personal musical journey really began!