Hello Chip,

Yes indeed, cheers to Real Gone Music and their belief and success in the CD format. The death of the CD has been greatly exaggerated for many years as consumers simply get their music in a number of different ways, but according to Billboard Magazine, the Bible of the recording industry, the CD format is still the number one way consumers purchase albums across the spectrum. Almost half a billion dollars in revenue on almost 100 million physical sales in 2017 are not small numbers.

Yes, the young whippersnappers  tend to stream, but I remember when the industry thought digital downloads were going to be the future salvation of the industry. The good news is that the large labels, including most recently Sony Music, are reporting large profits again because of their diversified income and their death was greatly predicted several years ago. 

I think the demand for CD's will remain with a dedicated, but significant fan base and there will always be people that want a physical product with artwork and liner notes for their very favorite artists and albums. The resurgence of vinyl, though I think is close to reaching its apex, has demonstrated that in spades. I think CD's will eventually be perceived like vinyl is today as a superior audio format that is sought out by dedicated collectors in surprisingly significant numbers even though the market will be greatly fragmented with streaming and possibly a new a new digital format that we cannot even predict what form it will take.

Best regards,

Steve