It would be interesting to do a blind test playing the same song on a CD player Vs on Tidal. Wonder if some would pick Tidal over a CD. Then run a placebo test.
What a sad world we now live in.......
What a sad world.....
Had to go to our local Wal-Mart for something for the wife and thought would check out CD,s while here.
Could not find them so asked where to be told they had decided to stop selling them in-store.
In fact the whole electronics section looked bare and desolate.
Pretty sure a sign of the buy online times we now live in.
Had to go to our local Wal-Mart for something for the wife and thought would check out CD,s while here.
Could not find them so asked where to be told they had decided to stop selling them in-store.
In fact the whole electronics section looked bare and desolate.
Pretty sure a sign of the buy online times we now live in.
128 responses Add your response
Lowrider. Nope been here in the USA since 2000 my friend. I escaped the UK! Actually they are probably as happy about it as I am.... lol. But that is a good point as to differing mentalities in different countries, including buying habits and listening habits. Heck I know one of my old friends back in the UK still watches VHS movies as he had a huge collection of them and bought 3 or 4 top quality decks to keep playing them on. I do not even see VHS movies for sale on flea markets here any longer! |
I count myself as being truly blessed at this stage of life as I can find usually 5 to 6 hours A DAY to listen to my music and usually do. Now honestly I am not that bothered whether WalMart or Best Buy or Target etc stop selling any type of music period! From a sense of where I normally go to buy my media. It just so happened I was in WalMart for another reason entirely when this unfolded. But as a general downward spiral picture of todays culture and buying mentality it still saddens me, call me an old fart, not going to change my mind on that score. Unfortunately the internet has made some of this shift towards online everything all too easy and commonplace. Go watch a movie called "The City of Ember". Yes I know all doom and gloom , misery guts I am. |
@uberwaltz Don't you live in the UK? All my friends in England still buy and listen to CDs as their primary source of music. Of course sales have dropped drastically, but all the stats being quoted on this thread are for US only. I get your point and maybe selling CDs in UK retail shops is no longer profitable. Sales have dropped worldwide, but in Japan there is a huge CD market. |
A paper released last year ( https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3285436 ) determined that the average "free" time most working Americans have is around 2.5 hours per day. Here are some of the things I like to do (in their general order of preference): Hang out with my family. Hang out with my friends. Play guitar or piano. Play with my dogs. Go to concerts. Read. Go for a walk. Ride my bike. Listen to my stereo. Watch TV. If I give each activity equal time (I don't), then that only gives me 1.5 - 2 hours a week to listen to my stereo. That sounds about right. Sometimes, on a rainy day I will listen more, some weeks will go by and I don't listen at all. Tidal has been a boon for me. I can listen to new music, old music, and music that I never would think of "buying." For the most part my CD's just sit there. I have about about 300 records. I average about 2-3 records a month. I still enjoy buying them and messing with the turntable (I have a "one-in, one out" policy with new records to keep my collection manageable, but there are some in there that I haven't listened to for over 40 years). Slowly I am winnowing down my 500 CD collection to just those that are collectible or un-available on Tidal or Idagio. It makes no sense to keep these; it would take me ten years to listen to them all (only if I excluded listening to everything else, which I won't do - I enjoy discovering new music too much). So I could care less about not finding CDs in Walmart. In fact, I could care less about going to Walmart at all. If I feel the need, we have three independant record stores in town; I'll get my record buying fix there. |
My CD player in my car broke down a few months back. The dealer wanted $2000 to replace it (!!). its an older Bose system that for the car sounds very good. It also has a Cassette player, remember those?! So i went to my basement found a couple of boxes full of cassettes and am happily listening to those. My point is Listening to the Music is what is important. The media is relatively unimportant. don't get me wrong, I am audiophile and will perform any magic to make the sound of my system better but at the end of the day its the Music that matters. I am sure there will be a lot of responses now to my words here from those who have not been sufficiently caffeinated yet......haha |
Don't be sad about this. Be sad that your tax dollars pay Walmart employees' salaries since the walton kids need to keep their 140+ billion dollars and make us all pay welfare support (taxes) to their employees because the Walton's are way too poor to pay them living wages. They might have to give up the title of "richest family in the USA" if they say, put in a billion each to provide pay equal to the work, a word they are not familiar with having popped out of the right crotch. BUT, you can visit Bentonville, AK anytime--a real hotspot of activity, of course--to see the billions in paintings that they put in their "museum" there. A way to have expensive stuff and not pay taxes on it? HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT?? THAT should make you sad, but hey, the music is all that counts, said Nero.(another myth, like trickle down). Whatever. |
