Tech: Now CDs are obsolete-What do buskers sell?

Subject: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 21 May 23 - 10:09 AM

Broad sheets?

Well... for the past, oh fifteen years or so, I've been working 12 -18 hours a day, seven days a week, running a theater, museum and tavern. Haven't been busking in all that time. Now that the State of New York stole my home and businesses, and Genie and I are homeless and broke, and in a shelter, I'm getting my Uilleann pipes reeded again, and putting my old group together, those of us who are still alive and in touch. Now comes the dilemma. Most of the money I made busking came from CD sales. Nobody has CD players any more, busker friends are selling VYNAL records! What's a busker to do, sell broad sheets? Any ideas friends and neighbors of the road?

Best
Lorcan

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Stanron
Date: 21 May 23 - 11:26 AM

Most people have, or have access to, a PC and most PCs have a CD/DVD drive. So selling CDs may well be viable still. They can take racks they like and save them to other media.

Vinyl records are now having a resurgence. There must be companies that will do short order pressings for you to test the market.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 23 - 11:27 AM

There is a case before the Supreme Court this session concerning whether a government must give the remainder of a sale back to the original owner when property is seized and sold in this forced manner (once taxes are paid, the rest is profit). It sounded like most of the justices were leaning toward insisting the remaining money be returned to the original owners. NPR story.

I'd think a few CDs would be better than none. Less scary than offering small thumb drives with music for sale (because who knows what else might be on a thumb drive?)

Stanron, in a recent discussion I heard that there is a shortage of vinyl, but there are boutique shops for pressing LPs. Marketplace report.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 21 May 23 - 11:59 AM

I went to see Le Vent du Nord last night. They were selling loads of CDs and even tune books. I'm perfectly capable of downloading stuff but I prefer to have a physical album as backup. CDs are in no way obsolete.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,jim bainbridge
Date: 21 May 23 - 01:39 PM

Hi Stanron- I recently looked for a new PC and found that new versions do NOT include a CD/DVD slot!
I was able to sort out my old PC, but people should be aware of the situation.
Downloading is OK but how will it be possible in future to see or hear stuff which is personal & simply not available on Spotify or Netflix?-


I am reminded of Bill Bryson when confronted many years ago with incomprehensible computer instructions- he complained to the company, but complimented them on the little push button slot which was a perfect spot for his cup of coffee (floppy disc)

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 21 May 23 - 03:42 PM

It's true that PCs don't have onboard CD/DVD reader writers these days, but external ones are readily available for around £35 in the UK. They appear to be cheaper in the US.

LFF

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: DaveRo
Date: 21 May 23 - 03:59 PM

How about a printed booklet, like a CD has (or should have) with a link - a QR code perhaps - that can be used to download an mp3 album. Something that looks worth paying for.

I recently bought a secondhand CD (£13). I already had the album off Spotify, and I wanted a better-quality copy, but most of all I wanted the CD booklet with the words, pictures, and details of the musicians.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Stanron
Date: 21 May 23 - 04:49 PM

Yes CD/DVD drives that work with a USB connection are available and inexpensive. Also a booklet that comes with the CD could be offered at a larger size as an optional extra. I find that with old age, trying to read stuff with a magnifying glass is becoming very frustrating. A large print out could be valuable.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST
Date: 21 May 23 - 04:58 PM

As I write this, there are nearly 7.5 million CDs listed for sale on eBay. They wouldn't be there if they were "obsolete".

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 May 23 - 06:16 PM

I see buskers here with real CDs! I've also seen some offering downloads, & maybe the performers attracting huge audiences in booked spots in retail areas only have downloads, but as they are not to my taste, I've never got close enough to see.   

CDs were selling at our National Folk Festival last month. And friends recently sent me their latest CD.

I was given a download card as thanks by a performer last year at a concert where I was volunteering at the door. I've only played it once as I never think of it or the few MP3s I have in iTunes - now that I'm reminded of if I might play it again ... if I remember, but it's soooo much easier to pick up a CD from the small pile beside my desk or the 2 shelves above. And I do like reading about what I'm listening to.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 21 May 23 - 06:35 PM

Stilly River Sage - Many thanks... However, the issue isn't taxes, it's a UCC mortgage, they were overlooked in the COVID protections. So a company is buying them up, running up the interest and expenses and taking property from folks who are in this position because they followed the law and closed for COVID.
I think I will put together some new CDs, though they do look like the industry is try to get rid of them for pay per use media...

