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I think your memory is correct. I have all the old order details for CDs from 20 years ago and they've definitely got cheaper. I also have my old gig tickets fr

I think your memory is correct. I have all the old order details for CDs from 20 years ago and they've definitely got cheaper. I also have my old gig tickets from back then (I kept them despite some being a bit sweaty), and gigs have definitely gone up in price, maybe even 2 or 3 times the amount. I am not sure recordings should be seen as the marketing for live performance though - what about bands in another country? They will never tour here. And I will never get to see The Beatles... Also, recorded songs can sound very different to live songs, hence the "thin" nature of some of the live recordings. The ability to create a sonic soundscape on a recording is what makes it so special. Recordings should be seen as art you are paying for. Nobody seems to mind buying a painting but objects to spending money on a CD. Baffling.

bcrl 6y ago
You can't get CDs anywhere near a easily as one could 22 years ago. All the old music stores I used to go to are closed. The big chains are gone. The small indie stores are all gone. Some of the boutique websites still exist, but it has been more than 10 years since I purchased a real physical CD. One thing I do miss is that CDs are mastered far better than anything on iTunes or YouTube is these days. Modern music is compressed (not MP3 artifacts, but flattening of dynamic range) in a way that wasn't common back then. Algorithmic remastering of music by all the big websites is overdone in my opinion.
- wishinghand 6y ago
  If you're buying lossless music files, it's not a matter of CDs sounding better. The audio compression you're hearing is a result of the loudness wars and pop music trends.
- runamok 6y ago
  I've heard that was done to CDs as well. E.g. people psychologically prefer louder music so mastering practices have done this at the expense of dynamic range. This kind of explains it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war http://georgegraham.com/compress.html http://georgegraham.com/compress.html

bcrl 6y ago

You can't get CDs anywhere near a easily as one could 22 years ago. All the old music stores I used to go to are closed. The big chains are gone. The small indie stores are all gone. Some of the boutique websites still exist, but it has been more than 10 years since I purchased a real physical CD. One thing I do miss is that CDs are mastered far better than anything on iTunes or YouTube is these days. Modern music is compressed (not MP3 artifacts, but flattening of dynamic range) in a way that wasn't common back then. Algorithmic remastering of music by all the big websites is overdone in my opinion.

wishinghand 6y ago
If you're buying lossless music files, it's not a matter of CDs sounding better. The audio compression you're hearing is a result of the loudness wars and pop music trends.
runamok 6y ago
I've heard that was done to CDs as well. E.g. people psychologically prefer louder music so mastering practices have done this at the expense of dynamic range. This kind of explains it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war http://georgegraham.com/compress.html http://georgegraham.com/compress.html