Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.

Poll

Where do you get your music from (primary)?

CD - new, bought online or in local stores
[ 130 ] (25.3%)
CD - used, bought online or in local stores
[ 87 ] (16.9%)
CD - used, borrowed or rented
[ 37 ] (7.2%)
DVD or SACD - new, bought online or in local stores
[ 13 ] (2.5%)
DVD or SACD - used, bought online or in local stores
[ 9 ] (1.8%)
DVD or SACD - used, borrowed or rented
[ 4 ] (0.8%)
iTunes
[ 25 ] (4.9%)
Other online store (e.g. Google Play, Amazon, etc.)
[ 84 ] (16.3%)
I use Spotify, Deezer or other streaming services
[ 60 ] (11.7%)
Other (e.g. Vinyl)
[ 65 ] (12.6%)

Total Members Voted: 351

Topic: Where do you get your music from? (Read 82892 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #51
Mostly old/used CDs I pick up dirt-cheap from Amazon, E-Bay, and Discogs. Occasionally, I'll get something brand new, but that's increasingly rare these days.

Sometimes, bandcamp has an album not available, or extortionately available, on disc; even better, they're lossless, unlike Amazon and iTunes, which I've never taken to. I'll only spend money on either music on CDS or lossless digital; the freedom to encode anyfformat I want that a lossless source grants is of Paramount importance to me.

Streaming music? Bleh! I like things local.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #52
I get my music from everywhere...

  • Retailers like Best Buy, Walmart or Target
  • Record stores (preferably the Audio CD format and brand new)
  • Used off the internet from places like eBay and Amazon.
  • Brand new from reputable online retailers such as Amazon, CDJapan, etc.
  • I have an iTunes account that I buy songs from.
  • Video games.  I record from an actual console or extract the streams on a case by case basis for each game.
  • Live TV (LOL), I did this once actually.
  • Download a few MIDIs from independent artists, the ones that come with soundfonts or mention which soundfont or synthesizer to use does make life a hell lot easier, nothing stops me from trying to make a MIDI sound more pleasant to me on a favorite synthesizer if I can't find out what I'm supposed to use.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #53
To be brutally honest: I often use plain old Youtube. Not all of it, but a lot of it is just there, and it's super easy to use. Also, it works everywhere.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #54
From all these sources except streaming services like deezer or spotify...

It depends on various things like:
- availability (if something is available on vinyl only - then there is no alternative and I buy vinyl - used or new)
- if I like whole contents of release or not (if not - I go Beatport, Junodownload, even Google Play or itunes to get just the track that I like)
- if new items are still available (well, you can't easily buy new CD that was released 10 years ago and was never re-released)

I rather don't use SACD and DVD-A, as music released in these formats is mostly far from my music taste or lies on its edge and investment in SACD/DVD-A is exaggeration.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #55
I've bought a few CDs, and also acquired lossless and even lossy rips either by shady means or by purchasing downloads directly, but mostly these days I listen to streaming music. I just switched from Spotify to Apple Music again last month.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #56
I just switched from Spotify to Apple Music again last month.

I've been tossing up between these two services; have you found one to be superior to the other?
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #57
Not necessarily. They're both purveyors of huge amounts of music. Both have radio services that will generally oscillate between the same 40-50 tracks at random no matter how long you listen to them or "curate" with the like/dislike features. Apple Music tends to totally ignore the dislike setting if there are too few tracks on a given "station" and plays what it wants regardless. For example, a station based on Todd Terje, a Nu Disco / electronic artist, will frequently oscillate to the Spoken Word stylings of Gil Scott-Heron, even though I've marked all of his tracks as Disliked.

Spotify has the same 40-50 tracks problem with its per-user mix lists as well as its radio stations, but maybe I don't listen to enough super popular music.

Either one is super handy if you want to listen to a particular track or album on demand, at any given time, as long as it's featured in their library.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #58
Either one is super handy if you want to listen to a particular track or album on demand, at any given time, as long as it's featured in their library.

Or figuring out what track or album to buy for your personal music library, too.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #59
That too.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #60
@kode54 Thanks for the detailed response.
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #61
What about Usenet?

It's not a payed option but I think many people use it to obtain lossless copies. Even if they own the original.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #62
It's probably a bad idea that I happened to mention shady means in the first place. It's best not to actually describe where you get your legal-gray-area or totally-illegal music, as that's against the forum rules.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #63
Found a coupon for Spotify for $40/year, tried one year, not for me. Went back to foobar2000 and my collection.

I use Amazon, eBay and Zia Records (store) primarily for used CDs then rip them to FLAC and resell/give/throw them away. I've also had a lot of luck with Qobuz lately for Italian albums I can't find anywhere (bought a rare one today thinking about it) other than Amazon Italy, eBay Italy etc. but I live in USA so... Qobuz is expensive but damn they have almost everything. Tip: If you subscribe to Qobuz don't insert your country or they will not let you buy/download anything, I had to make a second account because the first one I think I changed to USA, they have a USA version but it's a different library.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #64
Found a coupon for Spotify for $40/year, tried one year, not for me. Went back to foobar2000 and my collection.

