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      Buying music - A change for the worse?

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      Reprobate
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      • Avatar by Kitster29@Deviantart.com
      Buying music - A change for the worse?
      Oct 23, 2013 08:15:34 pm
      I'm in the process of ripping my extensive collection of CDs (or at least what's left of it after countless have been stolen, damaged or lost over the years due to house parties, house moves and bi*ch ex partners).

      Now the very fact that I'm doing this demonstrates that I appreciate the convenience of modern music formats, such as being able to store thousands of albums on a small HDD and being able to carry your entire collection in the pocket of your jeans so I'm not just some old 'stuck in the past' fossil. It's also far easier now to get hold of music from all over the world, cheaply or even free if you're prepared to step outside of the law to do so. No more hovering around the counter in HMV, trying to explain to the assistant who J Mascis is or watching them scowl at the DOS-like screen as they browse for the Japanese release of a The Smashing Pumpkins album, only to be told it would take three weeks to get here and cost £35.

      The more I think about it, though the more I'm convinced that the negatives of moving to downloads far outweigh the positives (althought as I'm writing this, Scottish post-grunge band Stiltskin have just come on and I wonder why the hell I ever spent £15 on that crap).

      When I was in my teens, I'd get my weekly wage then take a 50 minute bus journey into Hanley (essentially Stoke's city centre) for no other reason than to spend 2 hours+ in Mike Lloyd Music. I'd head to the new releases on CD and vinyl then browse the second hand section before looking through the posters, t-shirts, prints and finally the noticeboard to see what gigs were on as you could buy tickets there that included travel. I'd come back minus half of my wages but it was worth it!

      Now again, although I think back to those times with fond memories, this isn't about my nostalgia trip. What's struck me as I'm sat here listening to music and browsing CD artwork is how much has been lost as physical copies are dying out.
      When I'd paid £15+ for a CD, I'd spend the bus journey home looking at the artwork and browsing the inlay. Once home, it would go striaght into the CD player and I'd listen to the whole album whilst reading any lyrics that were printed inside. Then the CD would play again... and again. You really appreciated everything that went into the CD because you'd invested time, effort and money to get hold of it.
      I don't mean any disrespect to those younger posters who have always downloaded the vast majority of their music but I really dont feel that you will ever have that same feeling of bringing a new CD / Vinyl / Tape home.
      It's changed for me as well. I can no longer afford to keep buying CDs so I download most of my music and its rarely just one album or single but rather whole discographies or multiple albums by various artists. I still enjoy music but playing you iTunes library on shuffle just isn't the same.

      Kurt Cobain once said that having loads of money ruined shopping for him because he no longer had to put the effort in to rummage around shops looking for that one gem then work out how to afford it, he could go in and buy the whole lot if he wanted. That one 'gem' was devalued because it was so easy to come by and I think that's an analogy for how I feel about music formats now. It's quite sad really and I feel sorry for my kids that they'll never understand that.
      reddebs
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      Re: Buying music - A change for the worse?
      Reply #1: Oct 23, 2013 09:11:03 pm
      The same could be said of books Rep. 

      Ok I never spent hours rummaging to find a 'gem' of a book but I have for vinyl.  It's a tactile thing for me, also the ownership of it, knowing that it's mine until I decide I don't want it anymore.  Downloads are just borrowed and can be replaced at the touch of a button.

      I'd never sell my vinyl or my decks but I've thrown out dozens of cd's.
      srslfc
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      Re: Buying music - A change for the worse?
      Reply #2: Oct 23, 2013 09:35:47 pm
      What's struck me as I'm sat here listening to music and browsing CD artwork is how much has been lost as physical copies are dying out.
      When I'd paid £15+ for a CD, I'd spend the bus journey home looking at the artwork and browsing the inlay. Once home, it would go striaght into the CD player and I'd listen to the whole album whilst reading any lyrics that were printed inside. Then the CD would play again... and again. You really appreciated everything that went into the CD because you'd invested time, effort and money to get hold of it.
      I don't mean any disrespect to those younger posters who have always downloaded the vast majority of their music but I really dont feel that you will ever have that same feeling of bringing a new CD / Vinyl / Tape home.

      This is what I feel people will miss out on the most Rep. I love having the physical copy of an album and like you when i buy it I spend a while looking at the cover, the inlay and reading the lyrics if they were printed. It also makes me more inclined to actually listen to the whole album from start to finish as you want to hear every part of it.

      Downloads, and the convenience of them, make it much more easy to skip tracks and you never truly get the feel of an album and for me it loses some of its art because of this.

      I don't mean any disrespect to those younger posters who have always downloaded the vast majority of their music but I really dont feel that you will ever have that same feeling of bringing a new CD / Vinyl / Tape home.

      Agree.

      Like you when i was growing up there were no record stores near me so I had to catch a bus when I wanted to get an album or single and it just made it much more special.Kids nowadays can download an album on their luchbreak and have skipped through it before they've even got home from school.

      I'd guess many don't even know or remember what album covers go with their albums.
      Reprobate
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      • Avatar by Kitster29@Deviantart.com
      Re: Buying music - A change for the worse?
      Reply #3: Oct 24, 2013 06:20:47 am
      The same could be said of books Rep.

      It could and I admit I still prefer an actual book to a Kindle edition but the difference there is that I'd never pick up a book, read chapter 6 then skip to something else. Plus I only (usually) read a book once so they are kind of disposable to me. For that reason, I've found it beneficial to have a Kindle but I get what you're saying. Someone once told me how they had 6,000 books on their e-reader and I couldn't understand for the life of me why they'd want that many, they couldn't possibly get through that many.
      racerx34
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      Re: Buying music - A change for the worse?
      Reply #4: Oct 25, 2013 12:27:09 pm
      I agree to a large extent.

      The way we discover music and immerse ourselves in an album has died.
      The days of losing yourself for months discovering every detail has long since passed.

      That is sad.

      But it is far easier for musicians to be heard.

      Unfortunately for young musicians pop music has become disposable.

      To be sustainable takes much more work.
      frizzby5
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      Re: Buying music - A change for the worse?
      Reply #5: Oct 25, 2013 01:05:25 pm
      I've got the same issue as you Rep in the sense that I have thousands of vinyl albums and singles as well as cds and I have (Like Debs) no intention of selling them.
      I find it a lot easier having copies (ripped originals, not CDR copies or downloads) on my PC and now my newly purchased mobile (with internet access and massive storage capability) !

      I could listen to music all day long but can't be arsed to walk to my collection (in the very next room!) and search for what I'm looking for, much easier to click the search button on my pc!

      That said I too much preferred the minute inpsection of the artwork on both albums and singles and think the world of downloads and CDr's is definately not for me.

      I currently own EVERY number one album and single in it's orginal format since the charts began in 1952 regarding the singles and 1956 regarding albums,My continuing collecting will cease when there's a cd single not available in a solid format, I'm currently running behind with both collections I'm up to 2011 at the moment, to be honest with you I'm dreading that day as I consider it my greatest achievement outside of marriage and parenthood.

      Regarding downloads I'm old school in that I won't pay for something I can't see, I'd hate to have my enitire collection on an I-pad/Phone and lose it, I know I would have paid far less for a download than a hard copy but Like I say if I can't see it I don't believe it to be mine.

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