Best Buy to Stop Selling CDs
It's the end of an era. Best Buy stopped selling compact discs on Saturday (June 30), according to a report from Billboard.
News of the tech retail chain's plans first leaked in February, when Best Buy reportedly notified music suppliers of its intention to pull CDs from shelves by July 1. The company did not comment at the time, nor has it responded to XXL's request for comment, but the report tracks with ongoing trends.
Industry-wide CD sales declined 20 percent to $1.2 billion in 2016, per the Recording Industry Association of America, while revenue from paid music subscriptions nearly doubled to $2.3 billion. (The CD format peaked at $13.2 billion in 2010.) At Best Buy, entertainment sales dropped 13.8 percent during its 2017 fiscal year, compared to a 0.3 percent dip in overall retail sales, USA Today reports.
Target is also negotiating terms for winding down CD sales, and has demanded that major labels assume the costs of unsold inventory, according to Billboard. Traditionally, Target has paid to return unsold stock to music suppliers.
Best Buy's decision comes at a time when, perhaps counterintuitively, major artists are recommitting to the compact disc format. Drake's latest album Scorpion is getting a CD release, as is Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Everything Is Love. The Toronto rapper notably declined the option when releasing his nonetheless-chart-topping project More Life in 2017.
We will update this post when we hear back from Best Buy. For now, CD sales are still available on the retail chain's website.
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