The Redbook CD will be around for a long time to come. Obviously new formats such as digital downloading will carve their proper place in the market. Quality of downloaded music is improving as is the education by the public to its use. That said to many consumers both casual and audio orientated fans still have a desire for physical media and will not abandon said physical choices. Redbook CD after storming to huge success by the 90's will obviously see its market share dwindle. But it will hold a place in the market arena. The Vinyl LP was said to be dead some 10 years ago and today it has re-carved a popular and desirable place in the music market place. No it will never regain the sales numbers it had in the late 70's and early 80's but the LP record enjoys its new found place among music fans.
Digital downloading though convenient and now can be had for better audio quality has its warts too. Small library of choices as compared to the CD and the older analogue record and even cassette tape libraries create and sold over the years. It also has the worry of being lost or corrupted via a hard drive or flash drive failure. This will cause great troubles to those who only use it as their medium. What owning a physical medium offers to the user is the ability to keep control over the storage and safety of content as well as the ability to upload onto a server based system if they wish and even an ability to readily without much hassle back up copies they own be these CD,LP or even the audio cassette.
So no the physical medium we know as the CD will not be fading away anytime soon, but will have to accept its market share place to be reduced as other choices offer themselves to the consumer.
Digital downloading though convenient and now can be had for better audio quality has its warts too. Small library of choices as compared to the CD and the older analogue record and even cassette tape libraries create and sold over the years. It also has the worry of being lost or corrupted via a hard drive or flash drive failure. This will cause great troubles to those who only use it as their medium. What owning a physical medium offers to the user is the ability to keep control over the storage and safety of content as well as the ability to upload onto a server based system if they wish and even an ability to readily without much hassle back up copies they own be these CD,LP or even the audio cassette.
So no the physical medium we know as the CD will not be fading away anytime soon, but will have to accept its market share place to be reduced as other choices offer themselves to the consumer.