Frontiers Music Srl to continue making CDs and LPs as long as enough people to purchase them
Frontiers Music Srl to continue making CDs and LPs as long as enough people to purchase them
US retail store giants Best Buy and Target are apparently turning their back on CDs as Best Buy is pulling CDs from its stores while Target wants to change its model by no longer paying labels in advance for CDs.
The following message was posted on Frontiers Music Srl‘s Facebook yesterday while sharing a Billboard article entitled “Target Wants to Stop Paying Labels for CDs It Doesn’t Sell; Best Buy to Pull CDs”:
“No more CDs to be sold at Best Buy, kids. Time to start embracing your local indie store and buying online from band & label websites and Amazon too.”
This was followed by the following message posted on Frontiers Music Srl‘s Facebook page earlier yesterday:
“Lots of comments and opinions on our post from last night about Best Buy preparing to stop selling CDs in the U.S. later this year. Rest assured, we will continue to make and sell CDs and LPs for our releases as long as there are enough fans who want to purchase them. For those who were expressing upset that Best Buy is going to be leaving the CD selling business, I just want to remind you that the big box retailers are not record stores. CDs are just another product they sell and as with all products they sell, when the numbers stop adding up, they remove the product from the shelves. This is a great opportunity for you, as a fan, to find your local independent record store (check www.recordstoreday.com to see if you have one near you) and begin supporting them. If you don’t have an independent record store near you or getting to a shopping mall is more convenient for you, then F.Y.E. still has stores in malls that sell CDs and vinyl (check www.fye.com to see if you have one near you). And of course we encourage you to take advantage of online shopping too and purchase our albums from our band’s online stores, our webstore (www.frontiers.shop), Amazon, or your preferred online retailer.
For those of you who have embraced digital music, there is also of course digital downloads available at the usual suspects and we encourage you, if you haven’t, to try the streaming services. We understand some of you insist on buying physical product and we greatly appreciate your support, but the streaming services really are a dream come true for any hardcore music fan. You can hear practically any piece of recorded music from history with a few keystrokes. If you must have physical product, then you should view the streaming services as the ultimate listening station for you to “try before you buy”. You money is precious, so why not hear an album before you spend your hard earned money on it?
As for the future of CDs, I suspect it’ll be some time before they disappear, if at all. Computers and cars no longer come with CD players and stereo/speaker manufacturers have largely moved on to wireless speakers (Sonos and Bose both make pretty amazing products in that department and Echo, Google Home, etc. will also play music directly from streaming services through their own speakers or connect to your wireless speakers for a fun listening experience), so the likelihood of a comeback seems minimal, if not outright non-existent. I think CDs will eventually become something you buy strictly through band and label stores and at shows. Limited edition releases that become collector’s items. Essentially the equivalent of what the cassette “resurgence” is now.
As for vinyl, you’ll continue to see more LP releases from us (upcoming releases from Stryper, Dokken, and more will all be available on vinyl, in various colors) as we all enjoy that formats “comeback”, for however long it may last.
We see and hear all the comments from the fans that think buying physical product is the only way or the best way to support the bands, but the truth is that there is no best way to do it and we shouldn’t be lecturing one another on how to listen to music. Listening to the music, however you may choose to do it, is how you support an artist. Recommending a band to a friend is how you support an artist. Buying a ticket for a show and/or buying a t-shirt is how you support an artist. Streaming a song or album on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc. is how you support an artist. Watching a video on YouTube is how you support an artist. Sharing a video from YouTube on your Facebook is how you support an artist. Liking an Instagram post is how you support an artist. You get the point…simply being engaged with them and enjoying their art, however you see fit, is how you support an artist.
We don’t care how you hear or consume our music, we just care that you hear it. Our main concern is that you actually LISTEN to the music our bands create. You can do that whatever way suits you best, whether it be by buying a physical product, downloading MP3s, streaming songs/albums, watching videos on YouTube, or however you listen to music. We know there are a million choices of things to listen to released every week and we appreciate you taking any of your time to listen to what Frontiers has to offer.
Looking forward to the future!”
– Nick, General Manager, North America”