FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: masterofsparks on October 30, 2011, 03:28:24 PM
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The prevailing wisdom seems to be that nobody actually purchases music anymore, but since I'd imagine lots of FOTs are among the minority that still does pay for music, I figure I'd ask in which form (digital or physical media) you purchase your entertainment. Physical media as the prevailing form of distributing music is over, and I'd imagine the same battle will be fought (or is already being fought) with books and movies, but there are still people buying records and CDs on a regular basis.
So, for those of who do buy music, what's your poison? I'd imagine that, like me, most people buy both, but do you have a preference? If so, why? I know lots of people who prefer physical media and point to the inferior sound quality of mp3s (for brevity's sake, I don't want to engage an argument over which digital file type sounds the best) and like to point out that vinyl sounds "warmer" than digital files, but in my experience very few people who really love music are audiophiles (and, conversely, very few audiophiles actually like music). In addition to the tremendous damage attending rock shows does to the average fan's ears, there's a large amount of underground rock music that's poorly recorded anyway (I had to laugh when I saw that Matador pressed Rip It Off by Times New Viking on 180g vinyl), so I can't imagine sound quality is a huge issue for most of us. But maybe I'm wrong.
Thoughts?
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My opinion is that vinyl records and books are the only cultural artifacts worth owning. I shop at Amoeba a lot, and they let you return something for 75% credit within seven days. So 9 times out of 10 I buy it, burn it, and return it. That way I have a high-quality rip and don't have a shelf of hideous-looking cd's in my home.
If I shell out for a record and they don't include an mp3 code I will download an mp3 version without a second thought.
I feel stupid every time I purchase a cd now, though, like I'm buying a vhs.
And don't get me started on the emergence of cassettes as a hipster medium.
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And don't get me started on the emergence of cassettes as a hipster medium.
With you 100% on this.
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I can't really persuade myself to buy CDs anymore. I buy vinyl, and like Hugman, having paid for that, I'll torrent it if I really want it on my computer too. Sometimes I'll digitize it to mp3 myself. I occasionally buy stuff from iTunes. I'd rather do that than buy a CD since it saves me the step of ripping it, and the bother of storing a CD. I don't even have a CD player set up anymore.
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The only new CDs I get are WFMU swag.
Kenny G gave a good talk at Radiovision yesterday on how he doesn't buy music any more, CDs or vinyl. I still like vinyl because it sounds good on my fancy setup, but I listen to it maybe 5% of the time I listen to music.
I love physical books and buy them at a rapid clip. But I've taken to ebooks. With them, I can travel with a dozen books, read in bed without a nightlight (iPad), and pick up where I am on my phone on a crowded-ass subway where a paper book or even a full ereader or tablet would be too hard to maneuver with.
I used to collect Renaissance sculpture, but holograms are enough for me nowadays. I've also let my staff go and have replaced them with various Roombas.
I never bought DVDs since it was obvious they were going to be replaced with something. DVDs and Blu-Ray are the biggest pieces of shit as formats (unskippable commercials, lousy custom menus) but I rent them from Netflix and will continue to do so as streaming doesn't match the content selection.
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I still purchase a decent amount of CDs. I actually like the format. Certain labels like Dischord and Teenbeat continue to release nice CD packages. Since I would go broke attempting to purchase everything I want in a physical format, I've had an eMusic account for years. I've acquired loads of great stuff via eMusic. I also purchase digital albums from Amazon from time to time. I have rarely purchased anything from iTunes.
Ideally, I would have a Heinrich-approved sound igloo complete with thousands of pieces of vinyl, but that is simply not feasible. I have some vinyl, but my collection mostly seems pretty random and unfocused (a lone Ratt LP! A Puzzlehead 7" ft. Ted Leo! The Hex Dispensers! Taylor Dane - Tell It To My Heart!). I need to start collecting certain bands/artists. I made an attempt at doing this for Jay Reatard, but I think that is a lost/too expensive cause at this point. I do have the entire run of the Matador singles. I did start collecting certain labels, such as power pop reissue stalwarts, Sing Sing. I should move on to Metal Blade!
