Metal (or any genre) cds vs. downloading

CDs for me as well. The download thing just doesn't appeal to me. The kids really love it though.

CDs here. I don't count digital copies as anything but 'listen once, then erase' material. I do like the portable players though. And the ease of which you can bring your own music with you when going somewhere that goes along with digital music. But I guess that has nothing to do with downloading, more about the format.

Anyway, downloading - I know there is no real logical explanation to it, but whenever I get a digital copy of an album or songs (free online stuff, friends making me listen to new bands etc), I just cannot make myself to get into it as much. I think it's more about the fact I have too much music on CD I have actually paid money for - subconciously thinking I'm wasting time listening to something else, when I should be trying to enjoy music I've already committed to owning.

I think downloading is for people who normally buy one or two hit albums a year and don't really care about collecting CDs or even appreciate music for that matter. Not that there's anything fundamentally wrong with not liking music - not everyone does. And that's a fact. Some people just casually listen to whatever is on the radio without giving it any thought. Maybe even choosing favourites based on what they hear.

Just like some people are crazy about collecting specific wines and cannot understand how anyone would settle for mainstream crap, while I just buy the first thing I see that goes with pasta. And my favourite red wine is Hardy's, because it's readily available, not expensive and not bad tasting. I probably wouldn't even notice the finer specific differences in wines, nor do I even care. I just drink it without thinking about it. Just like the millions of people downloading Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Madonna songs.

I may have come down a bit hard on downloading.

Let me rephrase: it IS the future of music. At least for music industry. As we know, the industry makes their profit not from small groups of hardcore collectors of marginal subgenres, but from those people that buy one album a year. Sure, even the hit music of today is more fragmented so the 100 million people won't all buy one album, there'll be ten albums selling 10 million instead, but it's still the same principle.

The thing is to get that hit album out there and get the peoples' attention. Offering downloads is a great, easy way to get to those people. Actually it's better than CD, since they don't even CARE about owning a physical copy of the album. They probably forget about it in a week anyway.

Less effort for the seller, less effort for the buyer, no manufacturing costs... and everyone has internet. It's great for what it is.

There will still be CDs and vinyl, but it's for the aforementioned collectors of marginal music. Just like there'll always be single malt whiskey even though 999 out of 1000 people buy Jack Daniel's instead.

Cds all the way! I'm not into downloads at all; legal or illegal, I still don't want it! You've got to have an actual collection, I don't see anything cool about a folder on a computer.

If I absolutely can't find an out of print album on cd, I buy a cassette.

adrian wrote:

Cds all the way! I'm not into downloads at all; legal or illegal, I still don't want it! You've got to have an actual collection, I don't see anything cool about a folder on a computer.

If I absolutely can't find an out of print album on cd, I buy a cassette.

Well I dont think i would get the cassette- I am not sure where my cassette player is anymore...

I'd much rather own a CD. Though I mainly just 'rip' them to the computer and listen on there or on my iPod. Plus I like the option of being able to buy second hand and also sell them on. If physical copies die out, then it becomes an option between illegal and legal downloading. I just see that as an opportunity for companies to charge whatever they want for an album with customers left with no legal alternative. At least buying second hand at less than retail is an option at the moment, that wouldn't of course be an option when it comes to downloading.

The physical copy will not 100% disappear within the lifetimes of anyone on this board...so we'll never ultimately have to choose between 100% downloadig and 100% physical.

Large, mega-mainstream, Lady GaGa/Justin Timberlake/Justin Beiber type artists may go more toward offering digital only since (I assume) many of thier fans are A- younger, B- don't care about owning physical copies, C- like a song or two but are not "album listeners" in general. Nothing wrong with that, its just a different way to consume music.

Bono made a comment once about how he can't understand why someone would pay $60 for a video game but not $15 for an album. It's because we have not found a way to completely copy/replicate/distribute X-Box (or whatever) games completely digitally without the company's input the way we have music. They day they invent the X-Box Disc Replicator and make it available at Target is the day video game companies get scared. The video game industry is enjoying what the music industry was enjoying years ago...the fact that the only way to get thier stuff is to buy it...once that's no longer the case, it'll collapse.

Lari wrote:

Anyway, downloading - I know there is no real logical explanation to it, but whenever I get a digital copy of an album or songs (free online stuff, friends making me listen to new bands etc), I just cannot make myself to get into it as much. I think it's more about the fact I have too much music on CD I have actually paid money for - subconciously thinking I'm wasting time listening to something else, when I should be trying to enjoy music I've already committed to owning.

I totally relate to that. I feel I'm "investing" in my entertainment when I pay for it (and supporting the artist).

Anyway...alot of good comments from everyone.

Quote :

Large, mega-mainstream, Lady GaGa/Justin Timberlake/Justin Beiber type artists may go more toward offering digital only since (I assume) many of thier fans are A- younger, B- don't care about owning physical copies, C- like a song or two but are not "album listeners" in general. Nothing wrong with that, its just a different way to consume music.

