After Rob Guernsey transferred thousands of songs from his CD and vinyl collections to digital files, he decided a smart move for many of his CDs was to send them packing.

Last summer, the 32-year-old Indianapolis resident dropped off five U.S. mail tubs of CDs at a resale store.

Guernsey estimates he has two more tubs ready to go, thanks to a perpetual weeding-out process.

"I'm cashing out of some of this stuff because I see a day not too distant when your CDs are going to be more of a burden than something having any value," Guernsey says.

A limited future for compact discs appears to be guaranteed as modern listening habits revolve around digital media players, computer playlists and what's hot at online music stores.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, the public purchased 844 million digital tracks in 2007. That's a 45 percent increase when compared to 582 million in 2006.

At its popular iTunes store, Apple has sold more than 3 billion digital tracks since going online in 2001.

The news isn't as upbeat in the world of non-digital album sales. The public purchased 450 million CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes in 2007, a 19 percent decrease when compared to 555 million in 2006.

CDs revolutionized the music industry in the 1980s, when the plastic discs were celebrated for their durability, portability and high fidelity.

But for many consumers who extract MP3 files from CDs, the discs have become music's expendable containers.

"It got to the point where I'd buy a CD, usually it would go in the computer first and then go in the case and on the shelf -- probably never to come back out of the case," Guernsey says.

Bruce Williams, vice president of public relations and marketing communications for the Madame Walker Theatre Center, says he no longer buys CDs. He says he appreciates the convenience of purchasing digital tracks through the iTunes Store.

"I don't miss going in a record store and being intimidated," the 46-year-old says. "You had to find where you needed to go to look for new music. Then there was so much to thumb through. Then you had to go to the listening station and hope the music was even there."

Gone in flash?

If compact discs give way to another tangible music product, USB flash drives may be the successor. In the United Kingdom, record companies EMI, Universal and Warner Bros. are selling albums on the thumb sticks that plug directly into computers.

Locally, rock band Sweet Dilemma is marketing its own flash drive stocked with songs, videos and photos.

Sweet Dilemma drummer Bill Stamper says we're living in the end days for compact discs.

"It's a dead technology," Stamper says. "It has been for years. It's just that in the American economy, we can't kill things that fast. You would be hard-pressed to find somebody with a CD player in Japan."

Not so fast, says John Bachmann, founder of a company that does the work of transferring CD collections to MP3 files for its customers. New Jersey-based TunesGenie also sells new iPod players preloaded with entire CD collections.

"At some point, CDs will go away," Bachmann says. "But the demise is exaggerated. I think it will be 30 or 50 years out."

Donate or sell collection

If a stash of CDs is occupying too much of your living space, Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana and the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library are two places that accept donations.

If you're hoping to convert CDs into cash, resale stores throughout Indianapolis purchase used recordings.

Disc Replay Movies Music & Games in Castleton pays from 50 cents to $3 for a CD that will appeal to its customers, says store manager Lauren Lemmons. The average payout is less than $2 per disc, and in-store credit can be applied to subsequent purchases of CDs, video games and DVDs.

Lemmons says contemporary hip-hop and classic metal are in demand at Disc Replay, while there isn't much of a market for vintage country CDs.

"I think a lot of people get rid of CDs because they feel like, 'I can just save it to my computer and get rid of the actual CD,'." Lemmons says.

However, there are also nightmare stories of music collectors who don't arrange backup storage for their digital files. Lemmons recalls one customer who brought an impressive collection of indie rock CDs to Disc Replay.

"He got rid of it, and he came back a few months later because his computer crashed," Lemmons says. "He was trying to buy back a lot of CDs he had sold. That was really sad."

Guernsey says he keeps digital files on a hard drive that's cloned weekly by a second hard drive. He also uses DVDs -- which hold 20 to 30 albums worth of songs -- to make tangible backups of music he's purchased online.

WTTS-FM (92.3) on-air personality Laura Duncan says she loads two iPods with songs she's gleaned in her role as music director for the rock radio station. What she hasn't done is transfer any songs from her personal CD collection.

"I looked at everything I had," says Duncan, who has worked in radio for 18 years. "It was daunting. How do you finish once you start? I just don't see the end."

TunesGenie, founded in 2006, caters to the overwhelmed.

"Not everybody learns to fix their own cars and do their own mechanical work," says company founder Bachmann, offering an analogy for music collectors who begin the process of digital conversion before running out of steam.

