Are Jazz CDs making a comeback?

[Stonewall15]

Similar to the comeback of LPs several years ago. The convenience of CDs may have overcome the nostalgia of owning LPs.  

[Daniel A]

I think a CD comeback could only come out of nostalgia - because streaming is even more convenient. A couple of years ago there was even a short-lived comeback for VHS tapes (not for jazz, though), but historically, it seems that the most convenient option always wins out.

[ghost of miles]

I don't know about jazz CDs specifically, but the owner of my fave local record store recently told me that he's selling CDs as much if not more than ever. He says he's getting more young customers buying them, partly because they can't afford vinyl if they're looking for physical media. And Numero, which dumped its CD stock years ago, just announced that they are launching a new CD reissue series in response to ongoing customer base demand. I don't think CDs will come back necessarily to the extent that vinyl did, and will remain a niche part of the market, but there do seem to be signs that a small revival is underway. 

[sonnymax]

"Comeback", or a "dead cat bounce"?

[Holy Ghost]

Thinking ahead, which is now behind (you know, behind sight is always 50-50, lols), if we would've just started making CD's mini-lp's back in the '80's, to save space (and money, haha) we should've started this like a half a century ago, then that way, we would've saved a third of space on earth; no, keep sending on those plastic jewel cases wherever they go....

[JSngry]

34 minutes ago, Holy Ghost said:

Thinking ahead, which is now behind (you know, behind sight is always 50-50, lols), if we would've just started making CD's mini-lp's back in the '80's, to save space (and money, haha) we should've started this like a half a century ago, then that way, we would've saved a third of space on earth; no, keep sending on those plastic jewel cases wherever they go....

Downloads need no packaging. Storage, yes. But not packaging.

[Holy Ghost]

1 minute ago, JSngry said:

Downloads need no packaging. Storage, yes. But not packaging.

I get it, but I like having the product, and I'm a library man; wish the program started out more...economical. is all. 

[Holy Ghost]

19 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Downloads need no packaging. Storage, yes. But not packaging.

Right. Point taken, I just don't like downloads. I feel like I am buying virtually air. Just not for me. Takes the excitement out of having the actual product in your hand, I mean did you not freak finding a rare album in the cut-out bin in 1970? I can't tell you how many times I've said, "no fucking way" out loud in a store when I found the actual record/CD.   

Downloads for me, the thrill is gone.

 

 

[Eric]

A bit of a different game, but Dusty Groove seems to always have a pretty good used selection, generally cheap.

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, Holy Ghost said:

Right. Point taken, I just don't like downloads. I feel like I am buying virtually air. Just not for me. Takes the excitement out of having the actual product in your hand, I mean did you not freak finding a rare album in the cut-out bin in 1970? I can't tell you how many times I've said, "no fucking way" out loud in a store when I found the actual record/CD.   

Downloads for me, the thrill is gone.

 

 

I concur. Totally. But I'm old, and I'm not expecting the future to grandfather me in (although I am a grandfather...).

I tell you what I'm NOT gonna do, and that's to go back to vinyl. Been there, done that.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

Originally I didn't like downloads much and was particularly puzzled by the habit younger people have of downloading single songs. Having grown up on 78s, 45s, and albums the single download seemed like a step backward.  Not to mention the loss of album front and back cover.  I was also turned off after a while by mp3s.   It's probably all in my head but I fancy I can tell the difference between cd quality (and better) and mp3s.

But then a number of things changed my mind about downloads.  First of all, I have a lot of cds and box sets and I'm having trouble storing it all. I live in a tiny cabin at the moment. They end up residing in a storage unit and I play the files ripped from them.  Another thing that happened is the advent of widely available cd qual or better downloads and the simultaneous proliferation of music database sites such as Discogs, MusicBrainz, AllMusic, Internet Archive, etc.  The discography and often photos of album covers is now available electronically and for free for most releases. 

So I was already listening to lossless files I ripped from my cds and keeping photos of their covers and booklets.  It occurred to me that commercially available cd quality (and above) downloads combined with digital photos of the covers and booklets available online were exactly the same formats I was using at home!  Why not just buy the cheaper downloads and quit storing hard copies in a storage unit?

Edited 1 hour ago by Stompin at the Savoy

[felser]

I don't like downloads, but am certainly not going back to vinyl, so have started buying them for items where CD's are either not available or priced in the stratosphere.  But I'm so physical product-collector oriented that I actually burn the downloads to CD-R, print off copies of the front and back covers, stick them in a thinline jewel case, and store them on my shelves along with my CD's.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

11 minutes ago, felser said:

I don't like downloads, but am certainly not going back to vinyl, so have started buying them for items where CD's are either not available or priced in the stratosphere.  But I'm so physical product-collector oriented that I actually burn the downloads to CD-R, print off copies of the front and back covers, stick them in a thinline jewel case, and store them on my shelves along with my CD's.

I also burned disks of downloads at first, thinking of them as the long term backup for the files I was playing.  But as my collection of ripped and downloaded files grew I moved toward a fully digital way of thinking and began backing up all my music to portable hard drives and lately multiple copies at more than one location of 1 TB micro sd cards.  One advantage of this arrangement is I can instantly dial up any record I own on multiple devices and also instantly bring up photos of the album covers and booklets.  This is particularly helpful in my case because visual disabilities make it near impossible for me to read most cd covers and booklets but I can read the photos when I blow them up on a good sized monitor.

Edited 1 hour ago by Stompin at the Savoy

[mikeweil]

Every type of medium has its advantages.