CDs continue steep decline as listeners adjust habits

While the release of the new iPod Shuffle continues a trend in music, it also signals the death of another format and a way of business.

A comparison of the third quarters of 2007 and 2008 reveals CD sales fell dramatically, according to the NPD Group, who conducts market research for all kinds of businesses.

The NPD reports the number of CDs sold during the above timeframe fell 19 percent. While CD sales fell, and continue to fall, the group reports younger listeners obtain more of their music from the Internet.

For example, in 2004, users downloaded approximately 140 million songs off the Internet. By 2007, this number grew to 810 million, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

During those same years, CD sales fell from 767 million to roughly 512 million, according to the RIAA.

"CD sales have been down since MP3s have been booming online," said Mel Vail, an employee of F.Y.E. at the Asheville Mall. "We do more DVD sales than we do CD."

As this trend continues over time, it could mean death for CDs. And if CD sales continue to drop, then music stores will shut their doors. An unprecedented and depressing event, the closing of record stores shows the power of continually growing MP3 technology.

"Because we offer the used program here, that helps out with CD sales a lot," Vail said.

If you think about all the format changes for music, they not only changed the quality of music delivered, but the medium in which people played them. For example, when the music industry went from cassettes to CDs, the change kept music stores alive because people still bought a tangible item. With digital downloads, the transaction occurs electronically.

According to the NPD, 15 percent of Internet users got their music from stores like iTunes and AmazonMP3 during the 2008 third quarter. The iPod can carry so many songs because of the MP3 format's small file size.

While most of the online downloads are MP3, listeners lose quality in exchange for having so many songs on their players.
"MP3s are horrible. The sound quality is bad," Vail said. "It just doesn't sound the same to me."

MP3 works by compressing the audio information from a track by throwing out redundant information, according to Walt Crawford, a well-known author and speaker on technologies and media, in addition to other topics.

Crawford ran his own informal tests comparing MP3 quality to CDs. He acknowledged his audio system as mediocre and found most of the MP3 music acceptable, but not of CD quality.

Of course, we can go into the quality at which he played the MP3s and what's available today, but such a topic wastes time.
If today's music listeners cared more about quality over portability, which MP3 players champion themselves on, then the huge amounts of digital downloads simply wouldn't occur.

This concern of portability over quality might be a generational thing because the NPD reports more young people embrace this compared to older people.

The Group reports that last year, teens bought 34 percent more digital music than in 2007 during the third quarter. And with peer-to-peer file sharing, fewer teens burned shared files to CDs, which the group attributes to teens preferring digital music.

Also, many young users might not be concerned with quality at all. For example, do you know the difference between analog and digital signals in music? What about high-fidelity systems? And do you know why vinyl music still reaches a market?

You might not know any of the technical aspects; in fact, the questions really only concern those who truly care about audio quality. So, most people, while they may enjoy music and portability, certainly don't appreciate good quality audio.
If MP3 technology eventually becomes the main way for people to get their music, this not only affects music stores closing, but bands as well.

Consider how bands must promote themselves. Realistically, they must go on the road and push an album in order to get a following. The sale of music directly online undercuts lesser-known bands because they can't get as much exposure.

"I'm very, very supportive whenever I listen to music," Vail said. "I usually buy it directly from bands to keep them going."
The direct purchase of music from bands not only keeps them alive and able to cut more albums, but also maintains a standard in the music industry.

If people continue to use MP3s, an entire generation may never know what quality music sounds like. If people keep this low standard of quality, then our society loses a unique form of expression. And if you think an MP3 is good quality, check out a vinyl on a decent system; it might surprise you.

Of course, technologies change over time, and products fall by the wayside as they become obsolete. But we value music quite a bit in this country. Certain parts of society exist simply because of their music. By turning to compressed music, we not only lose quality, but also a part of ourselves.

We can only expect the trend of MP3s to continue over time. But if you want portability, don't worry. As time goes on, we'll start to compress MP3s. And then we'll compress that, too. So keep it up, and enjoy the noise. Most won't know the difference anyway.

Originally published in The Blue Banner, Spring 2009