Buying music for the good

Chong

I dont know what it is, but ever since I started buying CD's again back in March of this year I have become addicted to get at least 3 cd's a week. Its consistent on average the music I buy is new music , so in general out of the 3 cds or so I buy a week at least 2 if not 3 are good.

Maybe its the buying of the music thats forcing me to listen to each cd more rather than in the past, listening to 1 or 2 tracks and basically forgetting about the album.

I feel its re-engvigorated my passion in music, all my life music has been my passion but in recent years it became nothing but the ability to collect and horde music to have a huge collection, but now its about quality for me not quantity.

So I suppose what I am getting at here is , does anyone feel having the Cd in your hand is far better than downloading, even though you pay for the music?

WithCheesePlease

I still buy cds, and like having a cd collection.

Even if I already have an album that I "acquired" from one source or another if I like it I still like to go out and buy the cd. Especially if it's some small up-and-coming band or artist.

But I find if I get a lash of new music from a friend or whatever that I'm very slow to getting round to listening to most, if any of it. Never the same as having new cds in your hand.

But some people don't care about the music, for them it's all about the collection and having a huge library - like one lad I worked with that once downloaded each and every "now that's what I call music" compilation, just to have them. He had gigs and gigs of music that he never listened too, just like movies and tv shows, just because he could. But he was the kind of guy that was never going to buy any of those cds or box sets anyway so no loss to the industry there.

Chong

This is exactly my point.

Plus the cd always sounds better in my car in comparison to hooking up my ipod.

Bubs101

The only real reason that I would buy a CD nowadays is to support the artist which means that I'll only buy CD's if an artist I like has a small profile or is on of my favourites. I bought Willy Mason's second album because I think he deserves more recognition than he gets. I bought Wilco's latest album because they're my favourite band and I don't care if I pump more and more money into them. Other than that, I won't get it. I prefer to go to gigs, which gives money directly to the artist anyway

Chong

I suppose, I am not really getting at the whole Downloading way of things. I just believe there is something about holding that cd in your hand, I feel you forced in ways to listen to it cause you have paid for it. I dont believe I am doing this to support bands as its not really supporting them in the same way as going to gigs which I do quite alot. But its something about the quality of the cd I love.

suckslikeafox

I generally only buy cds if I cant find them to download, which usually means its a new Irish band so I dont mind supporting them. For bigger bands I prefer to go to their gigs and maybe buy a t-shirt or something, it gives far more cash to them and I think its better value for money.

Though when I do have money in a few years time, I do plan on buying my favourite albums just so I can have them in my hand

JLemmon

I was the same, tried downloading stuff, it was great initially
hearing all this stuff I wanted for years but then I got tired of having loads of mp3's and not really listening to them just burning off cd copies and listening to them, but that was exactly the problem, I find no matter how good an album is or how much i love it if the cd is a copy i will not revisit it much ( like tape copies in the old days), but if I have the original cd i play it much more, i suppose the investment must have something to do with it.
I recently came across 2 cases of this "binge downloading" carry on. On a forum someone asked about Butthole Surfers and an album to recommend, the post was answered and the original poster came back on line saying he downloaded the whole discography! Same the thing happened to a friend, the mentioned to someone how he liked the Fall, and how long it's taken to get all the albums together, he just happened to meet the guy again last weekend he said he had downloaded the whole discography.
I don't believe music can be appriciated properly in this way some music needs lots of time invested in it to fully gain the maximum enjoyment from it. that can't be possible with people downloading 100's of albums a week.

Amazotheamazing

Weird, I was thinking about this this morning, I remember when I was getting into music in the mid 1990's before downloading really took off, the suspense and anticipation of waiting to get a new release, to save up and buy that classic album and then going home and listening to it. The entire experience made listening so much more enjoyable. I know you'll never be as evangelical about music as you were when you a teenager, but dammit, it was part of the process.

