This is one reason why it might happen:

I'll never buy an iPod until they make BIGGER headphones for it. I want to hear The Bass when I'm jamming!

I'll never buy an iPod until they make BIGGER headphones for it. I want to hear The Bass when I'm jamming!

I dont think so. Though i have had an ipod for about 2 years, i have purchased 0 albums and 4 songs through itunes. I still buy CDs, because the process of downloading and all that stuff is annoying and more time consuming than actually walking out of the house and getting it at a store. The big problem is the extinction of the "store", i dont do Best Buy or Target, so right now im stuck at buying a cd through amazon. The loss of "true" music retailers like Tower or Sam Goody has really hurt the industry, people can complain about prices but thats all bull, i cant believe people complain about a 10-12 dollar CD and then spend 3 bucks on Red Bull and 5 bucks on coffee or some fruit shake that will kill them in a few years, and if you are that worried that an artist cant do a good cd, then they arent worth getting into anyway. Now i worked in music Retail for 17 years up until this past April when we shut down and honestly i have seen everything go, when i started albums were just going out, then of course cassettes were gone, and now if you think CD's cant die that same way, its a mistake. But the key to keeping it alive will be the fact that digital/downloading is still a small percentage though increasing its not increasing fast enough to eliminate another option. And labels wont eliminate it mainly because its really the only way they get any money at this point, until they can get the handle on the illegal downloading issue.

Now another option would be for labels to stop killing the true music retailers because at the end of the day, if they go, u go. Sam Goody's downsizing and Towers elimination were huge, i dont think people really know how big that is unless you have been a part of it for awhile. Why are soundscan numbers down, well the fact that over 1500 music stores closed this year between Sam Goody,On Cue,Suncoast,Tower,and FYE, that might be one, and Tower and especially Sam Goody, we were the leaders in the RB category, that was up until 2000 when Best Buy bought Sam goody and basically stole everything from them, this is why Sam Goody lost all of its catalog sales after that. Best Buy/Target and others are basically places for Top40 stuff, good luck if you are looking for anything else.
[Edited 1/16/07 17:41pm]

TonyVanDam said:

right on!

Why not just use different headphones? Am I missing something?

lastdecember said:

1. Hey watch it! I like to drink a good Starbuck's ice coffee over at Barnes & Nobles when I'm reading books for free, and I'm not dead yet.

2. You're right about everything else. It's sucks that Tower Records has closed forever in New Orleans. And the Virgin MegaStore will never be rebuilt in the French Quarter within the post-Katrina era. Those stores were the only places that I used to go for CD imports. Meanwhile, these types of record stores never existed in Little Rock at all.

I don't like ipods. They are overpriced and the accessories are too
expensive. I got the panasonic 2 gig sv-MP020 model. It uses one AA battery
and lasts 80 hours. Great quality player.

not entirely hard to believe.... i mean they did away slowly with cassette tapes and then vhs.

phunkdaddy said:

iPods aren't overpriced; they just have a combination of features and ease of use for which you're not willing to pay.

I'll never buy an iPod until they make BIGGER headphones for it. I want to hear The Bass when I'm jamming!

I dont think so. Though i have had an ipod for about 2 years, i have purchased 0 albums and 4 songs through itunes. I still buy CDs, because the process of downloading and all that stuff is annoying and more time consuming than actually walking out of the house and getting it at a store. The big problem is the extinction of the "store", i dont do Best Buy or Target, so right now im stuck at buying a cd through amazon. The loss of "true" music retailers like Tower or Sam Goody has really hurt the industry, people can complain about prices but thats all bull, i cant believe people complain about a 10-12 dollar CD and then spend 3 bucks on Red Bull and 5 bucks on coffee or some fruit shake that will kill them in a few years, and if you are that worried that an artist cant do a good cd, then they arent worth getting into anyway. Now i worked in music Retail for 17 years up until this past April when we shut down and honestly i have seen everything go, when i started albums were just going out, then of course cassettes were gone, and now if you think CD's cant die that same way, its a mistake. But the key to keeping it alive will be the fact that digital/downloading is still a small percentage though increasing its not increasing fast enough to eliminate another option. And labels wont eliminate it mainly because its really the only way they get any money at this point, until they can get the handle on the illegal downloading issue.

Now another option would be for labels to stop killing the true music retailers because at the end of the day, if they go, u go. Sam Goody's downsizing and Towers elimination were huge, i dont think people really know how big that is unless you have been a part of it for awhile. Why are soundscan numbers down, well the fact that over 1500 music stores closed this year between Sam Goody,On Cue,Suncoast,Tower,and FYE, that might be one, and Tower and especially Sam Goody, we were the leaders in the RB category, that was up until 2000 when Best Buy bought Sam goody and basically stole everything from them, this is why Sam Goody lost all of its catalog sales after that. Best Buy/Target and others are basically places for Top40 stuff, good luck if you are looking for anything else.
[Edited 1/16/07 17:41pm]

lastdecember said:

You're definitely right. People's priorities are totally fucked up, especially when it comes to the way they spend their money. Hell, I'm guilty of it sometimes.

But think about it. In a world where so many things are sold at an "all you can eat" price, music IS expensive! People want music, it's just that they don't want it on the terms that those in power are selling it on. If they didn't why would people even buy iPods in the first place?

I don't think CDs are going anywhere. The labels don't have anything to replace the CDs with cause they sure as hell aren't hip to files yet.

guitarslinger44 said:

In reality Music isnt expensive, if you look at what Albums used to cost 6-7 bucks, and then look at the cost of living back then, it was actually more expensive then. The labels target kids with the music now more than ever, and thats why its crashing, kids today have 200 dollar cell phones and cell phone bills, they spend 100-200 on sneakers, so why would they buy music? So to blame prices is not the answer, i mean people spend 15-20 dollars on a new DVD release of a shitty movie that they know is shit. Its just a change in priorities for people and labels, they target the young and it works for a time but in reality, that is the worst market and its now showing. I dont think CD's are going anywhere yet, i do think that you will slowly start to see stock levels in stores and online sites decrease, at this point labels will probably stop printing so many copies of things. I do see a change coming soon though just in the forums that artists use, i think in another year or two, artists that are fed up with MTV/BET/VH1 and their bogus playlists and Reality shows, will form a nonstop 24 hour video/music channel.

PurpleKnight said:

I have zero interest in ever dowloading an album. I just don't see the point in buying inferior mp3 files when I can get better quality music on a CD along with album art and liner notes.

PurpleKnight said:

I have zero interest in ever dowloading an album. I just don't see the point in buying inferior mp3 files when I can get better quality music on a CD along with album art and liner notes.