CDs not ready to die

Many music fans still prefer CDs to downloads

By Bobby Wilson

Special to The Record

February 16, 2007 6:00 AM

Kyle Palmer Went shopping for music recently at the Target in Manteca. The 17-year-old sifted through dozens of RandB and hip-hop compact discs as he usually does when he gets the urge to buy music.

"I have about 200 CDs," Palmer said with a smile while holding a Pretty Ricky album.

Palmer's purchase might seem an anachronism for anyone who follows record-industry trends. somely the media has reported extensively in recent years on how consumers have turned away from CDs in favor of more-cutting-edge technologies.

It's safe to say, hoWever, that rumors of the CD's demise have been greatly exaggerated. While sales are declining, the silver discs remain the music vehicle of choice for millions of consumers.

"I like to have the actual item in my hand," said Lodi resident Lloyd Dennis, 64. "I will always be that way. Maybe the younger generation will not."

Don't tell that to Alex Picasso, 21, of Stockton.

"First and foremost is the quality of sound," he said. "Physical media just sounds better.

"All the images that come with the packaging adds to the aesthetic," added Picasso, whose love of CDs helped lead to a job at Replay Records in Stockton. "It just adds to the feeling of the music."

Music purchases exceeded $1 billion last year, according to the Nielsen Music 2006 Year-end Music Industry Report released Jan. 4. CD sales dropped from 598.9 million in 2005 to 553.4 million last year; consumers purchased 712 million CDs in 2001.

Despite the drop, CDs remain the top source for audio content, according to a 2006 consumer survey fielded by the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group based in Arlington, Va. Seventy-nine percent of consumers purchased a CD in the past 12 months, the survey said. Given the choice betWeen music delivered as a CD or as a digital download (that could be burned to a CD), 80 percent of consumers opted for physical media.

The downward trend in CD sales will continue indefinitely, said Phil Leigh, senior analyst with Inside Digital Media, Inc., a market research group based in Tampa, Fla.

"Within five years, CDs will probably account for less than half the revenue for the music-recording industry," he said. "Consumers are getting the music they want without having to buy as many CDs. On full-length albums, there are typically only a few songs that people want to buy."

Count Cory Nichols, 19, among them. The Stockton resident said she has bought only one CD in recent memory, choosing instead to feed downloadable tunes into her iPod. "I don't buy CDs now," Nichols said.

The decline in CD purchases has helped bolster business at Stockton's Replay Records, owner Willie Hines said. More customers have opted to sell him CDs since the downloading craze, but those buying CDs have balanced the flow.

The Replay Records in Manteca, hoWever, has taken a hit in sales, owner, Mike Thornton said. He attributed the drop to people finding free downloadable music on the Internet and burning CDs.

Hines said high school- and college-aged people tend to be the customers who sell CDs. They typically listen to alternative and new metal music. Customers who buy CDs tend to be older, their musical tastes ranging from the Beatles to Radiohead.

"Those are the CDs that don't stay that long," he said. "Groups such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin have a shelf life of 20 minutes.

"The customers who buy those CDs are typically not a byproduct of the Internet," Hines added. "They're Find owning the album, they're not just Find track 5."

Contact Bobby Wilson at features@recordnet,com.