The death of the CD has been imminent since its inception back in 1985.  However that hasn’t stopped over 200 billion from being sold.  While the number seems to decline each year, thanks in part to the vast amount of music that is available in digital format, the medium is still rocking (weakly) on.

Apple is ready to take the compact disc to the brink, offering a new application later this month that promises to deliver many of the features CDs offer that the digital medium does not.  Among them, lyrics, images, artwork and other extras.

Some reports are saying that the first album to drop with the new digital features will be Snow Patrol’s forthcoming A Hundred Million Suns.  Expect future iTunes albums to get the features over time.

Up until this point Apple has been super protective of individual’s music libraries, not permitting third-party developers from accessing content.  Will this new app change all of  that?  Stay tuned!

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