I was out with a girl the other day and I was telling her about the money that I spend on CDs monthly. It's a line item in my budget.
Building my CD collection is a concerted effort right now which involves buying and digitizing all of them so that I can actually carry them with me. SD cards make magic possible like carrying around a current (and needing an update of about 400 songs this month) 12,418 songs.
But my point is this. She asked me incredulously, "You still buy CDs?" And yeah. I do.
We are at a magical inflection point in CDs right now. They're still being made regularly, and look like they will survive for another 5 years at least. Not to sound like a snob, but they sound way better because there's much less compression. Though DRC will still fuck up your day. But, because of the change in consumer preferences, MP3s are the default purchase medium for most popular music. Moreover, people are getting rid of their CDs at secondhand shops all over the place. I have a V-Stock and an F.Y.E. within 10 minutes of my house and picking up CDs which are over two years old has become a 5 dollar endeavor. It's excellent.
The best part is that these CDs are secondhand, but there's no real difference to me. Everyone is getting rid of their CDs as they move on to the next medium. There was a point in time where all those vinyls that people are collecting and going crazy for were being thrown away en masse to make room for tapes and then CDs. That time for CDs is now and it's awesome. The market is flooded and access has never been better. But there's a big difference. Vinyl will always sound like vinyl. You don't get a digital rip out of it, even if you rip it, it still sounds like you ripped an MP3 from a vinyl. Which is fine if you like all that. But CDs are made of better versions of MP3s. You literally get both as long as you have a way to rip the CD. You can even do it in a lossless format to create better MP3s for yourself!
Why I think we're at an inflection point is this. That's a new copy of a Veruca Salt CD from 1997, which you should own. It costs 4.99 on Amazon and will be at your house in two days. You can look at the liner notes, see pictures of the band, put the CD in your car (if your car has a CD player of course), and just rip it onto the computer for free. And if you wanted to, you could go and sell that CD for a couple bucks at the local place. You'll still have the MP3s, though this technically does make you a career criminal since those MP3s were only for backup right?
Or, you can pay $1 MORE, and get only the music, in a shitty compressed MP3 format. Even better, a lot of Amazon CDs are coming with something inconspicuously marked with "Auto-Rip." You buy the CD, and then all of the MP3s are downloaded into your Amazon music profile to be listened to immediately. They don't expire. You just have them. Adele's 25 $10.99 for MP3. $9.99 for CD with AutoRip. What the fuck markets?
Another fun way to commit crimes is to go to your local library. Is your 1970s MP3 collection weak? Don't worry, Dark Side of the Moon is at the library waiting to be ripped to your computer. Do you think Pink Floyd gives a shit? I don't. There's a ton of music there just waiting to be listened to.