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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 82889 times) previous topic - next topic
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Where do you get your music from?

Just wondering where people get their music from.

Until last year, I purchased all my music from iTunes or in case of albums, I bought the CDs online on Amazon. In the meanwhile, no longer being an Apple product owner, I download MP3s from Amazon or Google Play.

Edit: To clear up things, I am referring to your "primary" source, so if you randomly get your hands on a friends's CD once per year, but your other 100 albums per year are bought on iTunes, I wouldn't count "CD - used, borrowed or rented" here.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #1
I try to buy local whenever possible as I try support small merchants and new bands. I avoid buying mass market stuff new since I don't like supporting the unethical corporate music industry. I often borrow CDs from the library. I also buy used stuff from sellers on Discogs since I find I can trust the grading.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #2
Most of my music purchases are through Bandcamp these days. My tastes run independent, and Bandcamp is a huge hub.

Bandcamp provides many formats. I choose FLAC.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #3
I get CDs and the occasional MP3 via Amazon, but often from marketplace sellers instead of Amazon themselves.

For second-hand, I make irregular pilgrimages to Alan's Records: http://www.alansrecords.com/
Good bloke, Alan. Decent shop, too.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #4
I get used CDs from amazon mostly, but also occasionally from discogs or ebay. Bandcamp is my primary digital store.
Oh, and i have quite a collection from ocremix.org as well.

In all cases i get lossless.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #5
Although streaming appears to be the future, I try to support an artist by buying FLAC downloads at Bandcamp.  The artist receives the lion's share of your money, just as it should be.

I do my best to avoid giving any money to the record industry however if an artist produces quality work that I enjoy, and they have no presence on Bandcamp, I will begrudgingly buy a CD on Amazon.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #6
I buy about 30% of my CDs new via Amazon, 50% used via Amazon and 20% in local stores.

The artist receives the lion's share of your money, just as it should be. [...] I do my best to avoid giving any money to the record industry

Yeah, because obviously it is cheap and risk-free to invest in an artist, like providing a studio, pressing CDs, financing a music video and promoting them.
Music: sounds arranged such that they construct feelings.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #7
Yeah, because obviously it is cheap and risk-free to invest in an artist, like providing a studio, pressing CDs, financing a music video and promoting them.

From what I've seen, and despite the costs and the risks, major media concerns like the big stars, big bands and the suits at the top do way too well and get all the revenue and attention. Most artists don't receive any support until after they've demonstrated sales potential. Furthermore, I tire of seeing a few people live like gazillionaires off the backs of the rest of us. Most retail music and concerts are way over-priced. Artists rarely receive a fair share, mainstream music distribution is monopolistic and exploitative. Really, do musicians, or anyone else, deserve more than their fair share? The whole music industry seems to be about greed not music. Just saying.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #8
I buy CDs and most other flavors of optical discs new and used from Amazon, eBay, Discogs and Steve Hoffman's Classifieds. Every weekend I browse the new (used) arrivals at my local record store. Beyond that, I use streaming services to sample new music (Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Youtube) and Pandora for background music at times.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #9
The artist receives the lion's share of your money, just as it should be. [...] I do my best to avoid giving any money to the record industry


If an act I have interest in will do a tour, I hope they sell the CD at the gig. Putting the money in the hands of the artist. (And in those cases where they have to buy their own CDs, then they do in the very least make the record store's profit.)

I am frankly surprised at how little I leave at Bandcamp though. The thing is, out of several thousand CD rips there are a lot I have not even heard. I don't need Bandcamp to check out "new" stuff ...



Yeah, because obviously it is cheap and risk-free to invest in an artist, like providing a studio, pressing CDs, financing a music video and promoting them.


... and engaging in the worst-ever case of illicit filesharing for resale.

The record industry had already lost me then. First intentionally destroying the products I would otherwise have bought (I thoughtlessly picked up a Kraftwerk off EMI though, and an Iron Maiden promo), and not to mention when they tried to infect their paying customers with malware (... which they piratedistributed ...) Well before DBD it was the work-for-hire scandal when they bribed a congress proofreader to snatch the artists' rights, but I didn't know about the case.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #10
I buy about 30% of my CDs new via Amazon, 50% used via Amazon and 20% in local stores.

The artist receives the lion's share of your money, just as it should be. [...] I do my best to avoid giving any money to the record industry

Yeah, because obviously it is cheap and risk-free to invest in an artist, like providing a studio, pressing CDs, financing a music video and promoting them.

In most cases, the artist ends up paying for all that (as well as any rock star extravagance) later on, when the record label starts recouping costs from them. Many don't realise 'til it is too late and the Ferrari is being repossessed.

The artists who understand this can, however, reap the major and very real benefits of a big company financing their videos, tours and promotion, but keep a close eye on the money going out elsewhere 'til they are established and genuinely wealthy. Even better, if they can get it on the contract that the rights/master tapes eventually revert to them, they can monetise their legacy in later years. Suede, apparently, have everything - not just their albums' master tapes but all the recorded material and the rights to do what they want with it.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #11
My iPhone 5 was due for an upgrade earlier last year (June) and I switched to a Galaxy S5.  Google gave me a 30-day trial to their Music All Access service along with a price of $7.99 a month thereafter (it has since gone up to $9.99).  My music library used to consist of a lossless archive (made from buying CDs usually on Amazon and used from local stores) and lossy versions.  Now I stream all of my music using my PC and it's downloaded to my phone for offline listening both through Google Music All Access.  Quality is "limited" to 320kbps mp3 files (I think they use Lame 3.98) but I could never properly distinguish that from the source lossless version in a blind ABX test so I'm definitely good with it.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #12
New and used CD's bought locally or through online stores. I also buy FLAC files directly online from any vendor or artist who provides them. To date this has mostly been via bandcamp.