In the comedy movie Bridesmaids, the main female character keeps driving by a cop she dated trying to get his attention by doing goofy things in the car. The funniest one was when she drives by sitting low in the car with Hispanic rap music playing on the radio. That scenes has been removed from the movie. I guess it offended some people. What a world. |
I’ll stick with Cd’s and LP’s thanks. I like the look, feel, and sound of physical media, but that is just me. I dont like the modern way of listening. It’s just as easy for me to get off my lazy ass and put in a cd or a record....and I personally think it sounds better.....plus I like looking at my collection and reading the cd inserts and the album covers 😁. Oh well I’m old hahahaha.....I still buy pre-recorded cassettes! My Aiwa AD F770 works like brand new and I bought it new in 1983. I do own a DAC, but it's still in the box lol. |
The last time I looked at data, the entire world sales (the dollar value) of recorded music is about 1/4 of what it was at the peak. This is the case despite people buying and accessing much more music than ever before. Theft through file sharing has changed the economic model such that music must be sold very cheaply to compete with stealing. That means streaming, people buying rights to single tracks vs. albums, etc. Physical media that costs a lot to produce is particularly non-competitive in this era. So, to me, what is regrettable about the decline of physical media is not so much the loss of the particular medium, but, the conditions that cause the loss. This loss of revenue to file sharing means that artists, in particular, are getting far less money and only mega-stars continue to rake it in. Most other artists are worse off than they used to be. |
There are CDs in urban, country stores and perhaps Walmart. For example, I have seen in Michigan off the beaten path cities with stores that sell and rent DVDs and Blu-ray’s, CDs. Yes, it’s a business model that drives commerce to sell mainstream products but invariably the business model to stop selling CDs at Walmart is probably moreso in the major cities or outskirts and probably has to do with the fact that yes, streaming is gaining popularity due to easy accessibility to high speed streaming formats in those areas. While, out in the country, we don’t get high speed internet, we get Dish, satellite or a phone plan with unlimited streaming at that data rate the carrier offers, plus the expense to go with it. Depending on where you are, your SOL for reliable internet or phone. There have been inroads in bringing point to point towers with supposed high speed bandwidth, 10-20mbps, give me a break, but that’s sparse, and expensive for the majority of folks who live in the country. Just because it’s a thing in the city, it’s not a thing in the country, where some technology is slow to creep in. So, my retirement home in Michigan has to be close to a transmission line with at least 200mbps...that’s what I told my wife, haha. I think there is a correlation between the availability of streaming and the sales of CD, therefore, Walmart is cutting products at locations where the sales of those products are null. Personnaly, I am agree with the OP, I am hanging on to my physical formats, 7500 records strong, 1100 CDs strong. I don’t have time to rip CDs, but spend time listening. That being said, I am looking at this Auralic streaming/Dac device that will propel me into the streaming century, that’s another conversation on another thread, perhaps. |
@inna Are you ok? Not trying to put you on the spot but your words go beyond the usual “I miss the good old days” (which were not all that great BTW) that is far too often spoken here on Audiogon by a few. The bitterness communicated was probably unintentional but nonetheless worrisome. Everyone and every thing must change. Even those who resist change are in a constant state of change, please don’t miss out on the opportunities that surround each of us every day. Distribution methods and channels of distribution have changed radically in the past and will continue to do so. Always have and always will. Why the angst? |
While out of town for 3 weeks, I had a new experience After using Soundmagic 11 earphone with Dell Laptop for 1 week, I found that they are quite listenable with internet streaming music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tctk3Uy1w5s Violin sounds natural without too much overtone. Orchestra sound also balanced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSFIHTjc74I With this kind of highend demo music, this one work well with natural details. Now I can understand why most young people including my adult children are happy with low end sound. Actually they do not sound bad unless I pay too much attention to details and soundstage. You do not need high end audio system to enjoy music. High End audio is already doomed. If you go to high end show, it is difficult to find people below 40 years old. Thomas |
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My 30-40 year old adult children and step children all love listening to music. Two are pretty fair musicians. But their entire peer group doesn't own a decent piece of audio gear at all. They download individual songs and maybe most of an album once in a while to their phones and tablets but spend far more on concert tickets, video games and alcohol than on any physical media. As a result, no cds in Best Buy, Walmart, etc and even Amazon tells you that many of their cds for sale are burned upon demand/purchase. When entire generations don't need a category of merchandise, only fools would persist in stocking it... |
