Yet another eulogy for the compact disc (but there’s some good history here)
So far this year, Canadian compact disc sales are down 38% vs. this time last year. At best, 9 million units will be sold by end of 2018.
The era of the CD is slowly coming to an end, prompting a series of articles on its rise and fall. Here’s another one from Digital Trends.
This week brought news that all but marks the end of an era in the world of recorded music. Best Buy, one of the last big-box electronics chain stores still in business, will be phasing out all CD sales by July 1, 2018. Target is expected to make a similar move, selling CDs only on consignment, which will essentially leave the aging digital disc to be relegated to a few last bastions, including Walmart, a motley collection of record shops with a CD section at the back, and of course, online distributors like the all-powerful Amazon.
While CDs have been on their way out for some time now, this week’s news may as well be a eulogy for the once-mighty disc, signaling a last step in its passing from a dominant medium to a forgotten relic in the ever-changing pantheon of recorded music. Many of us have rich memories of our time with the Compact Disc, from the first cartridge we cracked open outside a Sam Goody, to the overstuffed wallets and CD towers in our living rooms that stored hours upon hours of digital music bliss.
As such, we decided to see the CD off in style with this trip down memory lane. Follow us below as we chronicle the rise (and demise) of the late, great, Compact Disc.
