The CD is Dead: Long Live The CD

It is an overall impression that music nowadays flows mostly through filesharing, download sites, podcasts and digital music stores, while record labels and their CD's are like dinosaurs soon to be extinct. Well, as it turns out, we need a reality check. This week, Music Ally and its partner research company, The Leading Question, released some statistics that prove the contrary. Apparently, 73% of all those who purchase music prefer to buy CD's instead of digital tracks, while many users of Napster and other similar services are actually more inclined to go get their hands on an album after they've listened to the music on the net.

What does this tell us? Two vital facts: digitalising music does not mean giving it away for free and it does not imply the disappearance of all that traditional "buy a record, play it a party, go see the band" kind of thing. Yes, the Internet is THE major channel, but we shouldn't overlook "the real deal", either. Instead, we should try looking at the Web as a complementary means of getting attention and not as a big fish that swallowed the smaller one. There is still hope for record labels and for bands to keep that more personal, physical connection with their buyers/fans. So fear not, all you musicians out there, you still have a chance of bagging a platinum disc.