The CD is Dead
"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."
- Yoda
A common theme in science fiction is the idea that the ultimate state of existence is to become a being of pure energy. If a music recording has a similar ultimate state of existence, it is to become pure data. With the help of computers, digitization, and file compression, that ultimate state has been achieved.
A single 40GB portable MP3 player, which is the size of a pack of cigarettes, can hold more than 800 albums worth of songs. Imagine 800 CD's stacked up next to one of these players. The physical objects that we used to use to hold this data are unwieldy, expensive, and difficult to transport. They are obsolete.
What the CD represents in today's world is what a floppy disk used to be for a computer: it's a way to temporarily hold data so that you can hand it to someone. When you're at a show, and someone wants your music, you need to be able to give it to them somehow.
Since we, as independent bands, make albums, we need to be smart about whether it's worth it anymore to duplicate albums. The duplication costs are not cheap--although they continue to get cheaper as production techniques get better. But we also need to be able to hand them that "floppy disk full of music." If there's any flaw about music becoming pure data, it's that you still need a way to have a physical object to be able to move it around in the real world.
The key for independent bands is to balance between creating a small number of disks, and using digital music networks to share your music. It is a problem that currently has a gap that is closing quickly. In the meantime, we suggest that you print as few of those disks as required for yourself, and use stores such as cdbaby.com to get your music onto digital networks.