Is the CD era finished?

Conveniently anonymous industry sources cited by Side Line Music Magazine point to a major label initiative to phase out CDs by the end of 2012. According to the report, only premium, limited edition CDs would continue to be manufactured with most of those sales going through online outlets, rather than traditional record stores.

Hypebot, who reported the story remain a tad dubious, pointing out the damage such a move would do to music retail as we know it – especially to genres which have shown a slow digital take-up.

If such a move was to occur though, one of the difficulties to be faced was pointed out by Michael Brandvold on Music Think Tank. Brandvold bemoans the complicated licensing issues that sometimes stop customers from one part of the world from purchasing music released in another. He questions the need for individual licensing for separate territories, a concept he considers to be old school and rendered pointless by the fact that, you know, the internet is everywhere and people, you know, illegally download stuff from it.