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Do you still pay for music?

What do you want to come with an album?

  • More pictures of the band/artist possible with fans and performing

    Votes: 20 31.7%

  • Miniature biography, possibly linking to where I can find the full read

    Votes: 12 19.0%

  • A thank you letter with his or her/bands autograph and stickers.

    Votes: 8 12.7%

  • Other (post below)

    Votes: 23 36.5%
  • Total voters
    63
#61
I used to have a big fetish for the vinyl, then for the tape, then for the CD. Some time ago, after I hit the 1000 CDs mark (and my wife kept complaining about the room they take), I started buying digital. At the same time I decided to boycott the big labels, and stopped buying big-label CDs or downloads altogether, and started exploring independent stuff. Since then I have discovered lots of small bands that I absolutely love. And that's what I've been buying now.

The only thing I look for in a release now is a reasonable price (not over 15 dollars per album) and knowing that the band gets most of the money.
 
#63
A lot of times the difference between buy a CD or a download is extra material on the disc or a separate DVD. That will tip the scales in favor of a physical CD/DVD.
Also, I have noticed that most CD sales are still at live appearances, while the download sales are more sampling. I'm more likely to start out buying one or two downloads and then getting the full album. Certain Artists (Chick Corea, etc.) will sell me a physical CD every time just because of affinity for their work. A new Artist will usually be downloaded first. I bought both Thundercat and Hadrien Feraud as downloads first.
A lot of time I will go to Youtube before anything and check out their videos. It's sort of like radio was for me in the 70s.
Once again, huge props to Brian Bromberg for his Bass on the Broadband station. There are so many bassists I would not be aware of without it, and I'd like to think I'm a knowledgeable guy.
www.bassonthebroadband.com
 
#64
A lot of the music industry isn't about "art"

It's about selling records.

And the big record companies will be happy to tell you what to play so the company execs and producers can get rich.

Piracy?......haha....the industry itself is riddled with lawsuits from artists who never got their royalties from the company they signed with...........and this has been going on since they first produced playable records.

That's why today a lot of artists are switching to the "indie" method of producing their own works.

As far as "art" goes....if it was all about art, half the stuff you hear wouldn't be on the air

"Stars don't necessarily have to work their way up from the bottom.

If you have some insider connections and the industry feels they can make some money off you...you're good to go.

If you wore a mouse hat and worked for Disney once...that helps too.

Art doesn't have much to do with anything.

Nobody is going to pay for something when it's available for free.......it's human nature.

If you're grocery store is selling cornflakes for 5 bucks a box and down the road the competition is giving them away for free.......which store are you going to?
 
#65
I have to admit i absolutely don't care about artwork or sleeves anymore. I used to as a teen but since the advent of the internet, you can get any lyrics online, as many pictures of any band i might ever care to see, interviews, performances, whatever, So... for me its the music and nothing else.
 
#67
I buy CDs both new and used from Amazon. I don't know how much of each sale of a new CD, if any, goes to the artist. Some I hope.

The last Robert Cray I bought came with both an audio CD and a DVD of the live performance (Cookin' in Mobile). This is a good idea.

I do have a bunch of bootleg music but I don't listen to much of it. If I like something in my bootleg stuff I will usually go buy the album. I want a non-lossy format.
 
#69
ZenG said:
If you're grocery store is selling cornflakes for 5 bucks a box and down the road the competition is giving them away for free.......which store are you going to?
Click to expand...
What if the $5 box has a prize(s) inside? ;) That's the point of the thread...what kind of "prizes" will lure buyers.

Plus, if you continue to get free corn flakes, eventually people will quit making corn flakes.
 
#70
If the 5 dollar box of flakes is free...I'm not worried about getting a prize as well.

"If I keep getting freecornflakes, they will stop making them"

Exactly.

Which is why they put an added fee (artist kickback) on when you bought recording tapes (but it was at the end of the tape era)...before tapes went out of style.

If studies have shown that pirates end up buying anyway (as mentioned a few posts back) then what's the problem?


One can wax philosophical about the evils of free downloading all day long...and it won't make any difference because the kids (and others)will still do it anyway.

