Audio CDs are being used since early 1980s for listening to music and songs. With evolution of science and technology, many new gadgets have been introduced that are more commonly used for enjoying music. Especially after the introduction of digital audio, the popularity of CDs has deceased considerably. The reports related to the sale of music CDs in the past two decades prove that the revenues have got lesser. Most probably, new technologies will overpower CDs and they will get extinct.There are many factors that have led to the end of popularity of disks in the world of music.
Digital Audio Formats:
The digital era has taken over the world of music. Most of the things have turned into digital formats and so is music. Digital music or audio is very easy to store. It comes into compressed form to occupy less memory space. Hundreds of songs can be stored now in mobile phones, MP3 players and other portable devices. These devices can store much more than a disk and can be used anywhere to enjoy music.
Music Streaming:
Many websites and mobile apps are released that allow users to listen to songs online or download them to their PCs or mobiles. A large collection of songs from all times is available in their libraries and users can easily search for their desired tracks. They also facilitate users to create playlists of their favorite songs from the library and then play them on auto mode one after the other or use shuffle mode to play random selections.Different audio effects can be added to give the songs a unique touch.
Hard to Handle:
The major drawback of CDs is that these are quite difficult to handle. One has to be very careful while picking the disk and inserting it into the disk player. A little carelessness may result in the scratches on the shiny side of CD. A CD becomes useless if there are scratches as the disk player cannot read data from that part. To resolve these issues, other technologies and devices are offered that are easier to manage and do not get harmed easily.
Portable Devices:
A major reason for the decrease in popularity of Disks and CD players is that these were not portable. These had to be kept at some proper place as they covered good enough place. But now Hi-Fi music players, iPods, MP3 or MP4 players and mobile phones can be kept in pocket and used for enjoying latest music. Though CD players are still a part of many latest cars, butthey have become less popular for daily use.
Music CDs are still in use, but they have lost their charm. The number of shops selling music CDs has decreased drastically and very few people buy disks of their favorite bands or singers. When better technology is introduced, the older methods start to fade. Same is the case with CDs. This dead-end for CDs may result in the decline of music industry, but fans prefer latest devices over disks.