Aside of legal Digital Downloads and Cds,The following formats are trying to replace both with something new. Starting in around 2008 or little earlier we've had usb and memory/ flash cards as "new" music formats.

The latest are the Slotmusic (memory flash cards) and DDA ( usb drives from an austrailan company) which both started in 2008 and have only released around 20 or less albums each. They seem hard to track down and sold in big outlets in certain places. These don't seem to be putting out consistant albums, or following alot of independant music, but are somehow still thriving.

A lot of indie bands are putting stuff on usb or flash drive. Which is interesting.

As a person who is an avid supporter of the CD, I think it will still last long for different reasons, comparing it to film and records which have lasted a long time.

Aside of legal Digital Downloads and Cds,The following formats are trying to replace both with something new. Starting in around 2008 or little earlier we've had usb and memory/ flash cards as "new" music formats.

The latest are the Slotmusic (memory flash cards) and DDA ( usb drives from an austrailan company) which both started in 2008 and have only released around 20 or less albums each. They seem hard to track down and sold in big outlets in certain places. These don't seem to be putting out consistant albums, or following alot of independant music, but are somehow still thriving.

A lot of indie bands are putting stuff on usb or flash drive. Which is interesting.

As a person who is an avid supporter of the CD, I think it will still last long for different reasons, comparing it to film and records which have lasted a long time.


Vinyl records have actually made quite a bit of a comeback.

According to this article people bought 3.9 million vinyl records in 2011, the most in 20 years.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/entertainment/music/Dallas-Record-Company-Benefits-From-Vinyl-Record-Boom-138373749.html

CDs will be gone by the end of the decade. Vinyl has had a huge surge in popularity over the past 4 years but its hard to tell if its legit or just a hipster-oriented fad. Digital downloading is the future, people just don't have the disposable income for $15 CDs that they had 20 years ago, and focus has shifted back to singles.

CDs will be gone by the end of the decade. Vinyl has had a huge surge in popularity over the past 4 years but its hard to tell if its legit or just a hipster-oriented fad. Digital downloading is the future, people just don't have the disposable income for $15 CDs that they had 20 years ago, and focus has shifted back to singles.



So Shiv what will happen to all CDs,cassette tapes and VHS's? I have a whole load of them in my closet, under my bed and my shelf.

Cds are still going strong maybe less sales but still there and especially strong in the independent music world. Also as a format for burning files it’s still strong. We haven't invented super cheap usbs as disposable and as easy to navigate as cds yet

CDs are still making money but who knows how long they'll continue to be on the market.

CDs will be gone by the end of the decade. Vinyl has had a huge surge in popularity over the past 4 years but its hard to tell if its legit or just a hipster-oriented fad. Digital downloading is the future, people just don't have the disposable income for $15 CDs that they had 20 years ago, and focus has shifted back to singles.


I agree that part of the uptick in vinyl sales is probably a hipster fad, but it may also be due to the fact that people are rediscovering the rich sound quality of records. A few weeks back I discovered a store a few blocks down from me that sells mostly new and used vinyl records and turntables, and some the turntables cost in excess of $2000. And unless they're a trust-fund baby, I can't imagine your average hipster putting down 2 G's on a turntable.

I remember my brothers buying now-seminal albums on vinyl in the 1970's and they definitely seemed to have an extra warmth and richness of tone that digital recording doesn't quite seem to have. Since you have Kurt Cobain as your avatar I am assuming that Nirvana is one of your favorite bands, and I am a fan of theirs as well. When I was in the record store I saw a copy of Nevermind on vinyl and I was quite intrigued as to how it would sound in that format. (Not intrigued enough to put down a couple hundred bucks on one of their lower-end turntables though.  ::))

As far as CDs go, it's hard to say if they'll completely go the way of the 8-track, since part of the experience of buying an album is having something physical, in terms of artwork and liner notes. Then again, the whole reason 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs took the place of vinyl in the first place was because of their greater portability and durability, plus the ability to play them in car stereos and boom boxes. Whereas now you can fit the musical content of several hundred (or thousand!) CDs into a device that is smaller than a deck of cards, which I think is way cool.

The real question is, how much longer will it be until the automakers phase out sound systems with CD players in their new cars? My last car was a 1999 Ford and the original factory stereo had a cassette player in it, which I replaced with an aftermarket system with a CD player. And I wonder how much longer after that cassette players were phased out.

People are always surprised to find out my music collection is entirely on CD/CD-R.  I only download music to MP3 and such if it's absolutely necessary...then I burn it onto CD-R.  I don't object to other formats but CD is what I'm most comfortable with.  Within a year or so, I'll be using other formats as well. 

CD will still be viable ten years from now because it is such an established and familiar format.  However, if present trends continue, artists will be selling their music via digital download.  CD will not be the money-making format.

I agree that part of the uptick in vinyl sales is probably a hipster fad, but it may also be due to the fact that people are rediscovering the rich sound quality of records. A few weeks back I discovered a store a few blocks down from me that sells mostly new and used vinyl records and turntables, and some the turntables cost in excess of $2000. And unless they're a trust-fund baby, I can't imagine your average hipster putting down 2 G's on a turntable.