Now, if I like a band I can get their entire back catalogue in a few minutes and suddenly it's so much about discovering new music as collecting and having a large, largely unlistened to collection.

Bubs101

But it depends if the person intends to use the music he downloads. I have a friend who downloaded a whole 4 gig Gregorian discography because he couldn't find the songs that he wanted. He then culled the albums to make a homemade greatest hits. He also downloaded a Neil Young dicography because he planned to get into him over time and has listened to the majority of the stuff he has downloaded

Chong

Of course, everyone is different bubs.

I am by no means trying to preach here, just explaining the way I feel about music lately.

Jim

Its hard to buy CD's if you have no great amount of disposable income. Like every one else I when I started downloading music I said I'd buy the CD if its good enough, but alas I've failed to live up to that promise.

I do go to alot of gigs though, and if I like a band at a gig I'll buy their CD there or possibly some merch, so thats my little bit of support.

Making too much money is bad for bands anyway. You have to keep the artists humble. Keeps them making good music.

Xavi6

I used to spend all my excess cash on cds when I lived at home and had the disposable income. Now that I'm all grown up with bills, rent, car loan to pay I simply can't afford it.

Basically if it's band I'm a huge fan of, e.g. Muse, I buy all the cds/dvds. If it's a band who I'm trying to get into or just curious about then I download.

If I had the money I would definitely buy the cds though.

smackbunnybaby

i buy cds
i download
i burn downloads to cd
i rarely listen to actual mp3s anymore
i cant bring myself to browse my mp3 player or external hard drive sometimes

Bubs101

The thing with the money though is that if I had it I would be getting Vinyl instead, much better sleeves, sound quality, better for decoration and they don't depreciate horribly in value

Jim

I've just realised I don't own a CD player anymore.

Wonder when that happened.

lordgoat

I either listen to the mp3 or vinyl. Can't ever imagine buying a cd again.

KnifeWRENCH

I always buy CD's because I'm slightly technophobic! The whole "downloading" craze is a bit lost on me, I'm afraid. (I know I probably sound really old here. I'm only 18!!)

Also, I just love owning CD's: having the actual copy/album sleeve and not just a load of blank CD's. There's nothing I love more than browsing music shops and finding good albums on sale!

pyure

I prefer to download single songs and make compilation cds for the car, then if there's a song I really like I'll go out and buy the cd. Ya can't beat wasting a few hours browsing music shops, especially independant onces.

edit: once I get a job I fully intend to start a vinyl collection as well

K0K0

Jimeatsmenu wrote: »

Making too much money is bad for bands anyway. You have to keep the artists humble. Keeps them making good music.

yeah, keeping people on their knees is the best kind of motivation... sure why would you reward someone for doing a good job, it just robs them of their incentive


I agree with you OP, you just value things more when you gotta cough up for them... that's cool you're getting the buzz back

Jim

SARCASMALERT

moonflower

I much prefer buying actual CDs.
Mp3s are fine for having on in the background when I'm doing something else, but when I actually sit down and listen to music I like to listen to a full CD and flick through the booklet.
For a lot of albums they just sound better if you listen to the songs in order too.

JæKæ

I likes the vinyl too.
Found a Jimi Hendrix 45. One of the ones with huge hole in the middle. I didn't have one of those adapters to keep the record in the centre. Spent a lot of time trying to place them records.
That's what it's all about-try gettin that with an oul mp3.

JC 2K3

Music for me is entirely about music. So no, I don't give a crap about a piece of plastic. Downloading is so much more practical. For a start, I only listen to music on my MP3 player or on my computer, so If I bought a CD I'd just rip it anyway and then leave the physical object on the shelf forever. Also, half the albums I want aren't in shops, but if I download I have access to so much more and much more easily at that.

Yes, if you overdownload you run the risk of having stuff you don't listen to and just end up being a hoarder rather than a music fan, but that's not what I do. I do have a lot of stuff I haven't listened to, because sometimes I download discographies on a whim, but for most albums, I download them and then listen to them as if I'd bought the CD. And having a lot of random material you haven't listened to on your MP3 player is good if you're spontaneous like me and want to throw on some album you've never heard before on the way home from college.

