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Declining CD Sales

Date: Sep 10 2007

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Do you remember the first time you listened to a CD? It was amazing, wasn’t it? The sound was so clear and you could skip right to the track you wanted to listen to, unlike a cassette tape.

It’s hard to believe that CDs are a thing of the past, but it’s about to be true. CD sales have gone down 30% in the last two years and there’s no indication that they’re going to get any better, because downloading music is only getting more and more popular.

While a lot of artists and people in the industry are really excited about downloading, the death of the CD is really upsetting to a lot of people, particularly record companies and people who work in record stores.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Devan

Marni: So, uh, when was the last time you bought a CD?

Devan: Well, I actually work at a record store, so I buy CDs all the time. But a lot of people aren’t anymore, though.

Marni: It’s true. it’s a huge problem, I think, for a lot of people. Do you work at Music Millennium?

Devan: I work at Music Millennium, yeah, and we’re going out of business because nobody’s buying CDs anymore. It’s all Internet, iPods. Nobody has any interest in the market anymore.

Marni: It’s true. My boyfriend works in the music industry and he’s really worried about his job, actually, because he’s a music broker, he makes CDs for a living, and people aren’t buying them, therefore bands aren’t making as much. Really it’s an interesting problem. I hadn’t thought about it, but I haven’t bought a CD in over a year and it’s because it’s so easy, so readily available on the Internet.

Devan: Record stores around town are dropping left and right. I think musicians will always have careers because they can tour, but the CD market, it’s really starting to disappear rapidly. It’s something you never really thought about when you were a kid.

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Discussion

Devan works at a record store, so she buys CDs pretty regularly, but she and Marni agree that a lot of people aren’t buying them anymore.

In fact, the store Devan works at, Music Millennium, is closing because business is so bad. Marni’s boyfriend makes CDs, so business is bad for him, too. She admits that she hasn’t bought a CD in a year.

Musicians don’t have too much to worry about because they can always play live, Devan says, but CDs are about to become extinct.

What’s your preferred format for listening to music? Do like Mp3s, CDs, records, or tapes the best? When is the last time you bought a CD?

Comments

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qiao wang

China

Me too.I have not boutgh CD since four or five years

starfighteradara

Philippines

I still buy CDs because I like having physical copies of the music I like. Often, I buy the disc and save the songs on my PC as mp3 files which I can then bring around. There's nothing like reading about the artist on CD booklets. I do think, though, that eventually, CDs may disappear and become defunct. After all, it's easier and maybe cheaper to just purchase music online. That way, we also use less plastic which leads to less waste. Also, it's annoying to have to pay full price for a CD when all you want is one song. Maybe record stores could adapt to this trend by offering the sale of mp3s? If this is possible, music can be legally downloaded and the store employees can keep their jobs.

irena-bueno

Russian Federation

Id like my CD. And i will buy CD my favorite musician but it s truth thats mp3 its very comfortably.

wuthering heights

Turkey

one day Cd is favarute .one day mp3 is favourtie.Everything is going to change.but we cant stop or lımıt our tme.New is always beautiful and interesting

SILVER CASIOS

Syrian Arab Republic

well, it is such a disappointing feeling to see ppl ignoring so many things 4 just adjusting to present technological circumstances….this is a bit strange ,but maybe in my country things are more comfortable especially when ppl in here are still intrested in CDs and another stuff like tapes

Mallow

China

If the music is really pretty good, i will buy!

deepsea66

China

i am newer in there , we like chatting with you

Ippei

Japan

I 'll buy CD, when a musician and music are pleased. Because I want to keep it all the time.

Ippei

Japan

I was mistaken in operation. I think this lesson is 5 stars.

shabnam1

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

one of my hobbies is watching movies ,so i like buying cds.

carlosbertholdi

Brazil

Physical album in music industry will always exist. Now if it will be CD or DVD or just a CD with MP3 files inside, rather than audio tracks, I don’t know. What’s happening now is just a narrowing of the market, because some people who always bought their music, now have the opportunity to buy just the music they want to listen to, instead of the whole album of the bands that they don’t like very much, but they like just one or two musics, then they go to the itunes or a website and buy just the tracks they like.
I think people who are fan of some band or make collection of albums will always bought the original physical albums.

metrotec3

Mexico

I think that CD is dying and we don´t may make nothing at respect, we would going to the technology.

funcool

Spain

CD has been very useful!, you can use it like scarecrow! ;-)

avis

Indonesia

i buy illegal profit cd. it's much cheaper than to buy a three times more expensive original cd. and people in my country aren't really use internet for downloading. we can't afford it. whereas it's hard to find an internet-rent service that has a high speed provider. if there's one that has it then i rather buy the illegal one because it's still cheaper.sucks.

nashmuqeet

Pakistan

I am not buying any more CDs

efsun.333@hotmail.com

Turkey

i think,using mp3 or ipods are better than using cd.i consider that most people think like me.then,what will happen the the cd producers,record markets and so…?there should be a solution…........