I used to buy like at least 10 CDs a month. These days I get just about everything online (ahhh… the miracle of technology). My store-bought CD collection looks like something out of a museum. Do you still like to buy the CDs from the store, or do you get your music online?


editting out spam but keeping the topic because it's not a bad one.

Thanks! I thought it was a good topic too... although, apparently we're the only two (why isn't anyone posting a reply??) Fair enough to take out the links, but I still want to know what digital music subscription services people are using and what they think of them.

Although I may buy a few CDs online, the main bulk of my collection comes from shops. You just can't beat the feeling of wondering around a large music retailer, rummaging through racks of CDs, and perhaps finding that re-issue you have been wanting for ages. I'm like a kid in a candy store, friends and relatives have been known to go off for coffee or something and still find me browsing a couple of hours later. the only drawback is that I then spend too much money! Hmm, must be time I went shopping again.....

I've never downloaded music from the internet. I still buy CD's. Heck, I still buy VINYL! (second-hand collections etc.).
I wouldn't say my collection looks like a museum (well, except for the content!), in fact a lot of people are envious of it.

These days I only buy used and lower-priced "on sale" cds and albums from record stores. Maybe that's about a fourth of what I buy in records per year. Until the internet came along, I would purchase a lot of albums at record collector conventions and at cd/record stores across the midwest/
Great Lakes region.

Nowadays I buy the bulk of my collection over the internet.
It's both a curse and a blessing, I guess. A curse because
I spend way too much on records. A blessing because I can
find what I want much easier these days and without driving
hundreds of miles. Though I do miss talking shop among the
other collectors. The conventions yield fewer finds, so I usually only attend one show a year anymore.

I don't download music from the net on cd's. I just don't have
the patience for it (especially since I have AOL). I like researching new music online and buying from small independent record labels. online specialty cd shops, and
from the artists themselves.

Yeah, I can see why people still want the commercial CDs with the cover art and lyrics and all. I don't need the pictures tho. I certainly don't want to pirate my music, but I don't want to pay for tracks I don't want either. I mean, you might say that you only buy CDs from artists if you know you'll like every track... but there will be times when you just want a couple of songs from a particular artist. That's why I think these online digital music subscription services will catch on. Too many artists put plenty of "filler" on their CDs. I shouldn't have to give them my hard-earned money for that. I'll be happy to give them some cashola for the tracks I really enjoy though. Best Buy's service is 79 cents per track ~ that means I can get 17 tracks on a CD for $13.43, rather than the usual $20 bucks or so. The artist gets paid, I only pay for what I want and nobody sues anybody. Everyone's happy. Plus, you might say that the online way is a hassle, but answer me this ~ driving to the store and browsing through hundreds of CDs at the store (many of which aren't properly alphabatized), taking a chance on which ones will be in stock and waiting for your turn to use the listening station (which may not necessarily have the tracks you want to preview) ~ how is that less time-consuming than searching a well-organized library online? You can search easily through thousands of tracks right from your computer. It's actually way more efficient. However, for anyone who simply enjoys the experience of going to the physical store over sitting at a computer, the issue of convenience is irrelevant anyway.

I don't download music, but I do buy most of my physical CDs from the internet, because even with shipping, it is usually cheaper than going to a nearby overpriced store. Circuit City, though, I have discovered, has affordable CDs.