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Helen
Date: 21 May 23 - 10:17 PM

We went into our usual music and electronics store this morning which usually has a large part of the floorspace taken up with CD's and DVD's. When we asked where they were - here am I thinking, OMG, the Mudcat thread was correct and this big national retail chain is not selling physical copies any more - we were told that the store is being renovated but CD's and DVD's are available at their other stores nearby.

Whew! Sigh of relief! LOL

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 May 23 - 10:38 PM

Many performers are selling nicely-printed download cards for their albums. Sure a lot more portable than a box of CDs.
Golden Bough sells a very nicely designed flash drive with all of their albums on one flash drive, so I set up something similar for Debby McClatchy.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 21 May 23 - 11:47 PM

I rather prefer the idea of CDs, like little record albums. I don't know... I still have to busk up enough to get a crate amp, or have they been made obsolete? Not very fond on this century, I must say.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GerryM
Date: 22 May 23 - 03:02 AM

Joe, there's a flash drive with all of Debby McClatchy's albums on it? How do I get one?

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: matt milton
Date: 22 May 23 - 04:53 AM

Every busker I see in London has a credit/debit card reader. Don't often see them selling CDs but sometimes - in the more touristy places like Leicester Square.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 22 May 23 - 07:15 AM

Technical note: I took a CD to my computer some time ago, and found it wouldn't play in the built-in CD/DVD. It appears that newer CD/DVD drives for computers sometimes lack the internal firmware to play CDs as audio, but only for extracting data; the giveaway is the lack of a headphone socket on the front. Presumably this makes the drive cheaper, as the audio firmware is licensed. (I've no idea whether or not there's open-source software to bridge this gap.)

Upshot: to get audio CDs to play on my newer computer, I'll need to transplant the CD drive from the older system, or buy an external drive which is audio-CD literate. Sigh.

Hope this helps.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: leeneia
Date: 22 May 23 - 01:07 PM

We bought a 2021 Subaru from the dealer and it had a CD player in it.

My car was broken into by teenage boys three months ago, and they stole all my CD's. Somebody must want CD's. (A neighbor saw them.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: DaveRo
Date: 23 May 23 - 03:47 AM

I can believe that some cheap computer USB CD/DVD drives are unable to play Audio CDs but I'm pretty sure it's not a licensing issue. More likely they just left out the ability to decode CDDA tracks into PCM (wav) files for the computer's media player to play - because that's not what it was designed for.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 23 May 23 - 04:04 AM

> We bought a 2021 Subaru from the dealer and it had a CD player in it.

Different supplier, methinks. My newer machine is an ex-works one, bought in bulk down to a price; domestic-computer suppliers think in terms of extras that they can charge the customer for. Next time I'm in a computer store, I'll (try to remember to) check their drives for headphone sockets.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 23 May 23 - 07:08 AM

> More likely they just left out the ability to decode CDDA tracks into
> PCM (wav) files for the computer's media player to play

No need to transcode: audio-capable drives use the same decode-to-analogue kit as were used in the original CD drives. The analogue signal comes out of the headphone socket on the front, and is also carried by a stereo lead (left, right and earth) to be mixed into whatever the digital-audio circuitry produces. Take out that lead, and there's no sound, as one of my, erm, cusstomers found out the hard way when I'd valeted a machine destined for use in a clean room.

.... Hm: libcdio (esp libcdio-cdda2) looks interesting. I'll have to see whether that's on the desktop system in question. Thanks for the clue. We now return you to your scheduled thread.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: DaveRo
Date: 23 May 23 - 07:33 AM

Yes, early CDR drives worked like that. They had a 4-wire connector in addtion to the IDE ribbon cable which took the audio to the sound card. I still have one - but it works (in Linux) without that cable - and has no headphone socket.

I don't think SATA CD/DVD drives ever had that connector.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 May 23 - 09:05 AM

Headphone jack was always missing on all small form factor/half-height optical drives. Used to be laptops only but they became 'standard' on small desktops before they started going away entirely.

Lots of problems with default OS autorun/play and digital audio settings butting heads with weird 'extras' (PDFs etc) and setup files on some audio CDs. I've found most anything will play from within VLC.

Auto electronics began dropping all physical media inputs a few years back. No CD or USB. It's all Bluetooth and smart phones. AM radio is next up on the chopping block.