25 years ago many many people recorded songs right off the radio onto tape.

At that time the industry didn't give a damn about whether you did that or not.

It was only when the internet and the MP3 took off that everybody got their knickers in a twist.
 
#71
When i was young and could not afford it, i used to pirate a certain percentage of my music library. Then, as i got older, lazier and richer, and - and that was an important bit, got decent equipment to play music on, most of these pirated mp3's sounded like crap so i rebuilt my lib from scratch by ripping my cd collection. Back then i downloaded some files as well, but those were the ones i got on vinyl and was too lazy to rip them myself. I bought what i had in bad quality mp3 and liked. I guess, as musicians we have a different feel about pirating music.
I can understand kids that pirate stuff they'll listen to for a few weeks and then discard.
I can not undestand a musician that has one more albums out, hoping for $$$ through sales that pirates music off other musicians that are sitting in the same boat.
I know how hard it is to get an album released and my appreciation is my spending cash on it.

To the TE's question:
When i buy an album, it's going into my computer where it gets ripped into decent quality and transferred to my playing devices. From there it goes straight into that big box in the attic, waiting for the dreadful day my main server goes up in flames.
So, i'd say get that CD full of quality tunes. I like listening to complete albums.
I enjoy that even more if the Artist(s) understand the concept of creating an album vs. just throwing 8-15 Songs on there in no particular orde.
 
#72
honestly I spend on average 20-30 bucks a month on itunes buying music. I rarely buy CDs anymore. If I do its because they are in a clearance bin and are cheaper than they are on itunes. I will buy a Cd if it comes with additional content such as a making of the album DVD, live footage DVD , and so on.

A lot of people I know have stopped buying music and instead are paying for satellite radio.
 
#73
I like pandora and spotify a lot and pretty much listen to either of those the entire time I'm at work.

For home listening: I used to pirate pretty much all of my music, but I realized how poor quality most of those files are. Now I'm buying my music on iTunes. Generally full albums, since it's usually cheaper than buying all of those songs individually and I hate only having a couple songs by any one artist/group.

I enjoy my car stereo more now that I have good quality files to listen to:) Have yet to hook up the antenna for radio listening since I upgraded the HU, and find that I'm enjoying driving a lot more without the constant advertisement breaks.
 
#74
I buy old cassettes from the thrift stores only because I got a new dual tape receiver in my shop.

I do not buy CD's or downloads.
It's horrible I know but I have some friends that are always burning me new music or something old. Or I'll just give them my iPod and let them hook it up.

As for my music we just post it up on the inter web for free download and at shows we just throw them out on the merch table with a sign that says FREE.

People are getting back into vinyl and a lot of bands are releasing records again.
 
#76
I'd like for artists to quit putting out an album that is 1 good single and 11 phoned in filler tracks. that's my biggest problem with music nowadays.

I still buy plenty of cd's I like good art and good tunes.

put good tunes on your cd, that's why people aren't buying. you can't return a cd if all the songs suck.
 
#77
MonetBass said:
I buy my music, mostly CDs which get immediately ripped to iTunes and synced with the iPod. The main reasons I still do this is:
1. High-quality audio, and a permanent backup. One day the infrastructure will allow us to download CD-quality, uncompressed audio files. Until that day comes, it's CDs for me.
2. Lyrics and liner notes. I really dig reading the lyrics while listening to the tracks, and reading about who played on what tracks, who wrote them, who produced them, etc. Good stuff.

Yes, I download tracks now and then. Some free, but most are paid for.
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly what I was going to write, so I'll just quote it. I don't need gimmicks.

To be fair, I'm also old enough to remember a time before file sharing, so take my input with a grain of salt. I don't know how to get someone who has always had access to "free" music to pay for it.
 
#79
I've actually been on a vinyl kick lately. I just bought the Miles Davis-Kind Of Blue mono mix on vinyl last week, and it's fantastic. I have a good vintage Thorens turntable, and that makes a big difference as well. I am starting to see more things out there available on vinyl, and have even seen some local bands release things on record. I love it!
 

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