Why do you buy online music rather than a CD?

[MetalMusicAddict]

First off, please, this is a discussion for people who buy music. This will not be the place for people who want to spout off about the RIAA, obtaining bittorrent music and the sort. If you buy music please chat here. :)


Ok. Im wondering why people would spend their money on music from a service (iTunes, Napster, Rapsody) when its only a little cheaper than a CD, quality is horrible compaired to a CD and you dont get the packaging? Ive seen a full album online for $10. I could get the same on CD for $13. :-s Was a Journey CD. :)

Ive been buying CDs since I was 12. I have about 1300 of 'em now. I rip everything to high-bitrate .mp3 myself. I stick with .mp3 because other devices I use dont support it well.

Have services got better since the start of this year? (last time I looked at music online)

So unless you can get music from iTunes (whatever) in FLAC and get say a .PDF of all the art I just dont see why someone would do it.:-k

I also wanted to add that currently most insurers dont insure digital music but do insure physical CDs. Mine are for $15k. Also CDs act as a back-up for my digital library.

[croak77]

Well, I would say the same thing about vinyl, why buy cd's over vinyl? Vinyl sounds better and bigger album art. But to answer your question, one less consumer product, takes up less space in my room, don't have to worry about scratches, and I have my PC hooked up to my stereo receiver so I get a pretty good sound.

[slimdog360]

cd's ftw

[richardward101]

If I want some music, and I want it to be a CD, I have to wait until i'm in town or order it and let it be delivered. Both take time. In this age of instant satisfaction I can't be bothered with the wait. Sad, but true. Also, I will rip all my CD's to mp3 anyway, so that I don't have to find the CD when I want to play it (even if I can find the case, the right CD probably isn't in it).

The album art doesn't appeal to me that much unless it has something special about it. The last album I physically bought, was a Tool album. Part of the case was a pair of lenses, and the insert was stapled into the book so that when you look at it through the goggles it has various pictures that appear in 3D (this is very trippy when blasting out Tool).

In short, for a CD to be worth the effort and extra money, it has to have something a little more that just a few pictures of the band and some lyrics.

The only other reason I prefer a physical purchase is that there something very real about handing over money; more difficult to overspend with than a service which just has your card details on file :).

[MetalMusicAddict]

Well, I would say the same thing about vinyl, why buy cd's over vinyl? Vinyl sounds better and bigger album art.
I TOTALLY agree about the art. I love vinyl for that but vinyl doesnt sound better just different. Vinyl doesnt have the ability to reproduce the same dynamic range much the same way as low-bitrate digital music. The hi's and low's tend to suffer. Some would say thats worse than CD sound.

Also Im not aginst digital music really just the way it is currently. Im more an advocate of buying a CD and converting it yourself. :)

I added some info in the 1st post.

[Castar]

I agree. CDs are amazingly durable compared to vinyl and much better-sounding than compressed music. Especially with all this DRM bloat, it's a no go to buy...

[skymt]

I buy CDs mainly because of the lack of DRM, but also because a lot of music I like isn't on any of the online stores, or even the "less official" channels. Every piece of music in my digital library is ripped from a CD I own.

[23meg]

I buy online in order to support independent labels. I DON'T buy from iTunes and the like, but from the labels themselves.

[MetalMusicAddict]

I buy online in order to support independent labels. I DON'T buy from iTunes and the like, but from the labels themselves.
I also buy alot from bands at shows (helps them more than most people know) and indie/used shops.

[Dr. C]

I buy online music from audio lunchbox in the US because it is free from DRM. This gives me the freedom to move my music between my Ubuntu and Windows computers or to a device of my choosing. With CD's it is sometimes very hard to tell if they are infected with DRM or not, and after the Sony rootkit fiasco I do not want to take the risk.

[Erik Trybom]

I don't particularly like CD:s, but for the moment they are the only way to legally obtain DRM-free music from the biggest artists (that I know of). However, they are horribly expensive.

I see a future where instead of having perhaps 50 CD:s that you have paid 1000 dollars for, you have music on your computer equivalent to 500 CD:s that you have paid just as much for. The record companies gets equally paid, the artists get equally paid while reaching a wider audience, and the music lovers get to explore ten times as much music. Everyone win.

If each album costs 2 dollars, you get it in whatever quality you want, and it is totally free from DRM, then why bother with illegal downloads?