And in any case, if I ever get a lot of money and want to invest in sentimentality and quality, I'll get a decent record player and buy my favourite albums on vinyl, not crappy CDs.

Creamy Goodness

there is one thing i dislike about downloading mp3's and it's this.

you are stuck to one bitrate one file type, you are basically are buying digital air. you have no control over what file you have.

for this reason and many others i will continue to buy cd/vinyl.

JC 2K3

Cremo wrote: »

there is one thing i dislike about downloading mp3's and it's this.

you are stuck to one bitrate one file type, you are basically are buying digital air. you have no control over what file you have.

?

If you're talking about legal downloads, then fair enough. The illegal scene is a completely different ball game, however(In fact, the vast superiority of the illegal scene is one of the main reasons I don't pay for legal downloads).

Personally, my 'MP3 Player', which I really should refer to as a 'Portable Media Player', can play everything from MP3, to OGG, to FLAC (And although mine had native support for these, most players can now use RockBox, which allows playback of many formats). And online I find that usually it is possible to find an album in a wide range of formats (or at least FLAC, which can be converted to anything else).

If I was going to buy an album, then yes I would buy it on CD/Vinyl. I wouldn't touch a legal downloading service.

Creamy Goodness

yeh i just assumed we was talking about the legal avenues here.

Mushy

I just love getting the cd, I just find it a lot handier. If I want to listen to music on my computer, I'll just use youtube. And sure you can always pick up cd's at decent prices, everytime I'm in HMV thereseems to be a sale. On Sunday, walk in for a quick browse, end up with Sigur Ros () and Radiohead Ok Computer for €15....not bad for bands I'm not huge into, but want to listen to. And without breaking the bank. Prices are relatively cheap too, so getting a back catalogue of a band is cheap enough. Handy too, as they'll last forever if kept in good condition!

Phlann

I haven't bought a CD in years. I've gone 100% digital and I'm really glad to see the back of all the clutter. I've got 25,000 mp3s on one hard-drive here... if I had all those albums in physical format I'd need space for about 2000 cds.

It is ridiculous how far the illegal download scene is ahead of the legal one. Did I read somewhere that iTunes actually make you pay extra for higher bitrate files? Jokeshop. If you're paying for it you should get it in the exact same quality you would if you had bought the cd (or at least be given the choice).

Creamy Goodness

Phlann wrote: »

I've got 25,000 mp3s on one hard-drive here...

can i ask what happens if your one hard drive goes kaput?

Phlann

I cry.

Nah, I've got it all backed up to an old external that I don't use anymore. And if that fails I've got my library info exported to an excel file so I could just download it all again. I really hope that never happens though.

MagicMarker

All this **** over vinyl, i'll never understand.

I download, I don't have money to be spending 20 euro plus on a new release when i can get it for free. Plus i don't want to stick with one cd at a time, and then change it when i want to listen to something else.

Nope, download all the way. Stick it on an ipod and you have your entire music collection everywhere you go and you can just make playlists of what you want to listen to. I feel the same way about burning cds, hate having blank cds around the place.

WithCheesePlease

Ok, I'm back in here...

I buy CDs, and have hundreds of them. But they are all gathering dust on various CD racks because as soon as I buy a CD I rip it and then listen to it on my MP3 player or my laptop. Even around the house I have decent speakers that I plug my MP3 player into and listen to the radio / music from that. And the CD player in my car stopped working so I got an FM transmitter for my MP3 player so CDs don't even get to my car any more. So any CDs I buy are pretty much immediately shelved.

But having said that I will continue to buy CDs for various reasons (nice to have, inlay cards, supporting artists, etc...)

WithCheesePlease

MagicMarker wrote: »

All this **** over vinyl, i'll never understand.

+1