The first line of this article states “The music industry’s worst nightmare may be coming true” but they think it’s CD burners and piracy. It’s actually much deeper, the music industry is obsolete.

I buy less CDs than I used to, but I’m usually not disappointed by them anymore. If I hear something I like, I’ll usually download most of the album to try it out. If I like it I buy it. Good music is earning sales while the junk is failing.

Most of my recent CD purchases been soundtracks or obscure small CDs and imports. Most of these don’t register with the RIAA, but none of the mainstream stuff appeals to me very much. Besides the obscure recordings I’ve been listening to music by friends (Gameface), small releases, and hand-labeled CDs of original music created in home studios.

Wilco’s soon to be latest album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been in my playlists a lot during the past five months, even though it hasn’t been released yet. During a dispute with their record company they posted a lo-fi version of the whole album on their website which I downloaded and saved. The album might finally get a packaged release this April and I plan to buy it.

When friends ask me about burning audio CDs with their computers I first tell them how to do it (on Macs it’s as easy as inserting a blank CD with iTunes open). Then I tell them to go to Radio Shack and buy a mini-stereo to RCA Y-adapter cable (#42-2483) and plug the computer into their stereos. Very few people burn more than one or two music CDs once they realize the convenience of MP3s. A lot of friends are buying iPods.

CDs are impractical and cumbersome. I have a shelf of 500+ CDs, all of which can fit onto one $200 portable harddrive as MP3s. CDs only play for about 45 minutes, with MP3s I can set up a playlist which won’t repeat for a month.

Piracy isn’t killing the RIAA, they’re killing themselves.