Beech Tree News Network

Back in the 1980’s, Peter Giles knew that the fledgling music format known as the compact disc came with some compromises.  CD’s were smaller than vinyl record albums.  That meant the end of the 12-inch album cover and liner notes.  He told USA Today “listening to LP’s meant sitting with the album cover on your lap, appreciating the artwork and reading the story behind the music.  CD’s put an end to that practice.  But like many music lovers, I liked the convenience of the format and how startlingly clean the music sounded”, said Giles, a public relations professional who bought his first CD player in 1987.  

Giles has worked with numerous artists and record labels, as well as companies such as Yamaha and Casio, organizations including The Grammy Foundation.  “I could listen to the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd without having to flip the disc over.  The ease that the CD offered compared to the LP, the cassette and the 8-track(google it, kids)helped them become the dominant music format in the 1990’s and 2000’s until 2012, when sales of digital downloads surpassed CD’s, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Some still prefer the old-school sound of records.  Jeff Joseph, a public relations executive from Arlington, Virginia, fell in love with audio after his father bought him a AM/FM cassette player “as a reward for a strong report card”, Joseph said.  The first of his friends to own a CD player, he prefers listening to music on vinyl these days.  Jeff Samuels, 77, of Verona, New Jersey says “sound quality was not as good as vinyl but close enough”.  

In the U.S., 61%(of which I am a part) of music listeners these days stream music videos online and 57% stream songs online(of which I’m also a part), according to entertainment data tracking firm Luminate.  In comparison, 31% listen to CD’s and 12% listen to vinyl records.  61% also listen to AM/FM radio, the research firm found.  

When CD’s launched, listeners could tell there was a paradigm shift happening.  “I remember when I first saw a CD player, shortly after they released it.  It was on display in a department store.  I wasn’t sure I knew it would become the standard in a few years but it sure seemed like something big”, said Jim Lenahan, 55, an editor who lives in Ashburn, Virginia.  https://apple.news/A6Ct_GvzqT7KeJKSFpVPSXA 

I remember buying my first cd before I ever bought a player.  I know that order is in reverse.  This was probably 1995 for the CD and ’96 for the player.  That way, I already had something to listen to when I got the player.  And I wore that Confederate Railroad CD out! Good times.  That’s all for this week.  Let’s meet back here next week-same bat time, same bat channel(something else younger people reading this will have to look up). 

Below are links to my podcast, Blendertainment.

https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=w5jHghPVRmaTaP5Z...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172