bdp24, I think that all you mentioned together is the reason for CD sales decline. Probably with another thing or two. Times have evolved and, regardless of what anyone (hinting at your mention of Michael Fremer) feels and thinks, CDs and records do not fit into an iPhone. That is the dealbreaker. Those who grew up with some physical media may feel it is important to actually have it, but newer generations do not have that feeling.They do not have emotional attachment to these things. Similar approach is slowly getting into car ownership these days. "Michael Fremer regularly talks about how those who get their music via streaming, owning no physical media, will end up with nothing." Well, very "wise" statement that is slightly out of touch with reality. Even a physical one. What happens when there is fire, earthquake, burglary, basically anything that disturbs perfection of the environment, in "physically-inclined" home? Owner is easily left with, depending on the luck, nothing. 17-year-old who streams hip-hop on her phone is left with exactly same music as the day before. Ok, burglary is probably fine. What would a burglar do with heavy load of objects of close-to-no-value to majority of potential customers? Records, and CDs, are not even worth stealing these days, no matter how much a small group of people may cherish them. As far as Walmart goes, I put those few things out, and mentioned Garth Brooks, as a response to implied statement that Walmart never mattered in music (sales) and that people shopping there were not interested in music. Apparently, they were. It is just that they are not anymore. |
I just got rid of my TIDAL. Had to get over my FOMA—oh no, I might not have access to everything! So less about the $20/month, more about getting more intimate with the hundreds of lps I own. I came to terms with the fact that having access to infinite music didn’t bring me more musical pleasure. And my NAIM streamer gives me all the free HD stations in the world, so I can still get exposed to new music. |
@glupson, you’re last post (at 8:14pm on 05-16) supports my argument that the even the people who were at one time buying their Garth Brooks CD’s at Walmart are just not buying or listening to albums anymore. Is it that they just don’t care that much about music anymore, or don’t hear anything new they like enough to spend ten bucks on, or would rather spend that ten bucks on something else, or work such long hours that they would rather plop down in front of the large-screen TV than listen to music? I expect that out of my 66 and 68-year old sisters, but I know for a fact that none of their kids or grandkids care all that much about music either. It is my opinion that the couple of generations for whom music was the foremost art form and cultural center was a temporary fluke. My parents and their friends and relatives also weren’t music consumers the way my friends and I were. As for the music currently being made, while that which you or I may consider cool is still alive on the cult level, it is only Hip Hop/Rap/Dance music that the vast majority of younger music consumers seem to care enough about to support financially. Will that music have remained relevant to it’s buyers when they have reached our current ages (a pole on that range would be interesting!), the way music from the (50’s for some)/60’s/70’s/80’s/90’s/(name your decade ;-) has for us? Michael Fremer regularly talks about how those who get their music via streaming, owning no physical media, will end up with nothing. Holding a physical object that contains music is a completely different thing than holding a remote control. Like Brian Wilson, I just wasn’t made for these times ;-( . Or I lived too long already. I’m starting to feel like Rip Van Winkle may have. It must be doubly so for our comrade @schubert, from whom we rarely hear anymore. |
It is Walmart's loss - I used to go to Best Buy once a week to buy CD's (and in the process purchase something I didn't need), I have not stepped into Best Buy in 6 months - stupid marketing decision. There was really nothing in the Walmart bins that I was interested in, and even their online was not only poorly created, difficult to use, but had no selection. I now buy all my CD's online (amazon, amoeba, elusive, acoustic sounds), purchased 3 today. It is good news for the local record stores that are packed now - and not with old people, young people - and most of them are browsing CD's. Many kids can hear the difference between an MP3 and a well recorded record. The CD's are much cheaper than the vinyl alternatives - you need a pretty good system to make a record sound better than a CD - most youngsters don't have $50K to blow on a system. New SACD's are coming out every week - it is a good time to be a music lover. |
"Second, Walmart was never a player in the music biz." For whatever it is worth, this is an article from 2004... "In the past decade, Wal-Mart has quietly emerged as the nation’s biggest record store. Wal-Mart now sells an estimated one out of every five major-label albums." “We’re in such a competitive world, and you can’t reach consumers if you’re not in Wal-Mart,” admits another label executive. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/wal-mart-wants-10-cds-235534/ |
Cd was nice ,just like records personally digital like Jplays new Femto which is excellent digital sounding playback the best to date. I have a JRivers 25 , land I downloaded the trial it is he best . Cd just borrow or buy just to rip wav or Flac files to my Solid state drives. I donot miss have to play CDs one at time one bit ,they are inferior in every way and just cumbersome when I can just click non my app and play in any order or cd I choose. Digital now sounds excellent if you have good gear . |
