compact disc.. do you still buy them (no seriously..)

[Boss Level Music]

I still buy CDs, but only at shows when it directly benefits the artist.

[pepezabala]

exactly, I only buy CDs as merchandise on concerts or so. last one was from an exhibition, came with the catalogue. Have not bought something in a record shop since 2008. And before that in 2003 or so.

I still sometimes get me some CDs at the public library and rip them. Amazing repertoire.

[rasputin]

Sorry, maybe fine for you.

I have beautiful multi-CD sets that digital will never approach. Particularly with the better booklets. I'm thinking off the top of my head of David Sylvian's Weatherbox, the fantastic Raymond Scott Manhattan Research set, the Ohm em compilation, the Stereolab Oscillations... box set, the excellent sets that Rhino produced (esp. the 2 CD Love set).

Nowadays, DVDs might as well be in the cloud, I agree, but in the early days there were lovingly produced packages like the Criterion stuff.

"Files can be backed up to the cloud..." Yeah, good luck in entrusting anything important to you to anonymous strangers. How about digitizing all the photos and videos (weddings, birthdays, UFO sightings) you've taken in your entire life and throwing away the originals? Then move it all up to some cloud site.

And really, the quality of most digital music is execrable. This is why vinyl still hangs on, there are a few people who still care about acoustic, orchestral, jazz or other music that relies on timbre.

Plus the entire concept that prevalent now is that "music has zero value. I should be able to get anything I want anytime for free."

You may understand in 10 years or so.

Of course, this is the opinion of someone who is still running Win XP and perfectly happy with it...

[Benno]

Yes. Its got nothing to do with quality. Its to do with the physical. Music is essentially free nowadays which is a pretty sad fact but true none the less. I have 1500 cds stacked on my wall and everyone has a place. For every CD, I can remember where i was when i bought it, why i bought it, the excitement of listening to it all the way through and hoping for fantastic tracks and either being underwhelmed or thoroughly blown away. Its all part of the fun of discovering new music and more importantly part of my journey in life. Each CD cost me my hard earned money and i proud of my collection. A tactile and emotional experience from taking the cd out to reading the sleeve notes whilst it plays. Replace that all with digital files? Not a chance. My mate says hes got 2000 albums on his HD. Ive got 1500 on my shelf. I know what is more impressive to me.

I guess its not so much to do with the format. It could be vinyl, cd whatever. At the end of the day, its a physical and emotional attachment to something tactile. I guess the same arguement could be levelled at real hardware and plug ins (no prizes for guessing which i prefer!). Each to their own i guess.

[beats me]

Rhapsody - $8/month to browse a huge catalog by iPhone or computer. it's great just to check out bands I wouldn't normally give the time to. anyone saying that good music isn't being released today is just ignorant.

if I really like an album, I buy it. with all the places I store songs (work computer, home computer, phone) my different digital collections are getting scattered. same with movies.

between Rhapsody and NetFlix on the Wii my entertainment has mostly moved to the cloud for less than $20/month. shout out to youtube as well. mostly crap quality but amazing quantity.


nathannnnnn, you're a weird one. "crappiest invention of the last century??" did you eat paint chips as a child?

Been a long time since we kicked it, my friend. But last we did you were a big CD guy. Nothing you said says you aren’t anymore but there wasn’t a lot of discussion about digital copies back then. Do you now do a combo of both, like some music should be purchased on CD and others a digital download is good enough?

As far as music all over the place on different computers, it should be interesting to see how this cloud streaming takes off that Google, Amazon, and Apple are jumping on. I have to admit I’m skeptical for a variety of reasons – storage capacity, delivery method, file type restrictions, stability and availability of a network connection, caps on 3/4G data streaming.

There’s already apps for streaming media from your home computers to your portable devices, but I’m unaware of programs that will do the same to another computer that isn’t on the same network. There probably is but I just don’t know what they are.

[macmurphy]

Music is essentially free nowadays which is a pretty sad fact but true none the less.

well no, it's not. people have no problems with stealing music - that's the sad fact.

however i thoroughly agree with the rest of your post and rasputin's.
i'm happy sitting here surrounded by cds and vinyl - nearly all of which also reside on a HD. best of both worlds.

