ive been saying this ever since metallica shit their diapers over napster. the reason cd's didnt sell had NOTHING to do with cd's themselves, or even the price. it was because all you got was a plastic disc that had your music on it. all of the artwork and such that normally goes along with music (back in the vinyl days) was gone... or just computer generated crap that supposedly looked cool or something.
the few cd's that came out that DID have original artwork on them, i bought. sublime's 40oz to freedom is almost impossible to not buy, its so beautiful, for example.
but it still left things to be desired. if the record companies released original posterwork inside the album packaging, with maybe a card or official statement of authenticity cd sales would have skyrocketed. how many amazing works of music came out in the last 20 years? a shit load. how many people care if they have the original cd or not? nobody, because a copied cd is just as good as a real one. they completely screwed themselves my making cd's too generic.