Sainsburys to stop selling CDs & DVDs

[52290]

I am a classical music lover and have several thousand cd's none of which have been purchased from Sainsbury's. These days I use Europadisc and occasionally, and reluctantly, Amazon. I also have a large collection of LP's but I consider cd's and sacd's to be superior in sound quality. Cd's, incidentally, are just as much digital as downloads and streaming. All the cd's I have bought will be mine and my heirs, for ever but downloads can vanish at the press of a button.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Always wondered how Sainsbury's managed to offer for sale a "Top 50" of CDs and DVDs.

If they're not ever selling anything else, how does a new item ever make it into the "Top 50" in the first place?

 

[BrokenSam]

I bought a CD fairly recently. Despite being of the generation that supposedly prefers digital media, physical copies is my thing. The biggest issue can be found in my personal experience, whereby I was watching Samurai Champloo when it suddenly got non-personed by amazon and I couldn't continue it.

I can also go on about the ethical issues of digital media, whereby you can edit scenes that are no longer savoury or don't fit with your personal politics, but that would be for another thread.

Times change. I'm OK with things like blacking up not being acceptable anymore to be honest.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Times change. I'm OK with things like blacking up not being acceptable anymore to be honest.

There's a difference between something being no longer acceptable and outright removing it from a piece of media. Also I left what exactly I was referencing vague because we're talking about physical media vs digital media, not things that aren't acceptable.

 

[S&CLER]

I am a classical music lover and have several thousand cd's none of which have been purchased from Sainsbury's. These days I use Europadisc and occasionally, and reluctantly, Amazon. I also have a large collection of LP's but I consider cd's and sacd's to be superior in sound quality. Cd's, incidentally, are just as much digital as downloads and streaming. All the cd's I have bought will be mine and my heirs, for ever but downloads can vanish at the press of a button.

Same here, but I haven't bought a new CD for some years since our local record shop closed, except when I bought some rarities by Polish composers while on holiday in Cracow. Nowadays I buy all my music second-hand from a good dealer in Liverpool and also visit Carlisle, for the vast stock in Bookcase, near the cathedral. I always check the CDs in charity shops just in case, though I ought to carry my wants list with me more often than I do, as this would avoid buying the same disc twice; generally in charity shops you find the same old stuff all the time, but every so often one comes across a rarity (Haydn's piano trios and Scottish songs from the charity supermarket in Grange over Sands yesterday for £1, for example). Shelf space is the problem; I am running out of space for CDs, but for DVDs I usually throw away the cases and put them in paper sleeves to keep in 25 alphabetically arranged boxes, which also contain hundreds of films, preferably 1930s, 40s and early 1950s black and white movies recorded off the TV. Generally I record on the hard drive recorder, watch the film, and then copy it to a blank DVD if I think it's one I want to keep and watch again, delete it if not.

 

[Typhoon]

Always wondered how Sainsbury's managed to offer for sale a "Top 50" of CDs and DVDs.

If they're not ever selling anything else, how does a new item ever make it into the "Top 50" in the first place?

I checked my local Sainsbury's, they had spaces numbered 1 to 39 (!) and 16 unnumbered. Of the 55, 37 were compilations (loads of 'Now ...'), several 'best of's and very few of the artists that make the Office Charts Company's charts that I've never heard of (Doja Cat, Tyler the Creator, Pop Smoke, Polo G). not even Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. I can't even remember any Ed Sheeran. They did have 'Legend' but that came out in 1984. So maybe the answer is, they don't make the charts! There was one chap browsing, mid 55s I would say, could make up his mind, kept looking at the track listing (so probably a compilation or greatest hits).

I tried entering CDs on the website to see if this was universal. Suggested I wanted Cas and was shown 14 varieties of Cup-a-Soup!

 

[C J Snarzell]

Traditional record sales have been on the decline for quite sometime.

I remember in the 1990s & early 2000s there were several high street music stores - Andy's Records, Our Price, Virgin Megastore, Music Zone and finally HMV who appear to be the last man standing.

Even HMV have struggled in recent times and have avoided administration, but they have streamlined their stores. There is still one in my town and it isn't massively busy, but HMV appear to have branched out in selling T-shirts, books and other assortments.

I do recall the introduction of mini-discs many years ago, which were intended to succeed CDs but they never took off. Blu-ray is the intended successor to DVDs but again it hasn't really progressed enough and the Netflix age appears to have stopped Blu-ray in it's tracks.

I cannot see DVDs or CDs becoming obsolete anytime soon like cassettes and VHS did, but they will perhaps become less available in shops & retail outlets as time moves on.

CJ

 

[warwickshire]

How about in time train enthusiasts ones ie especially DVD cab rides or just rail ones off interest in general from the usual retailers will these become online only or online subscription only?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Even HMV have struggled in recent times and have avoided administration, but they have streamlined their stores. There is still one in my town and it isn't massively busy, but HMV appear to have branched out in selling T-shirts, books and other assortments.

To be pedantic, HMV haven't avoid administration - they got placed in administration twice - in 2013 and then again in 2018. Both times they were able to carry on after being bought by new owners.

I still buy the occasional DVD, but I have to agree that both CDs and DVDs seem to be becoming less popular these days with the influx of Netflix and digital music streaming.