No disrespect to those artists, but their fans aren't the kind to stick to one thing too long so a temporary computer file of their "music" is the perfect solution for the kid who will change his favorite singer every other day.

True. What is it with kids and their no attention span?

Plus they don't feel they should have to pay for music as well.


AND why don't they listen and STAY OFF MY LAWN??!!

Sinistar wrote:

Plus they don't feel they should have to pay for music as well.


AND why don't they listen and STAY OFF MY LAWN??!!

Thats what BB guns are for

I dont blame the kids - the popular music industry is built around the single and people follow that trend. I like an album full of music because I find a lot of the better music isnt the popular songs - i.e. the Stones popular tracks are what made them money but the other songs are what made me a fan..

It is odd to me, I know kids who know every little detail about a video game but don't get past one or two songs on an album.

My vidoegame loving son doesn't listen to ANY music!!


I tell ya, these kids these days. Were did I go wrong?

exact33 wrote:

Sinistar wrote:

Plus they don't feel they should have to pay for music as well.


AND why don't they listen and STAY OFF MY LAWN??!!

Thats what BB guns are for

I dont blame the kids - the popular music industry is built around the single and people follow that trend. I like an album full of music because I find a lot of the better music isnt the popular songs - i.e. the Stones popular tracks are what made them money but the other songs are what made me a fan..

Now, one thing I used to do and still do from time to time is take songs I like and then shuffle them. Only since I came to HoM have I really been a full album guy (I would addtionally listen to the whole album so I could figure which songs I liked best). For me if I liked most of the songs on an album, I would only listen to those tracks and ignore the lesser ones. Unlike some who have to listen to a full album therefore the whole thing has to keep them interested, if I like more than half the songs, I consider the album a success only listen tho the tracks I like. I do full albums these days the majority of the time, but deep down inside, I'm a song guy more than an album guy. However, I love collecting CDs and downloading will never change that.

I have actually just taken up downloading in the last few months, and have bought about a dozen or so albums from i-tunes (I received a 160GB i-pod for my last birthday), mostly stuff that I have wanted to have but do not want to pay the higher cost for it.
I have about a $15.00 maximum I will fork out for a cd, and if I cannot get it for that price, I will put out the $7.99 to $9.99 for the download.
Btw, I have bought about two dozen discs since I started using i-tunes, so it looks like 3.33% of my purchases are downloads.

Additionally I have to ask - how much do you guys care about packaging? For example - I like neat packaging, liner notes, photos but the music is the most important thing to me. For example I bought a 5CD Loudness cardsleeve boxset with MINIMAL packaging just because it had the albums I wanted for 12$. 5 CD's for 12$ is really a great deal for me.

I will pipe in and say that packaging is a definite great plus for me. Love reading liner notes and production info. A real missing piece to the enjoyment of the music when using downloads. But a number of artists have full artwork and the like added to the download.

Packaging is definatly a bonus. Even though I don't really study the CD booklets like I used to, I still glance through them and I like to see pictures and lyrics. When those are absent it's a little dissapointing. I also hate cardboard incerts and those sticky rubber things some cases have holding the disc in place.

I have always preferred to own the CD. However, in the interest of saving money, I've recently been thinking about trying out the Microsoft Zune Pass. I own a Zune HD, and the Zune Pass is actually a pretty good deal. For 14.99 a month, I can download and listen to as much music as I want, and I get to keep ten mp3's each month. It seems like I listen to all my music in an mp3 format these days anyway, on the computer, on my Zune or through the USB drive in my car. So I think I'm going to give it a try. That being said, if one of my absolute favorite bands releases a new CD, like KISS or Alice, I will have to own the CD.

I have been very tempted to do that myself (good to see I'm not he only Zune guy around here), but the collector in me keeps holding me back.

DallasBlack wrote:

I have been very tempted to do that myself (good to see I'm not he only Zune guy around here), but the collector in me keeps holding me back.

Yeah, me too. But I think I'm going to try it. Plus this way, I can download the album of interest and listen to it for a while. If it's something I simply can't live without, I can always buy the CD later. But recently I've discovered that I'll buy a cd and almost immediately rip it to mp3 format anyway. The only draw back is that I can only keep ten mp3's per month. I'm an album guy, so if the album I want has more than 10 tracks, it will take two months to obtain it via the Zune Pass.

CDs. I don't download.

ultmetal wrote:

CDs. I don't waste my time with downloads. If I own the CD, I can put it on my Ipod just as easy and I actually own something of tangible value.

YES, its just a waste of time downloading. I only buy, but not only cds, also vinyl and tapes. If i want to check out a new album, i got to YOU TUBE or MY SPACE and i listen to some songs. If i like it, i buy it and if not, f.uck it

I'm a collector always have been I want the sae, digi, or what ever format it is. I want the liners notes and the limited editions. I've been a collector since about 73. I'm not against DL only if the particular album has yet to be put on cd format then yes I will get it in DL form.

I just want the physical copy in my collection.

Wargod51