Do you still collect physical music?

DelBoy Trotter

As above, do you still collect physical music? Or do you just use streaming services these days? I know there has been a resurgence in people collecting vinyl, but what about CDs?
I've been thinking about it recently, and I haven't bought CDs in about 10 years. Prior to that I used to buy a lot of them, and still have probably 200-250 CDs in my parents. Since then, I have downloaded music before moving onto just streaming it. I find I don't really listen to albums like I used to 10+ years ago. Streaming music is a bit like a kid in a sweet shop....too much choice to actually properly enjoy anything! I think I regret that I stopped buying CDs, there was something enjoyable about having the CD and sleeve art and actually having to physical put the music on!

NewbridgeIR

I bought new albums on vinyl all through the dark days of the 1990s and 2000s. When the vast majority of people had abandoned the format. Picked up plenty CDs during that time too. Since 2012, buy most new releases and reissues on CD given the prohibitive cost of new vinyl. Still buy plenty second hand LPs and CDs too.

The backlash against CDs is hilarious; so many know it alls anxious to display their vinylphilia.

Streaming is fine; but will always go for a physical format. Q4 2020 has been brilliant for super deluxe editions and box sets
Prince
Thin Lizzy
Bob Mould
The Divine Comedy
Ultravox
Tears For Fears
Lou Reed
The Replacements
Richard & Linda Thompson

I've never streamed nor downloaded music (YouTube excluded).

Only ever buy physical copies. Much nicer experience.

gipi

Bought my latest CD last week. Still prefer them to streaming services.

Bob Gray

I’ll stream music in the house but I still buy cds, mainly for the car. I’ve often taken a long way home from work just because I’ve bought a new album. The mainstay at the moment is a best of Yello album.
But even having the physical copy, the inlay card especially, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.

_CreeD_

I stream primarily and buy digital copies for acts I really love, never know when they will drop off a streaming library and you can often now get higher-res formats from the likes of Bandcamp/HDTRacks etc. anyway. I'd only buy a CD if it was something I really wanted and was not available on digital in any form, even then it would be opened, ripped, and packed away into the attic.

S.M.B.

I took a similar path OP. Haven't bought physical music in 10+ years. I've found that over the past 9 months or so I've tried harder to mimic the experience of years past in an age of streaming, infinite shuffle and playlists. Maybe it's something I'll return to in future.

RayCon

I still buy physical (CD ... not vinyl as I no longer have a turntable / HiFi set up).


Streaming is OK for having a quick listen to check something out ... but I always buy what I like.



Most recent purchase



1. Marillion - Misplaced Childhood - Deluxe Box Set - excellent set :cool:

2. King Crimson - Discipline. Standard edition.

Exodus 1811

I spent my youth buying CDs.

A friend of mine and I had the same conversation recently. Some of the excitement of music has been reduced due to the convenience of streaming services. There’s no physical feeling there. Opening the album, reading the booklet and actually listening from start to finish.

He recently bought a record player and I was in browsing for a LP birthday present. Being back in a music shop, browsing the LPs with all the rest of the audio nerds brought that feeling back. Better yet, the album cover size gives a big visual impact also which I enjoy.

I’ll be buying a record player in the coming months, and will start to buy physical music again. I’ll also inherit a healthy supply from the aul fella.

NewbridgeIR

RayCon wrote: »

Most recent purchase
1. Marillion - Misplaced Childhood - Deluxe Box Set - excellent set :cool:

Those Marillion deluxes are really well done and a decent price too. The documentaries on the Blu Ray are very interesting. The only quibble with MP is that the single versions were omitted - Lavender was very different on 7” - but are readily available elsewhere.

noby

I was format-fluid in the early 90s, then went all in on CDs.

I found with streaming coming along (and probably my age / life stage) I listened to less physical music.
About 6/7 years ago I bought a record player, which got me back into listening (properly) to albums.

I still stream, usually in work/ the car.
I buy the odd CD*, plenty of records (new and secondhand), and plenty of digital from bandcamp.


*With the price of vinyl creeping up CDs are becoming more attractive again.

Relikk

Only physical media here, across the board. Whether it's vinyl, CD, DVD, Blu Ray for music, film, TV or video games etc. as I don't trust streaming sites or rights holders to supply me with what I want and when I want it. For music it's mainly CD that I buy these days as the price of vinyl is ridiculous, and when it comes to CD I rarely buy any new re-releases of albums I don't already own as they mostly sound inferior to original 80's releases, or up until the late 90's. It's rare to find a remaster these days that improves upon those original releases. Discogs is an invaluable resource in that regard.

DelBoy Trotter

S.M.B. wrote: »

I took a similar path OP. Haven't bought physical music in 10+ years. I've found that over the past 9 months or so I've tried harder to mimic the experience of years past in an age of streaming, infinite shuffle and playlists. Maybe it's something I'll return to in future.

It's something I'm considering returning to sooner rather than later. I'm very out of touch with newer music these days, so I'm tempted to start collecting older CDs and building up my collection again. Every now and again I spot boxes of used CDs with decent albums being given away or going for very cheap so that might be a good way to start back into it

nullObjects

I got into vinyl recently but skimped on the quality of the record player and it's started to warp some of the records I got.
May get my act together and get a proper one.

Don't know why but I'd like to have a physical copy of landmark albums or just albums I really like

Penfailed

I still regularly buy CDs. I'll occasionally listen to an album on Spotify to make sure I like it before buying the hard copy.

NewbridgeIR

Relikk wrote: »

Only physical media here, across the board. Whether it's vinyl, CD, DVD, Blu Ray for music, film, TV or video games etc. as I don't trust streaming sites or rights holders to supply me with what I want and when I want it. For music it's mainly CD that I buy these days as the price of vinyl is ridiculous, and when it comes to CD I rarely buy any new re-releases of albums I don't already own as they mostly sound inferior to original 80's releases, or up until the late 90's. It's rare to find a remaster these days that improves upon those original releases. Discogs is an invaluable resource in that regard.

Lots of crimes carried out in the name of "remastering"

I prefer the quiet, flat sound of '80s CD pressings. They sound great turned up.
I buy a fair few reissues, but often for the bonus tracks (especially if single mixes are included) and liner notes - rather than the main event.

Having said that, the worst excesses of the 2000s seem to be behind us in terms of brickwalled CD remasters.

S.M.B.

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

It's something I'm considering returning to sooner rather than later. I'm very out of touch with newer music these days, so I'm tempted to start collecting older CDs and building up my collection again. Every now and again I spot boxes of used CDs with decent albums being given away or going for very cheap so that might be a good way to start back into it

There's part of me that loves not having physical media to worry about but the more settled I become in life the less of an issue that becomes.

I am tempted to create a sort of hybrid physical / streaming media player where I use NFC chips to play full length albums via Spotify but I'm not quite sure if that's the best of both worlds or the worst.

Nigel Fairservice

At one time I had a very large collection of cds and dvds. I'd call into HMV at least once a week. The last time I bought a cd was in 2007. I have a Spotify account these days. I still have the mp3s of my cd collection as well. I don't really miss physical media to be honest. I do still buy a lot of books and I'm not going to stop buying them. I have a kindle as well and might pick up digital copies of physical books I have in the 0.99p kindle deals of the day.

CelticRambler

CDs and vinyl are "physical" music? :eek: Get away out of that: real physical music comes straight from the instrument ... which is what I collect!

But for recorded music, yeah - still adding to my collection of 45s, LPs and CDs (haven't bought a cassette tape for a long time, and the drive band on my machine is perished so can't play what I have). These days, it's nearly always CDs, mostly bought direct from the artists themselves after a live performance ... although sometimes I get them free in exchange for services rendered during the event.

I've nothing against playlists, and will compile my own to suit certain occasions - or simply because there's one track on an album that I really, really don't like; but for the most part, if I've chosen to listen to music, it's because I want to hear that music, in the same way that I'd choose to go and hear a band or an orchestra live.

During the summer, I had a bunch of millennials come to visit, complete with their infinite spotify playlists. By the time they left, they'd all abandoned their smartphones in favour of my 30-year-old hi-fi (and the 60-year-old singles I inherited from my mother)!