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The Compact Disc 25th anniversary

Published at August 17, 2007 in Blogosphere and Market. 1 Comment

Today is the Compact disk’s 25th birthday. The first CD had been produced by Philips on 17th August 1982 using materials coming from Bayer in the Langenhagen Polygram’s factory (near Hanover in Germany).

This first CD manufactured was “The visitors” album from Abba .

In November 1982, in Japan, the first musical CD had been put on sale. Wikipedia explains that (in Japan), “the first album available was a compilation of 16 japanese-made titles from CBS/Sony”. Japan was also the country where the first compact disc player had been marketed (with the Philips CD100).

The internet killed the LP?

Published at August 2, 2007 in Blogosphere and Market. 1 Comment

Jovan explains why he is thinking that the Internet killed the LP. Maybe he is right? But as “nature abhors a vacuum”, and following Darwin’s theory, artists and labels will have to adapt. Any comments ?

What is the album future ?

Published at July 22, 2007 in Market. 0 Comments

While researching on the net, we found an interesting article published by Slate with several links to other interesting articles. Following one of these links we found an article published by the New York Times (free registration required).

This article explains that record companies hesitate now, for newly signed artist, to commit to the investment required by a full size album. Instead they sign these artists for 2 songs and decide later depending on sales and public reactions.

Nearly all artists explain that they need the album “size” to explain their mood and show their artistic behaviour and feeling of the moment. For any artist, an album is why they want to sign with a record company.

Do you continue to buy albums ?

What do you think about the future of the album “size” ?

The CD is not dead, long live the CD

Published at July 18, 2007 in Market. 1 Comment

After filing for bankruptcy in August, the last Tower Records store in the US had been closed on 22^nd of December 2006. The end of this well known music store chain had been interpreted by analyst as the end of the music retail business.

We do not agree with this analysis.

For 40 years, Tower Records, as a music retailer, sold recorded tapes, vinyls and compact disks because it was the media used to deliver music to the masses. They were participating to a supply chain that begin in the record studio and end at the store. With the sales declining worldwide, this distribution process is not suitable any more.

For sure, the CD as a media to deliver music to the mass has no future.

The internet is already the best way to distribute music to the consumers but that does not mean that the CD is dead.

The Compact disk and its associated packaging may and will also be seen as an object.

Like book collectors invest large amounts in their passion, we will see disk collectors (CD and vinyl). Yes, this will not be a mass market and as such the supply chain will have to adapt to these new market conditions.

The public will be happy to pay for the compact disk of the concert they are attending and will buy it as a souvenir of this event.

People will also buy compact disk (or even vinyl) on line or off line to have a better sound than mp3 can offer.

Why not imagine collectible disks (CD or vinyl) with special packaging created by well known designers that label’s suppliers will manufacture cheaply in China?

We tell you, the compact disk is not dead.