If you ask just about anyone, they would likely tell you that the ability to download music online was the worst thing to ever happen to the compact disc. After ruling the 90s, and the early 2000s, the CD has seen declining sales every year since MP3s became part of mainstream culture. So, this would appear to be an open and shut case - the ability to download music was the death knell for the CD. But a closer look at the situation reveals that things aren't quite so cut and dry.

For one thing, people are only going to be so willing to pay for music files through sites like iTunes. How do we know this? Because we've already seen streaming sites become increasingly popular. First it was Grooveshark, then Spotify came along and made the process even more simple. These sites allow us to listen to nearly every song in existence whenever why want, and all we have to do is listen to the occasional commercial, or if you're like me, pause the song with two seconds left. With it being so easy to listen to music on your computer for free (and legally), why would someone want to pay for it?

Let's also consider this: now that MP3s have become the primary way consuming music, that's what all the new technology goes into. Whether it's about making the files sound better (like Neil Young's PureTone project), or creating new platforms, that's where the vast majority of technology is going. Why is this good for the CD? because it means no one is trying to create new forms of physical music. Vinyl has been popular again for awhile, and we've seen plenty of high-quality LP reissues, but no one is trying to build a new platform for physical music.

Usually, this never happens; companies are always trying to develop new formats and systems for you to buy. LPs became 8-tracks, which became cassettes, which became CDs. Of course, these days, you can probably find a new album on any of these formats if you look hard enough (with the possible exception of 8-tracks), but the point is, the CD is where the trend stopped it. No one has made a new way of listening to physical music, because the war has been taken to computers and smart phones. This means that for people who do still buy physical music, the CD is still the newest option.

Suppose the MP3 revolution happens. Napster never goes to war with Metallica, and the iPod doesn't became a must-own for any civilized member of society. If that were the case, the CD would likely be extinct by now. Someone would've developed a format that would've topped, just as Blu-Rays replaced DVDs, which replaced VHS, which replaced Beta. Since no one is particularly interested in developing new forms of digesting physical music, the CD remains essentially unrivaled with in its realm. It may have marginalized by the MP3, but contrary to popular belief, it wasn't killed. If anything, MP3s might actually be the biggest reason anyone still buys CDs.