I will never purchase a film in a digital format. I also rarely stream films, although I suppose I will eventually have to alter that approach because it may be the only access point for some films. I still rent physical DVDs from Netflix, and I have paid to view some films OnDemand in the Sundance/IFC same-day-as-theaters lineups. As for purchasing films, I have shifted to Blu-Ray only other than the occasional out-of-print DVD that I can find used (stuff that seems unlikely for imminent Blu-Ray release). As for collecting films, I mainly focus on the Criterion Collection, which is another losing battle since they will be approaching 600 spine #s as of January 2012. I try to be fairly selective in the films that I purchase, whereas in the early days of DVD I was a bit more indiscriminate. I also collect certain favorite directors, such as Coen Brothers, Stanley Kubrick, Joel Schumacher, etc.
I must admit that I've purchased some CASSettes in recent years, but I'm not sure why. I'll probably sell them since several are now out of print. A Black Lips CASSette I bought for $6 recently sold for $22 on eBay.
I don't own a Kindle or other similar eReading device, but I'll probably get one at some point. Books are space eaters (and I already own hundreds) and there are definitely books that I would want to read, but not necessarily own (I don't have easy access to a library that is any good.) For example, I bought that oral history of ESPN book in hardcover, and I've only read about 10% of it. I have frequently avoided taking it places because it weighs 200 pounds. That would be an ideal e-read. Ditto this new MTV oral history by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum. (I flipped through it at Barnes & Nobles, and I was pleased to see a section on Remote Control; Kari Wuhrer mentioned that her dad referred to Britny Fox frontman Dizzy Dean Davidson as "the house plant" because he was so dumb. Wuhrer and Triple-D had a brief fling following his appearance on the episode where Scott Ian completely slayed the competition.) For certain authors, I would have to own the physical book (e.g., anything David Foster Wallace related).
As John Hodgman might say, that is all.
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I download all my books, films and paintings straight from YouTube mobile.
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I only buy wax cylinders.
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I only buy wax cylinders.
Speaking of which, does anyone know if they make Victrolas that play CD's?
Thanks.
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Vinyl and CD and digital for stuff I can't find plus as backup. I just can't get past the fact that there is no resale value with a digital file. Not that a CD collection is worth a ton, but it is nice knowing that I can sell something that I purchased.
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I still buy CD's because the CD's I'm purchasing as typically about the same price as the digital download and it allows me to support our local record store (and local economy.) plus, I like having a physical copy in case anything happens
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I don't buy anything digitally because I don't have the sense of ownership over that stuff as I do with CDs/vinyl.
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I've been confused lately over this issue -- in fact I've become sort of paralyzed and haven't bought any music or books in a few months (my girlfriend gets review copies of a lot of new albums anyhow, and I use the public library). The problem is that all this stuff -- CDs, vinyl, books, DVDs -- suddenly feels like clutter I don't want around anymore, and the act of collecting things has started to seem pointless, and maybe more for the benefit of my houseguests. If I could get rid of all those things and have all my books on an ereader or from the library, all my music on a hard drive and stream or rent all my movies I think I'd be happier. But on the other hand there's the real possibility I'll regret that decision later on and forever wonder what happened to my signed Dolly Mixture LP.
Has anyone here gone totally virtual and gotten rid of their collection(s)? Any regrets?
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I've also let my staff go and have replaced them with various Roombas.
Don't they get underfoot?
Until there exists an e-reader that one can use in the bathtub, I will continue to consume books.
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I watch a lot of TV over Slingbox; therefore, I would have to say that audio/video fidelity's not high on my list of Things that are Important.