I use Amazon, eBay and Zia Records (store) primarily for used CDs then rip them to FLAC and resell/give/throw them away. I've also had a lot of luck with Qobuz lately for Italian albums I can't find anywhere (bought a rare one today thinking about it) other than Amazon Italy, eBay Italy etc. but I live in USA so... Qobuz is expensive but damn they have almost everything. Tip: If you subscribe to Qobuz don't insert your country or they will not let you buy/download anything, I had to make a second account because the first one I think I changed to USA, they have a USA version but it's a different library.

Very strictly taken buying a CD, ripping to FLAC and reselling them is illegal. But I really don't mind that much. I've never seen an artist that lived in poverty.

About mentioning Usenet. That's a quite general description, not pointing towards specific tools. Guess this is fine by the laws of freedom of speech.... Part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Should not to be taken lightly. At least not in the Netherlands.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #65
Fairy, let me clarify, I only take them back to Zia for a small fraction of the cost, they give you maybe $.50/2, I've done this with 3 or 4 since I have to drive etc. so I rather give them away or even just trash them.

I don't care if it's illegal, once it's in my house and I have my mind in peace that I bought a copy I do whatever I want with the data, save it, back it up etc. of course not share it. That's the main reason I don't like streaming services, I like owning my stuff. What's really illegal to me is sharing it, I didn't make it, I have no rights to share it.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #66
Very strictly taken buying a CD, ripping to FLAC and reselling them is illegal.
That is a matter of jurisdiction, obviously. In some jurisdictions, a copy you legally make is legally yours, even after it would not anymore be legal to create it. On the other extreme, the UK forbids ripping your own CDs at all

(But there has to be more? IANAL, but I loosely browsed the ruling, and it seems not exclusive to "ripping music".  As lyrics are copyrightable works, any Liverpool kid who handwrites down the lyrics to You'll Never Walk Alone is a criminal. Maybe isolated quotes like http://www.bartleby.com/73/1002.html are more comme-il-faut.)

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #67
Mostly I buy CD's new from Amazon after discovering something I want to listen to via Spotify. But recently I have been using Music Magpie to buy used CD's, especially if the CD was a small production run and is expensive/hard to find new.
Life-long Music Collection: 747GB / 25,646 Tracks & COUNTING! - 99% Lossless FLAC

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #68
I buy new CDs online from various sources, as well as going into shops, although I tend not to do that as often as I get overwhelmed with what is on offer... I could spend ages browsing music in a proper record store.
I also buy pre-loved CDs. eBay used to be my main source, and the Amazon marketplace, but since discovering Discogs a few years ago that's where I do my shopping these days.
There's also Bandcamp for both physical and digital media.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #69
Oh yes, forgot about Bandcamp and Beatport, both great for music.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #70
"Other" (i.e. FLAC online and then I use those to make my lossy rips with Foobar2000)

although I do have some CD's I had from about 18-25 years ago I still got and then ripped those to FLAC with EAC not all that long ago.
For music I suggest (using Foobar2000)... MP3 (LAME) @ V5 (130kbps). NOTE: using on AGPTEK-U3 as of Mar 18th 2021. I use 'fatsort' (on Linux) so MP3's are listed in proper order on AGPTEK-U3.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #71
Since the thread is resurrected, a warning about Bandcamp, who has become just another industry shark who will rip off their customers and hide behind anti-piracy provisions.

Your music - and thus your purchased right to stream and redownload - can disappear without notice. Not only when Bandcamp feels like it - also if the artist carelessly takes the album offline temporarily (for example to reupload a revision, it seems).
According to Bandcamp's TOS, they will keep the artists' promise of unlimited streaming and redownloads, but Bandcamp simply refuses to do so. (Yes they reserve the right to pull the plug on piracy, and they referred me to that provision - but it is obviously not the case for an album that was available at the time, having been re-upped by the label. For a second one, I retrieved written confirmation from the artist that there had never been any dispute over the right to distribute, so Bandcamp is just lying wholesale.)

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #72
So Bandcamp reserves the right to simply annul my purchases, long after the fact?

I guess I'd better make sure I have everything downloaded and backed up locally.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #73
So Bandcamp reserves the right to simply annul my purchases, long after the fact?

That is what they apparently do, if the publisher/label/artist/vendor takes it offline.

By their terms of service, the artist authorizes Bandcamp to provide the buyer with additional copies [blah blah blah], and, quote, A user that has a Fan Account will also be permitted to redownload any previously purchased Content from an Artist.
I claimed that from Bandcamp, and they outright refused.

Bandcamp referred to the part of the ToS that in their clarification was put there "in the event of an infringement claim".  If so, "we may be required to revoke streaming access to prior purchases." So those provisions, that are allegedly there because Bandcamp "may be required to revoke", is just their excuse for pulling the plug on what I paid for.
(To be clear, the band confirmed to me that the distribution was legit.)


I guess I'd better make sure I have everything downloaded and backed up locally.

Even Bandcamp recommends that - it looks like a "if you buy from a scammer who uploaded a pirate version, download it and look the other way when it is taken down" warning. But in reality it is "because it could be revoked for no good reason".

I haven't bought much from Bandcamp since.

Re: Where do you get your music from?

Reply #74
I've never used Bandcamp's streaming services anyway. I always treat purchases from them as download FLAC and pretend my local copy is the only copy that I'll ever have access to.