Yes, you read that right. The death of the compact disc, or CD, is widely anticipated to happen in 2012.
According to a few websites (primarily the Side-Line.com music magazine), the major recording labels plan to discontinue releasing albums on CD by the end of 2012. Music will thereafter be released via downloading and streaming platforms, such as iTunes and other services. Some CDs will still be introduced, but they will be of the limited and special edition variety, and distributed mostly through Amazon (currently the world’s largest CD retailer).
This news first broke a few weeks ago, but Side-Line.com couldn’t get official comments from EMI, Universal, or Sony on the story. Since then, they have received tips from informants associated with multiple labels who confirm that 2012 is indeed the planned CD end-date. (Nothing has been officially announced or confirmed.)
Granted, this news is not surprising. The CD format has been struggling to hold on for over a decade, beginning with the fight against Napster in the late 1990s.
The simple truth is that CDs cost money. Beyond the obvious manufacturing and printing concerns, there are also the issues of physical storage space for retailers and the money that recording labels pay whenever a CD is returned due to lack of sales. By comparison, releasing music digitally eliminates all stock and distribution issues, allowing the label to focus simply on the music and its marketing. But this change will spell the end for most physical music stores–especially ones that only sell CDs.
What impact does this impending change have for DVD releases? One big difference is that videos still have a strong physical presence. While DVD itself is a declining format, Blu-Ray is improving slowly each year. And while video streaming is growing as well, the physical size of video files mean that they can’t be downloaded nearly as easily as a single MP3 (which is usually just a few MBs). Plus, home videos still require a physical medium for the easiest viewing and archiving security. Music is simply an easier format to adapt to the purely digital realm than video. But it’s a possibility that when CDs go the way of the dodo, DVDs may someday follow.
