David Emery Online

Paperback Writer

12 November 2007

What is the point of CDs these days?

I don’t mean this in a “what’s the point in music” way, but in the “what’s the point in buying (and selling) music on small bits of shiny plastic” way.

That is, of course, not to say that physical product is dead in the music industry; vinyl is going from strength to strength (especially for singles) and there is obviously a demand for something you can buy in a shop made of bricks and concrete and glass. The ‘deluxe’ edition is making an ever greater presence, and frequently utilises vinyl and the large artwork and packaging opportunities it brings. Witness – of course – the Radiohead In Rainbows discbox which is probably the ultimate expression of the deluxe album format, coming with both vinyl, CD and download formats and packaged in hardback book and slipcase weighing in at £40.

At this juncture I think a lot of people would through in a couple of paragraphs about how rubbish CDs are, and how foolish the industry was for adopting the format. Which is – of course – a load of cods wallop. CDs, while obviously not being as beautiful as their vinyl brethren are a packaging triumph. The ability to get high quality audio in – for its time – a small package should not be underestimated; don’t forget that the CD replaced both vinyl and cassette tape (now there’s a medium that deserves scorn). Sure, the jewelcase is a pretty horrible device for containing them, but at least it preserves some level of large artwork and when placed in a decent case (a nice card digi-pack, for example) it all works pretty nicely.

However, the convenience that CDs used to provide has obviously been usurped by the digital download; where once the CD was the end of the line, the thing you listened to, now it’s simply a storage format that gets the music from the shop and onto your computer, and there are better ways of doing that.

So, we get rid of them – right? Down with the CD! Obsolete another piece of old technology. No one even uses them anymore. Etc.

Which isn’t remotely true, as I have no doubt you are aware. Downloads – for albums – are, in the UK at least, only responsible for about 5-10% of sales and the figure isn’t growing at a particularly fast rate, more a slow lollop. People still buy them, there’s no doubt, but is this just due to the slow rate of adoption that technology has in this country or is there something more fundamental about CDs that people still latch onto?

I’m sure there is; the physicality of having something in your hand – looking at something in front of you and being able to say “I own that” is massively powerful. This is what the deluxe format plays to in a big way, turning the “I own that” thought into a “I own that and it’s beautiful” thought. Perfect for the hardcore fan, the ones that will pay over the odds, but the deluxe version hardly caters to the mainstream audience that are still the main audience for CDs.

How about then, a paperback equivalent for music? A CD based version, that comes on cheap packaging – probably the jewelcase as it doesn’t get any cheaper then that – without a extensive booklet or any other niceties, retailing for £4.99. This idea is not mine – it’s been floating around for a while – but it seems like it’s becoming ever more relevant.

Deluxe edition for the fans, Download for the (ever growing) normal fanbase with a paperback edition on CD to mop up the mass market. There’s also an interesting discussion to be had about release dates of a paperback version – should it come out at the same time as everything else, or follow the book model and be delayed by 6 months or so. Certainly a good way of gouging the fans who want a physical product, but would you be able to re-promote an album that far down the line (without all the press you would normally get, as that would have run)?

Similarly, when would you release the deluxe edition versus the download? If you want to try and get people to buy rather then pirate it makes the most sense releasing the download practically the day the album is released, then gearing up production of the deluxe edition and focusing press around its release.

Of course, if you really want to gouge those fans, releasing the deluxe edition on vinyl only up front of any CD/download release is the way to go – but that would be a little mean, wouldn’t it?