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BIGHUSKERSRED
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« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2014, 10:35:38 pm » |
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Hi, there, Alanfan! No problem. First of, thanks for your confidence in me and what knowledge I have on the issue with the talks of the CDs disappearing in the near future and what we can do about it. Yes, we could all write Cindy to ask Alan to keep on releasing CDs, however, and not to sound discouraging or depressing, that will do only little good, if at all. The people really to deal with is the music business corporates (record labels bigwigs, etc.). They’ve been talking about the disappearance of CDs from store shelves for years now and I’m not saying that it’s not going to happen. Meanwhile, though, you can still find various kind of CD players being sold at stores and, if push comes to shove or at as a last resort, you could also play CDs in your computer (CD drive). Then there’s the now new issue with music artists pullng out of online free music streaming system such Spotify and Pandora (with monthly/yearly membership fee) because it has been proven time and time again to be a money losing venue for them to put their music out there. . .Taylor is the latest to pull out of it, I heard. . .because they’re getting more money from sales of their album in the forms of CDs and Eps and perhaps digital (iTunes, etc.). These two things alone tells me that it’s too soon to be making presumptions or predictions of the end of the CD era. Again, I’m not saying that it will not happen because it could much like the cassette tapes did. However, I’m not seeing the numbers of CD buyers, at least at stores I’ve been going to, diminishing that much. What’s really diminishing are the selections of CDs being sold. And, as far as I’m concerned, they’re system of keeping tracks of and counting total number of albums sold is just as flawed as the Nielsen tv ratings, in that, as with the Nielsen rating, not every household have the device used to monitor what shows viewers watches on daily basis so the tally is inconsistent to the actual numbers of people actually watching the shows daily, and with the albums sale, not all stores that sells them are actually really or necessarily participating in monitoring their sale counts so the tally there is also inconsistent with the overall actual sale number. So, essentially, the music business corporates thinks they have a pretty good idea of how many people are actually still buying CDs but in reality they really have not a clue. . . .in my opinion, anyway. They just go for what they think will earn them money the most, digital sale and music streaming, which neither is actually beneficial to the music artists, in general and a losing battle for the music fans who are not much into the new technology, if at all, like you and I and probably many others here in the forum. I read from a magazine not too long ago a discussion on this. One suggested that in order for the CD sale to contiune on, the fans or buyers have to be willing to pay the expected price hike of up to $25 per CD. The money has to come from somewhere to pay for the increased cost of producing or printing those CDs, they said. I don’t know whether to believe that or not, but, I’m not looking forward at the prospect of paying that much for a CD either. For Alan’s music, though, I’m likely to make the exceptions.
Having said all that, here are my suggestions. If any fan knowledgeable of creating a petition on Facebook, change.org or any petition websites would be interested in creating one, that is one of the more effective way of convincing the corporates to continue putting music on CDs and on store shelves. Everyone interested or would wish to give their support can sign it (add their name on the list of petitioners/supporters) and the petition would then be sent to the various record label companies and other music business corporates, to include owners of stores that sells them to continue selling them. It’s not an easy task, but if anyone starts it and posts the link here, I’ll sign it. And as for Alan, I’m almost sure of it that Alan already knows what his fans wants, as far as that goes. It won’t hurt, though, if we all mention often here at the forum and on his Facebook page, for those who have Facebook account (not me) or on Twitter (don‘t have an account there either and not interested in starting one), for him to continue releasing more music on CD.
I’m 13 years younger than you but I very much share your sentiment. We all love Alan and his music, that’s for sure. I have been a fan of his since 1993 and seen him in concert quite a few times with my family. He’s one of the very few now who is making traditional country music still relevant in this so called new generation in country music that is geared more towards young people, as you said it. Thanks again for asking for my input and suggestions and, most especially, for trusting. Hopefully, CDs will still be around for a long while.
Keep the music coming, Alan. . . .And the CD too!
BHR
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