Renman waxes philosophical about the evolution of our little blog and asks the question, “How are you buying your music these days. Do you like it digital, on cd, vinyl, or just free. One sugar or two?.
Do tell!
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I use the subscription service Yahoo! music jukebox. It has a monthly rate for all the songs they have available instead of individual songs, with the option of ‘permanently’ obtaining a song by paying 77 cents for it(in addition to or in place of the subscription service). I could never pay per song because I would hear a lot less music that I didn’t realize I wanted to hear until I heard the entire song. In the long run, I think I download more songs per month than I would spend buying each individually. The only downside is that I don’t have the peace of mind of ‘owning’ the song after I stop paying, but if that ownership comes at a steeper price, I’d rather the subscription service.
For my I-Pod, 2 store 7Digital and Amazon. 7Digital is this great store based in The UK, you are able to buy big files 320KPS and has all the great UK indies. Amazon for other music, again the files are superior to I-Tunes, no DRM and file size. I had Rhapsody given to me for 2 years as part of a image deal, now I subscribe to check out any music period at my fingertips. Love my I-Pods , my mac and use the PC for Rhapsody.
Great music out there!
Best
Vince
First, I love reading everyone’s comments on here. I finally found a door in the industry that I’d like to get my foot caught in, so I’m liking the ‘education’ I’m getting here.
As far as buying music goes, I find I’m reverting back to CDs actually. I think I like owning something tangible. Also, my hard drive has crashed one too many times for my liking. That being said, I usually listen to the music first on imeem. And we have a really awesome record store over here called Blackbyrd Myoozik, they have more vinyl in there than I’ve seen in my entire life. Unfortunately my record player ate it a few months ago, so all my records are now wall art.
Andre Burey (Columbia) wrote
at 11:29pm yesterday
Honestly, I do not see the point of a record store in this day and age. The incentive I get from buying a cd (i.e. an incubus cd) is the fact that they come with opportunities to get access to presales for tickets that mainstream fans wont necessarily notice first.
So, also, as I person who honestly steals music by downloading from the internet (as well as legitimately buys from itunes from time to time- ie to buy Ben Kenney’s albums ha) i think that the only market cds has nowadays is for special options such as presales, which allow diehard fans to get special advantages over the average consumer. Screw cds. Incubus’ next album should definitely be by download online, also, they should have special packages for diehard fans who want keepsakes/ who really want to support the band financially for their creative efforts.
i do feel sooo old-school..haha
but I’m one of those people who wants to own the “whole package”.
if there is only one song of a record i want to own i use iTunes or something like that.
but most of the time i buy my music in a record store.
i love it, when you listen to an album the first time, to have the booklet in your hands, floating away with the music, read the lyrics or the (sometimes) pretty funny “thank you’s”, have a look at the art of the booklet.
that’s something that belongs together (for me) and i do not want to live without it!
Rennie, I think this forum for conversation is great! Thank you for it!
When I buy music I usually buy it from iTunes. I do find that the digital trend is growing, but bands do counter it a bit by including “extras” DVDs or extra “exclusives” that can only be found in the actual, delivered product.
Perhaps in the future the world will be wired for DVD delivery in a “owned” format but I still think there is a viable need for actual products. And I’m waiting for the big hard drive failure that will make me wish that I had all those jewel boxes. I know its coming, just don’t know when.
Cheers! Robb
Hey Ren.
I download all of my new music for free, via private filesharing websites that utilize torrents.
If the music is good enough, I usually purchase it on vinyl.
Thanks for asking Ren.
My actual behavior verse what I wish were available is the point worth exploring. For me.
I would say that I’m a 50/50 split on buying and stealing. There’s really very little reason why I pay for one thing and why I illegally download another. That being said, I do tend to pay for what is nearest and dearest to my heart. And I tend to justify my other activities by the number of live shows I attend. (I feel good knowing that they are retaining a large portion of that dollar.)
Now for what I WISH were the case:
I’m an old school 24 year old. I’m also an album person not a song person. And for me there’s no greater experience than opening an album for the first time. Tearing the plastic off and thumbing through the art work. The smell of the paper and ink. Reading EVERY word in the liner notes. (My introduction to you, Ren.) It’s an experience. And it’s something that will always move me.
So how to marry the two…I would like to see every Vinyl release coupled with downloadable files. That’s my ideal. And I know that’s asking a lot. But I can dream, can’t I?