I will watch an old TV show that has been diced up for syndication (someday I need to get the Twilight Zone DVDs so that I can see the huge amounts of chop-outs in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE - the TZ has a forum dedicated to cataloguing these, and the cuts are unspeakably vulgar).
However, I will never, ever watch a movie that has been "edited for running time and for content." Some things I cannot abide. Thus, TCM yes, AMC no.
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I've also let my staff go and have replaced them with various Roombas.
Don't they get underfoot?
Until there exists an e-reader that one can use in the bathtub, I will continue to consume books.
That's why, I think, Amazon has been focused on driving the price of e-ink readers down. As hardware, the newest Kindles feel like chintzy pieces of shit. I think the Nook is actually better in terms of hardware (the screen's the same). But they're so cheap you can just get a new one if one breaks or you get it wet. That said for ebooks I *usually* either just get them free from Project Gutenberg or I read books I have no pressing desire to really own.
A couple times I've bought the hardcover AND ebook. In the case of "I, Partridge" I bought the audiobook and an ebook and I will buy the hardcover once it's available in the US at non-crazy prices. (Some audiobooks are wonderful things in and off themselves. Steve Coogan reading the Alan Partridge book is obviously wonderful.)
There's another issue for digital media-centric types. You need to back your shit up. There are a lot of ways to do it. Despite my usual Mac-centricity I recently bought a tower PC and filled it with hard drives to be a media server. External hard drives are unsightly and a ripoff. Then I back everything on it up to an external RAID connected via a fast eSATA connection. I keep looking for offsite or cloud backup solutions, too. I am totally paranoid about something happening and my digital media collection getting wiped out.
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I am totally paranoid about something happening and my digital media collection getting wiped out.
That fear is real.
When my laptop burned up, I lost 1,400 photographs and dozens of audio pieces.
Isn't backing up on Time Machine enough?
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I am totally paranoid about something happening and my digital media collection getting wiped out.
That fear is real.
When my laptop burned up, I lost 1,400 photographs and dozens of audio pieces.
Isn't backing up on Time Machine enough?
Yes, Time Machine is great if you are storing your media on a Mac. It gives you one level of redundancy. You need to have at the very least a separate hard drive with your media backed up.
Ideally, you'd have an off-site backup of some kind just in case your home is demolished by a meteor. I use a RAID for backups because it allows me to have a very large backup set and keep old versions for a while. RAIDs are also good because they are redundant in another way--if any one of the 4 hard drives in the RAID fails you don't lose any data. Drobos improve on RAIDs in some ways but are slow and prone to getting corrupted.
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I also had one of those hard drives freeze forever.
Aren't you the guy who said "it's not my job to archive the world"?
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I also had one of those hard drives freeze forever.
Aren't you the guy who said "it's not my job to archive the world"?
Probably. That's more on the point that you don't need to collect every piece of music ever or worry about having only perfect lossless files. There's definitely a tendency to think, as a music collector, that you need to have all the important recordings ever.
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If you've seen my bit on the Best Show premium DVD, you got a very fast tour of my favorite store on earth. the Disc Exchange. I suspect that when they inevitably shut down (cutting hours has begun), I will quit buying CDs, or frankly, music of any sort, but I toss them more discretionary money at this point than I can really afford, out of some dostorted sense of mission.
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If you've seen my bit on the Best Show premium DVD, you got a very fast tour of my favorite store on earth. the Disc Exchange. I suspect that when they inevitably shut down (cutting hours has begun), I will quit buying CDs, or frankly, music of any sort, but I toss them more discretionary money at this point than I can really afford, out of some dostorted sense of mission.
I used to live in Nashville and had friends who went to UT Knoxville. Every time I went up to see them I went to the disc exchange. Awesome store. I hope they don't shut down
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I only buy vinyl for reasons like: it sounds great, its a piece of history(I love bringing home some used records and a note or business card from the 60's slides out), it's a wildly affordable way to own music from past decades, and the artwork can be beautiful. I also buy new vinyl. I have a player within arm reach of my computer and one in my living room so I guess my convenient setup helps.
