Cd quality was a step forward from vinyl.

What i don't get is how can a Mp3 compressed file, about
the 10th the size of a Cd wav, can somehow be astep
forward..............................

mp3's just a con ?

Some cds are as cheap as 2 or 3 pounds.

Long live the cd I say

M walker, worcs, worcs

The Music Industry will end up in the history books as an example of how to cause your own obsoleteness.

On top of that, how *wonderful* that we can buy the best selling releases so much cheaper at Tesco while almost all independent CD/record stores have bitten the dust.

Guido, La Linea,

The move by the Chuch of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard must undoubtedly be inspired by L. Ron Hoover's "guest" appearance on a seminal Frank Zappa vinyl release.

Peter Koeb, Geneva, Switzerland

what about the pay for musicians who aren't talentless or famous? what about the people who have record deals, but who don't make millions, just a decent living? i don't think many tears would be shed over never having another brittany spears to suffer through, but the vast majority of musicians don't get the kind of cash the super pop-stars do. like it or not, those are the people who are hit the hardest by this.

dm, ky,

The dance music world, possibly the genre thought least likely to abandon their twelve-inchers, has gone digital. It is the future. Groups can make more money on tour. Releasing an album is the justification for going on tour, and ker-ching !

Stu, Bristol,

Excellent review. It's like a fly trying to fight its way out of a Web, the more the record companies fight, they more embroiled they get and nothing comes of their efforts to get unstuck. If they were profit- motivated, instead of power motivated, they should look at models like how manga or American Idol talent is essentially promoted by fans (on the fan's dime, mind you) and the powers with the licenses merely wait for the opportunities to cash in on the most marketable.

Tracey, Detroit, US/MI

Am sorry but your out of touch when it comes to the music industry ..

I've been buyin vinyl for many years and i've seen labels go , distributors close ....And it cheaper for new labels to sell online and cd ... instead of sellin vinyl .. I used to buy material by artists that was easily available on vinyl in the past .. no try and buy ther same trk on vinyl now is a bloody nightmare ..

Many dj';s have moved from vinyl to cd simply because of the cost factor ..

7/8 quid for vinyl when you payin less than 2 quid for dl ..

how does vinyl compete .. against a dl price wise ..

colin stephen , kilbarchan , renfrewshire

Spot on. And if you want a good model for the digital world and music, all you have to do is look at the Grateful Dead, who sell all their "legit" outout on their website, yet ENCOURAGE(d) their fans not only to tape their shows but also to trade them (no cash) with other fans.

Their takings have not been hit by this; indeed, I suspect that this approach has increased their take from record label productions.

You cannot beat the internet

Jeremy Poynton, Fromeville, 51st State

'While I’m quite happy to listen to a compressed, lo-fi rockabilly recording from 1957, the same would hardly be true of a state-of-the art 2007 recording. As Bob Dylan said in a recent Rolling Stone interview, promoting his new DRM-loaded album Modern Times: “You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them. There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like – static.”'

I think Bob was talking about state-of-the-art 2007 recordings, referring to the fact that most new recordings are hideously overmastered, especially for CD, regardless of how well recorded and mixed they are. Earlier recordings are far less compressed and tend to have a much sweeter sound. For most new music there's little difference between a CD and an mp3. Both sound awful.

mark johnson, Edinburgh,

The "Church" of Scientology is doing this because soon the records will be warped, just like the ideas of Lafayette Ron Hubbard.

A vinyl lp is capable of better quality sound than a routine commercial cd, including precision and ambience of the sound and dynamic range. At the extreme it was dangerous, for example, the famous recording of Tchaikowsky's 1812 which could shatter your windows.

However, for best performance you need a good-quality turntable and cartridge. In the days when cds first came out, most people had music centres with cheap and nasty turntables. The equivalent cd players in same-priced music centres had much better sound quality. Hence cds became more popular than lps.

The sound quality of commercial cds is lower than it could be. The quality of the compressed formats used online and for downloads is downright poor. If you have spent a four-figure sum for a proper sound-system, then downloads are noticeably poor quality.

sweetalkinguy, bourne, lincolnshire

I can remember going into a branch of HMV sometime in the 80's and after having searched around asked the young girl at the counter where are your records? to be met by a blank expression, you know those things about 12 inches wide with a small hole in the middle, what a fool (me). I have since converted tracks from my vinyl collection to wav files on computer and the sound quality is far better than digital mp3 sources its ambient, warm, analogue, dynamic. So they can keep their Turkey Twizzlers.

Simon, Leeds, U.K.

Why would I buy tracks at 10 or 20 pence a time when i can get them for free ?

Jake, Haverhill,

The digital age is the best thing to happen to music, because slowly, gradually, the monstrous profits and enormous pay for talentless popstars are being rescinded.

Since the 1980s, the industry has consolidated down to a select group of 5 who control roughly 80% of the market, which has an added bonus of being able to set prices and consolidate enormous rates of return. Then the 90s came and popstars began to earn vast sums of money off the back of one catchy single. To utilise the opportunity, the music industry focused more effort on target marketing, specifically to younger generations. Accordingly, an increasing portion of CD price was marked for both profit and for marketing, regardless of the music bought. And we had to suffer the rise of some of the worst musicians ever.

Lets hope that piracy brings the pay of music back to reality: obviously too much kills off the entire industry, but just the right amount puts a cap on profits and salaries for talentless 'musicians'.

Des, Amsterdam,

Mid life crisis Bob?

Benjamin, Gloucester,