Image source @ Visual China
Text | Music Herald (ID: nakedmusic), author | Lu Xiuxiu, author | Fan Zhihui, Titanium Media is authorized to publish
Following vinyl records and cassette tapes, CDs also show signs of "picking up".
A while ago, data analytics provider MRC Data released the "YEAR-END REPORT U.S. 2021" showing that in 2021, US CD sales ushered in the first growth in 17 years.
Although the growth rate is only 1.1%, the slight growth also follows the overall trend of slowing CD sales in recent years.
At a time when streaming growth is peaking, the delicate and "people-friendly" physical form of CD has finally caught up with the last train of physical recovery. Perhaps, this retro wave of CDs has just begun.
After 20 years of singing, CDs have picked up for the first time
In the 20th century, the age of recording can be subdivided into the era of vinyl, the era of cassette, and the era of CDs.
For the vast majority of the last century, vinyl records have occupied the position of mainstream music storage medium. It wasn't until 1979, when Sony's Walkman series of Walkmans was introduced, that the world-famous tapes began to have an impact on the market position of vinyl records.
But the cassette tape market seemed short-lived, and after a peak in sales in the late 1980s, it began to shrink rapidly. By the early 1990s, CDs were selling more than tapes.
At that time, easy to store, low price, easy to carry CD became the new favorite of the times, the price of vinyl records fell sharply, vinyl production lines were also eliminated in large quantities, in 1992, Hong Kong and Taiwan have stopped the sale of vinyl records, and the mainland has officially entered the ERA of CDs.
In Hong Kong, there was even a phenomenon of "vinyl reclamation" at one time. It is estimated that at least one-third of Hong Kong citizens discarded an average of more than 10 pieces of vinyl per person that year, and more than 20 million pieces of vinyl were buried in the sea.
This CD frenzy is also the last highlight of the traditional recording industry.
In 2001, MP3 represented by the iPod began to become popular, at that time, the iPod through the combination with iTunes and the interactive operation logic of Click Wheel (scroll wheel controller), not only better restored the feeling of flipping through physical albums, but also deepened the meaning of portable music.
After the launch of the iPod, it created a closed loop of digital music consumption, which soon helped Apple break through $10 billion in sales and seize more than 70% of the MP3 market share.
Since then, CD records have been losing ground in this "MP3 fever". According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), between 2000 and 2016, CD sales in the United States fell from $13.2 billion to $1.2 billion, a decline of more than 90%. Looking at China, the last physical album in the internal entertainment market with sales of more than 1 million was Li Yuchun's "Queen and Dream", which was fixed in 2006.
However, the emergence of MP3 has not improved the piracy phenomenon that has become more rampant since the CD era, on the contrary, the barbaric growth of the Internet and the chaotic and fragmented copyright management of MP3 have provided a "fertile ground" for pirated music, resulting in a further deterioration of the copyright environment.
This phenomenon did not change until regular music streaming services became mainstream media. In China, a paper by the National Copyright Administration entitled "Notice on Ordering Online Music Service Providers to Stop Unauthorized Dissemination of Musical Works" has raised the importance of genuine music to an unprecedented height, with a genuine rate of 96%.
As can be seen from the 2014 RIAA data, after experiencing a high of 94.5% in 2001, the share of CD records in the US market in 2013 has been less than 30%. By 2019, the market share of physical music had fallen to 9%, while online music exceeded 80%.
The decline of this CD record continues into 2021. In January last year, Bestbuy, a well-known digital/electronics seller in the United States, announced the removal of CD records from physical stores, and retail department store group Target also intends to settle the CD payment to dealers based on actual sales only – the market's expectations for CD records have further decreased.
However, it was also this year that CD records showed signs of "recovery" for the first time in 17 years – 40.59 million CD sales in the United States, up 1.1% from 40.16 million in 2020. Among them, Adele's new album "30" was the top seller, selling 898,000 copies, reaching a sales record of 378,000 copies in the first week of release, more than double the sales of the original record holder Taylor Swift "Red" with 146,700 copies.
In addition to "30", which is at the top of the chart, the top ten albums in the US CD format have also seen significant growth compared with the top ten in 2020. It can be seen that behind the sales growth rate of 1.1% is the general "resurgence" trend of the CD market.
With the overall slowdown in the slowdown of CD recordings in recent years, perhaps the counter-trend growth in 2021 is the turning point in the revival of the physical form of CD.
