Cheap Mp3 Players on the Rise: Will Cds Remain?

When we talk about CDS, we are referring to compact discs in a form of pre-recorded media. These are physically distinct discs made of plastic that have music data encoded into them. Before the advent of MP3 players, CDs were an extremely popular form of music storage media. You can still buy CDs nowadays. Each CD has a collection of song titles and content which you buy and which will then belong to you. A CD can be played over and over again as you like. Provided the plastic disc does not get scratched, melted or even broken, you can expect your CD to last you for as long as it lives (or you live.)

MP3 players are a relatively recent innovation in the music storage and music player business. They are said to be the new rival of CDs because they can match the capabilities of CDs when it comes to music selection, music fidelity and robustness. When in the past music users described high end music fidelity as CD quality sound, MP3 players are now beating on the door threatening to take away CD's dominance of music fidelity standards because they have almost reached CD-quality music fidelity standards.

Should you choose CDs over MP3 players? It depends on what you are looking for. Some people use CDs because they retain their music fidelity through time without any changes provided the user of the CD takes good care of his CDs. MP3 players, on the other hand, keep changing constantly as MP3 player manufacturers keep altering their designs to top rivals in the business when it comes to features that will attract consumers to them. Your MP3 from last year may be an ancient artifact when compared to the MP3 players that are introduced in the market lately. Plus, MP3 players take some getting used to as consumers have to learn how to manipulate the more advanced ones. CD players are usually just plug-in and play types so they are very easy for practically everyone to use and play. Considering the market for music players is not just composed of the young but also the elderly who love good music just like anyone else but may have a harder time adapting to new technologies, CDs seem to have a good argument for staying in the market.

This is where the uniqueness of MP3 players may backfire on them. As MP3 player manufacturers keep trying to beat one another by introducing new models that have more and "better" features, the uniqueness of each model may bewilder consumers who, not only are trying to keep track of the songs of their favorite artists, but now have to keep track of which model is superior to the others. And how many consumers really have the time, energy, money and inclination to assess all the MP3 players out on the market? Not very many actually.

One way that MP3 players might be able to beat CDs when it comes to market dominance is when cheap MP3 players flood the retailers. Cheap MP3 players are less expensive, usually lower-end music players and thus have less features than the higher end music players. If your income can only accommodate the purchase of cheap MP3 players, then you may favor these over the more expensive CD players. Thus, building a music collection may either lean towards buying the hardy and reliable CDs or purchasing the upstart MP3 players. And at this point, it's anyone's ballgame.