Continuing with CDs?

xp, yeah those are sweet, esp when they come with nice soft inner sleeves

don't like the vinyl replica CD sleeves, they're basically invisible on your shelf and prone to damage

agreed

they tend to scuff up the discs over time too

You do need rice paper inners for them yes

the very worst are the vinyl-replica sleeves that are like 3/4" taller than a jewel case and won't fit in like 99% of CD shelves, just fuck off with that nonsense

that's what I'm talkin' about!

I have a copy of Robbie Basho's The Voice of the Eagle like that, it's on the 'special shelf'.

yep, I actually have multiple "weird format" CD shelves/boxes:

1. cardboard-sleeve discs, like promos (in a box)
2. the aforementioned "taller" digipacks plus box sets etc (on a shelf)
3. longbox style box sets, a variety of shapes and sizes (on a shelf)

oh and:

4. "regular" CD box sets, an entire standalone shelf

and I had room for three outliers as well, displayed on the top of various shelves:

1. complete "20' to 2000" Raster-Noton set w/magnets
2. the aforementioned "One Kiss Leads To Another" hatbox
3. Uz Jsme Doma's popup book/CD set

lol exactly, fucking Vanguard with their oversized CD sleeves

see also:

Beta-Lactam Ring
Thrill Jockey
Alice Coltrane "Universal Consciousness"

etc

Back in the mid 2000s, every Rhino box set seemed to come in some unwieldy size and shape — those Genesis catalog boxes, the Talking Heads white plastic brick, tons of others. That was back when I was still in a position to get physical promos of things and I never had anyplace to put them.

of course the real LPD heads have a treasure chest for all their LPD curios anyway

I love CDs even though I have all music at the tip of my fingertips with Spotify. However, I feel as if I personally connect more with what I'm hearing through personally owning it and it makes me appreciate it in its entirety.

I despise Spotify and will put up with pretty much any level of inconvenience in order not to use it. Fortunately Bandcamp lossless has saved me, at a time when postage hikes priced me out of buying physical media from overseas.

my CD love is really suffering from not being able to browse the used bins

How It Started:

I love CDs even though I have all music at the tip of my fingertips with Spotify. However, I feel as if I personally connect more with what I'm hearing through personally owning it and it makes me appreciate it in its entirety.

How It's Going:

I despise Spotify and will put up with pretty much any level of inconvenience in order not to use it. Fortunately Bandcamp lossless has saved me, at a time when postage hikes priced me out of buying physical media from overseas.

also from upthread, soundslike I dig the updated design... toekicks, I feel seen

This is the most inconveniently packaged CD that I own – it’s almost comical:

http://www.teenbeatrecords.com/images/items/075bx.jpg

(I also have a Red Krayola live CD that came attached to the inside rear cover of a magazine-sized booklet written in French, IIRC)

I think I had a chance to cop one of those Weird Al box sets shaped like an accordion for free once. Obviously, I love Weird Al, but honestly where would I keep an accordion shaped box?

on a shelf

in a drawer

on top of a box

next to your accordions

I have about 100 CDs I'd like to be able to easily transport -- is there anywhere I can still find a 100 (or whatever) CD carrying case? Not looking for the 'wallet style' that only allows for the disc itself -- looking for the kind with a bunch of slots where I can insert the jewel cases. A quick Google search didn't lead me to what I was looking for, but I know my dad had one back in the 90s.

I know this isn't exactly what you are describing, but morrisp posted some bags that might work in his post from yesterday:

We recently ditched our CD rack (as part of a living room redesign) and stashed away most our CDs in storage bags like these. We kept a small batch out for quick access & "display" purposes.

The bags are obv. inconvenient if you dip deep into your CD collection a lot, but... well, we don't.

Oops, the link didn't carry over, but if you ctrl+f that post, there is a link.

I really like 'Really Useful Boxes' for non-display storage and transport. They're strong and very well designed and there's a raft of different sizes. They stack nicely too. They were perfect for doing record/CD fairs as well, as you can easy sell right out of them too.

