R.I.P? THE COMPACT DISC 1970-2005

MORI Findings Show Virtual Record Collections May Replace CDs Within 5 Years

A new survey by research experts MORI, has found that time is running outfor the Compact Disc which was hailed not so long ago as the ultimate audioexperience. Instead, the end appears to be in sight for the CD,particularly among young people, and it will soon be replaced by theinfinite possibilities of ‘virtual record collections’ stored on portabledevices. British youth are at the vanguard of the audio revolution and areleading the rest of society in planning to abandon CDs in favour of MP3,music downloads, digital audio players and portable collections.

The MORI survey was commissioned by Creative Labs as part of an in-depthlook into home audio technology and the trends of tomorrow. Creative wantedto explore just how far the Brits had entered into the ‘second stage’ ofdigital music and what they thought of the technology which will change theway we listen to music forever.

Over a third of all people aged between 15 and 24 believe they will stopbuying CDs within 5 years and thirty- three per cent of Internet users canenvisage storing ALL their music on a pocket-size portable device within thesame time frame.

The PC will potentially replace the hi-fi as the new sound machine; smallportable devices will hold the music you want, which can be carried andplayed anywhere; never again will your music be lost, get scratched, clutteryour car or gather dust in racks. Soon, finding and buying your favouritetrack will take a matter of seconds, and archiving, storage and retrievalwill be almost instantaneous.

“The MORI findings confirms many of our views,” said Duncan Jackson,director of retail Europe, Creative Labs. “Many Internet users are alreadydownloading music as today’s portable digital audio devices carry 1000’s ofmusic tracks. PC sound quality is truly challenging the traditional hi-fias the main home music system.”

“The genie is out of the bottle,” said Jackson finally, “digital music ishere to stay.”