How Long Will CDs Last ??

[Tiggi]

My entire music collection is on vinyl or CD. I have an MP3 player, but only use it for listening to my existing music in the garden or on holiday. CDs are also slowly disappearing from the High St retailers.

How long do you think it will be before we are a download-only world ??

[trbc08]

Good question... To be honest, I only use digital formats out of convenience. I like the art for CDs and vinyl moreso. I think I'd be very sad to see all forms of physical music disappear... But I suppose it's inevitable. All hail the poor quality lossy MP3s!

[Tiggi]

To be fair, vinyl is still available 15 years after it's supposed demise, so I suppose CD will also continue long after it's "death".

[ambernector]

That is a good question. :embarassed:

Thinking back, a replacement has been available through minidisc which appears to have died a death. I think CD's will last for much longer as the retail preferred method for gaining music.

[Jookia]

As the size of a common album is, it's hard to say it'd be anything to do with space. Though if they're looking for quality, they could switch to a different format. But the main thing here is how the music company is coping with pirates and how they'll copy-protect future CDs. P2P is getting popular, not for free songs, but as a convenient way to find any song. I think the battle here is where and how. If you want to buy a 1980's song, you generally can't find them in your local store. But on P2P you can find them easily. iTunes is making an online store, but the payment methods are hard as the general personal doesn't really feel comfortable about typing credit card numbers onto a computer.

[monetmelly]

not long...the majority of my music are mp3s on my laptop which i transfer over to players.

[screamalicious]

CDs have served their purpose for a long time, but digital music is just...easier! Newspapers will live a long life despite the internet, because there's just something about "reading the paper." But there's really nothing that great about "putting in a CD."

Now, vinyl on the other hand...

[JonG]

They will probably (and should) produce less of them but I don't see CDs going away for a long time. As already said records haven't gone away. Laserdiscs held on for a long time after their heyday. And they never really had a "heyday"! I do see CDs losing their status as the dominant format in the near future if they haven't already.

[MusicReviews]

I honestly haven't bought a cd since the killers "Sams Town" Awesome album btw........

[trbc08]

I bought a CD just this past Thursday.