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Is the CD and DVD/Bluray going away?

I've been hearing grumbling that the shinny plastic disks will be shortly disappearing from the market in favor of HD downloading for music and video.

I guess my hopes on a new Oppo 3D Bluray may need to be reconsidered. I wonder if the web apps will include 3D movies which can be utilized in our Home Theater

Some say the new HD down loads might be more "realistic" than vinyl. Not sure I can agree with that.

Please comment as it seems the by forcing everything to downloads, it puts the marketing advantage to the big Moguls who will jack up the costs to the music/video consumers.
levchappy
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
Mlsstl, Nielsen releases their numbers within the first few days of the new year. The RIAA releases numbers for product shipped in a few weeks. In the past the two sets of numbers have been fairly close.
jallen
502 posts
 
Cd will go away the way vinyl has. It hasn't and won't for years. Downloads will be just another alternative but a growing one and getting better. Sooner or later I will get into it but it will likely be in a year or two. The technology is maturing. Jallen
mlsstl
694 posts
 
Tomycy6, would just point out there is a difference between "product shipped" and "product sold". It take more time to accurately determine the latter.

But, we're quibbling over accounting details. The trend is the same.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
4,382 posts
 
Just yesterday I spoke to someone at OPPO about my BDP-103 and asked about HD downloads (wired and wireless) and came to the conclusion that nothing beats Blu-Ray for the quality and that's why I got it in the first place. I won't settle for streaming if it has the occasional stutter or hiccup, convenience be damned.

What prompted my call to OPPO was the offer for half off on the ROKU streaming device.

A lot of time and effort has gone into Blu-Ray and they won't be giving it up any time soon. Besides, they've gotten really good at transfers. All one has to do is watch Lawrence of Arabia and see just how good something from 1962 can look and sound.

All the best,
Nonoise
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
Mlsstl,

Yes, you're right that there is a difference between what is being counted and that's why the numbers are different.

Nielsen is the only organization I'm aware of that counts total record sales and I'm sure they use estimates in their count, so the numbers aren't exact but probably close.

The RIAA numbers for 2011 are:

Cds shipped - 241 million
Lps shipped - 5.5 million
Album downloads shipped - 105 million (I don't know how you ship a download)

RIAA numbers for 2012 won't be out for a while yet.

I put the numbers up because people say stuff like cds are not going to be produced after year end or that vinyl is outselling digital or whatever. The Nielsen numbers have some basis in reality and I hope they help people make better decisions and make for better informed discussions.

If someone has sales numbers from another source, put them up.
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