The Evolution Of The CD

The Evolution of CD Sales

What is a CD?

• A CD or compact disc is a digital optical disc data storage format that was originally developed as a means to store and play audio recordings but later was adapted to also store data. • They first began to gain popularity in

the 1980s but it wasn’t until the 1990s that they became globally popular. The first CD single was reported to be in 1985 and was ‘Dire Straits’ with ‘Brothers in Arm’.

What Happened?• There has been much talk in recent years of the ‘death

of the CD’ as music become mores and more accessible on the internet etc for free. This issue really came forward in the last 5 or so years as the internet is more available to more people and there are more shortcuts and loopholes that mean that people no longer have the same limitations.

• This has caused a decline in CD sales as shown in the next slide…

WHY?

So How Do They Still Make Money?

T-Shirts and Merchandise

• Selling merchandise and paraphernalia has been ‘a staple in touring artists' revenue streams for decades’. Particularly for pop stars that have a large ‘tween’ fan base (eg. One Direction), as their fans' parents will pay for everything. As well as this market, there is also a large demand for the merchandise of ‘rock veterans’ like Iron Maiden and The Who, who have very distinction band logos that are popular on t-shirts etc. For a band like One Direction, they could potentially make $225,000 per show from merchandise. Unfortunately, not all artists are able to perform in the massive arenas and have a tweeny-pop fan base.

Movie and TV Licensing • When you watch a film or TV series and like a song in it, or even

just register that there is music, that is helping that artist. For example, a song in the credits of a movie could bring in between $250,000-$600,000. About half usually goes to the performer, with the other half going to whoever owns the song's publishing rights.