5 Reasons CDs Could Be Better Than Downloads

There are few of us remaining, I suppose. We are the dinosaurs of the discs, a depleting flock of nostalgic reptiles that roam music stores for actual CDs, instead of merely downloading albums from iTunes or Amazon.com.

Though we are certainly a minority, just the other night we were the only customers in the local Best Buy store. After I found a CD of Queen's The Game to finally (and reluctantly) replace my vinyl edition, I got in line at the only open register.

There in front of me was someone else buying an actual CD. I could not see the title, but I was relieved to see a fellow anachronism there, buying nothing but a CD. The cashier placed his square plastic purchase in a small bag, and the fellow dinosaur left the impersonal future to enjoy the nostalgia of his disc.

As my CD was being scanned, another fellow got in line behind me. I glanced with near joy at the products he intended to purchase. He had three CDs in his hand! I realized I was not alone. There were others, probably even more than the three of us, right there in my town.

As I listened to my CD in the car stereo on the way home, I contemplated what could be done to keep my species extant. The primary responsibility would obviously fall to the record companies, who need to make buying CDs more enticing than downloading from iTunes. I then came up with a list of five things that all CDs should contain.

1. Lyrics: Even if the words have to be printed on a cheap paper insert, all CDs should contain the lyrics. I was miffed recently when I purchased the Broken Bells CD, when I learned that the pretty pamphlet inside the flap contained nothing but pictures. A lyricist as serious as James Mercer should not be ashamed to display his poetry.

2. Song titles on the disc: When the disc gets separated from its case, I should be able to look at the disc to find out the number of each track. Too often, artists place some crazy design on the disc, making it nearly impossible to identify without playing it.

3. Length of songs on the case: I want to know how long a certain song lasts. Is it 3 minutes, or eight, or even ten? How difficult would it be to include three little numbers and a colon beside the title of each track?

4. Number the songs: While listening to the Broken Bells album I just purchased, I wanted to know which track I was listening to. My car stereo indicated that it was track 6, so I checked the case to see what the title was. The songs were listed, but there was no number beside them. Track 1 was obvious to identify, as well as the last title. The ones in between I had to count individually to identify the title. I know that counting up to ten is not difficult, but neither is placing a little digit in front of each track listing on the CD case.

5. Artist and Title on the side of the case: I sort my CDs alphabetically, so I can find them more easily. Sometimes, though, the artist and title are omitted from the side of the case. In order to see which CD I am looking at I must pull the entire case and look at the front of it. Again, it's not a difficult task, but having the artist and title on the side of the case would have saved some time and effort.

Each detail listed above gives the actual CD an advantage over downloaded CDs. Perhaps if record companies incorporated these inexpensive and simple details into all their productions, more music fans might choose to get the actual CD instead of the going through the dehumanized iTunes process.