Ah, the CD single. Toward the late '90s, it died an unjust death in the U.S. at the hand of greedy record labels hoping to surge album sales -- and it worked, albeit briefly -- though the format carried on alive and well overseas.And until I finally broke down and got iTunes four years back, I still picked up import singles at inflated prices -- often just to obtain one track! Even now they overflow from my giant storage cabinet, which got so full that half the singles had to be moved to a cardboard box that's now stashed under my bed. At one point I thought of uploading them all to a hard drive and then doing away with them, but the thought of never seeing the Fast Food Rockers' vinyl drag again had me sobbing like a fool.
Anyway, Woolworths, the U.K.'s largest retailer of physical singles, has decided to discontinue sales of the format in August. The company's commercial directors had this to say:
"Digital downloading is now the true customer choice for listening and purchasing single music tracks. CDs are alive and well for album sales, but unfortunately the physical singles market is in terminal decline."The above-linked article mentions Woolworths will continue to stock "high profile singles," such as those by X Factor winners.
That's good. Simon Cowell needs the money.
ALSO SEE:
* Kiss The CD Single Format Goodbye