The Pop Corporation

The death of any format is usually incorrect, but it’s true that trends can wax and wane. For years, vinyl was dying and of course, vinyl enthusiasts cleaned up down the record shops during the lean years while everyone else pressed and bought compact discs. Cassettes too, fell by the wayside with new tape releases being shunted out to the shops, leaving music fans able to get relatively new albums for as little as £4 back in the day.

Then there was a vinyl revival. Then a cassette resurgence. LPs are nice things to have if you have the money, and small indie bands priced out of vinyl pressings started to get their physical releases on cassette with DIY artwork and all that fun stuff. And so, CDs were the thing that died, right? Well, scores of young musicians and creatives realised that CDs were cheap to knock out – all you needed was a CD-burner and loads of paper, and you could have something physical to sell.

The kids have been ransacking the charity shops for CDs and buying boomboxes for a while now, because if you’re young and skint, getting a load of ’00s CDs is still cheaper than a Spotify subscription and you get a cute nostalgia and retro cool thrown in, just like the slightly older kids were feeling when they got into C90s.

Cherry Red recordings have gone on the record saying that the death of CDs has been exaggerated, and there’s still a bunch of older listeners who just can’t bring themselves to give streaming services their money because they still want something tactile and want to give small companies and artists a couple of quid.

That all said, compact discs sales are rising on the various graphs and infographics, but there’s a small problem – laptops don’t have CD trays like they used to, so if this trend continues, we could see the return of satisfyingly bulky laptop and clunk shut because they’ll have to accommodate the extra, old technology. It’s fun! We’re into it.

So will we see a return of CD Walkmans and the like in Urban Outfitters and high street record shops? Are Crosley going to start smashing out retro, budget CD players for the kids? While we didn’t really see it with cassette players, it could happen. If young people look to 30 years prior for their inspiration, and the second hand shops are filled with classic albums for cheap, they’d be daft not to.

And there’s the small matter of us living in a time of Too Many Subscriptions. If you’re young and broke, or even adult and broke, while you can get all your entertainment through as few things as a phone and a laptop, you’re going to start weighing up your options if you need to pay for Spotify, Netflix, Disney+, NowTV or Sky passes, and maybe a bunch of subscriptions to magazines and Patreon Podcasts, as well as online passes to play video games online with friends and the micro-transactions that come with them.

Fact is, there’ll always be a sizeable group of people who, when forking out money all the time, at some point will want something tangible.

Earlier this year, for the record, was the 40th anniversary of the compact disc, so as the format reaches middle age, it’s only right that it should get a new lease of life. If it was a person, they’d be buying silly things that remind them of their youth and all that jazz.

To say there’s a full resurgence is premature, as CD sales had fallen for two whole decades until Adele released her ’30’ album on the format, and that alone, accounted for a spike in sales that made the forecasters and trend-spotters take note. Over at nerd-haven Discogs, a spokesperson said CD sales via the site rose by nearly 9% in 2022, and in the first year of the pandemic, it was even bigger. As far as collectors are concerned, they’ve been ‘back’ for a while.

There’s other reasons too, with K Pop releases getting marketed with beautiful and ornate CD packaging. Hugely collectable, wide variance and just generally lovely things to have, complete with collecting cards, board games, expanded artwork and all manner of lovely and creative items.

In addition, Taylor Swift’s push for physical formats has been a mover and shaker down the pressing plants. Her vinyl variants are wildly popular, and she’s not shy of the CD market either. Social media is doing its part too – if you’re aware of Vinyl TikTok, rest assured, CD TikTok is there too, with people proudly showing off their wares young and old.

So too, collector tastes evolve, and if you’ve cleaned up with your ’70s and ’80s releases, then if you’re looking for certain original pressings of albums from the ’90s and ’00s, then there may only be compact discs versions pressed from the vinyl wilderness years. For example, if you’re into Southern Rap, CDs is where it’s at. If you’re looking for a Donald Fagen late period solo LP, it’s the CD version that won’t break the bank.

In fashion, music and pop culture influence, Y2K is back, baby.

And while vinyl enthusiasts can be wearisome in their willingness to gatekeep information and keep knowledge of how to buy and set-up a record player intentionally vague, there’s no such concern with CDs. You basically plug them in and go, and you’ll be able to do it for a fraction of the cost too. Price is not to be underestimated.

Popsci even wrote a piece helping young people to learn how to burn a CD for themselves. It may seem funny to those who sold all their CDs to Music Magpie or handed them all off to the local charity shop, but if there’s a popular format of the past, it’ll always get another day in the sun. Who knows how long it’ll last, but rest assured, at some point, you’re going to find yourself on a Bandcamp page wanting to give your favourite new band a couple of quid, and it’ll be the CD you’ll be getting in the post.