Where do you get your music from?

Reply #13
The artists who understand this can, however, reap the major and very real benefits [...] Suede, apparently, have everything - not just their albums' master tapes but all the recorded material and the rights to do what they want with it.


I guess there are some geographical variations - in particular, the RIAA has never recognized the artists' rights to their songs (bar they halfway had to after the Mitch Glazier scandal).  If OTOH you are Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd, everything is negotiable I guess - up to which car Volkswagen shall put your band name on.

This nearly twenty year old FAQ for record collectors refers to a Washington Post article on where the street-price of $11.99 would take its way. Record labels and executives would reap a profit rate of 20 percent of their turnover - this not counting the profits from their ownership in other parties of the value chain, namely manufactoring and distribution and not counting the "other" expenses (fondly referred to as hookers and cocaine, in which case I would assume that the "label VPs" should include certain artists).

Artists? A dollar and a half. It has long been a "truism" - whether correct or not - that successful rock bands would get their profits primarily from merch and booking fees.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #14
Yeah, because obviously it is cheap and risk-free to invest in an artist, like providing a studio, pressing CDs, financing a music video and promoting them.


Several others have already commented with the reply I was about to post.

Most of the time, the music industry is effectively a form of legal racketeering.  Unless they have significant clout or miraculous negotiation terms, the costs that you speak of are re-couped directly from the artists.  An artist's failure to make it big ultimately costs the artist, not the industry.

Fortunately, modern distribution methods (such as Bandcamp, BitTorrent bundles, personal websites, etc.) allow for an artist to trade directly with fans.  This new model will inevitably bring issues of promotion but I can assure you, I'll shed no tears for Johnny Industry Exec when the exploitation money dries up and he's forced to use ordinary toilet tissue instead of dollar bills to wipe his arse.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #15
Downloads from Beatport.
MP3 format. DJ hardware doesn't support compressed lossless so it's not worth paying more if you want tags.
Vinyl from Shops.
Still quite a few left in town and it's a good day out.
CD via on-line.
If i cannot find it any other format and really, really, really want it.
Spotify.
Free version. Used for reference mostly.
Hi-Rez.
Don't bother any more. Couldn't tell the difference or not worth the extra.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #16
Downloads from Beatport.
MP3 format. DJ hardware doesn't support compressed lossless so it's not worth paying more if you want tags.
Beatport? YOU CAD!

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #17
I borrow CDs from the local library. It's free and they have a large selection so I can find all the music I want.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #18
Mainly at bandcamp

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #19
Quote
Beatport‽ YOU CAD!


Sorry. Did I miss a memo or have I been too slow to see the joke?

 

 

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #20
Why would anyone use anything other than Spotify these days? It's 2015, how can you use CD:s?

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #21
i don't think many people actually listen to CDs through a CD player. it's more about having ownership and full control over what formats you rip to, manage your files etc.

as for spotify, i don't even have proper internet at home so it's a no go for me. also, i have absolutely zero interest in internet connected mobile device/smartphones. i just use a dumb phone and a sansa clip+ for music when out and about.

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #22
Sorry. Did I miss a memo or have I been too slow to see the joke?
Beatport is ridiculously expensive, shares little of that with the artist, and generally promotes unhealthy business practices, IMO.

An artist I'm friends with wrote a frustrated rant about it here: http://re-drum.recyclednetlabel.net/ideas/...ort-likes-rant/

Where do you get your music from?

Reply #23
Why would anyone use anything other than Spotify these days? It's 2015, how can you use CD:s?


  • Physical lossless back up for the music one cares about.
  • Ability to encode to different  bitrates and codecs for different purposes.



Where do you get your music from?

Reply #24
Why would anyone use anything other than Spotify these days? It's 2015, how can you use CD:s?
I buy them on-line, the company posts them to me, I rip them, I copy the files to my mp3 player, I listen to them whenever and wherever I want.

It's 2015, how can you use Spotify to listen to these artists?
http://pansentient.com/more-on-spotify/spotify-mia/
Oh, sorry, you can't. Some of the most important artists ever aren't on there.

Less well publicised, but even more important to me, there are loads of record labels that don't allow any of their releases onto Spotify.

Frustratingly, even the tracks that are on Spotify can be removed without notice. Older tracks can be entirely the wrong version, edit, or remastered to sound awful.

I use Spotify quite a lot for pop music I have no interest in buying, and for casual listening, and to hear out-of-print CDs - but music I actually care about gets bought on CD. If I relied on Spotify more than I do (quite possible), then the only music I'd buy would be that which wasn't on Spotify. If enough people did this, it would create an incentive to remove things from Spotify. You want to be glad there aren't many people like me - it would create a vicious circle that would destroy Spotify in months.

Cheers,
David.