Hello Ren! you are doing an amazing job! I admire you! =)
I usually download the music or friends borrow me the cds (most of the time they had downloaded them hehe). But if I’m a big fan of a band I love to buy the cd, sit down and listen to all the songs, and read the lyrics, and watch the design. It’s like a treasure. =D
Thanks!
Nelis
Hello Ren.
I made the same of Michael.
I purchase cds and dvds of my favorite bands.
I like to have and see the art inside that.
There’s room for it all. I think what people appreciate the most is music’s new found malleability.
But, in order of importance, sound quality’s a huge issue (just ask Lou Reed). So, for me, it’s all about vinyl, then cds, and then mp3s — which still sound like shit unless you rip them properly. Sound quality and art shouldn’t be compromised by a desire for disk space. Besides, more people should take the time to listen to the music they so desperately need to acquire.
–jim.
Up until recently, I was either stealing music song by song instead of buying the whole album, or buying music here and there on iTunes. I would also buy the CD if I really liked the band and felt that they deserved my hard-earned $13.
I have been enlightened in the past few months and realize what I was doing was completely wrong. I have made the switch either listening to music on http://www.pandora.com, and I have been purchasing music strictly on iTunes.
iTunes is sweet. No matter what, you know it’s going to cost $9.99 and you know that it’s going to work on your iPod. And the best part of all … I do not even have to leave my basement apartment to put myself through the agony of going to dreaded rectangle store that we like to call, “Wal-Mart.” I don’t have to waste my gas, find a parking spot, find the CD I want, battle the maze of people and fuck up the self-checkout during the process. I just click what I want and it automatically debits it from my checking account and downloads it in about 2 minutes. It saves money, it’s easy and it supports the artist.
But it’s weird, because now that so many people are buying their music on iTunes, I think that it is going to turn the actual CD album, (plastic, album booklet, hard-copy) into something that people will pay high-dollar for in the future, since there will be less of it.
Interesting stuff folks! I would have thought that most of you folks just wanted it digital, slam,bam thank you maa’m. But it turns out that there’s quite a few old school style folks here. And vinyl fans, who knew. I was at a friends house recently for a dinner. He is one of my golfing cronies but also a helluva a guitarist who was in a couple of bands years ago that were signed to a major label. He was very excited about his brand new $2K turntable which he used for his huge vinyl collection. He asked me to pick out a record and I of course being an old school fuck myself chose “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd which I tripped to a million times as a kid . Its still one of the great album covers of all time but I must confess that I spent more time using the cover to sift things than to check the credits. In any event, the experience was great for about 20 minutes until I had to get up from the table and turn the record over at which point my buddy Cliff suggested I just click over to the Ipod so we could concentrate on eating and drinking with friends. We all had a laugh about how that moment was a true sign of the times. Enough from me, keep those comments coming.
i haven’t paid for music in about 3 years. i get it free whether through filesharing or gift cards to itunes / bestbuy. i do buy dvds though.
I was recently given the In Rainbows box set as a gift, and I confess, I listen to the vinyl more than the cd’s.
Hello Renman,
Well first of all, the idea to make a blog about the music business and different aspects is awesome because just how you said, you reach out to people interested in the music business and there is also incredible feedback from people that are active and succesful in this area.
About todays blog, personally I download most of my music because I have to keep so much my cover bands and my djs up to date with whats going on to reach different crowds. I usually now only buy a CD when I have been a last longing fan of one of the bands that gives us a new release. I support being up to date but also support contributing with that grain of sand to the artist I have always and probably will always followed and listened to.
Thank you,
Michel van der Putten Reyes (Costa Rica)
Nicolás Gálvez
Today at 9:53am
things that just in chile happens.
hi steve, well now for things of money i get for free the music by the phenom of the internet, easy, good and cheap, but when i have some money i buy cd’s, but not a simple cd’s i buy the oldest cds in first editions, for example, i have the first edition of the album “the red hot chili peppers” of Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984), or the same with the first albums of jamiroquai (emergency on the planet earth and the return of the space cowboy).
And if i don’t find some oldest cd’s in old editions, i search for old’s cds in remasterised edition for the bonus tracks, and later the newest cd’s.
also, i search for cassettes, i have toxicity, one hot minute, kid A, californication, and more from chilean rock, but i have the sames albums in cd. Months ago, i talked with a friend and he found “fongus amongus” in the frist’s edition in cassette, and they buy like a 500 chilean pesos, like a 1 dolar
cheers!