TunesGenie, which has a single-order record of converting 1,500 CDs to digital files, sends shipping kits directly to customers, who then send their CDs via overnight delivery.

The company's current rates advertised online are $1.49 per CD for collections of 50 to 149 CDs. For collections of 500 CDs or more, the rate is less than 79 cents per CD.

Walker Theatre executive Williams says he keeps about 75 CDs for listening in his car. Instead of converting those CDs into digital files, Williams says he repurchased his favorite songs at the iTunes Store.

"They're only 99 cents, and it helps the artist out."

Duncan says listeners have adopted a single-song mentality since the advent of CDs.

"If you think about it, people that were born in the early 1980s never really had the feel of vinyl. They've always had the CD in front of them with the ability to program tracks 1, 5 and 7, and skip the rest of them."

Guernsey, a musician and former co-host of WICR-FM (88.7) program "The Free Zone," says listening habits determine the fate of his CDs.

"To some extent, I still like to sit down with the stereo and actually listen to a CD," Guernsey says. "I'll hang onto something I think I'll listen to that way. If I'm just going to want one track, (the CD) is out of here."

File it away

By definition, compressed digital files don't retain an audio quality as high as what's heard on a CD. The members of Sweet Dilemma debated the issue of placing large or small digital files on the USB flash drives they're selling for $15.

The final decision was compressed MP3s, which allowed room for the videos and 400 megabytes of storage available to users.

"Everybody says, 'Wow, what a great idea!'." drummer Stamper says of the flash-drive concept. "That's really the best response you can get."

Meanwhile, the uncertainty of future technology may be a compelling reason to hang on to your CDs.

"Let's say the next thing isn't MP3," Guernsey says. "It's 'MP12.' You can always take those CDs and convert them again. But what do you do with the (MP3 files you have)?"

Regardless of changes in the methods of listening to and buying music, Stamper says the sounds remain the same:

"Music is universal. When you hear your favorite song -- whether it's 20 years old or two months old -- you crank it up."

Digital dialect

MP3 files: A popular compression format for digital audio. MP3 -- an abbreviation of "Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3" -- has no security encryption and adapts to virtually all operating systems. Larger-capacity iPod digital media players support the MP3 format as well as the Apple-sanctioned AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format.

iTunes Store: Online site selling authorized digital files for iPod digital media players. Most songs are priced at 99 cents. Visit www.apple.com/itunes. Other popular online sites that sell songs as authorized digital files are Amazon.com, eMusic.com and Napster.com.

DRM: A newly obsolete software coding (an abbreviation of "Digital Rights Management") designed to prevent the copying of downloaded music. Sony BMG Music Entertainment announced earlier this month that it will be the last of the major record companies to abandon DRM, which limited consumer choices in assigning songs to digital media players. By selling MP3 files, companies allow customers to move content among computers and digital media players.

Lossy compression: A way to reduce the size of digital files that discards data but retains essential information. MP3 is a "lossy" format. The uncompressed WAV format is "lossless," and much larger than the MP3 format.

USB flash drive: Also referred to as a "jump" or "thumb" drive, it's a portable storage device that plugs into a computer's USB connector. Such a drive, which has no moving parts, often is used for transporting text, photos and music.

USB turntable: A way to digitize vinyl recordings. Manufactured by DJ-friendly company Numark, the TTUSB model is a conventional turntable that plugs into a computer's USB connector. For more information, visit www.numark.com/ttusb

Downsizing directory

Selected places that accept donations of CDs:

• Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, various locations. www.goodwill-indy.org or (317) 524-4313.

• Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, various locations. www.imcpl.org or (317) 275-4100.

Selected businesses that buy CDs:

• B-Sides Music, 10030 E. Washington St., Suite 168. www.bsidesmusic.com or (317) 898-4148.

• Disc Replay, various locations. www.discreplay.com/discreplayloc... or (317) 578-1240.

• Half Price Books, various locations. www.halfpricebooks.com/indiana.html or (317) 889-1076.

• Indy CD and Vinyl, 806 Broad Ripple Ave. www.indycdandvinyl.com or (317) 259-1012. Offers in-store credit, not cash.

• Luna Music, 5202 N. College Ave. www.lunamusic.net or (317) 283-5862.

• Missing Link Records, 4905 N. College Ave. www.missinglinkrecords.com or (317) 466-1967.

• Vibes Music, 5975 E. 82nd St. www.myspace.com/vibesrecords or (317) 576-0404.

To hire someone to transfer CDs to digital files, contact:

• TunesGenie, www.tunesgenie.com.