Sony & Universal to cease CD production in favor of..
Posted on 28/05/02 02:02 by                              
Sony & Universal to cease CD production in favor of..


At a convention in Munich that was held recently One large Dutch audio retailer reported that they now sold more SACD players than CD players.

One of the main record companies had decided to stop CD production and switch to SACD/CD hybrids for all new titles. As Sony cannot as yet produce hybrids, we concluded that the label in question had to be Universal.

A few days after the Convention, we contacted someone from the record industry, who finally told us the whole story. He confirmed Universal's switch, but added that Sony Music will soon open a hybrid SACD pressing plant somewhere in the US, which will allow SACD prices to fall to around $23 or even below.

All of this finally explains the official announcement about Sonopress not only doubling its capacity but also launching that second production line. It also suggests that the record companies have decided that the CD copy-protection schemes tried out in the last few years are lost causes, and are turning to the well-protected SACD.


Due to the holiday weekend, we were unable on Friday to get anyone at Sony or Universal in the US to comment on this report. We will update our information as soon as we can do so. What about SACD? Can it survive Piracy?

Source: Stereophile

Reactions
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By stvastva, Tue 28 May 2002 02:20
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I am hoping the DVD-A format becomes the standard - they sound so very good - I have not found SACD to be as dramatic....
By Guest, Tue 28 May 2002 03:55
stop making regualr CDs ????????????? I do not believe that sh*t
By Guest, Tue 28 May 2002 08:11
Quality,progress etc all is great,but what about the 23 bucks? CD is allready too expensive !!! puke
By Guest, Tue 28 May 2002 08:49
:4 Talk about waste of time and money! What's the point? SACD/CD hybrids are supposedly playable on both regular Cd players and "Super Audio CD" players. As long as that is the case, they can probably be casually copied and ripped -- how could they not? And the installed base of cd players is so huge that they will not have the chance to try and gradually ween people off the compact disc format.. The minute they switch from CD/SACD hybrids to SACD-only, will be the minute most people will start massivelly purchasing bootlegged CD versions of their "SACD-only" crap! If they think current piracy is bad, they're in for a surprise! This is probably going to the dustbins of history along with betamax, as well as circuit city divx, dataplay discs and other crappy formats that inconvenience users in order to appease the greedy "entertainment" corporations. The latter are pushing the boundaries of accepted behaviour here, and contributing to what may become one of the most spectacular consumer backlashes of the decade for themselves.. And, on retrospect, that may be a good thing, too. The more that people get to know the true face of the music/film industries' corporate greed , the easier our struggle against DMCA and in favour of fair use rights becomes! Come on, Sony and Universal! Please stop publishing for our expensive car, home, and computer cd players, and don't bother with hybrid format shenanigans either. We'd like nothing more than the chance to bury you alive -- Once And For All!!
By the111, Tue 28 May 2002 08:52
Bring on blu-ray! DVD has flunked as a data format. Smilie
By Farad, Tue 28 May 2002 09:13
FaradWho needs SACD? 2 ears = 2 channels If I were running in circles I could tell that I had 5.1 channels, but I'm not. Front-left sounds the same as Back-left. CD quality is good enough! Even the most psycho audiophiles can't discern between CD quality and 256kbps lossy mp3. Trying to make consumers pay extra for SACD capabilities that they'll never use is just promoting piracy. Stupid.
By Sherrif, Tue 28 May 2002 09:45
said it before , will say it again only when greedy corporate bosses and sales promo agents start thinking like consumers and not shareholders will things change.....:7
By Guest, Tue 28 May 2002 13:17
Let me see if I have this right.. Their original problem was that they were charging the consumer too much for a CD. Now they introduce a 'Super Audio' copy protected CD for an additional $5? C'mon. Most people aren't bat-eared audiophiles that claim to be able to descern the slightest audio imperfection on their $10,000 stereo equipment. For most people, a regular CD, heck even an mp3 is quality enough. We listen to music in our noisy cars and homes. We don't need this crap.
By nsumner, Tue 28 May 2002 14:30
They just miss the point. Consumers on mass are already complaining about the cost of a CD. Consumers who have never pirated before will start now. Yes SACD may be much harder to copy, but so was DVD:7 Even should we never be able to "copy it" you can never stop me from taking the output of my stereo to the input of my audio card (which can take digital input) and I have a high quality wave file, convert to MP3 and ba boom. Who cares how I got the high quality MP3 same end result nobody buying $25 CDs. Yup the record labeles are their own worst enemies in this piracy fight. Record Labels here is a pointer. Yes there are pirates who will pirate even if a CD cost $5 or $3 or even $1. Record companies if a CD cost $25 there are also people who will pay. However there is a happy balance to maximize profit. At $25 all you will do is get most users who have never pirated before pirating. Then charging $10 still won't bring sales back near today's levels.
By Lore, Tue 28 May 2002 14:48
Farad said: "audiophiles can't discern between CD quality and 256kbps lossy mp3"-->TRUE, so why pay more for those SACD ?
By whitetie, Tue 28 May 2002 16:21
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely! Let's see... Greed corrupts and absolute greed corrupts absolutely! The RIAA and MPAA are parasites on the backside and private parts of socitey! Let'em bring on their SACD crap. Afterall monopolies will be monopolies! Wink
By chknpikr, Thu 30 May 2002 18:39
I agree with most of what is being said above, but I would like to disagree with the sacd bashing going on. I own a dvd/sacd player (just a cheap sony one) and I have found sacd to sound considerably better than cd on my $3000 stereo system. To me, worth the small price increase. I don't believe that sacd will do anything to reduce piracy, but I do promote the introduction of better sounding audio formats (DVD-A as well), regardless of the motives behind their introductions. As stated previously the markets decide the success of the product in the end, so the motives of the industry are really irrelevant. I encourage all music listeners to try these new formats at home on their own systems (don't listen to anything at stores; you never get to appreciate what you are hearing when auditioning at a store) before passing judgement. I agree that cds are too expensive as are the new formats, but I have to confess I still buy tons of music (cds and sacds)and movies even though i have a high speed internet connection and a cd burner. The reason for this is because as a consumer, I am on the whole still pleased with the products being produced by the industry. I love dvds (to be honest i can't stand divx), I love cds (I still buy albums because of cover art and the fact that I always like having originals) and I love sacd. As long as the industry keeps music/movies under $30US (I know stuff is a lot more expensive in Europe; I guess I'm lucky living in North America), with perceived quality determining somewhat the pricing system, then I have to admit I'm happy. Of course I would love if things were cheaper, but boycotting the industry simply reduces my pleasure and in the end has very little effect on the industry. At the end of the day, I will listen to my music and watch my movies and be happy as long as the industry is not totally sucking me dry. It's the best comprise I believe one can hope for in a market driven society. just some thoughts from a member of the north american middle class

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