"I don’t think Walmart customers were ever exactly the most music-loving people around. Or perhaps it is that they, like myself, are just not interested in the music that is currently most popular."I would bet that many, if not majority, of the Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks CDs were bought at Walmart. I might lose the bet, but I would be willing to bet that I would not lose it. |
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Wow! Folks, this is just hifi!!! First, Physical media isn’t disappearing but the cost of producing it, shipping it, the costs on the environment, these things wont get less expensive which is why virtual delivery is the dominant path forward. Second, Walmart was never a player in the music biz. Delivered the mainstream top 40 and country. Hmmm. Additionally, the direct sales model of music is actually better for the musicians...once they discover that it is called the music business for a reason. Finally, the railing against a changing world isn’t going to help you have wonderful days. People have been complaining about or embracing change since the beginning of time. Why not get up each day and appreciate the wonders that await? Wake up each day and choose to make the world a better place. Thankfully Jonas Salk got up each day and tried something different. Someone decided once to hook up 2 speakers rather than one. Thankfully someone decided 78rpm just introduced too many artifacts and was too limiting. See the world as half full and you will discover that there are 50 manufacturers today building better gear than could be bought 25 years ago. Happiness is a choice... |
What a sad world..... absolutely. especially evident from the discourse of your note is just how quickly one can get way layed for noticing an orchestrated effort which further denies the public buying choices and elevates the conspirators profits margins in the doing. its sad, and shahmeful to rail against an observance of reality. it is not pitiful for the OP to call a spade a spade, but it is egregious to allow subtractions from the consumer so that the only possible saving grace consumers might realize is aimed squarely at more 'convenience. by all means, the free world needs more convenience. ... but for whom is this to actually benefit? wally world is merely the precipatory move. the drizzle before the flood. people are being put out of work and profit margins increased with purely online content sales. .. and damn the expense. removing major possibilities for acquiring music is just one more way of controling price by the recording industry, labels, and artists. I'm not against anyone getting their due financially for their works in a free market. Just how free a market is it if one can only buy from the store the coal mine owns? I am against being funnelled into fewer options regardless the concern. especially when it ends up costing me more and offering me less! years ago we were told CD prices would drop shortly after their introduction as only regurgitations of the exact same content were initially being made available at several times the cost of the records they replaced. eventually the major disc makers had to comply with a class action suit to fork over a mere pittance back to those who involved themselves in the action. I spent hundreds or more, and I got reimbursed about $20. and CD prices never dropped. their packaging did degrade in the thinly veiled ruse of being an ecological advancement wherein paper ushered out plastic cases. still there was no price reductions in CD sales. later we were told CD would not last. the dyes would disolve in 4 or 5 years at best,. these were the first advances of the new age of 'spin' being introduced into the global culture. it was not true then. or now but truth became easily side stepped for profit or agenda. Spin did and does serve the purpose of those who have promulgated such crap. its no wonder why societies around the world display anger so easily and avidly. same way with almost everything else, political, commercial, industrial, and social. THE truth is routinely kicked to the curb and choices are being stripped away from the public. bit by bit. B&M audio outlets began to vanish. now its gonna be the same thing for music stores. shopping for 'gems' at the local record stores was once an exciting part of being into music, and it is now sentenced to attrophy and die a senseless death. so be it. its obvious here most people could care less that they are now being driven like so many cattle into a controlled market where they must buy online files which sell at premium prices 24/7. no bargain sales ever! As there is no reason for a sale if they are the only places for the content's distribution. it also seems not to matter that some of these supposed HD file sellers have been taken to task about the true nature of what is being sold in how it was derived and or produced. indeed, exactly how is the veracity of the content to be verified? check the threads on this forum and others for more info on some of these online outlets alleged transgressions. soon it would not surprise me if the major labels will begin selling their own content online via downloads or affiliate themselves with existing sellers and once more they will control prices and buying avenues. sure, $18 to $25 for something which must be saved redundantly (meaning more HDD space must be in place for safekeeping the files), which is a well hidden yet demanded cost. seems cheap enough, except when you consider the same content could have been had for $3 to $10 or so on disc and redundancy no longer a requirement. good deal! I can't wait! eventually the exact same scenario will occur with vinyl once the current fad dies down. the writing is on the wall for vinyl junkies too. ...and BTW, exactly what are replicated ’masters' on R2R going for these days? Hundreds! yep. Hell of a deal! eventually there will be no further need for pressing venues. no need for the