By: Ryan Martin
There it is. As simple as that, on March 7th, Kanye West made a major announcement to nerds like myself who still collect physical copies of albums. No more CD’s. West declared that the CD itself is a dead idea and dead technology and promised to only stream music from himself from here on out. West has been making a lot of bold moves so far this year including only streaming his new album The Life Of Pablo only on the streaming service Tidal. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense considering how he has declared himself $53 million dollars in debt and publicly asked Mark Zuckerberg to invest in his ideas. But that’s just how Kanye works. In ways that don’t make sense to the average human being.
The question does arise on whether Kanye is right about CD’s. Are they dead technology? We thought that vinyls were dead, we were wrong. We thought cassettes were dead and those are as well making a comeback. But what about a CD makes it successful in today’s day and age? It’s compatible and useful in cars that don’t have an aux cord. But home made CD’s can be made for almost 95% off what an average commercial CD costs at the store. For me, it’s a process. A cycle that I personally believe in to give back to the artist. What I personally do, is download an album for free (which may not be morally right, but hear me out) and listen to it first. If i’m impressed, or if I like the artist, I’ll happily go to the store and spend $12 to purchase the hard copy of the album because: A. I like to collect CD’s and B. So I can enjoy the album front to back in my car or stereo.
What happens when the art of the CD disappears? When you buy a CD, and you open it up and there is nothing but credits of the album and a blank CD. Like Kanye West’s Yeezus for example, that was literally a blank CD in a blank jewel case. The only thing that distinguishes it from a CD you can make yourself if a piece of red tape that seals the whole thing together. Now essentially, if you bought that CD, you spent $10 of your hard earned money on something you or one of your friends could have made yourself. Or $10 for the piece of red tape that seals the album.
There it is. As simple as that, on March 7th, Kanye West made a major announcement to nerds like myself who still collect physical copies of albums. No more CD’s. West declared that the CD itself is a dead idea and dead technology and promised to only stream music from himself from here on out. West has been making a lot of bold moves so far this year including only streaming his new album The Life Of Pablo only on the streaming service Tidal. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense considering how he has declared himself $53 million dollars in debt and publicly asked Mark Zuckerberg to invest in his ideas. But that’s just how Kanye works. In ways that don’t make sense to the average human being.
The question does arise on whether Kanye is right about CD’s. Are they dead technology? We thought that vinyls were dead, we were wrong. We thought cassettes were dead and those are as well making a comeback. But what about a CD makes it successful in today’s day and age? It’s compatible and useful in cars that don’t have an aux cord. But home made CD’s can be made for almost 95% off what an average commercial CD costs at the store. For me, it’s a process. A cycle that I personally believe in to give back to the artist. What I personally do, is download an album for free (which may not be morally right, but hear me out) and listen to it first. If i’m impressed, or if I like the artist, I’ll happily go to the store and spend $12 to purchase the hard copy of the album because: A. I like to collect CD’s and B. So I can enjoy the album front to back in my car or stereo.
What happens when the art of the CD disappears? When you buy a CD, and you open it up and there is nothing but credits of the album and a blank CD. Like Kanye West’s Yeezus for example, that was literally a blank CD in a blank jewel case. The only thing that distinguishes it from a CD you can make yourself if a piece of red tape that seals the whole thing together. Now essentially, if you bought that CD, you spent $10 of your hard earned money on something you or one of your friends could have made yourself. Or $10 for the piece of red tape that seals the album.
Kanye declared that album as an open casket for CD’s. Now what does that mean exactly? Was he proving a point? Was he wanting people to realize what we just realized in that CD’s are overpriced for something you can essentially create yourself in 10 minutes? Kanye has declared himself as an artist, and speaking artistically, a CD is a great way to throw some extra visual creativity for the buyer to enjoy before submerging himself into an album. Maybe Kanye isn’t necessarily an artist anymore but someone who enjoy’s pushing the boundaries for media attention in the music industry. That kind of shit can happen to a man that marries a Kardashian.