docellis wrote:I pay for music when I can figure out how to.
Sometimes I can't find a way to pay.
Yeah. That's my excuse too.
I'm serious. I just bought that Mugison album that i tried to post on the music thread a few nights ago and I couldn't buy it on their website. I couldn't find it on the first few music buying websites I went to. I couldn't find it illegally either (I didn't try that hard though). Finally I found it on amazon. And I bought it.
I still buy cd's for bands that I really like. I like having my music in a tangible form. I like knowing that even if my computer dies that I still have a back up. I also like having the liner notes and cover art for my favorite acts. Really, I probably only buy 3-4 cd's a year and have about 200 cd's. It's not that bad. I will admit that there are some cd's that I haven't listened to in a couple of years though. Those discs are just waisting space, but I have this overwhelming urge to keep them.
However, to address the original intent of this thread, I see no reason for actual record stores to exist anymore. We've still got a chain of record stores in Omaha called Homers. When I was a teenager, they were the place to get all of your music. Now, I either can't find what I want there or it is wayyyyy overpriced. Instead, I buy whatever I want off of amazon. I can find it in seconds, it is always cheaper than the mom and pop record stores, and it arrives in only a few days. Unless I really need a cd on the day it's released, I see no reason to ever set foot in a record store.
Most mp3 downloads have far inferior sound quality to CD's, and by logical extension, to albums too. That may be changing, but I assume that will come with increased cost. I still buy CD's and vinyls. Just collected a huge amazon order of stuff and can't wait to go home and listen to my new bounty.
clement wrote:Most mp3 downloads have far inferior sound quality to CD's, and by logical extension, to albums too.
Amazon mp3's are 256 kpbs. Not perfect, but I'd be impressed if you could reliably differentiate it from a CD in a blind test.
I think I'm gonna get an old record player and start buying vinyl for the superior sound quality.
Just to annoy me, I'm sure.
At high bit rates like 256 kbps, I doubt anybody could tell the difference from a CD played in the same sound system with only human ears. Even the old 128 kbps mp3s that used to pass around Napster weren't that bad when encoded properly. In fact, sometimes people will be able to tell the difference but mistakenly identify the mp3 as the "better" recording. It's challenging to even differentiate without the benefit of a back to back comparison. In any case, I don't think the listening experience is enhanced by all that much by going from 98% to 99.5%. The composition is infinitely more important. Of course, the last part is just my opinion.
I buy CDs because nowadays I usually only get something if I'm seeing a band live and I'm buying it from them directly (or their sibling). I haven't done the buy music online thing much, but its convenient.