Nicolás Gálvez alias NiKo_FuNk
I usually download entire albums for free, if i really like the album, then i will go out and buy the CD. If i dont really like the album then I try to find another album by the artist that I like enough to go and buy the CD. I buy as many CD’s whenever I can but the money just isnt always there.
On a side note I’ve listened to London Calling on vinyl and no CD, let alone any digital music, can even compare to it. Out with iPods and in with vinyl.
I mostly download music via torrent files. I use iTunes to go and listen to a bunch of songs on CDs before I download them. I use it kind of like a test run.
For my favorite bands I buy the cd (such as incubus or kaki king or whatever) and for some of my favorite classic artists (james taylor) i will search out a record store and purchase the old vinyl. i never really listen to the vinyl records or cds. i just own them for sentimental value. something to show my future generations.
i listen to my music via my computer. i remember back about ten years ago when getting a cd sound system was a huge deal. now i just use some nice headphones i bought and my mac.
I seem to go through phases of how I get my music. I went through a period where it seemed I was always at Best Buy or some other store every weekend buying new music all the time. Well once I started running out of space in my room I signed up to one of those Napster/Launch music services where you could load unlimited music into your mp3 player. Only problem with that was that I was constantly uploading new music and rarely got to listen to all of it because there was sooo much so I just cancelled. It just annoyed me that once you canceled your service all the music was gone. Its kinda like having music on Layaway.
I feel horrible to say this but I just download albums for free now. I will occasionally buy music but for 3 reasons and that’s if I actually really love the band (like Incubus), or if I go out to see a local show and really liked the band I’ll buy a cd to support the band or if I can’t download it anywhere and I really feel like I have to have it. I just noticed I kinda got of subject a bit. I’m guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m at the stage now where I prefer digital music downloads whether it be free or through itunes.
I prefer to buy my music from a local store called looney tunes, it’s two towns over from me. I tend to buy from there because my dad used to go to it as a kid and I grew up going there, and to me there is something special and exciting about going to a record store and picking up a physical album, whether it be a cd or vinyl. It’s almost like Christmas morning for me. I rarely download something that I really want to listen to off of the internet, if it’s worth listening to then it’s worth getting out of my house for a little bit and going to the record store. I think I prefer the local music stores because of the human interaction involved as well.
Renman,
I usually walk down to the corner record store and first ask to check out what new 45′s may have been sent that the big music station in town is blasting. Then I always go through the albums and usually will buy some that have my favorite players or were produced by some really amazing guys like Glyn or Andy. You can usually get a deal on a good diamond needle that will eliminate some of the scratches the vinyl records pick up and my stereo speakers are set up pretty good so you can really get a good rush when the sounds go from side to side. There is so much great art on these albums and sometimes I just pick the coolest cover and then hope the music is as great as the artwork.
Larry Stessel
Today at 1:08pm
Reply Download only unless it’s a McCartney or Beatles re-issue. I did buy the Eagles as a CD because I didn’t want to download the Wal-Mart software and they weren’t clear about how that download would interact with iTunes.
Randy Irwin
Today at 1:25pm
Reply
80% Download, 20% Tuesday “tithing” at indie record stores here in Seattle. Have to keep the flame alive, so I figure if I drop $40 bucks or so on new releases and research every Tuesday I’m doing my bit.
I find it interesting that buying an album is almost seen as a ‘charitable donation’ to a band. I never used to think about it like that hmm
Hey Steve!
Very interesting question you have posed here! I agree with a lot of what people have already stated. Personally, I enjoy getting music for free through digital download, but I will always purchase CDs of my favorite bands. You will never catch me with a downloaded or burned Incubus CD! Actually, that’s not true. I downloaded Light Grenades when it was first leaked on the internet, but I did so knowing that I was going to buy the album once it came out!
There are a few reasons why I will always buy CDs of my favorite bands. First, very simple…I just want to support my favorite bands by compensating them for their musical creativity. Second, I like owning something that is tangible. I enjoy having a wonderful collection of CDs to marvel at and to display! You never hear anyone say, “Hey man, check out my awesome collection of MP3s!” Just doesn’t sound right. Third, I personally love looking at the contents within an album cover – the artwork, photos, lyrics, thank yous, etc. And fourth, as someone already mentioned there are some pretty good incentives to buy CDs nowadays such as passwords to presale concert tickets, bonus DVDs and bonus CDs. I really like that! I think that needs to continue to help encourage the purchase of CDs.
