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Music

Say Goodbye to CDs at Best Buy

Retailers like Best Buy and Target are looking to cease CD sales.
KC
Queens, US

Best Buy will be putting an end to their CD sales starting July 1, according to a report from Billboard. While raking in just about $40 million in annual CD sales, streaming has shifted their stance as one of the highest selling music retailers in the U.S. Although CDs will be phased out, Best Buy will continue to carry vinyl for the next two years to fulfill their partnerships.

According to the same report, Target is also rethinking their stance on CDs, making changes that would go in effect as early as this spring. Right now, the retailer is not only paying for shipments of albums but also the returns of unsold albums. Moving forward, Target is looking to stock CDs on consignment, in order to eliminate the financial risk of deadstock albums.

This news is just another indicator of the CDs decline as a primary form of music consumption, which I will continue to mourn. Though the streaming era offers the tantalizing promise of much of the history of recorded music at your fingertips at any moment, there's still something lost as these more tactile media continue to phase out. Streaming can't mimic the excitement of physically opening up the jacket, looking at album art and hoping your favorite artist included lyrics. Or knowing the exact moment when your CD would skip, because scratches were definitely a thing.

I also will never forget compulsively obsessing over the order of my CD binder, which was either ranked in alphabetical order or from best to worst, depending on the day.

Just another step toward the end of an era.

Kristin Corry is a staff writer at Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.