The End Of The CD Single

from the what-a-surprise dept

It seems that an article like this shows up every few months, where folks in the record industry complain about the impending "death" of the CD single - and then go on to blame it on music downloading. You get the feeling, these days, that the recording industry doesn't need to try very hard to blame just about anything on downloading. First of all, who actually buys singles any more? They usually had one to four songs, and still cost almost as much as a full CD. It was a marketing problem, where the industry refused to price singles properly which is why very few people were buying them in the first place. Besides, my impression of the single was that it was solely intended as promotional material for the full album (despite the idiotic pricing). Looking at CD single sales as representative of just about anything isn't of much value.
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  1. identicon
    Phil, 15 Jan 2004 @ 11:23am

    Collectibility of CD single declined.

    I buy CD singles when bands put unrelased tracks on them that I do not get on the full length CD. Without these unreleased, rare, or live tracks, there is no value in these CD singles. In the 90's, British band Oasis, would release 2 or 3 unreleased tracks on every CD single and, as a result, I purchased every cd single. There is a market out there if they are done right.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Gregory Kennedy, 15 Jan 2004 @ 12:20pm

    Re: Collectibility of CD single declined.

    Great Point. That was exactly why I would buy a CD single in the Past as well.


    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Michael Armstrong, 15 Jan 2004 @ 2:07pm

    Re: Collectibility of CD single declined.

    Sadly, this doesn't seem to happen as often lately. More often than not, the single has 3-5 different versions of the same song.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    eeyore, 16 Jan 2004 @ 5:28am

    Re: Collectibility of CD single declined.

    Bingo. I've bought one CD single in the last ten years and it was for exactly that reason, unreleased tracks. And it seems like the only two music genres that are well represented by CD singles are hip-hop and C&W anyway.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    bitchX, 17 Jan 2004 @ 6:54pm

    No Subject Given

    The stuff that's out there now was around five years ago as well. I just tuned it out or switched the channel.

    Sales aren't down because people are downloading songs, they're down because they're expecting everyone to like R&B. Which is stupid. I don't like it. Never have. Never will.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    James Buchan, 13 Mar 2004 @ 1:38am

    C.D Singles and Music Industry control

    Its all about control.If you could purchase a single with the music video, the sales of singles would skyrocket.The music industry supports any artist who can come up with one half decent track and forces the public to purchase a CD full of rubbish because they have no alternative.The band then believe they are good at what they do and get rich in the process.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Allan, 21 Apr 2007 @ 12:58am

    CD Singles

    I think it wold be an incredible shame to see the demise of the CD Single as it was the vinyl 7". In you buy your CD Single at Big W it only cost $3.84 these days, better than $18+ for the CD if you only like one song.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Allan, 21 Apr 2007 @ 1:00am

    CD Singles

    I think it wold be an incredible shame to see the demise of the CD Single as it was the vinyl 7". In you buy your CD Single at Big W it only cost $3.84 these days, better than $18+ for the CD if you only like one song.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Sydney, 20 Feb 2009 @ 4:20am

    The End Of The CD Single

    It's true! i think it would be an incredible shame to see the demise of the CD Single as it was the vinyl 7". In you buy your CD Single at Big W it only cost $3.84 these days, better than $18+ for the CD if you only like one song. Great post and i look forward to reading more! Sydney Online Dating

    link to this | view in thread ]


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