The Poly Post

Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News

Are CD's becoming extinct? CD sales for this year have declined 14.2 percent as of Oct. 24, according to Nielsen Soundscan Ratings.

Their competition is in the form of digital downloads and retailers like iTunes.

"I use iTunes," said Aida Nasr, a fourth-year international business marketing student. "It's easier to download than going to the store. It's more convenient because I can just use a credit card."

A study by eMarketer, a company that does research on marketing and trend analysis, shows that per capita spending on music has dropped by 40 percent even though the number of music consumers has doubled over the last 20 years, according to whatsthedownload.com.

"It's so easy to download music or buy from iTunes," said Josh Gregory, a communication professor, "but it's made music an impulse buy."

The iTunes Music Store is surpassing its 300 billionth song, leaving CDs in the dust.

The convenience of purchasing just one song by an artist from iTunes is a definite attraction for many users.

"Sometimes I don't like all of the songs on a CD, so it's convenient to buy just one song I like," said Yvette Perez, a fourth-year management and human resources student. "I think CDs will become extinct like tapes."

There are record labels who are using digital downloads instead of CDs to distribute music for their bands as well. DiscRevolt, a company from Alpharetta, Georgia, sells cards with download codes on them instead of actual CDs. This code enables the purchaser to download MP3 files from the DiscRevolt Web site, along with CD artwork, lyrics, and credits.

DiscRevolt CEO Mike Shamus started the company to help out independent bands.

"I had a band ask how they could afford to manufacture CDs after fronting all of the studio bills for recording," said Shamus. "These are bands who make their living by playing shows every night, selling their music and merchandise so they can put food in their stomach and gas in their cars so they can get to the next show."

The download cards deliver music in MP3 format compatible with iPods and other MP3 players.

The company is being environmentally conscious by cutting out the packaging that comes with CDs.

"It's a small, thin plastic card vs. the case and artwork and everything else with the CD," said Shamus. "The DiscRevolt Web site is what holds the actual content itself. 1,000 CDs weigh over 250 pounds, whereas 1,000 download cards weigh about 12 pounds."

Cell phone companies are catching on to the downloading trend as well. Many of them offer downloading services through phones that double as music players.

Helio launched a music downloading store for its subscribers in February 2007. The store includes ArtistAlerts, where users can be notified when their favorite artists upload new songs.

"If they're smart businessmen, they'll figure something out," said Cherilyn Otubuah, a fifth-year public relations student. "All they can do is utilize good management skills and take the trend as it comes. They might consider offering exclusive downloads with in-store purchases."

There are still consumers who purchase CDs by their favorite bands, just so they can have the artwork that comes along with it.

"The mom-and-pop stores can play up the retro credibility, just as they do now by selling vinyl records," said Obutah. "DJs still buy vinyl. If people need CDs they will keep buying them."

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