Best Buy is not stopping sales of CDs, contrary to rumors from last winter.
Even though CD sales have been minimized by downloads and streaming, the silver disc will live on a little longer at the retailer.
A spokesman sent me this statement: “The way people buy and listen to music has dramatically changed and, as a result, we are reducing the amount of space devoted to CDs in our stores. However, we will still offer select CDs, vinyl and digital music options at all stores.”
There are still hundreds of CDs sitting in Best Buy stores. And there are lots of great values at Best Buy’s website. (I’d stock up now.) The footprint in the stores may shrink, but at least we’ll see some stands everywhere.
I don’t understand what’s happened to CDs. Sure, streaming is just convenient, and downloads are too. But a properly mastered CD played on a good player (Denon, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, Creek) offers glorious, uncompressed sound that is far better than anything you can get on a phone or MP3 player or iTouch (if they still make it).
A lot of the music popular now on streaming services is so badly made, I can see why the acts don’t want CDs. They would reveal the poor production. Listening to music on CD or LP will show the real qualities of a recording– or its failures. Constantly listening to music through ear buds is less rewarding than playing a 45 rpm single on a plastic record player.
