Down, but not out

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This article was published 03/11/2018 (2707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The demise of the compact disc is a distant thought during a walk around the aisles of a Sunrise Records outlet in Winnipeg, where consumers browse rows of CDs stocked in the hundreds as pop songs play in the background.

Some shoppers pause to see the employee CD picks, each one beside a name on the display case at the Polo Park location.

Among the albums still in plastic wrap are Noonday Dream by Ben Howard, Seeing the Unseeable by The Flaming Lips, and Kult 45 by Otep, on this particular week.

Sunrise Records is one of the last stores in the city to boast an impressive CD selection, from recent releases to local songwriter debuts, TV show soundtracks to classic rock albums.

Major chains such as Walmart Canada have downsized their stock in recent years, if they still sell CDs at all. Best Buy Canada stopped selling CDs in stores and online two years ago and HMV Canada shuttered operations in 2017.

Perhaps surprisingly then, Sunrise Records is expanding its presence in Winnipeg.

The Canadian entertainment retailer held a grand opening for its new store in St. Vital Centre last month. The new shop is its third in Winnipeg, increasing their brick-and-mortar tally to 81 across Canada.

CD sales account for more than one-third of the company’s profits, said Chris Dipardo, vice-president of stores and operations. Their bestselling product flip flops between CDs, and DVD and Blu-ray discs. “There is a lot of life left in CDs,” Dipardo said in a statement.

Year over year, CD profits only decline about one per cent, he said. The decline from mid-2017 to mid-2018 is just shy of 20 per cent when it comes to total CD sales across the country, according to Nielsen Canada.

“I’d be in denial if I didn’t think CDs might eventually go out of style,” said Paul Shaver, vice-president of entertainment for Nielsen Canada, a research company that tracks consumer trends. “It’s not happening next year by any means; it’ll be a slow evolution.”

The research company’s mid-year report on music published this summer suggests Canadians are getting rid of their CD players in favour of digital streaming services.

The on-demand audio stream volume reached a six-month record of more than 26 billion between January and June 2018.

“With streaming, CDs have now become clutter,” Shaver said. However, the industry analyst said there are still “some decent players” such as Sunrise Records and Costco that carry CDs, in addition to lots of mom-and-pop record stores across the country that sell the product.

A handful of specialty shops is still operating in Winnipeg, although most of them don’t carry any of the latest hits, only classics and collector items.

“The older and the more obscure, the better. You will never find a copy of Nicki Minaj on our shelves, ever. Most of the titles that we specialize in were released decades before the invention of a compact disc,” said Jeff Bishop, who owns Sound Exchange in downtown Winnipeg.

Contrary to the country-wide trend of decreasing sales, Bishop said his store has seen a steady, incremental interest in the CD — “a format that people thought was dead.” None of their customers brags about the number of songs they have on their iPhone, but they do boast about their CD and vinyl collections.

Bishop said he thinks “we’re going backwards in our love of technology.” With all the dings and notifications on a smartphone, it can be distracting to stream music, ruining the overall experience for a listener, he said.

Lucky for him, Bishop said people are returning to the good old-fashioned CD, so he doesn’t think he will abandon the discs. Neither will another local indie retailer, Into The Music, owner Greg Tonn said.

New and used CD sales accounted for as much as 67 per cent of the music store’s sales 10 years ago, at both the Exchange District and Osborne Village locations.

That number is now less than 20 per cent, but Tonn said they will always stock the product as long as sentimental listeners and collectors buy them.

“A collection up on your wall has more personal meaning than a file on your computer; some people still see a relationship between the music and a physical artifact,” Tonn said.

CDs stocked in their stores sell for between $5 to $8, but they have a popular bargain section with $1 and $2 CDs.

Similar to Bishop, Tonn said he sees a “reset” of CDs in the future. “It’s not going to be a coming back like vinyl did, vinyl had lots of history. CDs have always had this more kind of utilitarian thing.”

Initiatives such as Record Store Day have helped the vinyl industry flourish.

Nielsen Canada’s mid-year report shows the total physical album sales, meaning both CDs and vinyl sales, in Canada are down 14 per cent.

If vinyl sales are isolated, however, they have actually increased by 67 per cent over this time last year.

CD sales are down 18 per cent.

While acknowledging vinyl is a great medium that allows people to listen to music without the annoying smartphone notifications, Bishop said it can also be more expensive and requires a record player.

“People who say the only way to listen to music is on vinyl are snobs,” the Sound Exchange owner said.

“CD players are a convenient, extremely portable way of taking your music everywhere.”

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie