The Decline Of C.d's

HouseHippo

With downloading fewer people are bothering with c.d's these days.
I dont know about you but I like to hold something I've bought or I feel like I wasted money....

Your thoughts

K4t

HouseHippo wrote: »

With downloading fewer people are bothering with c.d's these days.
I dont know about you but I like to hold something I've bought or I feel like I wasted money....

Your thoughts

1. The majority download songs free online.

2. I do understand where you're coming from, only if very slightly. I still by the odd album in my local record shop. Lately I bought the Radiohead greatest hits and a while back Cat Stevens newest album, which turned out to be Islamic propaganda !!

3. Are you the proprietor of a record/music shop?

rowlandbrowner

if that something costs 20 euro i'd advise listening to it for free first, if its good buy it, if its not delete it.
i download 10 to 20 albums on an average week and if i told you what I spend on cds and vinyl you'd think I was ill.

dear OP
please mention this point in your next EMI board meeting
The decline in cd sales can be directly linked to the decline in musical quality

Thomas_S_Hunterson

rowlandbrowner wrote: »

if that something costs 20 euro i'd advise listening to it for free first, if its good buy it, if its not delete it.

Only if it's legal of course...

Samson

The vast majority of music added to my collection recently has been in MP3 format.

However, if I do buy a CD in a shop (rather than from Amazon, Play, CDWOW etc.) generally I only purchase either "on sale" or second hand CDs, and they're usually whimsy purchases whilst browsing.
I can't remember the last time I actually went into a record shop with the intention of buying a specific CD.

HouseHippo

K4t wrote: »

1. The majority download songs free online.

2. I do understand where you're coming from, only if very slightly. I still by the odd album in my local record shop. Lately I bought the Radiohead greatest hits and a while back Cat Stevens newest album, which turned out to be Islamic propaganda !!

3. Are you the proprietor of a record/music shop?

Hehe Islamic Propaganda!

Na I'm a dj

HouseHippo

rowlandbrowner wrote: »

if that something costs 20 euro i'd advise listening to it for free first, if its good buy it, if its not delete it.
i download 10 to 20 albums on an average week and if i told you what I spend on cds and vinyl you'd think I was ill.

dear OP
please mention this point in your next EMI board meeting
The decline in cd sales can be directly linked to the decline in musical quality

I dont think you are ill, i am considering mugging you though


Lol I hate EMI!!!! Money hungry arseholes!! Indie Record labels all the way

Everything is protools(d) to bits these days so ya cant complian anout the quality, until you see em live

brow_601

i still buy cds, don't download at all.i too like to be able to hold something in my hands after i pay money for it.

stovelid

I still like the artifact side of a CD: going into a record shop, the packaging and what not, but I think it's because I started buying music in the vinyl era. At the end of the day, CDs are still a rip-off, and I find myself ripping them when I buy them anyway.

DenMan

Well a couple of weeks ago I just bought myself some great albums from bands I really love. It had been a while prior to that the last time I bought some but feel great to have that fix back again. I always love to support the bands I love. Online buying for me is becoming very popular but I love the feeling of going into a music store, browsing around and finally purchasing. Part of the overall experience. Long may it continue.

dr.bollocko

My problem is with the CD format. It has always been dodgy. I hate that skipping when the disk is scratched or the lens needs cleaning. Same with DVD's. Just hate the media. I have tonnes of them, but prefer to play them through the PC as MP3s than chucking on a CD. Vinyl has many playback problems too, but at least it's a lovable format.

Scubadevils

I absolutely love shopping for music, be it online or in music stores and would probably buy about 15 CD's per month and a few 12"s too (I gave up smoking early in 2007 and have used the money I would have smoked for music instead!) - for me there is no comparison to actually having the physical object with sleeve notes, images etc. I hate seeing the music industry declining and dread the day where you can no longer browse an independent music store - its bad enough as is with a serious lack of good shops now in Ireland to spend an afternoon flicking through CD's and vinyl.

Rigsby

dr.bollocko wrote: »

My problem is with the CD format. It has always been dodgy. I hate that skipping when the disk is scratched or the lens needs cleaning. Same with DVD's. Just hate the media. I have tonnes of them, but prefer to play them through the PC as MP3s than chucking on a CD. Vinyl has many playback problems too, but at least it's a lovable format.

I have about 500 CD's of which 75% were bought used. Of these (to the best of my recollection ) about two skip and I've never used a lens cleaner. I read somewhere that the lens cleaners with the little brushes can actually damage the lens. I also have a large collection of vinyl. I can see the pros and cons of both formats. To me the main advantage of the CD is being able to play them in the car. I like nothing more than browsing in a large record store, but I'm from the vinyl era. I have never downloaded a bar of music in my life. Hopefully the time wont come when I'll feel the need to.

HouseHippo

brow_601 wrote: »

i still buy cds, don't download at all.i too like to be able to hold something in my hands after i pay money for it.

+1

MooseJam

I don't buy cd's I download for free, most sensible thing to do

Setun

I love browsing for music, to the point where it's a hobby. I don't really like downloading, it's not the same at all - it kind of feels like you don't 'have' the album. Plus I like owning a record collection, not just a tracklist on itunes.

Firetrap

I only occasionally buy CDs now. I used to own a couple of hundred of them but in truth I only listen to some of them. I've flogged loads of them on eBay or given them to Oxfam. They take up too much space. Viva portable hard drives (and yes, I do back up my music collection on more than the one drive...)

GhostInTheRuins

I always buy cds but I will download some albums I already own on Vinyl and cassette because it's easier.

I recently bought an album on ebay but didn't read the page properly, and instead of getting a shiny cd I got a crusty old tape I think in that case I could be forgiven for downloading it too!

HouseHippo

Mp3's just aren't as good quality as cd's sound wise

dr.bollocko

HouseHippo wrote: »

Mp3's just aren't as good quality as cd's sound wise

That doesnt make any sense really tbh.

humberklog

HouseHippo wrote: »

Mp3's just aren't as good quality as cd's sound wise

+1
Definately and especially at higher volume.
Of course there's the more intimate tactileness to actually holding a product that creates music.
I would generally only buy at most two cds at a time as when I buy, say 4 in a sale, then I never really explore all the albums individually. Too much info at one time. MP3 is all the info you ever wanted all at once too. Now I may be a bit slow in absorbing music in a way I enjoy but MP3's instant mass gratification can't be absorbed in a musically healthy fashion by the general public.
Over depenance on MP3 is a little like finding all you need to know about history through Wiki. It's grand info that'll blag you by but it ain't well garnered knowledge that'll fill the grey matter the way the brain is built to absorb information in a thoughtful way.

Mind you it is bloody handy for finding those odd titbits that aren't generally available. "Dear oki, if you see arkie will you tell'm that tex.....".

Phlann

Guys, the whole mp3 vs CD thing has been done to death and even most of the music geeks over at Hydrogen Audio say they can't tell the difference between V0 MP3 and the original CD, even on their incredibly expensive and fancy set-ups (seriously, some of these guys pay more for their cables than any normal people will ever pay for their entire set-up). The frequencies lost to compression at V0 are inaudible.

Obviously if you're listening to 128kbps MP3s or lower you'll spot the difference immediately... but if you're listening to 128kbps you don't really deserve to call yourself a music fan :P

Anyway, I download all my music and I download it for free. Usually in MP3, sometimes in lossless format (FLAC etc).

Not that I have an issue with paying for it but I hate the clutter of CDs and I'm not willing to pay for digital copies until a store comes along that isn't screwing us over. If I'm buying an album I want it to be at the same audio quality as the CD (ie in FLAC or WAV which I can then encode as I see fit, or at the very least in V0 format) and I don't want to pay extra for the privilege. I'd also like all the artwork to come with it in digital format. There's very few online stores catering for this.

MooseJam

I was in the record store today and I noticed the latest coldplay album doesn't even have a CD case like wtf, it's just some crappy cardboard thingy, price is still the same though 17 yoyos, and people wonder why sales are dropping off

dr.bollocko

MooseJam wrote: »

I was in the record store today and I noticed the latest coldplay album doesn't even have a CD case like wtf, it's just some crappy cardboard thingy, price is still the same though 17 yoyos, and people wonder why sales are dropping off

NOBODY wonders why sales are dropping off!

Nailz

Nah I like the the back up of CD's. What if you have your whole music collection on you iPod or something, and then you lost it or broke your hard drive? You'd be fùcked then wouldn't ya?!

dr.bollocko

Nailz wrote: »

Nah I like the the back up of CD's. What if you have your whole music collection on you iPod or something, and then you lost it or broke your hard drive? You'd be fùcked then wouldn't ya?!

No my good man! You'd be off down to your friendsies house with a new Hard disk lickity split and within an hour you would have just as much music as you ever had.
What would you do if a rabid pack of wild dogs attacks your room and puts tomato ketchup all over your CD collection? Where would you be then?
You'd be phuked then wouldnt you!:D

Loveless

The thing to remember about CD's is that they are just music on another media. The way I look at it is this:
If you wanted to hear music two hundred years ago, you went to the opera cos that was the only format available. If you wanted to listen to music fifty years ago, you bought the vinyl record cos that was the format available, thirty years ago you'd have bought the cassette, twenty years ago you'd have bought the compact disc, and for the last ten years* we've been downloading the mp3s.
*downloaded my first mp3 in may '98.

It's just the natural evolution of technology... I can only guess that the next thing would be that all music is streamed wirelessly and we don't even get to own the mp3s anymore...?!

I'm a huge music fan btw, own over 1500 CDs and love going into record stores and finding that rare cd that you've been looking for for years but that amount of CD's takes up an entire wall at home. Whereas the 70,000 songs I have in digital format sit on a DVD spindle about 8" high

Chong

Daddio wrote: »

I love browsing for music, to the point where it's a hobby. I don't really like downloading, it's not the same at all - it kind of feels like you don't 'have' the album. Plus I like owning a record collection, not just a tracklist on itunes.

Hear Hear Daddio same as myself the whole shopping for music has now become a hobby.

MooseJam

you know you can get the CD covers online too, and the sleeve notes, so you could download the music, burn to disc, print off the cd cover and notes and buy yourself a jewel case, cost about 50 cent per album, thats if you're one of those need to hold it types

GhostInTheRuins

MooseJam wrote: »

you know you can get the CD covers online too, and the sleeve notes, so you could download the music, burn to disc, print off the cd cover and notes and buy yourself a jewel case, cost about 50 cent per album, thats if you're one of those need to hold it types

That's hardly the same now is it?

projectmayhem

i love the idea of owning a collection, and do in fact own a radio station-sized collection. however, of late i've stopped buying cds because the quality of album content has gone into freefall, and half of the stuff i enjoy isn't available though regular retail outlets, which is annoying. it's actually easier to just jump onto "place" and get going. my ipod is about 20% filled with stuff i don't own hard copies of, and i can imagine that filling up.

my external hard drive is my new music collection...

HouseHippo

humberklog wrote: »

+1
Definately and especially at higher volume.
Of course there's the more intimate tactileness to actually holding a product that creates music.
I would generally only buy at most two cds at a time as when I buy, say 4 in a sale, then I never really explore all the albums individually. Too much info at one time. MP3 is all the info you ever wanted all at once too. Now I may be a bit slow in absorbing music in a way I enjoy but MP3's instant mass gratification can't be absorbed in a musically healthy fashion by the general public.
Over depenance on MP3 is a little like finding all you need to know about history through Wiki. It's grand info that'll blag you by but it ain't well garnered knowledge that'll fill the grey matter the way the brain is built to absorb information in a thoughtful way.

Mind you it is bloody handy for finding those odd titbits that aren't generally available. "Dear oki, if you see arkie will you tell'm that tex.....".

Well to fit all the music into an Mp3 you have to leave out loads of different frequencies therfore missing out on certain key elements in the song etc. Sounds like something is missing.

Guy:Incognito

rowlandbrowner wrote: »

The decline in cd sales can be directly linked to the decline in musical quality

Think your looking for the all things retro forum.

There was just as much crap before as there is now. The only difference is that peopel can listen for free first so can more effectivly weed out the crap.

I'm very much in the like to hold and have shelves full camp. My reasons for my dramatic fall away in cd purchasing is just 3 letters though:DVD. I started buying DVDs and just had no money left to buy cd's anymore. I still buy every now and then though.

Nailz

dr.bollocko wrote: »

No my good man! You'd be off down to your friendsies house with a new Hard disk lickity split and within an hour you would have just as much music as you ever had.
What would you do if a rabid pack of wild dogs attacks your room and puts tomato ketchup all over your CD collection? Where would you be then?
You'd be phuked then wouldnt you!:D

Hehe, no I'd still have 'em on my iPod!

Setun

Van Zuylen wrote:

Hear Hear Daddio same as myself the whole shopping for music has now become a hobby.

Hear hear indeed!

I do occasionally download an album if it's not available in record shops, but any album I really enjoy is purchased on cd/vinyl.

Does anybody else think that discovering music has become less 'special', for want of a better word, now with the interweb and downloading etc? I actually get a buzz off walking into a record store and picking up something I've never heard before and then rushing home to listen to it. I love it when I'm sitting on the bus or dart home, reading the liner notes, and wondering how it'll sound after I lower the needle or hit play.

Or maybe I'm just a good consumer and like opening my wallet

Rigsby

Daddio wrote: »

Does anybody else think that discovering music has become less 'special', for want of a better word, now with the interweb and downloading etc? I actually get a buzz off walking into a record store and picking up something I've never heard before and then rushing home to listen to it. I love it when I'm sitting on the bus or dart home, reading the liner notes, and wondering how it'll sound after I lower the needle or hit play.

You 've described me to a tee here, so there's still a few of us left. When I've been searching for a particular cd, then casually stroll into a store and find it there, no amount of downloading could match the thrill of this IMO. It's happening less and less ( finding what you want in a store in Dublin) unfortunately........ but if in London or New York................

MooseJam

I get the same buzz when I hit search on a torrent site and the album I'm looking for appears

humberklog

rowlandbrowner wrote: »

The decline in cd sales can be directly linked to the decline in musical quality

Eh...no it can't. Have a look at the top selling albums of all time and you'll see what some may describe as gems and others tosh. Music no is no worse than ever and a lot better than it occassionally has been.

The decline in music sales can be directly linked to the availability of free music.
I was at a free bar 2week ago. The sale of Jagermeister and Budvar was well down but the consumption was through the roof.

Rigsby

MooseJam wrote: »

I get the same buzz when I hit search on a torrent site and the album I'm looking for appears

Whatever floats your boat........... Generally I suppose it's a case of how you collected/played music when you were younger.