I also still buy DVDs, but haven't bought a CD for ages. The advantage of DVDs is that you own the film forever - whereas with a streaming service, you lose the ability to watch it if you don't keep paying the subscription. I guess that means DVDs are better for people (like me) who will happily rewatch favourite films or tv series over and over again. Streaming services are going to be better for people (like many of my friends) who dislike watching the same film more than once. DVDs are also particularly suited to box-sets of long serials, where the cost-per-minute of buying them gives pretty good value. For that reason, I can't see the market for DVDs disappearing any time soon. I suspect competition from Amazon is the real issue behind Sainsburys' decision.

Must admit I feel a bit sad about it - I liked occasionally browsing the DVDs while food-shopping.

 

[gswindale]

The one scenario I can think of where CDs would still win out is if you are driving as the sole occupant of a car. Since most digital music is played through a smartphone and it is illegal to use one while driving, playing a CD allows the driver to change the track at their own will without risking a hefty fine and licence points.

I need to check whether I've got a CD in the player in the car, but last time I listened to anything other than the radio whilst driving, it wasn't a CD and it wasn't the phone either!

It was tracks on a reasonably large usb stick - I'm not a fan of streaming services for use when out and about - it's comparable to the old Atlantic 252 station where you risked losing the signal whilst travelling.

More modern cars have infotainment systems that contain Android Auto or Apple Airplay which allows you to control the music being played from the car itself - much like the inbuilt CD player/radio or with older cars with only Bluetooth I believe you can you your phone's voice controls to choose the music

 

[PeterY]

I rarely buy CD's nowadays but I still have quite a few. Some would be quite hard to get hold of now.

I still like DVD's especially Blu-ray and so I'll buy them for the superior picture quality and I own them and they have some value. .

I'm in my 60's and I still like something to hold, look at and love in my hands.

 

[johntea]

Video games are heading the same way (to the extent you can now buy a console without the disc drive!), I still buy those physically although never at launch as their value seems to quickly plummet so I can just pick them up in a sale by the time I would get round to playing them!

I found my old Sega Saturn the other month and found one of the games I had was going for £150 alone!

If only I had a sealed copy of Mario 64...$1.5million! (Shame as a kid we don't think about condition or anything like that!)

 

[C J Snarzell]

Video games are heading the same way (to the extent you can now buy a console without the disc drive!), I still buy those physically although never at launch as their value seems to quickly plummet so I can just pick them up in a sale by the time I would get round to playing them!

I found my old Sega Saturn the other month and found one of the games I had was going for £150 alone!

If only I had a sealed copy of Mario 64...$1.5million! (Shame as a kid we don't think about condition or anything like that!)

I do recall my local Sainsburys stocked the limited edition 'mini' Nintendo & Sega consoles a few years ago. They actually had the best home media aisle out of the big three supermarkets (the other being Asda & Tesco).

However, I visited the same store last week and their CD & DVD aisle has already gone. I believe it went around late 2019 when they added the 'instore' Argos department.

CJ

 

[johntea]

The whole Sainsburys / Argos thing is an interesting development in itself recently, as in when Sainsburys first bought out Argos they were only closing Argos stores in close proximity to Sainsburys stores (with the Argos inside that) but now they seem to be closing a lot more standalone Argos stores nowhere near a Sainsburys, one of the latest casualties being Castleford which is odd as Pontefract remains open for now but Castleford was about 100 times more convenient in parking your car up in the car park literally directly outside!

I suspect Amazon have just become too much of a thorn in their side and the standalone stores aren't working any more in terms of profits vs rent, I suspect (sadly) the Argos brand will be no more within 3 years and it'll just be renamed 'Sainsburys Home' or similar with no standalone stores, just all within the larger Sainsburys supermarkets

 

[Typhoon]

I also still buy DVDs, but haven't bought a CD for ages. The advantage of DVDs is that you own the film forever - whereas with a streaming service, you lose the ability to watch it if you don't keep paying the subscription.

Exactly why I still (occasionally) buy cds. Very little of today's music appeals to me but my interest in music goes back six decades so I have a look in my collection, find a cd I haven't heard for ages (probably years) and away we go. Sometimes I remember an artist or group I quite liked or hear a new artist that I think might be interested in so invest in a new cd but never in Sainsbury's simply because it is unlikely to stock it.

 

[PeterC]

I have never bought a CD from a supermarket. Most were bought at concerts or specialist music shops, the rest were demos or review copies.

I only play audio books on the car CD Player and have about 8 hours of music on my phone which I play in the car through the magic of Bluetooth.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Last time I went in Sainsbury's they never had anything I went in to get, but left with a Mr Benn DVD. Guess there's no point shopping there again.

 

[D365]

It's a reason my wife won't change her car. She's got a huge selection of CDs and only plays them when driving. We've looked a new cars a few times but none she liked come with a CD player. She's asked a few garages about whether they could install a cd player, but none seemed to know whether it was possible.

Very much doubt it would be. As time goes on, car stereos are more-and-more becoming integrated into the vehicle.

Depending on your size requirements, a ”previous generation” Ford (anything before 2017/18) with the appropriate interior specs will give you the best of both worlds with CD and bluetooth.