I was just wondering this when I just looked on Argos' website as I want a new Hi-Fi stereo system and they only have a handful of them with a CD deck included

Are CDs slowly coming to the end of their popularity?

Unfortunately yes! Nobody buys albums anymore. It's all about downloads. Downloading the MP3 file seems to be much more practical nowadays, given that you can have all your favorite music with you everywhere you go. Carrying an iPod is far easier than carrying a portable CD player. Besides, labels are actually benefiting from this. Packaging the physical album is costly and far more expensive than just uploading it on iTunes, Amazon etc.

That said, I don't think it's just CD's that are going through a popularity crisis. It's the whole concept of full length albums! People would rather preview an album and download the few tracks that they like the most rather than buy the whole album only to skip half the tracks a week after they purchase it. That's why iTunes, despite its domination in the singles marekt, is not a huge force in the album's market. Noone downloads albums. Maybe it's the artists' fault that don't bother with cohesion and quality anymore and just put together a collection of catchy tracks hoping 3 of them are surefire hits. But the mentalities of the consumers have changed too. It's not cool to buy albums anymore.

I'll still buy physical cd's as long as they still release them though. Nothing compares to a physical copy!

Christmas Day, 2035, at 11:12am GMT.

Approximately.

When download lovers lose the use of their lower limbs.

I don't think CDs will ever be redundant in our lifetime. People will always want to play the CDs they already own, and despite the download epidemic (can I call it that ) many listeners will always go for a physical copy for albums and no other physical format will overtake CDs in their popularity.

I agree with that as easy as it is to burn a DL album onto a disc there isn't that much price disparity between CD's and DL plus you get all the artwork and you own the album outright and its much harder to lose even with backing up and ICloud you can never be sure with a DL so i don't think CD's will fall that badly.

Maybe CD's will become retro like records in the future

They will be phased out when the industry decides to - in the same way vinyl and cassettes went the journey.

Once most cars have an alternative way of playing one's own music in the car. The only time I used CDs is in my car.

I still buy the albums of my most favourite artists. I LOVE having a physical collection though it may not always be practical I much prefer it for whatever reason, though I know I must be in the minority and hope CD's will stick around for my lifetime. May be wishful thinking though!

Most new cars now come with an AUX port that you can plug your MP3 player into

it always must be physical for me!! always need the physical CD!!! no point in downloads.

Having heard of this :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ed-iTunes.html

Irt's making me think twice about downloads



Edit, now having read the comments below seems this story isn't quite as true as it would have you believe (it is the DM I suppose!!!)

However, if it's one of my favourite artists, I'll always buy the physical CD.

What about buying a cd album then importing it to your ipod using Itunes? This is what i do

What a load of ****! Who cares about being cool? Anyway you just do what i said above.

Same here

They won't be obsolete till the industry sorts it self out and sells the consumer lossless quality files. Some of the smaller sites always do this and I no longer buy music from iTunes or Amazon if I can't buy a lossless track I will buy the CD.

Ditto! The only time I download anything is if I really want one song but not the whole album. There is no way I would download whole albums, while there are still CDs around.

Me too!

The demise of the CD single has made collecting music far less interesting and soulless. I have collected Whitney Houston CD singles for as long as they have existed, and to have that physical collection is one of my most treasured possessions.

It's not even just about the music, but rather about owning the inlay artwork as well as the actual CD itself.

I personally hope the day never comes whereby we lose physical releases altogether, but sadly I can see it happening.

CD Singles, long ago.

I think CD albums have a long time left in them, I think a lot of people enjoy having the physical in their hands.

I see them becoming obsolete when they come up with something better; when that will be I don't know; it's 30 years and counting so far.

I still buy CD's cause i want the physical product. Not just for the music but what might be inside the CD sleeves. I love the fact you can get comps of rare and obscure songs say a Northern soul CD or bands re-release albums with bonus tracks. Then i can see inside if they pics of the singles etc from the re-released album maybe some liner notes about the album and so on. in the case of a Northern soul CD it might be info about the artist cause they only made 1 or 2 singles (recordings) ie Moses Smith and you wouldn't get this info from some download.

I still buy CD's cause i want the physical product. Not just for the music but what might be inside the CD sleeves. I love the fact you can get comps of rare and obscure songs say a Northern soul CD or bands re-release albums with bonus tracks. Then i can see inside if they pics of the singles etc from the re-released album maybe some liner notes about the album and so on. in the case of a Northern soul CD it might be info about the artist cause they only made 1 or 2 singles (recordings) ie Moses Smith and you wouldn't get this info from some download.