I can, one of the jokes about hipsters is how they spend large sums of money on outdated/traditionally cheap things ;D

I can, one of the jokes about hipsters is how they spend large sums of money on outdated/traditionally cheap things ;D


Save your VCRs, folks!  VHS is cool again!

Actually, the article (and documentary) raises one very important point: Much like the problem of orphan films on acetate film stock, there's a lot of material on videotape that was never digitized and released on DVD, and it's just as unlikely that it will ever be released.

Our own boards are full of threads seeking information about long-lost TV series, bloopers, incidents, and even commercials.  Somewhere, in a closet, is a VHS or Betamax tape with the missing pieces of the puzzle inadvertently recorded.  If we're very lucky, someone will find some of them, digitize the video streams, separate the ads from the content, and hopefully upload both (separately!) to the great content repository in the cloud, before the rust flakes off the backing material and another piece of our cultural history is lost forever.

People are always surprised to find out my music collection is entirely on CD/CD-R.  I only download music to MP3 and such if it's absolutely necessary...then I burn it onto CD-R.  I don't object to other formats but CD is what I'm most comfortable with.  Within a year or so, I'll be using other formats as well. 

CD will still be viable ten years from now because it is such an established and familiar format.  However, if present trends continue, artists will be selling their music via digital download.  CD will not be the money-making format.


That's because digital downloads are the future.

and I think people will start listening to music via internet instead of the way people used to listen to music from a transistor radio, boombox and walkmans.

and I think people will start listening to music via internet instead of the way people used to listen to music from a transistor radio, boombox and walkmans.


Transistor radio.  When you say used to, just for far back are you going? LOL

Transistor radio.  When you say used to, just for far back are you going? LOL


Dinosaur Victrola, listening to Buck Owens...

Doo, doo, doo, looking out my back door! :D

Save your VCRs, folks!  VHS is cool again!

Actually, the article (and documentary) raises one very important point: Much like the problem of orphan films on acetate film stock, there's a lot of material on videotape that was never digitized and released on DVD, and it's just as unlikely that it will ever be released.

Our own boards are full of threads seeking information about long-lost TV series, bloopers, incidents, and even commercials.  Somewhere, in a closet, is a VHS or Betamax tape with the missing pieces of the puzzle inadvertently recorded.  If we're very lucky, someone will find some of them, digitize the video streams, separate the ads from the content, and hopefully upload both (separately!) to the great content repository in the cloud, before the rust flakes off the backing material and another piece of our cultural history is lost forever.


I actually have a box in my closet full of about 20 or 30 VHS tapes that are all 20+ years old, some of them home movies which I recorded with a camcorder, others stuff I taped off the TV with a VCR. I have an old TV/VCR combo which still works and I've been meaning to sit down some afternoon and go through the tapes, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. (I do remember specifically recording one thing for posterity back in the 90's-it was a sign-off for Nebraska ETV that showed picturesque nature scenes whiled pioneer-sounding harmonica played in the background. I have not yet seen this on YouTube and if it's still on one of those tapes then I will have found one of my personal Holy Grails.)

My question is: If I do happen to find some cool old retro stuff on these videotapes (which I'm pretty sure I will), what steps will I need to take to transfer the video from VHS all the way to YouTube?  ;)

Transistor radio.  When you say used to, just for far back are you going? LOL


Late 70's up until the Sony Walkman and boombox era.

My question is: If I do happen to find some cool old retro stuff on these videotapes (which I'm pretty sure I will), what steps will I need to take to transfer the video from VHS all the way to YouTube?  ;)


The threads here will get you through the hard part of the problem - selecting a decent analog video capture card (or USB peripheral) and getting a decent encode of the material.  You'll need a lot of hard drive space, but most of the toolchain (VirtualDub and TMPGEnc) is open source.  Once you have a .MP4 (or .AVI, etc), the rest is between You and Tube :)

A lot of things are going digital. There's a good deal of PS3/360 games that are download-only, and the PSP/Vita don't even use discs anymore if I remember right. Also, movies have included digital copies for a while now. So it may only be a matter of time before physical media goes extinct.....

Also, with SOPA/PIPA trying to end piracy, digital media may be purchase-only in the near future...

Physical music occured in 1981

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA

My old VCR just broke a few weeks back, it ate one of my old tapes and won't play it.  :(

My old VCR just broke a few weeks back, it ate one of my old tapes and won't play it.  :(


Have you tried another VCR? ???

As a 2000s kid, CD's will always have a special place in my heart. XD It's highly likely that there won't be anymore physical media after this and it will all be digital unfortunantly. I will really miss the excitement as a kid of taking the effort to go to the store, find the CD and truly seeing the artist's showcase and the whole package. Digital downloads just seem too lazy for me. But that's how it is.

As a 2000s kid, CD's will always have a special place in my heart. XD It's highly likely that there won't be anymore physical media after this and it will all be digital unfortunantly. I will really miss the excitement as a kid of taking the effort to go to the store, find the CD and truly seeing the artist's showcase and the whole package. Digital downloads just seem too lazy for me. But that's how it is.


It seems like everybody is going "digital downloading" these days CDs are probably going to fade into oblivion within the next few years.