Are CDs and DVDs dead?

Did you ever use VHS tapes as a kid? I still remember popping one into the VCR and never ceasing to be amazed that an entire movie could be contained within a little black plastic box. They were crucial to my consumption of media — until one day they weren’t. VHS came and went, and now it just feels strange to imagine storing movies in inch-thick cardboard sleeves.

So what about DVDs and CDs? Some people believe that the long and arduous death of discs began with the invention of the iPod. If you consider how long it’s been since you walked into a video rental store or bought a CD at HMV, this probably comes as no surprise. In fact, it seems like DVDs had a relatively short-lived stint as the video-consuming medium of choice – in 2003 they usurped VHS rentals in the US, but by 2010, Blockbuster was already filing for bankruptcy.

Matt Lynch of Seattle’s Scarecrow Video points out that “The real problem with streaming is simply that the consumer doesn’t actually have any ownership over the movie”. However, the importance of consumer “ownership” of a film is debatable. And, let’s not forget, thousands of movies and albums are bought on iTunes each day – the dispute of physical vs. digital is not necessarily the same as ownership vs. streaming.

In fact, this is where the conversation gets really interesting. It seems like the natural transition would be that, as CD and DVD sales come to an end, digital music sales such as iTunes will sweep the market. However, recent reports are showing that it’s not this simple. The increasing popularity of music streaming services like Spotify led to a downturn in digital music sales in 2014. Apple has already begun looking past music downloads – they bought Beats Electronics (including its Beats Streaming Service) in 2014. Google Play Music has also adjusted to a shift in consumer’s digital music-buying habits: introducing their “All Access” service has allowed unlimited music downloads to users who pay a 10$ monthly subscription.

Personally, I don’t imagine I’ll wake up tomorrow to find that CDs and DVDs have simply vanished, having become officially obsolete overnight. I also don’t see myself making the leap from iTunes user to strictly-Spotify listener anytime soon. As of 2015, there’s still a market for both discs and downloads, however unclear their future may be. If nothing else, this serves as a reminder that technology is evolving faster than ever before— and while our relationship with how we consume music and film is evolving, our love for them certainly isn’t going anywhere.