We know the ebb and flow of physical media and how it could very well change with age. With the internet raging, CDs are being put out to pasture.
And before you say “This is speculation,” it is not. Billboard reports that “Best Buy has just told music suppliers that it will pull CDs from its stores come July 1.”
With the fact that inventory of CDs are hard to move in the digital age of iTunes, Amazon, and more, the stores are looking to pull back or pull out completely, and Best Buy isn’t the only one.
“Target has demanded to music suppliers that it wants to be sold on what amounts to a consignment basis. Currently, Target takes the inventory risk by agreeing to pay for any goods it is shipped within 60 days, and must pay to ship back unsold CDs for credit. With consignment, the inventory risk shifts back to the labels,” says Billboard‘s sources.
The speculation is also lumping DVDs into the mix, as Target was also negotiating their terms of payment to DVD distributing (i.e. paying for them only when they are scanned at the register, VS buying a supply and returning them).
What the article doesn’t note is the resurgence of vinyl preparation and that people have been partaking in purchasing vinyl rather than digital copies, and even some vinyl pressings come with a digital download code, and if there will be any effect on the physical pressings of vinyl for artists as well as CDs.
The digital age is alive and booming, ladies and gents. For those of you who still have CD collections, hold them closely. They might become relics in the near future, to post up with the cassette tapes and 8-tracks.
Amy Cooper is one with the force and the force is with her.