But overall, I believe music is something to be shared among people without cost. Why should an individual be denied music if they don’t have the funds to purchase it? I really like the idea that Radiohead had with the release of In Rainbows. By allowing people to pay whatever amount they saw fit, people could still obtain the music free of cost, but could also choose to support the band financially by paying for the album. I think it is good to offer people those options. Musicians can still make profit through other avenues such as concert sales and merchandise, therefore I think music should be available to anyone and everyone without a price. Although I do see the challenge for artists who are just starting out and don’t have the financial stability like some of the major artists out there….
It will be interesting to see the changes in the distribution of music over the next 10 years. Will CDs become extinct? I hope not!
Thanks for raising such interesting topics Steve!
Linda
I’d hate life without cd’s or vinyl. Part of what makes music fun for me, is going out to a store like Amoeba and getting my hands dirty for hours picking out disks. I love the artwork, the disks, the notes, just having something tangible to hold on to. Downloading off the internet, whether paid or not, makes it feel very impersonal to me. I fear the day i’ll have to do my music shopping soley online. I realize people want to get music on their ipods or spend a lot of time at the computer listening to music, but you can rip a cd and choose the quality (I don’t want to download any music below 320Kbps). I do use downloading to check out a few songs off a new album, but if I like them i’ll buy the album. As long as its not over $20 for a single disc.
… Now that i’ve read some others responses, I think more people would agree that getting cd’s are great if they had a local record store they supported, or an awesome super store like Amoeba. I always feel icky buying a cd from bestbuy or some other large chain.
Hey Ren and everyone else,
I’m a cd collection guy, I still enjoy going to a shop and buying a brand new cd that came out that day.
I guess it’s also a backup in case any computer equipment ever went wrong, there’s always the hard copy cd and I haven’t just wasted hundreds of pounds on digi downloads foe my computer to fuck up!
All in all cds put me at ease, don’t get me wrong if I lost my ipod or broke my comp I’d be pissed but at least it’s all there on cd to keep me sane and happy!
cheers,
Nick.
I will always buy cd’s for albums that I listen to for a very large portion of time. I like knowing that whatever music I purchase is in the best sound quality available.
Since iTunes does not sell songs in FLAC format, I don’t buy from there knowing that there is a definite loss of quality in the songs they have for sale.
I’m a little bit of everything. I think itunes is great by having a buyer find basically whatever they need. I buy about 75% of my music of itunes. The other 25% would be cd’s and records. Theres just something about having the hardcopy of your favorite music that i think cannot replace the digital. Even the quality of my fathers records from the 60′s-80′s are sweet compared to the digital quality. Theres just something about the records. but I still buy the records if the bands are releasing them. It’s just so easy for computers to crash and poof there goes 2,000 of your purchased songs. I think its a good balance having the records, cd’s and digital… lets just hope it sticks around and we dont loose one.
I buy most of my music online. I use Napster mostly, these days, having gone through URGE and MSN Music before that. I know most of that money doesn’t go back to the artist but I feel fairly strongly in at least attempting to reward artists for music I like, so I won’t download the music in a torrent unless I can’t find it on Napster (or I’ve paid for it once and can’t access/find my old copies and don’t want to pay for it again). Then there’s the freak occurances like my favorite artists (eg: when Light Grenades hit) that I’ll download the free version when it leaks and buy it immediately the moment it hits the shelves.
The incentives for buying physical CDs are awesome and I love them–getting first dibs on the tickets for the club tour, for example was sweet–but I think for me CDs are sort of special in their own right. I use Napster for purchasing one or two songs at a time, to ‘sample’ records, as it were. If I decide I really like the whole album, I want the physical CD. This is part just because I’m a packrat, and part because I switch computers a lot and DRM is really, really hard to shift between computers (or, which is MORE frustrating, don’t work after the online store you bought the music from goes under) so I like having the physical CD that I can use to rip the songs back onto my computer in those events.
Renman,
Since I represent independent record stores, I usually buy my music there. I am very lucky that I get many new releases as promotional copies from the labels since they want me involved. But, I still spend a couple of hundred bucks a month in record stores. I buy 50/50 vinyl and CD. I like my music collection in the racks just like my books. It is my generation but I must say that buying digital music leaves me a little cold. I always forget that I have something when I buy it digitally.
I do rip every CD i get in at 320K and have my G5 Mac hooked up to a sweet whole house system. So, I have about 20,000 hi res songs at my fingertips if I want to pump the house with music. But for serious listening, I want to sit in front of real speakers with a fat slab of vinyl and a nice glass of wine. I usually listen to at least one side before I change to another artist.
