Woolies Call Time On 'Dying' CD Single Format
High Street retailer Woolworths have announced that, come this August, the CD single will no longer be available alongside that jaw-gapingly overpriced bag of sour worm pick ‘n’ mix.
Doomsayers rejoice: The CD’s dead, long live the MP3, or something.
Aye, it’s been a long time coming but the nails look like they’re finally being hammered into our old friend the compact disc’s annoyingly scratched cylindrical coffin.
Top High Street retailer Woolworths have announced that come this August the CD single will no longer be available alongside that jaw-gapingly overpriced bag of sour worm pick ‘n’ mix The Skinny’s rotten gnashers so often hanker after.
Says Woolworths Commercial Director Jim Batchelor: "Everyone remembers buying their first record at Woolworths, which is why there is a degree of sadness in today's announcement. The reality is though that more and more people can't remember the last time they purchased a CD single. But music and songs are still such a huge part of people's lives. They now choose to access both new and old music through downloading."
'So what, nobody buys singles any more,' we hear you guffaw. Well, statistics would certainly back up Batchelor’s assertion that the singles market is in “terminal decline,” with nationwide figures down a third in comparison to this time last year. But as sales of it's bulkier brother – otherwise known as ‘The Album’ – drop quicker than an acid hungry hippy, the future looks ominously bleak for a format that celebrated it’s 25th anniversary less than 12 months ago.
It’s not all bad news for tangible music fans though, last year saw vinyl sales soar by 12.9% on the previous year’s figures and with a new generation of acts eagerly firing out multi-coloured slabs of gramophone-friendly discs it seems today’s music buying public are finally beginning to reacquaint themselves with something they can actually, y’know, touch.
And with that, The Skinny's faith in mankind is on the ascent.