[newlinux]

I buy CDs for the lack of DRM primarily. Then I rip them and never use the CD again. I listen to my music at work on my mp3 player, from my laptop, streaming to different audio systems at home, etc. So I need my music to work in the most devices. when I can buy the music I listen to online and do that, I probably would stop buying CDs. I would like to be able to just search for the songs and music I want, pay for it, download it, and use it in all my devices without worry.

[dasunst3r]

When it comes to buying music, it all depends on how many songs I want off a soundtrack. If I am buying more than 3/4 of the contents of a CD, then I would just go with the CD.

As far as DRM in the music CD is concerned, just pop the CD in question into your lovely Ubuntu machine and all will be fine.

[Dr. C]

As far as DRM in the music CD is concerned, just pop the CD in question into your lovely Ubuntu machine and all will be fine.

With Ubuntu growing at 8% a month, how long will it be before one of the DRM makers decides to "support" Linux and targets Ubuntu? I agree the risk is low but it is not zero. If the CD had a label saying it is free from DRM I would have no problem buying it.

[Super King]

I buy online music from audio lunchbox in the US because it is free from DRM. This gives me the freedom to move my music between my Ubuntu and Windows computers or to a device of my choosing. With CD's it is sometimes very hard to tell if they are infected with DRM or not, and after the Sony rootkit fiasco I do not want to take the risk.

I also buy from Audio Lunchbox because the music is DRM-free MP3s (and they use 192 VBR bitrate, the same one I rip my CD's at as it were), so I can have it on my MP3 player, PC hard drive, external hard drive, CD-R, etc. I can't remember the last time I've payed less than $ 15 for a CD, I wish I could pay $ 13 :) So the $ 5 saved plus the convenience of getting the music right then and there I go with the download.

[MetalMusicAddict]

I can't remember the last time I've payed less than $ 15 for a CD, I wish I could pay $ 13 :) So the $ 5 saved plus the convenience of getting the music right then and there I go with the download.
Seek out indie shops or buy it used online. I get great deals that way. $15 aint bad you know when the MSRP (crap) is $18.98. (US)


Heres how I use my music in windows. God I wish they made Winamp for Linux. :)
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/2372/untitledsmallew3.jpg (http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/1117/untitledlx8.jpg)
Click for 1920x1200 image.

You should see visualizations at full settings with my nVidia 7900 GT card. ;)

[Polygon]

i actually have like 30 dollars in itunes store credit, so once i spend it all i am most likely just going to go by cd's.

[djsroknrol]

I find that 10 out of the 12 or so songs on a CD are garbage...it's easier and cheaper to buy the ones off the album(CD) online...

[MetalMusicAddict]

I find that 10 out of the 12 or so songs on a CD are garbage...it's easier and cheaper to buy the ones off the album(CD) online...
Really? Wow. What kind of music are you listening to? Current pop? :) I would agree there but that situation just doesnt happen to me.

I do think online music is good for singles.

[aysiu]

I do both.

I'll buy CDs... if I like the whole album, and if it is cheaper (it isn't always).

If I want just one song, I might buy it online. It's fast, convenient, and you can easily preview the song beforehand.

I don't really care for "quality." There's only so much quality I can take and then it gets lost on me. As long as it's not an old cassette tape, I'm cool with the quality.

[henriquemaia]

I buy online (on CD or Download). I have most things on ogg (compressed) because its easier to use. Where I live is very difficult (or you can put as almost impossible) to find the records I want on CD - I'm a classical music lover. I have to order them from abroad. I also use the services of sites such as Magnatune (http://magnatune.com/) to support independent labels and because they offer the possibility do download the full quality CD (wav, flac, etc).

[djsroknrol]

Really? Wow. What kind of music are you listening to? Current pop? :) I would agree there but that situation just doesnt happen to me.

I do think online music is good for singles.

Hey MMA...you had me laughing...there is some current pop in there, but all the "good stuff", i.e. classic rock, etc I own on CD or LP...there is alot of new CD's that are just "slapped" out by artists these days IMHO...

A good example would be The New Cars w/Todd Rundgrenn and the song "But Not Tonight"...I love the song, but not the rest of the album. Another one would be "St. Anger" by Metalica..there is only 2 songs I like on the whole CD....