The Music Lover's Dilemma: CD or Not CD

Music may or may not be the food of love, but most Harvard students can't live without it.

Almost every suite on campus is home to some kind of hi-fi equipment, be it a boom box, a walkman (with or without speakers) or an elaborate stereo complete with the audio industry's hottest-selling gadget, the compact disc (cd) player.

Upperclass rooms typically have one stereo in the common room, and most house residents have also invested in boom boxes or walkmen with speakers for their bedrooms.

The Quincy House suite of Phil E. Ross '88 is fairly typical. "There are eight of us, with two common rooms. We have two major stereo systems and about 15 walk men between us. I also have a jam box that I use in my room if I don't want to listen to what's playing in the common room," he says.

Freshmen, on the other hand, are more likely to have either several stereos in a room or none at all, because they didn't figure out which roommate would bring what equipment prior to Freshman Week.

Walk This Way

And almost all Harvard students have walk-men, no matter what they have in their rooms. Walkmen, which retail from $20 to $150, are probably the biggest sellers among students, say managers at several local sterco stores.

In terms of music in the suite, however, students who don't want to plunk down substantial amounts of cash for a stereo invest in a boom box rather than oversize speakers for a walkman. Discount Records, on John F. Kennedy St., sells 10 to 15 walkman speaker sets a week versus 20 boom boxes. And walkman speakers are becoming more popular, says Patrick S. Pezzati, the store's assistant manager.

Although boom boxes and walkmen with speakers do give a similar sound, the box's portability makes it more popular with students. "A box is a good way to get a group together for a study party outside," says Cathy M. Dale '90. The Matthews Hall resident took advantage of yesterday's sunny weather to use her box in Harvard Yard for just that purpose.

When buying stereo equipment, most students tend to invest in one item at a time, says Peter W. Saltsman, a salesman at Tweeter, Etc. 102 Mt. Auburn St. However, Radio Shack, at 28 JFK St., does a healthy business in rack systems which include an amplifier, turntable, cassette deck, and speakers all stacked together in a cabinet for about $600.

You Spin Me Round

Of individual stereo components, compact disc players have grabbed a permanent share of the college market in the four years since they've been introduced. Tweeter, Etc. in Harvard Square sells three times as many compact disc players as turntables, shop managers say.

At Radio Shack, compact disc players, which retail for $200 to $249, are among the fastest selling items. "They're the best game in town," says salesman Todd M. Foley.

But the high cost of both the discs and the players convinces many students to stick with traditional turntables and cassette decks.

"You can get a great turntable for $300, but that's just the beginning of what you could pay for a cd player," says Saltzman.

Those digitally encoded discs retail for approximately twice as much as a record album.

Availability can also be a problem. Compact disc manufacturers can only meet about 30 to 35 percent of the demand, says Rich Kenney, who buys pop music compact discs for the Harvard Coop.

Some students have more esoteric reasons for not purchasing compact discs. "I don't like the color silver," says Lowell House resident David L. Rettig '89. "And you can't hang them up on the wall."

Idiosyncracies aside, Tweeter sells nearly 25 compact disc players a week. Compact discs now account for 40 to 45 percent of music sales at the Coop, and the store is continually expanding the cd department.

Compact disc sales have seriously cut into the record market, although many record listeners still remain faithful to their black vinyl.

"A lot of people have extensive record collections, and they don't want to start all over," says Liam B. Lavery '89, Lowell House rock 'n' roll lover.

Thanks to their portability, cassette tapes have been selling at Harvard Square music stores in increasing numbers over the past few years. "The walkman has kept tape sales very strong," Healy says.

Students are far and away the largest purchasers of tapes at Strawberries 11, at 38 JFK St., where compact discs make up 15 percent of sales, albums make up 35 percent, and tapes comprise the balance of sales. "Mostly it's just kids buying tapes," says store manager Rob M. Nadeau. "Real audiophiles buy strictly albums or cd's."

The major drawback to the audio tape is its lack of durabilty. "The life span of your average tape is six to eight months, so basically they're a waste of money," says Nadeau.

But new developments may also drastically change the cassette market. Manufacturers may soon introduce a digital cassette tape which would utilize technology similar to a compact disc. Introduction of the new tapes--which fit inside a different size tape player, of course--would further complicate students' choices of music players.

Ya Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess

Harvard students have a specific shopping style when they're out looking for music equipment, Saltsman says. "Harvard students are really easy to deal with. I hey have some brains in their heads and they can communicate."

Furthermore, Saltsman says "Harvard students want to listen to the music, while MIT students really get into how [their equipment] works. Tufts students either come in and bounce checks or they buy everything in sight."

And shopping styles also vary with a student's wealth and interest. "The rich kids who come in with credit cards buy cds," says Pezzati.