I Heart Compact Discs.
It seems that, lately, the topic of jettisoning one’s physical music collection in favor of a digital library has crossed my path in a more conspicuous manner. First, I read a post by someone I don’t know on a website I can’t remember (how’s that for shoddy documentation?). This individual was selling his entire collection and switching to a digital music format. Then Randy chimed into my blogspace, entertaining notions of doing the same. A little late to the party, I stumbled upon Todd Dominey’s determined effort to go almost 100% digital (and, apparently, Aaron Feaver has done the same).
In Todd’s case, his choice was born from what I would consider a pretty unique situation. Most of us do not own, or will ever own, 1000+ CDs . I’ll be surprised if there are ever 1000 albums I like in my life, much less own. And Todd makes a good point about the accessibility caveats of digital libraries: With iTunes, an artist, album or song is always a search box away. On the shelves, I could spend thirty minutes with my head turned sideways looking for an album. It’s just not worth it. With such an expansive collection, Todd’s decision sort of makes sense; rather than retain objects which create such physical and visual clutter, it could be better to use an alternative storage method.
But there is a rapidly-growing market for digital-only music. Music that was downloaded at 128kbps AAC and will never be anything more. Music that has no chance of ever returning to CD quality. And that worries me.
I worry that with the increasing focus on digital media, music won’t be heard in the quality it was intended. All of the nuances that make music great on CD are often lost in digital format. Turn it up loud — you’ll see.
I worry that musicians in general may start creating music optimized for marginal quality digital formats, thus rendering the CD format no better than the digital. Silly? Maybe.
I worry that the experience is being stripped away from music purchasing. Click the ‘Buy’ button? How septic. I already see more and more artists scaling back their CD booklets; lyrics, photos, and even thank you’s get cut out. The omission of these things, even in digital formats, doesn’t make music sound any different, but I think it waters down the response fans have to music, and the relationship between artists and consumers.
I worry that the intangible nature of the digital format psychologically devalues music as a whole. When your Music folder sits alongside other folders full of browser history, Word docs, and pictures of last year’s trip to Wisconsin, does it become less valuable? I have the same theory about money; that it is much more effective to teach a child the value of money by giving them a cash allowance versus loading up a credit card (but that is another story).
I still cling to my CDs, jewel cases and all. Maybe it�s because I remember CDs as the shiny new symbol of audio clarity of my youth. I have come to understand and even sympathize with those old dinosaurs who bemoan the passing of the Age of Vinyl with it’s album art, hi-fidelity, and listening culture. I get it. Maybe it’s nostalgia or some sort of weird comfort zone, but I think I’ll always enjoy peeling open a new CD and giving the disc a spin while I hold and look at the packaging. Until they go the way of the cassette tape, of course.
In the end, I suppose I’m torn between formats; even before I became an iPod owner, I listened to a lot of MP3s. The nature of my job makes it more convenient to listen to music in iTunes than on CD. At reasonable levels, music sounds fine on headphones or broadcast from iTrip. It’s great to have all my music in the palm of my hand. But when I really want to get immersed in sound, there is no comparison: CD is better. I’m just not sold on lossless formats, either. They’re so big that it feels like I’d just be trading in physical bulk and clutter for digital bulk.
I have almost my entire music collection ripped to MP3, and I plan on continuing to maintain and add to that collection as I purchase new CDs. Yes, purchase CDs. I love digital music for its portability, but I love CDs for their experience, physical presence, effortless clarity, and archive qualities. Do jewel cases get to be cumbersome? Sure. So much that I’d consider getting rid of them? Not even close.