Going digital with your music collection....

[GhettoBrassGuy]

How many here have done it? I've been digital for a few years now...I don't like single songs as opposed to albums though. At last count I have something like 1100 full albums in my iTunes, all paid for and either imported or downloaded legally. I haven't looked at a CD jacket for years as all my CDs are boxed up.

Here's my dilemma: I have the luxury of living near a massive music store in LA called Amoeba music. My plan has been to sell all the physical copies of CDs I own back to them...probably around 1000, which should get me more than $1000 I'm thinking. Yet I'm scared to do so. Not because I'm afraid I'll lose my music if my computer crashes...I have my library backed up to a few different externals. I'm just scared to sell something I spent so much time collecting....though I know I have no use for and probably won't look at again. If I wanna know who played on a track I can look it up online and such.

I suppose I'd just like to hear from those who've been through this for a little encouragement.

[groooooove]

my collection is entirely digital, 160GB ipod here. but i have all my original discs/everything backed up on audio CD.

the CD store will probably not take some of your stuff, and the stuff they do take, expect $1-2 for it.

i see no reason why not too, if your stuff is all backed up. that being said, i still have all my discs.

[Toastfuzz]

Digital. I don't pay for music because purchased music funds do not go to the artists. I go to as many concerts as possible and try to buy merch there to support my favorite bands, but with Ticketmaster and LiveNation it's getting to be as extorted as CD's

[tycobb73]

done it. love it. all those cds take up too much room.

[GianGian]

Wait some more time until they become collectors items. They will probably be worth a lot more than $1.
By the way, I still buy CDs, and as long as they still around I will buy them.

[jmac]

I still purchase CDs. I like reading the liner notes. A little while after purchasing the CD it does make its way to the "box" not usually to be heard from again. lol. But I still buy CDs.

[tycobb73]

that's the one advantage of cds. I heard that sometime in the future apple will include liner notes.

[Pacman]

Originally Posted by Toastfuzz

Digital. I don't pay for music because purchased music funds do not go to the artists. I go to as many concerts as possible and try to buy merch there to support my favorite bands, but with Ticketmaster and LiveNation it's getting to be as extorted as CD's

Wrong.

You think those artists are putting out CDs for free? Sure, companies are getting their cut, but if you're not buying those CDs (or downloads), the artists aren't going to make *any* money.

[BurningSkies]

I buy all my music on wax cylinders. I find they have a warmth and fidelity than none of the other formats can match.

[LSquared]

Pretty much everything I buy is digital. What isn't, gets converted right away. All of my CD's have been converted to digital. I've been recording my old vinyl over to digial from a while, but lots of albums still to go.

I love being able to carry EVERYTHING with me, wherever I go.

Meanwhile, I have all of the orignal stuff in storage.

[SurferJoe46]

Another thing raises it's head here too.

If you sell, trade or lose in any way the original CDs that you have 'archived' for whatever purposes you may have, you are required by Federal law to remove them at that moment from whatever archival files of them you may have.

Little old grannies have been fined and threatened for less. Fair Use & Proxy-Use Laws don't protect people who commit these 'crimes' against the RIAA.

In the US there are some arcane laws concerning CDs and that's for sure. The RIAA has been sleeping with the Feds on this issue and they actively pursue any downloads.

Now if you actually OWNED (past tense) the CDs you have in your puter, then you are committing an offense when you no longer do so own them.

I side with the artists here and yet I see that they are getting hosed in a big way. I will refer you to the story of the Funk Brothers on the video; "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown". All the work performing and none of the glory or $$.

Now - it's a Faraway Land fairy tale to think that the artists will ever see much of the money - fer sure. That's what the courts are for and I cannot equivocate on that point.

But - do as your conscience says.

If the RIAA and the MPAA had their way, you'd be sleeping wit' da fishies!

[baalroo]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Another thing raises it's head here too.

If you sell, trade or lose in any way the original CDs that you have 'archived' for whatever purposes you may have, you are required by Federal law to remove them at that moment from whatever archival files of them you may have.

exactly, if you sell all those CDs and keep the songs all on your HD, then you might as well have just downloaded them all for free because either way at THAT POINT you are "stealing" the music.

personally, I say go for it. I haven't bought more than a few CDs new from an artist in about 10 years now. For a very long time I would by ALL my CDs second hand, then I realized that doing so was completely legal and yet contributing EXACTLY the same amount of money ($0.00) for the artist who produced the work as simply downloading them online.

p.s. Nowadays, I pretty much only listen to bands who openly distribute their music for free anyway, so it's pretty much irrelevant to me anymore.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Originally Posted by Pacman

Wrong.

You think those artists are putting out CDs for free? Sure, companies are getting their cut, but if you're not buying those CDs (or downloads), the artists aren't going to make *any* money.

imaginary record company boardroom
"Let's see....this band has brought in zero dollars in album sales. Let's pay for them to go an expensive world tour!"
/imaginary record company boardroom

[Jazzdogg]

Originally Posted by Toastfuzz

Digital. I don't pay for music because purchased music funds do not go to the artists. I go to as many concerts as possible and try to buy merch there to support my favorite bands, but with Ticketmaster and LiveNation it's getting to be as extorted as CD's

"I don't pay for music because purchased music funds do not go to the artists." - If you can't provide some credible citations to support this, I have to disagree

"with Ticketmaster and LiveNation it's getting to be as extorted as CD's" - When I divide Ticketmaster's surcharges by the advertised ticket price, Ticketmaster's practices seem far more like price-controlled scalping than competitively motivated pricing.

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by baalroo

p.s. Nowadays, I pretty much only listen to bands who openly distribute their music for free anyway, so it's pretty much irrelevant to me anymore.

I'd get tired of listening to The Grateful Dead over and over ------and over------and over

I joined a MP3 service that I pay for that let's me download 'till I run out of harddrive space - legally, of course.

And NO - nothing with a 'i' for the first letter either!

[jerry]

I still love buying at least a couple CDs a week, one of life's little pleasures. I also hate not having liner notes on something!

[grunz7]

As I am traveling since a year I ripped all my (legally purchased) cds into itunes BUT unfortunately I used the build in encoder. Now I am using the open source encoder Lame and had access to some of the same cds I originally ripped - what a difference. as soon as I get access again to my cds (all in storage) I will re-rip them.

So if you plan to get rid of your original cds make sure you are happy with the digital quality; mp3s are not even close to cds (or even good ole venyl) BUT there are quite some differences within mp3s ...

Cheers

[wagstaff]

I have do both:
I have all my music in a CD collection
I have all my CD collection on my Ipod

I guess I'm just paranoid, one of my friends has over 10 days worth of music on Itunes which he nearly lost, so I'd rather not risk it.

Mark

[MakiSupaStar]

I avoid Ameoba. It's scary how much good stuff is in there. I never walk out of there without spending at least 300 bucks.

[Hutch1]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

I buy all my music on wax cylinders. I find they have a warmth and fidelity than none of the other formats can match.

"Mary had a little lamb; its fleece was white as snow."