I ask because I'm a bit annoyed by the snark and commentary I get when folks see me buying CDs. There's always this underlying assumption that I'm PLAYING the disc.

Now, I don't even buy CDs that often, but when I do I rarely play the discs. I digitize the music by ripping it into my iTunes library with an external hard drive.

So, why am I buying CDs?
1. Collector's item. If the artist is a favorite and there's a physical release, I'm buying it. I am a completist when it comes to certain artists.
2. I care enough about the release/artist to desire the liner notes, especially if it's a deluxe edition/remastered version with an essay, photos
3. The music is not available digitally, whether it's through legal means (i.e. Google Play, Amazon Music, iTunes, Spotify, etc.) or quasi-legal/illegal avenues (e.g. music blogs I shall not mention here...). Having the CD (or cassette/vinyl record) in my possession is the only way I can listen and digitize.
4. Bonus tracks. In the last few years, Jill Scott, Esperanza Spalding, Tamia, and Janet Jackson have released Target exclusives with bonus tracks there were not available digitally.

Years ago, I'd say my CDs were " back up," but I have a couple backups of my iTunes library on external hard drives. I try to keep them in different places, e.g. one at the crib, one at my storage unit in case a fire or some other unfortunate shit pops off. Eventually, I'll look into cloud storage. Of course, CD-as-backup doesn't apply to digital-only releases.

I think it is unwise to play physical CDs because you're putting wear and tear on an item you may want to sell later. Why put scratches on the disc and reduce the value of the item? Ripping the music at a decent bit rate should produce the same sound quality as playing the CD.

I know variations of this conversation have been held before but not recently. I'm curious to know, especially because streaming services like Spotify are more popular than ever and MP3 music sales are down. Plus, vinyl records remain "trendy" and sales are still strong.

Poll result (31 votes) Playing the disc! (6 votes) Vote I rip and digitize my music. (10 votes) Vote Both (7 votes) Vote Neither. I just buy the CD to support the artist, etc. (2 votes) Vote I don't buy CDs. (6 votes) Vote Other (0 votes) Vote

Glad we didn’t throw ours out.

We have a radio in our 3 year olds room. She be jamming to Stereolab and Miles Davis

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

digitize my vinyl... and play the vinyl on occasion. trendy schmendy... has it's pros and cons... these days though if you're not putting out a record on vinyl I'm likely not going to buy it... you can get my youtube views.

after being a huge fan of the coup since pick a bigger weapon i shamefully bought my first album of theirs this year. the blogs had kept me happy but i figured i need to support them. i went ahead and bought all their physical albums.

i opened all of them because i wanted to see what the discs looked like and read liner notes. i think i might had played one of them in the ride but there is no noticeable difference in quality between the digital copy amazon provides or the files from the blogs.

if the cd doesnt come with a free download i just use a blog even though i bought the cd. dont have time to boot up a laptop and transfer the music over to my phone lol thus i voted yellow.

now that im on board with streaming im probably only buying physical copies as support for an artist i really like or albums that i really like. meaning even if the particular album might not be great if i love the artist as a whole i might buy it for support. other than that if there is an album that i really like after streaming i will buy to support.

just havent decided if i will stick to CDs or records.

>if the cd doesnt come with a free download i just use a blog
>even though i bought the cd. dont have time to boot up a
>laptop and transfer the music over to my phone lol thus i
>voted yellow.

Haha. This is SO real. I hate pulling out my little LG external CD drive I copped from Micro Center.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

i still have my external dvd drive that i had bought in college because the laptop drive broke.

my current laptop has a working dvd drive but i never boot up the laptop. it also has some virus and i havent bothered fixing that.

i remember i was so hyped to be able to burn an image on the face the discs with my drive lol

i probably bought it at micro center too lol

I meant external CD/DVD drive.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

I'm not an expert on the secondary selling market, but is that a thing where someone can tell you've played it excessively? If you're impeccable in the way you handle and store them, I don't see that being an issue. And I personally do still buy CD's when I can to have the physical product and rip them onto the PC. I don't even have a CD player in the whip so that's a big no for me.

************************************************************

Nigga, if the shoe fits, then buy the matching purse!" Rass Kass

>I'm not an expert on the secondary selling market, but is
>that a thing where someone can tell you've played it
>excessively? If you're impeccable in the way you handle and
>store them, I don't see that being an issue.

