Do you still buy physical copies of music albums?

[Blondie]

We are living in a time where music is so easily accessible, where we can explore music genres and everything for free on applications like Spotify and Soundcloud. However, I was actually wondering if there are still a lot of people on the forums which buy physical copies of music albums. Lately, I have been buying a lot of music albums, usually, they are second hand. I like going to second-hand stores and finding my favorite albums or just something as a collector's piece there. There's also something special when you just find an album where you have been looking for, for a very long time in a store, I guess. Right now I have like 23 music albums at home and only six albums were purchased new in a normal store or online.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Blondie

[Rafae]

I just can't find the urge to if I can easily download it

 

Unless it's an album I REALLY admire. I think the last CD I physically bought was Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city in 2012.

[Femme Fatale]

Yeah, but only by bands/artists I really love. I recently bought The Return...by Bathory, Sinister Slaughter by Macabre, and Hated in the Natinon by GG Allin. I had to special order the last two.

[The_Shape_]

I haven't bought a CD in well over 10 years. A year or so ago I got into vinyl, so I've been buying alot of my favorite albums on that format.

[Arrows to Athens]

Everything is digital for me.

[overminded]

The last time I bought something on a physical medium was in 2005, when I took the Coldplay album.

[Mister Pink]

Last physical copy of music I got was a gift of the Beastie Boy's last album Hot Sauce Committee which coincidentally or perhaps ironically is funny because they one of my first tapes was by them. I do like the idea of collecting vinyl and think if I ever go back to buying music, it will be records. Subscribing to digital based providers is great though and after going without physical hard copies of things, you do start to notice the benefits of not having to lug around huge amounts of boxes and taking up lots of space.

 

On the flip side, I miss owning a physical copy of the music I've bought. Holding it my hand, looking at the pictures withing the sleeve etc.

[Night Machine]

I still only buy music in physical format (have been for over 30 years). I sold my entire vinyl collection over a year ago and still have a nice collection of cassettes and CD's. I still have a bunch of CD's on my to buy list that I will be buying. Most of them will be replacements of albums I had on vinyl and upgrades from my cassettes. I'm just not a fan of downloads and never will be, I just really love my physical collection.

[Shenmue18]

I buy my stuff on CD still, been wanting to start a vinyl collection for a while as well since I have a working record player. I don't illegally download music since I think the idea of just stealing something and justifying it because the artists are rich is pretty sh*tty.

[Matrelith]

Rarely honestly. Partially because the music I listen to isn't getting published on physical copies at all, partially because it's just so easy to have everything in .mp3 files. But every now and then I come across an album I buy just to add it to my collection, even if I already have the songs on my laptop/phone/whatever.

[B Dawg]

If bands come to play, happen to be great, end up having CDs for sale, and I have some extra do$h to spare, then yeah.

Edited July 4, 2017 by B Dawg

[LazlowsucksiloveslutS]

I buy CDs. Difference in sound quality is tremendous when you have a good hi-fi system. 320kbps mp3 is pretty good too but not quite the same as CD. Buying CDs of music you love can become expensive though, but it's a money well spent.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Gunnalingus

[Ruin]

I still buy CDs actively.

Not only do I enjoy the superior sound quality, but just the notion of having a physical copy I can keep for as long as I take care of it feels much better than owning a digital copy. It's getting harder and harder to find brick and mortar stores with an ample catalog of music though.

 

That said, I also use Spotify premium & Apple music a lot, but mostly just for going to the gym or while grocery shopping.

[RedDagger]

While most of my music is from digital sources, I'll get CDs for the bands I've been listening to for a while and are the ones I like the most...while I like having a physical copy of those, I think the most tangible reason is that they come with a lyric booklet, and hooboy you can never trust online lyrics. Booklet art is a unique thing as well that I'd prefer not to do without.

[LazlowsucksiloveslutS]

While most of my music is from digital sources, I'll get CDs for the bands I've been listening to for a while and are the ones I like the most...while I like having a physical copy of those, I think the most tangible reason is that they come with a lyric booklet, and hooboy you can never trust online lyrics. Booklet art is a unique thing as well that I'd prefer not to do without.

Not all contain lyrics. Not too long ago I got this Roadrunner Records 30th anniversary box set and its' booklet had stories from various bands about experiences with the label, how they got signed, the parties etc - an interesting read.

 

I buy my stuff on CD still, been wanting to start a vinyl collection for a while as well since I have a working record player. I don't illegally download music since I think the idea of just stealing something and justifying it because the artists are rich is pretty sh*tty.

 

Not a sh*tty idea at all. Indie bands and upcoming bands could really use the money and support, but when you're talking about acts like Metallica and Lars' privileged ass who was pretty much born rich, I don't see anything wrong in downloading.

 

Americans and Australians don't know what poverty is. There are people living in this world for who €20 - €30 is too much to spend when they barely have any money to eat.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Mister Pink

[Shenmue18]

 

 

 

I buy my stuff on CD still, been wanting to start a vinyl collection for a while as well since I have a working record player. I don't illegally download music since I think the idea of just stealing something and justifying it because the artists are rich is pretty sh*tty.

 

Not a sh*tty idea at all. Indie bands and upcoming bands could really use the money and support, but when you're talking about acts like Metallica and Lars' privileged ass who was pretty much born rich, I don't see anything wrong in downloading.

 

Americans and Australians don't know what poverty is. There are people living in this world for who €20 - €30 is too much to spend when they barely have any money to eat.

 

 

If I was struggling to buy food and pay rent, listening to music wouldn't really be a top priority at that point, and unlike food, water, shelter and clothing, music and entertainment in general is a privilege and isn't something that's required for a person to live their life. Just because the content creator is rich doesn't justify thievery and doesn't mean stealing something that you don't require or need to lead a healthy life is a good moral decision. Being broke doesn't just automatically make you entitled to get recreational goods for free.

[PondNewt]

I always buy a physical CD when I buy music. I think I've only ever downloaded/bought a digital copy of one song in my life. That was four or five years ago now and it probably won't be something I'll ever repeat unless it is a song I really really like and it just doesn't seem to be available anywhere on CD.

[Thicc Romney]

I usually buy physical albums so that I can import them onto my PS3 so that I can listen while I play Red Dead Redemption or Midnight Club:Los Angeles. But for the most part I use Youtube/Vimeo to listen to most of my music.

[Watain]

I do buy physical albums. I started buying/collecting metal CD:s when I was 13. I never had much money during my teens but I managed to collect some 200 CD:s or so by the age of 18 or 19. Mostly bought whatever albums I liked the most. For the past year or two, however, I've stopped buying CD:s altogether as I don't like how they are produced these days (bad masterings, a.k.a. the loudness wars). Instead I've shifted towards vinyl. I bought some old school metal vinyls during my teens as well, but not nearly as much as I buy now. I think I have close to 150 vinyls or so by now, and of course all the old CD:s. Most of it is metal of some sort.

[Shaytan]

Yes, if I really like the band/artist, if I also really like that album after hearing it online to be worth having on the collection and if it's not ridiculously overpriced like Metallica's Hardwired album on a cardboard box.

[mr quick]

I like buying on vinyl. The first reason being of course that a lot of my favorite music is unavailable for streaming online, and are actually easier to find as a physical copies. The second and main reason is that I like the ritualistic nature of listening to a vinyl record, from buying it to the act of actually listening to it. You have to actually do something, pay attention, flip the bad boy, etc. I think it makes listening to more of an activity. You can't skip tracks