CD collection hits the deck

Library dumps CD collection as vinyl comes full circle. By Jane Matthews.

Elaine Jamieson still CD she ever bought.

It was Donna Summer Stuff. She still listens weekends, wine in hand.

Jamieson works at New Plymouth’s combined museum and library, Puke Ariki, which has recently decided to get rid of its CD collection to make way for vinyl.

The most recent CD to be picked off the shelf was The Essential Michael Jackson – and it will probably be the last.

The collection is to be withdrawn tomorrow due to lack of use, Puke Ariki manager Kelvin Day said.

Four years ago, 2498 CDs issued from the collection. Last year, that dropped to Day said this trend had through libraries across country.

‘‘Most libraries in New Zealand don’t have CD lending collections as people are now able to get their music in other ways online.’’

However, this doesn’t seem to be the case in any of the bigger cities.

Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Nelson, Dunedin and Christchurch libraries all state online that they still have CD collections.

Wellington Library still has around 51,000 CD issues a year.

This was still ‘‘substantial’’, according to Chris Hay, Wellington City Council libraries and communities spaces manager.

‘‘There’s still a loyal community of users that like CDs because of the sound quality – it’s much better quality audio than just streaming online, generally.’’

Hay said the Wellington Library had recently brought in a vinyl collection – something it hadn’t had for about 10 years.

‘‘I think in some parts of the world vinyl has over taken CDs in terms of sales. We’ve gone full circle there a little bit.’’

Jamieson still has her first vinyl: Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water.

‘‘It’s got a purple label and it’s got scratches all over it.

‘‘The funny thing about the vinyl is everyone was like no, this will never come back. And now they’re actually making records.’’

Mark Thomas, the owner of Vinyl Countdown New Plymouth, said he had been scaling back his CD stock to make way for more vinyl bins.

‘‘People are buying more more records,’’ he said.

Thomas and Hay thought vinyl and online music streaming was to blame for the drop in CD usage.

Day attributed the death of Puke has the first – Hot some were 559. gone the and I think in some parts of the world vinyl has over taken CDs in terms of sales. Ariki’s CD collection to the changing ways in which people were accessing music.

‘‘They make up their own playlists and that sort of thing and it’s just so easy for them.’’

Although the Wellington Library’s CD collection remained popular, issue rates were constantly under review, Hay said.

‘‘But clearly there’s still some demand from our customers.’’

Thomas said he still sells a decent amount of CDs and thinks there is still a place for them too.

‘‘There’s definitely still a market for them, it’s just changed a bit recently,’’ he said.

‘‘If you meet a band, it’s pretty hard to get something signed if it’s not there.’’

As for Jamieson, she said she doesn’t stream, or even have an iPod, but she will continue to love her old vinyls and CDs for years to come.