[ze2be]

As long as FOPP keeps selling out of chart CDs for £5 I'll keep buying them.

for new releases I'll generally "Home Tape" from a friends copy - I'm ashamed to say.

I am ashamed that people are ashamed of listening to music they love, even though they cant afford it.

Whats a matter with folks, don't you want people to listen to your music?? Any fan, rich or poor spreads the love of your music. Which in turn gives us more fans, and more concerts, and more support sales.

Personally I encourage people to copy my music: Please spread the love!! And if you want to, support us by buying a CD, digital download, or a t-shirt, etc. And if you know anyone who promote concerts, please give them a copy too! We can find a solution on most budgets. Heres my mail: "spreadthelove@earth.net"

CDs are nice as business cards for musicians. "Nice to meat you! Btw, do you have our latest CD? Here you go! Contact info inside "

/2cents

[Tarekith]

I still by CDs for my favorite artists. If I download something I'm going to back it up to CDR and burn a copy for the car anyway, this just saves me a step and I get the nice artwork and such too. Typically I only buy CDs for artists I know I like though, if I'm just checking something out I'll probably just buy the MP3's.

[memes_33]

not really- most digital downloads are available in an uncompressed format these days. the reason i bought the last few cds was either it was unavailable in an uncompressed format or they were just as expensive to buy as the album download. i occasionally peruse the used CDs when i'm buying records at amoeba, or sometime peruse amazon or half.com for used CDs, but that hasn't happened in a while.

buying cd's for artwork is retarded imho. records, yes.

and anyone still bitching about digital music sharing in this day in age should wake up.

[H20nly]

I still by CDs for my favorite artists. If I download something I'm going to back it up to CDR and burn a copy for the car anyway, this just saves me a step and I get the nice artwork and such too. Typically I only buy CDs for artists I know I like though, if I'm just checking something out I'll probably just buy the MP3's.

that ^ with one exception... if i'm at a show and i like the artist i'll buy the CD - so i sometimes end up with some tracks i don't like/want.

its also nice to have a CD when i'm in a hurry and i want something fresh to listen to in the car but i'm on the way out the door... i just run over to the old CD rack and grab. done.
no booting the computer/device, starting the app, selecting the files, inserting the blank disc or player (iPod etc), copying the files, waiting to finalize, ejecting the media and then finally going out the door - that's too much every time.

as far as DVDs go... i have Netflix streaming to my TV which is really cool, but i have to admit... every now and then i want to rewind something that i didn't understand/hear... and on those occasions, when i have a DVD in - its SO NICE. rewind, play, listen, rewind again, play, listen, rewind again, play on... i can do all that in the amount of time it takes for the buffer to reload on streaming media (once) and... usually if i can't hear/understand it after going through rewinding the stream... i don't bother again. it takes too damn long. its my only gripe with streaming and a HUGE advantage to having physical media IMO.

[beats me]

As far as CDs and cars, my 98 Camry is still sporting a cassette deck and no CD player and at it’s age there’s really no point in investing in a new stereo.

Plus I get way better sound stability using a wired cassette adaptor for my iPod than those flakey FM transmitters.

[Tarekith]

Downside of cassette adaptors is that the frequency balance can change very time you insert them. But yes, better than FM transmitters.

[memes_33]

yeah, come to think of it, i think i've bought more cassettes in the last year than cds!

[beats me]

Downside of cassette adaptors is that the frequency balance can change very time you insert them. But yes, better than FM transmitters.

The funny thing is that car stereos are often recommended as one of the systems you should test your mixes on but just about every musician and DJ I’ve ever met couldn’t give less of a shit about their car stereo, not the kind of gear they believe in investing in. And a lot of new cars have pretty impressive stock systems to begin with.

I blew my front right speaker over a year ago and still haven’t replaced it. Blew it listening to Marilyn Mason, explain that one. I just compensate by finessing the fader setting appropriately. Also it may sound like crap but I know the character of the sound more than my other setups and know when a mix sounds like crap because of the speakers or is actual crap. Silly.

[memes_33]

The funny thing is that car stereos are often recommended as one of the systems you should test your mixes on

yeah, even back in the day before 8-tracks engineers would build small radio transmitters so they could listen to their mixes in the car! for me, it was (for a while at least) the system that i knew better than any other one and could reference too, even if it was deficient in so many ways.