Disney tries to save the CD

[crazy4wdw]

July 18, 2007, Posted by Paul R. La Monica 12:16 pm CNNMoney

Disney tries to save the CD

The once mighty compact disc is slowly but surely on its way toward joining the cassette, 8-track and vinyl LP on top of the music format scrap heap. But Walt Disney introduced a new version of the CD in New York Wednesday that it hopes will convince more fans to keep buying multitrack discs (what we used to call “albums”) instead of just downloading singles from the Internet.

Disney’s Hollywood Records label unveiled what it is calling CDVU+, pronounced CD view plus, at the Samsung Experience store at New York’s Time Warner Center, which just so happens to be where Time Warner’s CNNMoney.com offices are located. Disney said that its pop-punk trio, the Jonas Brothers, will be the first act to release an album in this format. The self-titled CD will be released on August 7.

So what makes the CDVU+ special? The CD will launch a digital magazine that features loads of exclusive content. Disney worked with Zinio, a company that helps magazine and book publishers deliver content online, to launch this service. The CDVU+ will also allow Jonas Brothers fans to check out videos and photos, get song lyrics and create posters.

It’s an intriguing concept since it’s obvious that consumers need added incentive to actually schlep to a store to buy a CD or order it online from a place like Amazon.com and then wait for it to be mailed to them. In this day and age, more and more music fans are accustomed to instantly getting music by downloading it, whether illegally for free from music sharing sites or from legal online music stores.

“While the CD is still the primary means by which people consume music, it is also true that music fans are increasingly turning to the Internet to connect, research and consume music,” said Hollywood Records general manager Abbey Konowitch in a statement. “To address the changing consumer expectations, we’ve created a recognizable physical product that also serves as a key to unlock content that is exclusive, interactive, tailored to the band’s fans, and updatable.”

But it’s debatable if the CDVU+ will really help stem the decline in physical music sales that is plaguing the music industry. According to Nielsen SoundScan, total album sales plunged 15 percent in the first half of 2007, led by a 19 percent decline in CD sales.

For one, many musicians and labels already offer access to online content and other extras through existing CDs. What’s more, people who buy albums from places like Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes often wind up receiving downloads of digital booklets with their albums as well as added content such as exclusive non-album tracks and music videos.

And at Fortune magazine’s iMeme technology conference last week in San Francisco, a panel of digital music experts, including the keyboardist of the Talking Heads, the CEO of RealNetworks (RNWK) and an executive from major label EMI Group (EMIPY) all agreed that the digital music trend is not going away. Music companies have to adapt to the digital world and trying to keep the CD afloat may not cut it.

Still, it’s a novel attempt by Disney. And if any record label can successfully benefit from enhanced CDs, Disney might be the best-positioned to do so since much of the acts on the Hollywood Records label are geared to younger, incredibly passionate audiences who can’t seem to get enough information about their favorite musicians, be that Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus — aka Hannah Montana — and Jesse McCartney.

There was a fairly large crowd of mostly young girls waiting for the Jonas Brothers to arrive at the Time Warner Center Wednesday. And these fans braved a pretty intense thunderstorm earlier in the day. So something tells me that this demographic may be more than willing to keep buying CDs if the discs promise all the extra bells and whistles they can’t get from a digital download.

But don’t expect CDVU+ to have a major impact on the rest of the struggling industry.

 

[EUROPACL]

But don’t expect CDVU+ to have a major impact on the rest of the struggling industry.

Boy Disney just loves to throw away money at useless stuff. I've got these pictures stuck in my head.

 

[thefirebuilds]

CDs are a joke. I can't remember the last time I didn't regret paying for one. This reminds me of when those companies started pairing Cassettes with books and other garbage to try and hang on to the medium for just a few more months/year

 

[crazy4wdw]

Boy Disney just loves to throw away money at useless stuff. I've got these pictures stuck in my head.

And your point is? Roy Disney has not been on the WDC Board of Directors for years. He has no influence on the day to day operations of the company. He has some type of perfunctionary title such as Director Emeritus but has no vote on the board.