In the era of digital music, why are CD records recovering against the trend?
The resurgence of CDs, the most direct driving force comes from the strong drive of head artists.
For 20 years, despite the continuous decline in CD sales, the sales of physical albums by artists with huge fan bases have remained high. Especially in South Korea, where the idol industry is developed and has a unique form of singing programs, the CD sales of head artists have reached new highs.
Earlier this month, according to data disclosed by SM Entertainment, the 25 albums released by its artists in 2021 recorded more than 15 million records, more than 2 times more than 2020. In "BTS strong return, "lose" power broke through 100 million, but where did the album go? In ", Music Herald also revealed the industry phenomenon of "rushing CD sales" in the idol circle.
The contrarian growth of CD sales this time is also inseparable from the promotion of head artists. According to statistics, Adele's "30" accounted for 2.35% of CD sales in the United States in 2021, and Taylor Swift's four albums, which won the second and third place CD sales, accounted for 2.21%. Comparing the previous year's MRC Data report, it can be found that the top ten sales of physical albums in the United States increased by 42.77% compared with 2020, much higher than the overall level of 21.7%.
It can be seen that the entire physical record sales, including CDs, have shown a recovery trend driven by the head artists. As early as a few years ago, the resurgence of vinyl began, and since 2018, the sales of vinyl records in the United States have maintained a double-digit growth rate. Also in 2018, the restructured China Records Group Co., Ltd. rebuilt the production line of vinyl records in Shanghai.
For music lovers, physical records bring not only a sense of sound, but also a unique multi-sensory enjoyment.
From this point of view, the logic behind the counter-trend growth of CD and vinyl is similar. Whether it is a CD or a vinyl record, they all establish a unique aesthetic value and collection value on the basis of music - the vinyl envelope, the cover of the CD, the lyric book and the overall design all construct a unique musical experience on top of a small physical space. And the overall design, artistry and emotional atmosphere brought about by this kind of physical record is also beyond the reach of listening to digital music.
As a result, when music is becoming more and more important in people's lives, a wave of physical record collection has arisen, which has attracted many young people to participate in it. Earlier data from the Recording Industry Association of England showed that one-third of physical album buyers were young, and another global report, Engaging with Music 2021, also showed that the proportion of CD buyers among music lovers aged 25 to 34 was 15%, an above-average of 12%.
In contrast, although the value-added space and collection value are slightly inferior to vinyl records, the advantage of CD records is "close to the people".
With the development of CD production technology, manufacturers had to invest millions of dollars in equipment in the 1990s, and the era of mass production of CDs is long gone. Today, the cost of CDs is greatly reduced, and there is no need to worry about a shortage of vinyl records.
Even niche independent musicians and bands can calmly order hundreds of CDs online, and through careful planning, pass on their inspiration and ideas in the form of entities to fans. For young music lovers, CD records that are close to "fidelity" offer a cost-effective physical music experience in addition to vinyl.
Independent music is like a sea, mainstream music is still strong, in the trend of music retro tide, CD records have also ushered in its "resurgence".
Back to the light or bottoming out?
As mentioned earlier, Adele and Taylor Swift artists accounted for 2.35% and 2.21% of the total SALES of U.S. CDs in 2021, respectively, plus BTS's 2.54%, and the above three alone accounted for more than 7% of the share. Therefore, some people think that the small increase in 2021 is just an accident in the decline of CD recordings, not a precursor to a revival.
However, we also feel that we do not have to be so pessimistic about the future.
It is true that physical albums can no longer become mainstream music carriers, but in the long-term development of the music industry, the balance between digital and physical is approaching a delicate balance. As the cake continues to grow, the two will develop together, rather than trade-offs.
In fact, after the "end" of CD records, traditional physical albums have been subtly influencing the music industry. Whether it's the Click Wheel design of the iPod or the "record" rotating in the music software playback interface, it is a kind of imitation of a physical record. Not long ago, Adele asked Spotify to play songs from "30" in order by default, which also promoted the process of streaming the album order playback service.
Extremely convenient music streaming services have deeply developed the potential of the music market, and now, to some extent, they have formed a positive feedback on the traditional recording industry. At a time when the growth rate of streaming media is slowing down, in addition to new options such as short videos, live broadcasts, and virtual performances, we also have "look backwards" options such as vinyl, tape, and CD records.
With the further maturity of user groups and market mechanisms, these high-quality, small and beautiful retro physical forms will also attract more and more people to participate.