The CD Turns 25

New Focus models will offer digital options instead

(NEWSER) - Consumers have already started ditching CDs for digital music , and now the auto industry may be catching up. Ford is planning to scrap CD players in its new models, the Daily Mail reports. In the newest Focus model, a USB plug will allow drivers to use their digital music players. In addition, the Sync "infotainment hub" will allow other music libraries to be accessed via the Internet—meaning drivers could have access to their music on Spotify or Apple's iCloud . Of course, this development may upset the "oldsters" who still like CDs... More»

Teen trades his Apple for a Sony for 1 week

(NEWSER) - In honor of the debut 30 years ago this week of the Sony Walkman, 13-year old Scott Campbell tried using the device for a week in place of his iPod. Campbell found the gadget took some getting used to, he writes for the BBC: “It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape." More»

(NEWSER) - CD sales plunged more than 20% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, and online music sales didn't come close to making up the difference. Closing stores, weak albums, and over a billion songs shared illegally every month combined to deliver the sharpest downturn yet to the slumping music industry. More»

Sony blamed for UK price hike, now reversed

(NEWSER) - On Saturday, a Whitney Houston greatest-hits album cost about $8 in the UK iTunes store; but shortly after the singer was found dead, it had jumped to a little more than $12.50. The changed sparked a customer uproar. "It is just a case of iTunes cashing in on the singer's death, which in my opinion is totally parasitic," said one, according to DigitalSpy . But the Guardian reports that it was Sony, not iTunes, that was responsible for the change—which has now been reversed. More»

OK, one day before iPod's birthday, but still...

(NEWSER) - Almost exactly nine years to the day after Apple started selling the iPod, Sony announced it will stop making and selling its classic Walkman. The portable cassette player wasn’t an overnight sensation when it was introduced in 1979, but gained must-have status by the 1980s and ultimately sold 200 million units. The iPod, of course, brought portable music into the 21st century, but it was actually the Discman portable CD player that effectively killed the Walkman, Gizmodo reports. Click here to see how Sony "celebrated" the Walkman's 30th birthday. More»