Here's their CD/DVD/vinyl selection

UK: https://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/uk/html/onlineshop/rub_music.php
USA: https://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/html/onlineshop/rub_music.php

They're pretty widely available at least in the UK (eBay, Amazon, Rymans etc).

Anyone else use them? I've actually been meaning to pick up more to put away the bulk of my CD collection. Currently my vinyl lives in a bunch of 8-10 of the 35XL size.

...you can easily sell right out of them...

Another reason to continue with CDs (if you still bother with physical formats at all):

Price of new Chills album Scatterbrain, including shipping:
CD: $16
Vinyl: $32

The vinyl is indeed really pretty, but if you're buying 4-6 albums per month that adds up!

In 20 years CDs are either going to be rare like 1990s vinyl or there will be boxes of the things under the beds of many former label runners.

CDs that are new now, I mean.

a lot of the indie label I'm buying CDs from are doing pressings of like 300 or 500, so I'd guess they'll be rare (if anyone wants them or not)

Yeah that's kind of my observation as well. When I look at ownership stats on Discogs for new releases there may be one or two hundred for vinyls's and a handful for the CD. Of course I expect a limited demand for them in 20 years as well but there will always be a few supporters for any format.

My anecdotal observation is that the small CD pressings of reissues in particular seem to sell out faster than vinyl, but I get that there's not much incentive to spend time and effort re-pressing the format with the lower profit margin, and risking using up that crucial under-bed storage.

that's true, it feels like you can just slap an extra $20 onto the price of a vinyl release and people will just pay it. doesn't work for CDs.

Is that slightly overstated perhaps? Vinyl is expensive to produce unless you're making a significant amount and the profit margin on CDs can be pretty good even on 500. I mean, I think presently it's simply the lack of demand.

Ah sorry, when I said profit margin I meant total profit. Like I say, I see CDs selling out surprisingly often considering how much I hear there's no demand, which makes me think the demand is probably both low and underestimated.

nah, I see vinyl releases they're charging $50 for with like one record and maybe a gatefold cover, there's no way that's costing them that much to manufacture... if you're pressing up 1,000 copies it's like $3-4 per record plus whatever the sleeve costs. you just can't ask for that kind of premium on a CD release today.

I feel like a shark at Half Price Books these days, just cruising through and scooping up mouthfuls of $4-5 CDs

How much support does CD-R's still have? I know Amazon does a lot of MOD for catalog titles now. With new music, I'm wondering if the new model is to press a limited run and let people burn their own from the FLAC's offered on bandcamp and elsewhere.

both low and underestimated.

I'm sure it's often very difficult to guage. A guess but I suspect that in some areas / genres there's a certain amount of return to the format and demand is actually rising.

It's striking to see CDs go "out of print" quickly and this goes some way to couunter the perception of it was a "landfill" format.

I think the fragility and low barrier of entry for CDr is at odds with the reasons many CD buyers have for wanting them. It's kind of a different market? xp

Been considering getting back into CD-Rs now that I drive again

I was going to pick up the new Sleater-Kinney at a preferred shop on Saturday, then changed it to Sunday when I realized Saturday was RSD. So I go Sunday, and not only had they sold out of the CDs, they just had a couple copies of the vinyl. I was back by there on Wednesday, and still no CDs.

Yeah, I can see cars making a big difference with CD's. When I was still driving around Chicago, I only played CD's. The only time I drive now is if I'm at a relative's place - for the older cars it's CD's but for the newer cars my iPod (which I still use because utilizing my phone for movies and music would be too much of a memory and battery drain given the amount of usage).

I still like CD-R's because I often do custom tweaks. I never stopped buying compilations, but I often burned an additional CD-R with tweaks to take care of glaring omissions, wrong mixes or a haphazard track sequence.

First CD-R I remember burning was a Changesbowie just to reinstate the original mix of "Fame." There was a gold CD reissue that also took care of that, but at the time $20-30 was waaaaay too much money, especially when most of my CD's were just "free" CD club selections I got through my parents.

I still burn them, especially after I found a stack of a few hundred left on a wall. Also still spend money on them on Bandcamp but mainly to support the artists and get the files.

Sooner or later working burners and blank media are going to become exotic items.