Busking is mostly done on Ytube or TikTok these days. Bigger audience and it's one-click to your Patreon account.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 23 - 10:36 AM

My 2017 SUV has a 5-disk CD changer under the fancy screen for Sirius XM and the radio and a spot for plugging a mini-plug for an mp3 player or iPod. And Bluetooth. An embarrassment of riches. I still prefer to get the CD and rip a copy for digital use but have the disk as backup. The only thing the car doesn't have is the LP player (though I have a couple in the house, along with all of the vinyl I've collected over the years.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 23 May 23 - 10:46 AM

Thanks for the heads-up, Phil: VLC is likely to do nicely, provided it's not banned from Debian for some reason. I'll report progress as and when there's progress to report.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 23 May 23 - 11:10 AM

"Every busker I see in London has a credit/debit card reader. Don't often see them selling CDs but sometimes - in the more touristy places like Leicester Square."

I don't know about New York but a lot of people in London have just stopped using cash. Over here even some of the beggers now have card readers.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 23 May 23 - 11:48 AM

I've not seen buskers in New York with credit card readers yet... maybe that's a good thing. It rather defeats a good bit of the best reason for busking, I must say, when traveling around the world. I'm a freeborn man of the travelling people, I've got no fixed abode, but I have an account with the Bank of Ireland.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 23 May 23 - 02:18 PM

It may be just a London thing but over here a lot of people under 40 don't carry cash at all. Even an oldie like me has only made has only used cash three or four times this year.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 May 23 - 03:14 PM

My 2000 SUV came with a remote six disc changer (comatose) and in-dash cassette (carnivorous & cannibalistic.) Thank heavens for cheap cassette-USB-adapter-dongle-thingies. The 2024 model year does not have a discrete audio head unit. It's integrated with the GPS, clock, smart phone and automatic climate controls into a single ginormous flat panel colour display bigger than came with my first dozen PCs.

The Ralph Spoilsport Mantrum - (aka: Drink to Me Only with Thine Fox)

But… methinks New York City is going to be in the top three of everybody's list of least car-centric busking audiences in North America.

And leaving a hat full of cash on display on the last few American metro systems I've been on would be advertising for trouble.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 23 May 23 - 04:49 PM

I busked in NY for decades and decades, always a case full of cash, and playing the Uilleann pipes, not very mobile ... never got robbed once. I think crime in NYC is over played in the news.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 May 23 - 07:46 PM

Not having watched any NYC crime news there was not much to say either way. Having just Googled it: “Three Murders Within Two Weeks In New York City Subways Irks Commuters.” (NBC News)

“Irks” you say...… yup… that's NYC riders all right. I understand some other big city systems are turning to loud classical muzac to deter homeless 'loitering' in their stations.

At the other extreme, a lot of the so-called 'busking' can get more than a little over-produced what with the late night TV talk shows around town. Fun part is when a genuine street performer is covering a pop song and the mainstream artist/commuter just wanders into the act by pure chance.

One can usually judge an American shop's neighborhood by how strapped down and chained up the tip jar on the counter is. It's not all good or bad.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 23 May 23 - 10:30 PM

Well Phil d'Conch, being recently made homeless myself, after the State and Federal government facilitated a COVID predator company stealing my 15 million dollar business, I can tell you, no amount of loud music will drive my homeless sisters and brothers into the city shelters. Genie and I are concerned, as we are staying in a Catholic shelter run by a priest friend of ours, but we can't stay here for ever, and there isn't a lot of hope for a couple our age of finding work. I've been inside city shelters on business, and they are like being in lunatic asylums without bars between the inmates and without the inmates being drugged into submission. Further, there is now a drive to pick up homeless New Yorkers who refuse to go into shelters and put them in mental wards and drug them. If I could find a way to leave this country, and we have to give up the fight to get our home and business back (we're still fighting) I'd be out of this country in a moment and never think of the USA again for as long as I live.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs R obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: Pappy Fiddle
Date: 25 May 23 - 07:07 PM

I know nothing, but in the hope that some stray idea might help; a YouTube channel is free, and you can upload videos on there and if you monetize your channel you get a little money when people watch your videos. It used to be something slightly worthwhile, people said they were making thousands, but YT changed the formula so now I think it's like a hundredth of a penny per view. But, if you can get a million views that would be $100. To get 10 million views you need to show a little leg. (You can look me up on there and see how many views I've gotten!)

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs are obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: InOBU
Date: 25 May 23 - 11:23 PM

Well, at my bands best years we sold hundreds of CDs to Dozens of fans... I think I need a bigger price markup. Thanks Pappy Fiddle! Best wishes!!!
PS You know the definition of an Irish folk band is, an underpaid moving company.

Subject: RE: Tech: Now CDs are obsolete-What do buskers sell?
From: GUEST,Rob Mad Jock Wright
Date: 26 May 23 - 05:32 AM

They sell their soul!