I thought all CDs will eventually get scratches and scuffs from playing over time. Maybe I’m wrong, tho? Maybe I was using cheap equipment and not being as careful as I thought back in the day?

When I still used a CD Walkman and only had a iPod Mini 4GB, my joints got scratches and would “jump.” I definitely had to buy Reflection Eternal, Brown Sugar, Mama Gun, et al AT LEAST twice.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

Looks like it was fresh out the wrapper, and I do play it pretty regularly. I've always been extra careful with my jazz though. I think it's an inherent reverence I have for the music. LOL

************************************************************

Nigga, if the shoe fits, then buy the matching purse!" Rass Kass

I play the vinyl in one room in the house. Once it's digital, I can take the songs everywhere. Not a big CD fan, but the quality is definitely better than most of the digital stuff online and youtube rips.

What’s your preferred method? There are several ways to do it. I don’t know much about the pros and cons; I just know to never rely on those cheap turntables that promote MP3 conversion. I know the sound quality is probably shit.

Cutting corners/taking the easy route = not good quality.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

I was apprehensive about it at first, sticking with the RCA outputs but had a hum in my signal chain (the analog mixer I have needs work). I tried the USB (which uses the A/D converters built into the table) and I don't want to go back. All I have to do is edit the start and stop points in Logic and export after I record and done.

I'll have to research this. Maybe the quality is better because it's a Audio-Technica, as opposed to, say, an Ion.
https://www.amazon.com/ION-Audio-Max-LP-Conversion/dp/B01DPOXSOW/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

tables to xfader to mixing board to protools hardware to pc.... the room is basically a recording studio so pretty much just have to turn things on fire up the comp and put the record on... haven't tried the straight to usb joints flip's talking about.. I'm attached to my JVC and Sony though and no need for a new cheap one.

then Adobe Audition 3, Izotope RX2 to work things out before tracking.

I'm thinking about getting an Audio-Technica direct drive but my Technics is still working

Take up way too much space. Glad I kept onto stuff that's not on streaming services (De La, etc.) but I can use the space they take up with something else.

_______________________
We rationalize dumb shit

piece to hold the other 200 or so I had that werent fitting into the ones I already have

Rest In Peace, Bad News Brown

5. CDs are often cheaper, new and used. I saw a new Lionel Richie CD for $3.99 or $4.99 on Amazon. It came with AutoRip (read: free digital album with CD purchase.) The MP3 album was $7.99 or $9.99. So, someone could buy the CD they didn’t want just for a cheaper download. No wonder folks don’t like Bezos. LOL.

6. “Ownership” (physical and digital) is still important to me. Saved some albums to my Bandcamp wishlist, now they gone cause the indie artist deleted their page/quit music. SMH. I’ve also watched CDs go out of print and become unaffordable. I try to snatch shit up when I can afford it. It hurts my pockets tho. That’s why I still be hitting up those music blogs. Shhhh.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

not sure if you stream music or not but as someone that had been exclusively about ownership (and "borrowing" from blogs) i highly recommend it now.

if you are going to blogs just to listen to albums that youre not sure you want streaming is soooo much better. if you want to listen to an album that you would want to buy but are a bit strapped then you can listen to it and the artist still gets their numbers up. you can buy the album when your cash flow improves.

the only negative is the potential for albums to disappear because they went exclusive with a competing service.

so far with google play i have been able to listen to every album i want to. its good that i can also sync my library from my laptop so you can still listen to those artists that do go exclusive or arent available from streaming.

>Now, I don't even buy CDs that often, but when I do I rarely
>play the discs. I digitize the music by ripping it into my
>iTunes library with an external hard drive.

*Oops. I meant external CD/DVD drive.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

and I played it twice.

IG: amadu_me

"...Whateva, man..." (c) Redman

all the CDs i have now are still in the shrink wrap.

i couldn't tell you where they are tho.

nm

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

where am I going to play a CD at? Besides my computer? My xbox? Everything goes on my Ipod classic. That shit is plugged into my car and i put it on shuffle. When this one finally dies im going to turn it into a flash HD and keep it rocking.

November 8th, 2005 The greatest night in the history of GD!

Amazon sometimes gives you the mp3’s with the purchase of a cd

I’m not ready to switch over completely yet.

Digital albums feel like I’m getting ripped the fuck off.

Digital download will be $9.99 and all I get are the files on my computer and a digital booklet.

I can got to the store or Amazon and get the physical release, many times, cheaper than the download.

Why should I give the record company a break in manufacturing and shipping a tangible item?

