Remember your first ever CD? Most people do. Remember the last CD you bought? That memory is probably a little fuzzier.
Between 2000 and 2010, CD sales declined by 50%. Napster opened up the doorway for pirating music in 1999 before being shut down by multiple lawsuits. However the music industry could never shut down other file sharing sites. The ability to download music online, legally or illegally, stopped people from purchasing CDs.
“I use iTunes more than buying a CD because if I don’t want every song on the whole CD, than I can just get on iTunes and buy the songs I do,” Billencia Jones said, a sophomore pre-nursing major.
FYE Store manager Robert Woodard said that CD sales have dropped, but said,“it hasn’t fallen off a cliff or anything. We’re finding ways to make up the difference by selling more of other products.”
As of 2008, iTunes surpassed Wal-Mart as the largest retail music seller.
History was made again in 2011 when digital sales outsold physical music for the first time.
“I like [CDs and iTunes] for different purposes. I still like making people CDs. They’re better as a gift,” Ashley DePaula said, a senior pre-pharmacy major. “But you make them off your iTunes, so essentially ITunes is more useful. The only time I ever listen to CDs is in my car.”
Buying music on iTunes gives artists money they wouldn’t get if someone used a file-sharing site. However it also created a new challenge of people not buying entire albums.
While not being forced to waste $12 on a bad album just to get a few good songs is great for us, it’s not great for CD sales. Artists like Taylor Swift whose fans buy the whole album are the exception now.
Another advantage iTunes has over CDs is accessibility. Keana Howell, a sophomore pre-nursing major, said she enjoys being able to access music on her phone without needing a CD player.
However there are still some advantages CDs have over digital music. Some people like to physically own a copy of the album. Also, not everyone’s car can play an MP3s.
“I prefer CD over ITunes because my car is kind of old and I can’t plug my phone into my car,” Kayla Beshnich said, a freshman pre-pharmacy major.
The golden era of buying CDs might be gone but they are not completely obsolete yet.
