“I haven’t seen a CD in years.”
I am the parent of a 19-year-old and 22-year-old. I serve on the Team interlinc Advisory Board, and I am always interested in what young people are thinking about their music and media.
Last week, I had the chance to be in the car with several eighth grade students and I thought, “What the heck, I’ll see what they are listening to and how they are engaging their music.”
Although I love Spotify and am an avid user, I have to admit I still have CDs that I listen to in the car and in my home stereo.
I must say I was shocked when I asked the kids if they ever listen to music on CDs. Only one of the three had ever actually played a CD, and that was on his parents’ player, not his own!
Another guy chimed in, “I haven’t seen a CD in years. I don’t even have a way to play one if I had one!”
At that point, I realized the game is over for teenagers and physical CDs. And it totally makes sense—they want to listen to what they want when they want it and where they want it. Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube meet those requirements. CDs never have and never will be able to meet those needs.
Another aspect of music consumption involves the discovery process. In addition to just about every “Classic Rock” CD, I also own an extensive Beethoven CD library. However, I never bought his Violin Concerto. I had heard parts of the first movement in music stores, but always ruled it out based on those few seconds at the beginning. Spotify, however, played the second movement in the mix of songs which was evolving based on my likes and dislikes. Spotify figured out I’d like the second movement, and boy were they right! This is only one of many examples I could describe about my discovery of “new” music over the last 18 months as a Spotify member.
Today’s students are all operating at warp speed when it comes to music discovery! They won’t browse CD’s at a store or wait to hear something on the radio!
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