man power. Wharehousing orrraw materials and production. merely zip it out in a file format few if any can verify. With the subtraction of these expenses of course we will see more economical pricing and availability of content, right? video now gets 'bought' yet it is only accessed via connectivity as it sits stored on a server somewhere... hopefully. but for how long? again, we are at the whim of the seller and with few or no real rights at the end of the day. and now, with fewer resolutions. since the Jurasic age, it is always the same evolution in the recording industry, and retail arenas from the majority of music producing firms. they will simply introduce a format or fashion for acquiring music, and later on change that format to a entirely different type or style so you can vomit up and resell the same content in its new whiz bang style. then in a few years market a reputedly new vastly better format and make another change. ala,vinyl @16, 78, 33.3, 45; 8 track. R2R. Cassette. various forms of Cassette. ELCAT. DAT. CD. DVD Audio, SACD. Blue Ray. UHD Blu Ray. DSD. same goes for Home Theater. What is the latest fad? UHD? HDMI 2.0, or 2.2? 4K? 8K? anyone recall Beta Max? Laser disc? Again with audio its back to R2R and Vinyl with digital being corralled to online only.. outlets where the buying alternatives are significantly truncated. presently MQA rides onto the scene forcing yet more hardware acquisitions. what is next? I bet its MQA II. or MQA UHD change for the sake of change serves very few. are we now merely a culture addicted to expediancy? perhaps too, recording labels will conglomerate or individually be the ONLY resource for what ever artist's content forcing us to obtain multiple streaming service subscriptions in the forthcoming 'subscription wars'. all the while we sit with eyes wide shut and berate any who will not climb on board with the rest of the sheep and adore the latest greatest choreographed impositions forced upon us by the industry. people are being put out of work and profit margins increased with purely online content sales. its a lovely idea!! but for whom? it sure as Hell ain't us!! wanna stem this tide a while longer? get in your cars and get to these places selling hard copies of music and support them. its a simple proposition. moreover, take your children or a friend with you and introduce them to a new and more tangible and tactile world and its advantages. sorry. I felt it needed to be said. when music can only be acquired online, then I will chase that dragon too and feel very sad about it. |
There is never going to be a winner in the argument whether physical media or streaming is the best sound or which will eventually become extinct. Resurgence of vinyl has proven that. bdp24 is correct. Serious music collectors don't typically shop at Walmart or other big box stores. Most cities of any size will usually have one or more places that sell a variety of CD's, vinyl, and maybe tapes. I am fortunate to live in Rochester, NY which is a place rich in music history. Several places like House of Guitars, Record Archives, and others offer huge selections. Stream or put the hard copy in your machine. A personal choice. |
Technology has changed and CDs are no longer the primary vehicle for sales. It is just a fact with no animus towards either CDs or streaming. Remember when CDs took the market from cassettes that took the market from vinyl? Time marches on, yet CDs and records will survive, but never dominate again. I just feel badly for the artists who are now so poorly compensated for their craft. Streaming pay very little. |
Sleepwalker: The "People of Walmart" website is awesome. But, on the flipside, the company/stores themselves - not so much. However, without Walmart, we would not have "The People of Walmart". Since the MulletsGalore website bit the dust 5-6 years ago the only "helpline" left (for me anyway - I kid you not) is "The People of Walmart" in all its awesomeness. DeKay |
Gee Bill, You're not the type to have mid-life crisis. I hope you haven't traded in your bike for a fixie'! (big cycle fan here:) I'm very happy with records and took some time to warm to CDs, but am now very happy with both, but expecting to not investigate further media sources. The fact that you are happy with that say's something!! |
Seriously I stream a lot and as Grannyring states there is just masses of new to us music waiting to be discovered with just a few clicks. .... Very cool indeed and I have abused it considerably over the past few years! But..... At this stage would I be happy dumping all my physical media? Heck no! And if THAT makes me an Audiophool then so be it. |
I am an audiophile and have a front license plate that says so 🙂 I only stream. Well 90% stream and 1000 ripped CDs. All the new music I listen to is streamed. In fact I have never listened to this much new music and its all due to streaming! All kinds of new music a click or two away. Audiophile paradise I say. |
It’s not, "...a sad world we now live in...," it’s just reality. So what if Walmart and Best Buy don’t sell CDs anymore. Who bought them there anyway? It should not come as a surprise that most of the CDs worth buying have already been bought. As a senior, I’ve lived through the cavalcade of medium changes. VHS was replaced by DVD, and DVD was superseded by Blu-Ray. Vinyl was replaced by cassettes, and then by CDs. Now it’s back to vinyl! The music and film industries have played us pretty well. So what’s next, streaming? Not for me. I still have my vinyl, cassettes, CDs and occasional Blu-Ray to play. The reality is that the world may be waiting for the next format war to begin (MQA, digital downloads, or whatever) but many of us will just be enjoying the music and film collections we have accumulated. |
