Open Menu
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
lotide
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
Login

CD sales are making an unexpected comeback amid a retro tech boom

⁨212⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨nemeski@mander.xyz⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.zip⁩

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/04/cd-sales-are-making-an-unexpected-comeback-amid-a-retro-tech-boom/

source

Comments

Sort:hotnewtop
  • nymnympseudonym@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    REMINDER: CDs degrade over time and eventually become unreadable.

    • Burned CD-R’s can last as little as 5-10 years(!)
    • CD-RW discs generally last 20–50 years
    • Factory-pressed CDs generally last 50 years

    Rip your disks to your permanent HDD storage, which ofc should be on a RAID mirror and backed up regularly. Always store a copy in a separate location in case of fire/flood/etc.

    I LOVE YOU AND WANT YOU TO OWN YOUR DATA FOREVER!

    source
    • SourDragon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I love you for providing this information that helps us own our data forever!

      source
    • bigbangdangler@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Thank you for doing the lord’s work.

      I love that physical media is getting new life, but CDs are not archival in nature. It’s a drastically different problem from not owning anything, but I don’t want unreadable CDs to push people back to streaming.

      I’ll also mention that a major benefit of vinyl records – despite cracks and pops and quality turntables being generally expensive – is that they are so dirt simple as to be effectively immune from similar issues. Not trying to sway opinions at all, but as physical media goes, it still exists for a reason.

      Personally, I have both CDs and vinyl. And tapes!

      source
      • nymnympseudonym@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        vinyl records

        … and ofc gold is not tractable for consumer-priced devices, but there’s a very good reason the very best minds at NASA listened to Carl Sagan and added this to Voyager

        image

        source
    • Pixel_Jock_17@piefed.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I have my original CD-RW.

      I’ve saved a copy (HDD) of all my library onto an external hard drive that I’ve lost in the move.

      I have a second copy on my PC (SSD) that I have operational.

      Then my old laptop (HDD) has my original library and thats lost somewhere at my parents home (remote location)

      Am I doing this right!??

      source
      • clubizarre@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I’ll recommend one more tool I use for off site backup: iBroadcast

        I already have a NAS, my original discs / records, and Plex running Plexamp for music streaming, but iBroadcast has been my music locker for streaming / storing in case my home system goes down. You can re-download Your original music and keep the quality (FLAC) so nothing is lost.

        Free accounts (which I use) have unlimited upload space but You are limited to 128kbs for streaming. If you pay their monthly (or annual) subscription, you can stream full quality. So it depends on what you want to use them for.

        Hope this helps someone!! :)

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Depending how you handle them, it doesn’t take much to scratch a cd

      source
      • nymnympseudonym@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        A surprisingly small quirt of cat urine left undiscovered on a pile of exposed disks for a few days can render them unusable. Ask me how I know…

        source
  • godsammitdam@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    An ownership boom*

    People are tired of being upcharged on rentals. Because any digital “purchase” is a rental with no consumer protections.

    source
    • AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      A few CDs for $5? I wish. In my area, the local CD shop was around $9 for individual CDs. I mean, I am willing to pay if it keeps them open, though. And despite thrift stores being cheaper, it’s almost always extremely hit or miss to find anything I’d want.

      source
    • The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      LP vinyls are great fun to hunt for a bargain, one of my best finds was a Double Album of Joe Cocker for 8€! Last vacation found Prince’s first album- original pressing, and I didn’t grab, and regret not getting the George Burns album (which would have been an interesting one just for it being unique)

      Always go hunting when visiting other cities and on vacations, always fine one or two interesting ones.

      source
  • SourDragon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    We actually own the discs

    source
  • RaoulDook@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I’ve been buying them since the 90’s. Those old CDs still work too.

    Main problem now is that many artists don’t release CDs anymore.

    source
    • Zorque@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Or when they do they have some arcane copy protection that fucks up the file if you try and make mp3s.

      source
  • ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I always find it funny how companies like Spotify talk about “Lossless audio” and “Maximum quality”, but if you look at the numbers, they really just mean “The same quality you used to get on a CD 25 years ago, and if you don’t pay for the most expensive plan, CDs are going to be better.”

    source
    • testaccount789@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      25 years ago

      Nearly 44, actually.

      source
  • LordCrom@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Just saying…you can still checkout CDs from the library and rip them to digital.

    source
    • jwt@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      And you can also burn mp3s onto a cd-r(w)

      source
    • LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Which is fine if you’re trying to still get the artist paid somewhat indirectly, but… It’s easier to just download it. Heck, most of the big guys let you download the FLAC without any login if you use the SpotiFlac tool.

      source
      • LordCrom@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        One up and coming artist that was new enough to still answer mail, told me they didnt have a cd… this was after cds fell from favor. I ripped the songs from some service and sent them a check for $15 to theit fan mail address. They actually cashed it.

        source
  • MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Imagine spending MONEY on CDs when you could bolster the numbers of your local library instead

    source
    • nymnympseudonym@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Local town library -> interlibrary loan -> hard-to-find CD -> rip to my HDD -> return to local town library

      source
      • MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Literally how I got half of my music library

        source
  • expatriado@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Image Image doing my part

    source
  • Tim_Bisley@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    That squeaky sound is from resellers rubbing their greasy hands.

    source
  • mesamunefire@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Any good websites you all enjoy getting physical media at? Ive picked clean the thrift stores around where im at.

    source
    • Rijunox@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It’s not physical, but band camp allows you to download your bought music in flac and mp3 and you could rip the files to a cd or just put it on a hard-drive.

      source
      • AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        One of the best parts about that site is when the artist releases their album not only digitally, but in a limited physical release as well. It’s how I got my Specters CD album from nostraightanswer.

        source
      • mesamunefire@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Yeah but I like having the physical media too. Covers and such. I like bandcamp too.

        source
    • modus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Try libraries. Borrow the disc and rip it to a hard drive.

      source
    • SEND_BUTTPLUG_PICS@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      My wife likes to go to antique stores and they always have a ton of CDs. We were in one yesterday and joked with each other about how we don’t even own a way to play optical media any more. Fortunately they also had a shelf full of old CD players. Unfortunately we live in a van and space is at a premium so owning a CD player isn’t an option for us at the moment.

      source
  • soyslurper2@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Book sales also skyrocketed, but for the wrong reasons.

    AI datacenters are buying them up and destroying them for data. Chances are they’re doing this with CDs too.

    source
  • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I get the vinyl nostalgia because people like the imperfect recordings but not so much CDs.

    source