I started buying CDs around 1986 and ended up with maybe two thousand in all. In the early 2000s, I converted most of them to mp3. Since then, I have been liste

I started buying CDs around 1986 and ended up with maybe two thousand in all. In the early 2000s, I converted most of them to mp3. Since then, I have been listening to those mp3s as well as to online radio and streaming services. A few days ago, I decided I wanted to listen to some thirty-year-old CDs that I hadn't ripped, so I got them out of the cupboard and started converting them to mp3. Most are converting without any problem, but about twenty percent are unplayable because the plastic in the CD has decayed. The decay occurred most often in CDs that had foam liners in the package; the foam seems to have caused some kind of chemical disintegration in the CD itself. Most of the unconvertible CDs I've found so far have been classical music from major labels, and I've been able to buy and download digital versions from prestomusic.com. CDs made by indie bands years ago are less likely to be available online. If you want to keep not only the physical CD but the music as well, you might want to rip them sooner rather than later.