Sony is the company that invented the Walkman and is also the parent company of music giant Sony Music Entertainment. Sony plans to close a CD manufacturing facility in southern New Jersey in the United States in March.
Once the 50-year-old Sony DADC plant is closed, about 300 employees will be laid off. Sony said it plans to transfer its CD manufacturing operations to its Indiana plant. The company had already transferred the DVD manufacturing business of the plant about a year ago.
Sony spokesman Lisa Gephardt said that the physical media industry is facing the current economic environment and challenges, making Sony DADC had to take additional measures to reduce the cost of supply chain networks to maintain competitiveness.
This type of plant closure trend has long been unavoidable. Music CDs have almost become antiques. The emergence of digital music and music players and the rise of illegal file sharing have accelerated the demise of CD, the main music circulation format.
According to statistics from Nielsen SoundScan, music sales in the United States fell by 2.4% last year, and digital music sales increased by only 1% to 1.17 billion US dollars. However, the sales of CDs are even worse. In terms of album sales, new CDs and classified albums fell by 16% and 23%, respectively. Both categories also experienced a double-digit decline in the previous year.
CD was once very hot in the recording industry. As music buyers replaced tapes and records with CDs, the music industry was busy counting the money at the time, but the CD also helped stop illegal copying—at least in the early days. The CD also helped the public reduce their purchases of singles and instead buy the entire album.
The closure of this factory also means that the good days for the physical media are few. In addition to music, the film and book industries are also facing digital conversion. Netflix and Apple are contributing to the rise of Internet TV. Kindle and iPad make consumers interested in e-books. No one knows how to develop in the future, but the future of printed books and DVDs is indeed dark and dark.
Once the 50-year-old Sony DADC plant is closed, about 300 employees will be laid off. Sony said it plans to transfer its CD manufacturing operations to its Indiana plant. The company had already transferred the DVD manufacturing business of the plant about a year ago.
Sony spokesman Lisa Gephardt said that the physical media industry is facing the current economic environment and challenges, making Sony DADC had to take additional measures to reduce the cost of supply chain networks to maintain competitiveness.
This type of plant closure trend has long been unavoidable. Music CDs have almost become antiques. The emergence of digital music and music players and the rise of illegal file sharing have accelerated the demise of CD, the main music circulation format.
According to statistics from Nielsen SoundScan, music sales in the United States fell by 2.4% last year, and digital music sales increased by only 1% to 1.17 billion US dollars. However, the sales of CDs are even worse. In terms of album sales, new CDs and classified albums fell by 16% and 23%, respectively. Both categories also experienced a double-digit decline in the previous year.
CD was once very hot in the recording industry. As music buyers replaced tapes and records with CDs, the music industry was busy counting the money at the time, but the CD also helped stop illegal copying—at least in the early days. The CD also helped the public reduce their purchases of singles and instead buy the entire album.
The closure of this factory also means that the good days for the physical media are few. In addition to music, the film and book industries are also facing digital conversion. Netflix and Apple are contributing to the rise of Internet TV. Kindle and iPad make consumers interested in e-books. No one knows how to develop in the future, but the future of printed books and DVDs is indeed dark and dark.