China is a fickle thing when it comes to technology; embracing the latest thing today and dumping it for something else tomorrow. So it is therefore coming to pass that the CD is now virtually all but a memory.
在技术方面，中国是一个善變的東西；今天接受最新的事物，明天把它扔掉。 因此，CD现在几乎只是记忆。
What would you choose to use for listening to music today? The majority of people will point to their phones; even the iPod is so, like, yesterday. Last week, when I walked into a branch of “Doremi” in New World Plaza, that which used to be a CD shop is now a toy world for kids; I realised that the time for physical CDs is gone.
今天你会选择用什么来听音乐？ 大多数人会指着他们的手机；即使是iPod也是如此，就像昨天一样。 上周，当我走进新世界广场的“Doremi”分店时，这家曾经是一家CD店，现在变成了孩子们的玩具世界；我意识到购买实体CD的时间已经过去了。
From the 1990s, CDs, VCDs and latterly DVDs came on to the Chinese market. There followed 20 years of golden time for CD shops in China. A bucket load were scattered everywhere in Nanjing, especially around schools. With the prevalence of Taiwanese and Cantonese songs in mainland China, youngsters bought albums in CD shops as soon as pop songs were released, particularly those hit albums from outside mainland China. Just as with their western counterparts, they put up posters of icons in dorms and while they probably did not know how to recite poems from text books, they for sure could sing all the lyrics of Taiwanese star Jay Chou, meticulously copied down in notebooks.
从20世纪90年代开始，CD、VCD和后来的DVD进入了中国市场。 继中国CD商店的20年黄金时代之后。 满满一桶的货物散落在南京的各处，尤其是学校周围。 随着台湾和粤语歌曲在中国大陆的盛行，流行歌曲一发行，年轻人就会在CD商店购买专辑，特别是那些来自中国大陆以外的热门专辑。 就像他们的西方同行一样，他们在宿舍里张贴了图标海报，虽然他们可能不知道如何从教科书中背诵诗歌，但他们肯定能唱出台湾明星周杰伦的所有歌词，并精心抄写在笔记本上。
During that time, young people were not really aware of the concept of CDs that were either real or counterfeit; anything bought in a CD shop was considered genuine. But the realisation soon changed. Avid Nanjing music fan and CD shopaholic, Wang Guo, told The Nanjinger, “I bought an album of Michael Jackson which was a big hit in the late 90s here, but it ended up to be Maria Carey’s CD inside. And that was my first time [to] listen to her songs”.
在那段时间里，年轻人并不真正意识到CD是真品或假货的概念；在CD商店购买的任何东西都被认为是真品。 但意识到这一点很快就改变了。 狂熱的南京音乐迷和CD购物狂王国告诉《南京人》：“我买了一张迈克尔·杰克逊的专辑，在90年代末在这里大受欢迎，但里面却是玛丽亚·凯里的CD。 那是我第一次[聽]她的歌。」
Herein is the fundamental reason for the CD’s fast decline in China, while sales in western countries continue to be healthy; an awareness of the value of copyright.
这是CD在中国迅速下降的根本原因，而西方国家的销售仍然很健康；对版权价值的认识。
For the musicians themselves, the CD is a profitable format. It is cheap to produce; unsigned bands can press 1,000 CDs for about US$1 each, then sell them at their concerts and make US$5-10 per sale.
对于音乐家们自己来说，CD是一种有利可图的格式。 制作成本低廉；未签约的乐队可以以每张约1美元的价格压制1000张CD，然后在音乐会上出售，每次销售可赚5-10美元。
Few fans in China would spend the money. And with services such as QQ Music free to use, at least in China, no one has ever thought to return to CDs.
在中国，很少有粉丝会花这笔钱。 随着QQ音乐等免费服务，至少在中国，从来没有人想过要回到CD。
The number of brick and mortar CD shops in Nanjing has been in sharp decline over the last 10 years. Two of the more well-known still standing are “Sihai (四海) CD Shop”, on Ninghai Lu, and “Aiyuefang” (爱乐坊), on Xueze Lu. “There used to be long lines waiting to buy albums, but now we barely have customers, only some regular customers from the past”, the owner of Sihai shop told us.
在过去的10年里，南京的实体CD商店数量一直在急剧下降。 两个更知名的仍然是宁海路的“四海CD店”和学泽路的“爱乐坊”。 Sihai商店的老板告诉我们：“过去买专辑排着长队，但现在我们几乎没有顾客，只有一些过去的常客。”
Coming as something of a surprise, in addition to its many CDs, Aiyuefang also sells vinyl records. The old gramophone in the corner attracted my eyes at first glance; with John Lennon coming from within, it was like stepping into the 1960s. Zhai Hong, the owner of Aiyuefang, also a music lover, still keeps a Japanese player for 12-inch video discs, something beyond the comprehension of today’s youngsters.
令人驚訝的是，除了許多CD外，Aiyuefang還出售黑膠唱片。 角落里的旧留声机乍一看就吸引了我的目光；约翰·列侬从内部走来，就像踏入了20世纪60年代。 Aiyuefang的老板Zhai Hong也是一个音乐爱好者，他仍然保留着一个12英寸视频光盘的日本播放器，这是当今年轻人无法理解的。
Zhai reckons the number of people who go to CD shops has never changed, and that the demographic is mainly young students. Zhai told us, “I have opened this shop for over 17 years. The shock of mp3 was the first time that I started to hesitate; to question if I should keep on doing this”.
Zhai认为去CD商店的人数从未改变，人口统计学主要是年轻学生。 Zhai告诉我们：“我开这家店已经超过17年了。 Mp3的震惊是我第一次开始犹豫不决；质疑我是否应该继续这样做。”
He stresses the significance of the physical CD shop; “When you come in here, we can have this connection in person and I would introduce you to some nice pieces. You can never have this physical touch online”. When he talks about music, Zhai’s vigor and passion are obvious from his smile; no wonder he persists when all around are chasing the next big thing.
他强调了实体CD商店的重要性；“当你来到这里时，我们可以亲自建立这种联系，我会向你介绍一些不错的作品。 你永远无法在网上进行这种身体接触。” 当他谈论音乐时，Zhai的活力和激情从他的微笑中显而易见；难怪当周围都在追逐下一个大事件时，他坚持不懈。
