Consider that CDs can be fairly ephemeral, and I think it’s a lot worse with home-burned CDs. When you grab something out of your home-burned CD collection in 10 years, there’s a pretty good chance that it won’t work or be super glitchy. Harddrives are way better for longterm storage, since you can easily copy the entire collection before the drive fails (and I think the classic magnetic spinny drives, as opposed to SSDs, also have at least better longevity than CD-RWs if you store them unpowered).
It depends on the type of CD. Normal CDs rely on the shape and reflectivity of the aluminum layer, and if this oxadizes they degrade, the oxidation process is drastically slowed by good storage, and they can last much longer if stored in an inert gas.
CD-Rs are dye based with the dye being burnt away for recording. Depending on the type of dye, the dye can break down fairly quickly irrelevant of storage conditions, the cheap dyes degrade inevitably with in 10 years.
CD-RWs (what I’m using) operate on an alloy that is melted to switch it between an amorphous and poly crystalline state to effect reflectivity, and that is fairly stable long term as it is not a chemical change and the alloy is resistant to oxidation, these can be expected to last 20 years under poor storage (exposed to UV and humidity which can damage the plastic) and up to 200 years if stored properly.
Frankly, I doubt my personal music collection needs to last more than 70 years.
Consider that CDs can be fairly ephemeral, and I think it’s a lot worse with home-burned CDs. When you grab something out of your home-burned CD collection in 10 years, there’s a pretty good chance that it won’t work or be super glitchy. Harddrives are way better for longterm storage, since you can easily copy the entire collection before the drive fails (and I think the classic magnetic spinny drives, as opposed to SSDs, also have at least better longevity than CD-RWs if you store them unpowered).
It depends on the type of CD. Normal CDs rely on the shape and reflectivity of the aluminum layer, and if this oxadizes they degrade, the oxidation process is drastically slowed by good storage, and they can last much longer if stored in an inert gas.
CD-Rs are dye based with the dye being burnt away for recording. Depending on the type of dye, the dye can break down fairly quickly irrelevant of storage conditions, the cheap dyes degrade inevitably with in 10 years.
CD-RWs (what I’m using) operate on an alloy that is melted to switch it between an amorphous and poly crystalline state to effect reflectivity, and that is fairly stable long term as it is not a chemical change and the alloy is resistant to oxidation, these can be expected to last 20 years under poor storage (exposed to UV and humidity which can damage the plastic) and up to 200 years if stored properly.
Frankly, I doubt my personal music collection needs to last more than 70 years.