No one listens to CDs any more.
That is what my 13-year-old daughter told me as I asked her to get me a CD out of the glove compartment. Obviously for her, and many people now a day, this is probably true. She has never owned a CD in her life nor do I think she ever will.
iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, and other similar streaming and download services have changed the way people listen to music. With a click of a button you can access millions of songs instantly, no need to wait, no need to get out to a store.
Mostly people seem to buy or download individual songs. I still believe an album should be listened to in its entirety, from start to finish, to really appreciate the work the way the artist intended.
I do stream music, especially while working to listen to in the background or to check out new groups. I do find it useful in many circumstances.
Yet I still like to buy physical CDs.
I still go to record stores and spend time rummaging around through aisles and bins of CDs, getting my fingers dirty at times from the dust.
I buy CDs from groups at concerts where I might not find them otherwise (getting them to sign them is always a plus).
My car is full of CDs, so much so that I had to take the owner’s manual out to make more room in the glove compartment.
I still get a thrill finding a CD that I have been looking for or finding a CD that I had owned on cassette years ago (yes I owned cassettes).
I still get a thrill out of opening a new CD and looking at the insert and liner notes (though these have become increasingly less detailed than in the past). There is something special about holding a tangible physical album that a digit download just cannot compare.
Maybe it is nostalgia, maybe I am just old as my kids like to tell me, but I do not plan on giving up CDs any time soon.