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And let's be honest, Vinyl makes us feel cool (sung to the tune of Ghostbusters - "bustin' makes me feel good").
One time I was having a happy hour beverage after a trip to Amoeba when these two dudes approached me with a challenging, "What's in the bag?"
So I pulled this out
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/3427095485_1d91ea6ef0_o.jpg)
and they shut the fuck up.
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With music, I buy anything. I don't care. CD's, vinyl, mp3's. What have you.
But if I really love an album, I will do my best to own it either on vinyl or CD.
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And let's be honest, Vinyl makes us feel cool (sung to the tune of Ghostbusters - "bustin' makes me feel good").
One time I was having a happy hour beverage after a trip to Amoeba when these two dudes approached me with a challenging, "What's in the bag?"
So I pulled this out
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/3427095485_1d91ea6ef0_o.jpg)
and they shut the fuck up.
I regret posting right after this. Everyone needs to read it. True and awesome.
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Probably. That's more on the point that you don't need to collect every piece of music ever or worry about having only perfect lossless files. There's definitely a tendency to think, as a music collector, that you need to have all the important recordings ever.
I agree - you can get pretty much anything you want again. I replaced my old Ipod classic earlier this year w/a new one but I really didn't want a giant 160GB thing - my old one was shot and I needed something right away - I just don't know enough about other players out there to pick a good one - also, how do you un-Apple-fy all your music?
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I've gone in phases -- I spent close to a grand on iTunes (well, probably less, I purchased about 1,000 songs, but some of them were on $9.99 albums with more than 10 tracks) in the first couple of years I had an iPod. Then I discovered eMusic and downloaded some great stuff, but I just ended that, mostly because of Spotify but also because they kept changing their TOS and a few small labels I liked pulled their stuff. I also went through a music blog kick, stuffing an external hard drive -- a move I'll probably regret, as I can't figure out how to format the drive and make it work with Time Machine, so I'm sure to lose it all sooner or later. I'm not sure if I'll start paying for Spotify once my six months is up, but I probably will.
I got a record player in 2008, re-bought the (mostly hardcore, surf, and psych) collection I carelessly sold off in 1998 or so, and now buy a good amount of vinyl. I try to keep it under control, and Spotify helps with that -- I listen to records for free a bunch of times and if I really love them I'll purchase the vinyl. I kept all of my pre-2005 CDs but the only CDs I've bought in the past five years or so have been kids' music, mostly to play in the car. I feel a ton of inexplicable affection for cassettes, but I have no desire to own a tape player. Some guy in my neighborhood was selling a desktop 8-track player with a complete collection (Led Zep, Wishbone Ash, Boston, etc.) and I briefly considered buying it for work as an affection.
As far as books go, I am a physical book guy. I have a Kindle that I occasionally use for scripts, and that I loaded up with a couple hundred public domain books. Sometimes I'll take it on a trip if I'm almost finished with my book and can't decide what to read next, but that's about it. I've been reading Pride and Prejudice for nearly a year this way.
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There's another issue for digital media-centric types. You need to back your shit up. There are a lot of ways to do it. Despite my usual Mac-centricity I recently bought a tower PC and filled it with hard drives to be a media server. External hard drives are unsightly and a ripoff. Then I back everything on it up to an external RAID connected via a fast eSATA connection. I keep looking for offsite or cloud backup solutions, too. I am totally paranoid about something happening and my digital media collection getting wiped out.
If it's RAID you're pretty safe aren't you? I've been thinking of setting up a RAID server for my movies because I've spent a lot of time on that collection and no longer have the physical copies so I don't want it to vanish. Cloud solutions are non-existent or cost way too much for the amount of space I'd need. However, a RAID server isn't exactly cheap either and I've only had one hard drive fail on me in my life. This is stuff I want to keep around forever though.