30 Years Of The CD, Of Digital Piracy, And Of Music Industry Cluelessness

A post on The Next Web reminds us that the CD is thirty years old this month. As the history there explains, work began back in the 1970s at both Philips and Sony on an optical recording medium for music, which culminated in a joint standard launched in 1982. The key attribute of the compact disc was not so much its small size -- although that was the most obvious difference from earlier vinyl -- but that fact that it stored music in a digital, rather than analog format. 

On Techdirt.

Of Digital Abundance and Analogue Scarcity

Recently, I’ve started buying records. I’ve decided that CDs just aren’t enough of a collector’s item. Since I can own all the music I could ever want digitally, I want to buy something that looks nice, special, and something that’s going to be fun to browse through in a couple of years. Records are beautiful collector’s items, CDs don’t even come close; especially because records are almost always available in special limited editions with coloured vinyl, posters, extra sleeves and whatnot. I also prefer the warm, soothing sound of records compared to the sound you get from CDs and especially MP3s, which - contrary to what some may believe - do not have nearly the same sound quality as CDs or records.

This is one way for the music industry to make money: sell *records* again....

The Recording Angel

Thousands of recordings that had been largely consigned to the realm of prehistory in the digital age have gained a new life, thanks to the tireless efforts of one man.

...

As the digital music movement started in earnest, Bolling began digitizing his records, and posted a list of first 1,500 songs he had digitized so fellow collectors could see what kind of progress he had made. Finally, he decided to upload MP3s of every song on the list so that he could access them from anywhere, and so that curiosity seekers could find them.

And so another commons is created, thanks to Cliff Bolling.

In the Digital Age, Analogue Makes the Money

Further hints that the way to make money with digital content is to go analogue:

Why do so many people still love vinyl, even though its bulky, analog nature is anathema to everything music is supposed to be these days? Records, the vinyl evangelists will tell you, provide more of a connection between fans and artists. And many of today's music fans buy 180-gram vinyl LPs for home listening and MP3s for their portable devices.

"For many of us, and certainly for many of our artists, the vinyl is the true version of the release," said Matador's Patrick Amory. "The size and presence of the artwork, the division into sides, the better sound quality, above all the involvement and work the listener has to put in, all make it the format of choice for people who really care about music."

Yup, yup and yup.

It's Up to Us

Radiohead has a new album that you can download - and choose how much you pay. Alternatively, it has a CD version, two vinyl records, an enhanced CD, artwork, photos and lyrics, all supplied in a hardback book and slipcase for £40. Oh, and you get the download thrown in for free.

In other words, as I've said many times before, the digital is the marketing for the analogue, which is where you make your money (since it's currently hard to make perfect copies of analogue goods).

This is the future - it's just unevenly distributed. Let's hope people support this move and that the future spreads.