30. CDs
Remember when the music industry was singing the new song of compact discs (CDs)? Smaller than vinyl records! No ribbons tangled mid-tune as with cassette tapes! And don’t even get us started on how much better they sounded than clunky eight-tracks!
But now that we all have boxes and dresser drawers jammed full of CDs, the tune has changed. Last year, Rolling Stone reported that CD revenue plummeted 41.5% in the first half of 2018 as compared with 2017. Modern music users are moving to getting — and storing — their tunes digitally.
Ironically, as CDs decline, an older musical medium, vinyl records, is reviving. “I definitely believe the next decade is going to be streaming plus vinyl — streaming in the car and kitchen, vinyl in the living room and the den,” musician Jack White told Rolling Stone.