Just to show you how retro I am, I just bought a pro level reel to reel from the 90′s.
I think a lot of people only ever experienced purchasing music from a mass music superstore – Tower, Sam Goody, FYE, Virgin, etc. and never got the amazing opportunity to go to a small indie record store to shop. A mom and pop shop who cared about music and only hired real music junkies. I had the opportunity to work in two and be the music buyer (what an archaic term now) for both. I miss those days and those places are becoming dinosaurs. I miss vinyl, oh God how I miss vinyl. Liner notes, huge crazy covers, photos, so much more than you could put on a cd cover or liner. I miss buying cd’s too but luckily I live in a major city where I can go to the small music store and support them. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it it has become increasingly easy and convenient to pop on the internet and purchase music. I go both ways. But I prefer to spend a lazy afternoon in a shop browsing through stacks (getting my hands dirty as was referred above) listening to whatever the “junkies” that are working are playing searching for something new. But when my time is limited and I want immediate gratification I go online – mostly Itunes. While I agree with a previous post that I like the opportunity to get pre-sale ticket options, extra tracks whatever I still miss the old days. I may sound like I am dating myself but I am not that old and I still buy a lot of music and go to concerts.
I definitely prefer a hard copy of music. I occasionally buy from iTunes if I have a giftcard or don’t care toooo much about the band… But more often than not I will order a physical cd online or go to a record store.
I sometimes spend hours browsing through cds at the local shops. I love it. Sometimes I am looking for a particular title, sometimes I pick a cd up because I’ve heard good things about the band, or I pick it up because I hope the sound is as excellent as the band’s album art. I’ve had times where I have to go through a stack of 10+ cds and decide which ones I want the most because I only have so much money.
Oh, and in the case of vinyl–I actually just purchased one a week ago. A band I am really into right now (Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground).. only released their album on vinyl.Of course I had to have it because they make great music, but I found it odd that they would do that because only a small handfull of people these days even have record players. Cool nonetheless.
two sugars, maybe splenda.
Call me old fashioned, but I still cannot conceive the idea of buying digital music rather than buying the actual CD. Granted that I upload the CD to my ipod anyways, there is something about physically owning the music. If there are any rare songs that are only offered online, I will buy them, but I’m still into CDs big time. I also prefer buying CDs from smaller music stores, not the larger ones i.e Best Buy. I do buy vinyl, but only for the older stuff that came out on vinyl first, I don’t really buy recent albums on vinyl.
This was originally in the Indy Releases Thread, but I think it is more appropriate here.
Let me just say, first off, I’m a big advocate of physical cds. I like having a physical disc, and I love album artwork and liner notes and cool creative packaging and all that good stuff. I do also utilize the efficiency and portability of digital music (the ipod makes taking music with you worlds easier than cds and cd players), but I would never download music from the iTunes store, because I cannot stand the restrictions they put on their mp3s. First of all mp3’s have the worst standard of quality we have ever had in the history of accepted music format standards (I would go vinyl if turntables and vinyl albums weren’t so expensive and unwieldily). Secondly, not being able to convert them to different formats is a bitch, and makes it impossible to use in videos and films, because mp3s don’t work in Final Cut Pro. Also not being able to put songs on multiple computers without your iTunes license is quite irritating. I am just a big advocate of having complete control over something YOU PURCHASED.
So I buy cds so that I can physically have the disc and case and artwork, and then I upload that music to my computer, so that I can have full control over the files. In the questions for Charlie thread, Laura, mentioned that “not too long ago there was a lot flak about the lawsuits concerning the p2p filesharing wherein Sony’s attorney allegedly said she’d ideally see consumers pay every time they wanted to rip songs off of CDs they’d physically bought.” This is the worst, most frustrating idea I have ever heard.
Call me old-fashioned or whatever but when it comes to my favorite bands, I buy CDs. I want to have a “physical representation” of what I believe is good music so it is my way of showing support and love for the musicians. To see the album artwork, the CD jacket and the design of the CD, for me, is happiness.
But I do download some music for free from the internet because for me, it’s like a test subject. When I get to like it, maybe I’d decide to buy the CD. On other cases (I.e. Incubus bootlegs or the leak of their LG album with the bonus tracks), I downloaded it because I certainly wanted to be one of the first to hear their new material and then when it hit the stores, I bought it too.