http://www.cnn.com/2010/S...tml?hpt=C1

(CNN) -- If you think the musical compact disc is dying or dead, you're probably younger than it is.

"Show me a teenager buying a Susan Boyle album on CD and I'll show you someone buying a gift for their grandparent -- for Christmas," jokes Billboard senior chart manager and analyst Keith Caulfield. "There is definitely an age component to the consumption of music."

As the music industry as a whole struggles in a down economy and direct download business models like iTunes flourish, the compact disc -- which was commercially introduced in 1982 -- has the appearance of going the way of vinyl.

And contrary to the recent declaration of singer Prince -- who said that the Internet is dead and released his latest CD for free via European newspapers -- there's some evidence that consumers aren't as enamored with ripping the cellophane off that new CD as they once were.

According to data from Nielsen SoundScan, in 2007 CDs accounted for 90 percent of album sales in the United States, with digital accounting for the other 10 percent. Just two years later, that number had shifted to 79 percent CDs and 20 percent digital, with the remaining percentage point being made up of vinyl and other media.

Billboard's Caulfield said that so far this year, about 44 million digital albums have been sold, compared with 40 million during the same time frame last year. But while digital sales have increased slightly, CD sales have dropped from 147 million last year to 114 million this year for the same time period.

Caulfield stops short of speculating on a date when CDs might be phased out, but he does see similarities with the history of other media.

"Vinyl was the predominant configuration from the '50s and the '60s all the way up through the early '80s, and then cassettes became the predominant format from the early-mid '80s to the very early '90s," he said. "Then CDs became the predominant format and cassettes really didn't go away until a few years ago. It's kind of a natural progression, to a degree."

That's not to say that some artists aren't still selling well. Country group Lady Antebellum has so far racked up 2.4 million in album sales -- both CD and digital -- making them the top-selling act so far for 2010. In second place is teen phenom Justin Bieber, with 1.4 million.

"When an artist like a Drake or Eminem sells a bunch of albums, that shows that there are a lot of people that really want to spend money and give money to the artist that they are really, truly a fan of," Caulfield said. "The younger an artist skews in terms of who they appeal to, you'll see a larger share of their album sales tilt towards digital."

One obvious benefit of digital downloads is their ability to scratch an immediate itch. Caulfield observes shows like Fox's "Glee" make songs almost instant hits because "they have already heard and liked the song by the time they download it." Paul Grein, who writes the "Chart Watch" column for Yahoo.com, agrees, seeing hope for the music business in the success of "Glee" and "American Idol," which have helped spike downloads.

Despite the CD's decline, Grein believes the format will be around for the foreseeable future.

"I think it's becoming less of a mass-market item and kind of a niche product that caters to a small but loyal following," he said. "But there are enough cases where we are seeing albums that are selling in big numbers that I think they will be around for a while." Younger-skewing artists, such as singer-rapper Ke$ha, enjoy a larger slice of the digital pie than older-skewing artists such as James Taylor, he says.

Indeed, the format isn't the point, he said. In 100 years, recorded music has gone from cylinders to shellac 78s to vinyl LPs to cassettes, CDs and now digital downloads. Through it all, listeners still crave tunes.

"Music is definitely still in fashion," he said. "It's all around us."

I still buy lots of CDs (I'm 37 years old). I just like having that hard copy for some reason. But, I do buy plenty of albums and songs via download, and store them on my computer and/or rip them to my own CD-Rs. And, the CDs I do buy get played in my home system and in the car, but for the most part, they get ripped to my computer and then put on my MP3 player, so they don't really get used all that much.

As much as I like buying CDs, I am always suprised that the format soliders on. No matter the format, I just wish the sound quality wasn't so uniformly shitty these days.

in the last year, i've had about 2 or 3 people tell me that their computer crashed, or their iPod was stolen, etc..... "and it has all my music on there".

downloading is cool, for what it is, but i think it's foolish to only invest in that. then again, from my experience, the majority of people who only download, just want that "hit" song or album. they also don't care about who produced it or about all the 'other people' who put work into the process of making the music. but

even more annoying, is the trend of releasing 20 different versions of an album, with 20 different bonus tracks , and iTunes/Amazon exclusives. but again, the industry is trying to force our hands. there something to be said about having something tangible. kind of like receiving an email versus an actual letter or post card. sure it's nice, gets the message across; but once it's deleted, attacked by a virus, or crashes.... well. so yes, the music business is kind of dead all the way around.

again, it came down to 2 reasons: music label's GREED and fan's feeling that they are entitled.

CHIC0 said:

in the last year, i've had about 2 or 3 people tell me that their computer crashed, or their iPod was stolen, etc..... "and it has all my music on there".

downloading is cool, for what it is, but i think it's foolish to only invest in that. then again, from my experience, the majority of people who only download, just want that "hit" song or album. they also don't care about who produced it or about all the 'other people' who put work into the process of making the music. but

even more annoying, is the trend of releasing 20 different versions of an album, with 20 different bonus tracks , and iTunes/Amazon exclusives. but again, the industry is trying to force our hands. there something to be said about having something tangible. kind of like receiving an email versus an actual letter or post card. sure it's nice, gets the message across; but once it's deleted, attacked by a virus, or crashes.... well. so yes, the music business is kind of dead all the way around.

again, it came down to 2 reasons: music label's GREED and fan's feeling that they are entitled.

The thing is and i had this discussion recently with A universal rep who goes to the stores(that are left) and talks to the owners about new artists and releases.....His thing is that the people that "want" the hard copy and "want" liner notes and artwork and care who plays on records, are a dying breed, regardless of the fact that older people 30+ are the majority buying cds, the cd had to hit its peak at some point and now whats coming out, the 30+ crowd isnt interested in for the most part, and if it is interested it gets it free on the net or 99 cents on iTunes or Amazon. The thing is that music is not what it was to people, and not saying that its talent or this or that, its IMPORTANCE to the everyday person, isnt there anymore, the caring crowd is getting older and dying off as are the artists, so NOW there is nothing to replace it, so despite this "dream" that digital is saving music, its not, its plugging a hole, filling a gap, etc...when CD's took over, there was a difference in sound bonus tracks etc...now there is a downgrade in sound and honestly who the hell can be bothered downloading a digital booklet printing it, folding and then burning a cd, whats next touring for the artist too.

As for the itunes exclusives etc...spoken of, that is just what you said it to be, getting the loyal customer to buy soemthing twice, but can you really blame a label or an artist, its called getting paid. Rick Springfield's last studio album "Venus in Overdrive" peaked at Number 28 his highest in 21 years, why you may ask, it was available 4 different ways, an itunes version, the best Buy version, the amazon version and the .com offical website version, all having different tracks and when you have a base, they buy it, which lead to a high chart peak.