Due to the high demand in music streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal, Best Buy has decided to discontinue the sales of CDs beginning July 1, 2018.
The big box retailer settled on cutting ties with this format to instead use the floor space for more popular products. To grasp how big an impact streaming has made on the music industry, physical copies (CDs and vinyl) accounted for 16% of music sales. While streaming made up 62% of the market in 2017.
CDs made a major impact in the market starting in the early 1990s but with the ease of digitally streaming music, Best Buy may not be alone. Target has also been more aggressive in negotiations with music suppliers. At the moment, retailers buy CDs in advanced and send back any unsold units for a credit. Target has made clear that they no longer want to bear the risk. They essentially do not want to pay for the product until a customer makes the purchase.
Stay tuned to The Feature Presentation for any updates.