Is a CD release viable anymore?

[PaulWarning]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I know a guy who does local gigs under one band name and originals gigs at festivals etc. under his own name with the same band.

it's a bit late in the day for us to do that, unfortunately, but there's local young band, sounds like the Jam, Sharp Class, who plan go out as a covers band called Sounds of the Suburbs, last I heard anyway

 

[casapete]

Just seen this on FB 

 

 

[BigRedX]

I think that's a bit out of date now...

 

1. No longer true for all services. Of the main streaming services Spotify is now the only one that doesn't offer an option for a format without lossy compression. However how important is that? I do much of my streaming listening in the car where the audio has to compete with all the noises of the road and driving. When I originally ripped all my CDs in the early 2000s for use with my iPod and HiFi, I spent several evenings deciding on the best format to use and decided that under most listening conditions I couldn't tell the difference between the original CD and a 320BR MP3. I suspect that most streaming listening is done in far worse acoustic environments.

 

2. What does this actually mean? When you buy a CD the only thing you actually own is the piece of plastic that the music is encoded onto. The music itself is just licensed. If it's a CDR rather than a glass-mastered replicated CD, you may find that your piece of plastic is no longer playable after less than 10 years. Then it's just a piece of plastic with hopefully a nice design on one side.

 

3. It could be argued that CD artwork is but a pale imitation of what you would get if you bought the same thing on vinyl. It also depends on how good the sleeve design is anyway. I have plenty of CDs and vinyl where the packaging adds little or no artistic benefit to the listener. I've also got some with fancy packaging that is actually an impediment to listening to the music. PiL's Metal Box (vinyl) and Scissor Sisters Ta-Dah (CD in a box) spring to mind.

 

4. Personally I like the algorithms. I like the way that when an album I've been streaming on Apple Music comes to an end the algorithm will play me more songs in a similar style. I've discovered several new bands this way. 

[Stub Mandrel]

I would have been impressed by Prime randomly playing me matching mole, except I wanted to hear the CCR track again...

[Spoombung]

There's very little interest in CDs these days even with bands that gig regularly. Having said that, a handful of people may want one... so see if you can order a run of 250 or less - that's what I'd recommend. Order a cardboard format, not plastic. Don't get tempted to order a 1000 - that's pure insanity. They'll gather dust.

[soulstar89]

On 14/05/2025 at 14:42, casapete said:

Just seen this on FB 

 

 

Im a 80’s baby and grew up on cassettes,cd’s and the mini discs. I am a very analogue person and prefer physical items. I loved opening up the cd and booklet to see who played what parts. Finding this info nowadays is so so long. Sometimes you can’t find the info. Baffles and frustrates me. 
 

 Sadly I am the minority and digital copies are the standard in this era. The impact of the smart phone has changed how people consume things. Laptops don’t have a cd drive anymore. Whatever the younger generation deem as normal is what the companies will keep doing. 
 

I walked past the iconic hmw in Oxford street London a week ago and it seemed like a cluttered pound store. It was so surreal to see what it has become. 
 

I say all this coming from someone who chooses to shoot analogue film rather than use digital cameras to create my art work. 
 

I hope physical items become more popular and the trend moves in this direction. Doubt it though.

Edited 31 minutes ago by soulstar89

[soulstar89]

3 hours ago, Spoombung said:

There's very little interest in CDs these days even with bands that gig regularly. Having said that, a handful of people may want one... so see if you can order a run of 250 or less - that's what I'd recommend. Order a cardboard format, not plastic. Don't get tempted to order a 1000 - that's pure insanity. They'll gather dust.

 Artist javier Santiago did this with one of his albums. He did a small batch of vinyl copies. I went to see him nearly the beginning of the year in brick lane London and spoke to him about it. He was happy he didn’t order a big batch. 

[TimR]

It's not very environmentally friendly. 

 

Creating trinkets that will mainly gather dust once the initial buzz has passed and the next CD is released. That's mainly what marketing and consumerism depends on.

 

What's the objective? Raise money, or spread the band's name in the hope more people come to gigs in other towns than where your mates live, and you make money from that?