 

[bekkiz]

I read that as:
Boy, Disney (the company) chooses really stupid things to invest their money in...
(see also kid branded mp3 players and cell phones)

Not a reflection on Roy Disney, the person

 

[EUROPACL]

And your point is? Roy Disney has not been on the WDC Board of Directors for years. He has no influence on the day to day operations of the company. He has some type of perfunctionary title such as Director Emeritus but has no vote on the board.

No...BOY NOT Roy. He can waste his money on anything he likes....AV says he likes Boats.

 

[DVCconvert]

And your point is? Roy Disney has not been on the WDC Board of Directors for years. He has no influence on the day to day operations of the company. He has some type of perfunctionary title such as Director Emeritus but has no vote on the board.

crazy4wdw -
I think you need to award yourself some infraction points - "major personal mis-reading" !!

 

[Sosai X]

vinyl LP's are far from dead. They are still manufactured to this day. And there are tens of thousands (maybe even more) of people who are dedicated collectors of albums, myself being one of them. Good luck trying to buy the complete recordings of Eartha Kitt or Sandler and Young on CD. Or even from itunes. It will never happen. The only place to get this wonderful older material is on vinyl albums. I personally have over 200 records so far. When I buy a new one, I convert it to MP3 so that the record will stay as pristine as possible. To quote Montgomery Scott, "just because something is old doesnt mean you throw it away".

 

[DC7800]

Doesn't the Virgin Megastore in the West Side sell vinyl LP's? Either they had some a couple years ago, at least, or I'm really confused.

Oh, and Europacl, I own in usable condition a bunch of Betamax tapes (from your picture above) that I haven't got around to converting to DVD. Still working just fine.

 

[dementia412]

This reminds me of the oh so common warning that VCRs will not be made any more so why buy VHS. People have been claiming this for at least ten years, and not only are they still making VCRs, they still make VHS movies. Just like they keep making tape players and record players. Eventually no more VHS will be produced, they are almost all gone now... but the machines are not going anywhere soon.
But I will dance on the grave of cd's and dvd's as they die.

 

[thefirebuilds]

vinyl LP's are far from dead. They are still manufactured to this day. And there are tens of thousands (maybe even more) of people who are dedicated collectors of albums, myself being one of them. Good luck trying to buy the complete recordings of Eartha Kitt or Sandler and Young on CD. Or even from itunes. It will never happen. The only place to get this wonderful older material is on vinyl albums. I personally have over 200 records so far. When I buy a new one, I convert it to MP3 so that the record will stay as pristine as possible. To quote Montgomery Scott, "just because something is old doesnt mean you throw it away".

DJ's drive a lot of the collecting too, I met a kid once with probably 5-10,000 records in his basement on custom made shelving, all arranged by BPM. LOTTA money.

It's a little known fact that a well-cut vinyl record can outperform CD quality, and they're definetely better than casette tapes.

So as far as dead mediums how about the Mini Disc tape, the Casette, and the oh-so-cliche 8-track. CD's will be next, they're now inferior to a multitude of other mediums, even vinyls in some respects (can't scratch on 'em)

 

[EUROPACL]

Oh, and Europacl, I own in usable condition a bunch of Betamax tapes (from your picture above) that I haven't got around to converting to DVD. Still working just fine.

Edit....nevermind.

 

[thefirebuilds]

Edit....nevermind.

lol, too late, we all saw your response in our email. And to answer it, I have a SPICA powered Alfa Romeo Spider. Some of us are just masochists.

 

[DVCconvert]

lol, too late, we all saw your response in our email. And to answer it, I have a SPICA powered Alfa Romeo Spider. Some of us are just masochists.

errr...perhaps "not everyone" saw the response!!!

 

[EUROPACL]

lol, too late, we all saw your response in our email. And to answer it, I have a SPICA powered Alfa Romeo Spider. Some of us are just masochists.

Yeah I'm just going to stop posting...safer that way. Its not worth the effort Nothiing ever really chages and its not like Disney is going to anyway, just from a few posters on here. Goodbye crule crule Disneyworld. Good luck with your BetaMax collection.

 

[DVCconvert]

Yeah I'm just going to stop posting...safer that way. Its not worth the effort

By the look of it, the OP hasn't seen this thread since posting it.