Plus the sound quality still isn’t there yet to my ears.

There’s something about purchasing a piece of art a looking through the booklet that is completely lost with this digital bullshit.

It’s just another way to consume microwaved bullshit in my opinion and cheapens the music industry.

Only upside to mp3s is convenience.

------------------
One Hundred.

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

>
>"Get ready....for your blessing....."

"...Has streaming meant artists get paid less for their music?...

Price of an album on CD = $12.00
Artist revenue from selling a single album on CD = $1.20
After the label, the distributor and the retailer took their cut, an artist could expect to make $1.20 from selling an album on CD.

Let’s assume there are 10 tracks on an album — seems like a fair average. So:

Artist revenue from selling a single track on a CD = $0.12
So far so good. In the 90s, we can assume that a musician would make $0.12 for every track of theirs that someone bought as part of an album.

Now, let’s look at streaming:

Artist revenue from a single Spotify stream = $0.0011
(This is less than Spotify claims it pays artists, but it’s the figure that the author of the infographic thinks is most reliable.)

This is where the maths comes in. An artist gets $0.12 per track bought on CD, and $0.0011 per track streamed.

0.12 / 0.0011 = 109
So:

109 Spotify streams = 1 track purchase
That is:

It takes 109 Spotify streams for an artist to generate the same revenue they’d get by selling that track on CD.

So are artists making less money per track?
This question can be rephrased in a very simple way:

When you bought a CD in the 90s, how many times would you listen to a particular track over the course of your life?

If the answer is 109 or greater, then artists are making just as much money per track as they used to..."

From: https://medium.com/world-of-music/were-artists-really-paid-more-in-the-90s-3d31805d49e2

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

anymore.
I haven't owned a computer with a CD Rom since 2011. I DO have an external BluRay burner tucked in a drawer somewhere that I used to use to rip DVDs from Netflix. But I don't even know if that joint is even compatible with my MacBook anymore. Plus...fck iTunes. I think that is the only way to even rip a CD on a mac.

Streaming is just so easy and legit nowadays that buying a physical disk and ripping it just feels like hustling backwards. I DO wish Amazon would have ramped up their digital rip program...not even sure if they still do it. But if you bought a CD from them you'd automatically get a digital copy of it into your Amazon Music account. THAT was the lick...

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

>Plus...fck iTunes. I think that is the only way to even rip a
>CD on a mac.

For me, iTunes is fine for digital music management. But for purchasing digital music? Hell to the naw. I haven't purchased digital music from iTunes in years. That's what Google Music (320 kbps!) and Bandcamp is for.

There are iTunes alternatives for digital music management on a Mac:
https://www.howtogeek.com/280304/the-best-itunes-alternatives-for-macos/

I considered using one ages ago but decided against it because I feared the service would go out of business, or stop updating. Apple/iTunes is always going to be around. Some dope open source alternative may not...

There are ways to rip a CD into digital files without iTunes:
https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/best-alternatives-itunes-for-ripping-cds-mp3-3659456/

>backwards. I DO wish Amazon would have ramped up their digital
>rip program...not even sure if they still do it.

It's called AutoRip. It's still around but not for every release.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

though. Or at least BUYING the CDs I know i'd miss if they were dropped from streaming services.
Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Sampha, SBTRK, etc...

I DO buy hard copies of all the Foreign Exchange releases though...off GP.

I was big on vinyl for awhile, but the cost and space discourages me now. I mostly listen in my car, in my daily commute, and it sounds good. The aux cable hookup got all wonky so I can't even use my old ipod in it like I used to, and I don't really use my phone like that for anything. I'm not really the biggest audiophile head but I really can't just only experience listening to music through streaming or imagine only using a phone for it. It annoys me when a CD sounds like it was actually only made/mastered with a stream in mind these days, like 4:44 sounded terrible in my car.

I still have a set up at home stereo wise that lets me pull from my CD's or vinyl when I feel like listening there, and I will always prefer that over anything else. In environments where I don't have access to that, it doesn't really bother me anymore. I read on the train, if I'm hanging out with others they all can play whatever the hell they want their way and don't have time for my listening habits anyway.

Also I have no problem keeping my discs in seemingly perfect condition, even ones I've had since high school, only using them myself. The cases and stuff can have issues/cracks, it blows my mind when I let people borrow some back in the day, to rip something they also liked at home overnight, and I'd get back the next day and I couldn't comprehend how they made it so dirty in so short a time. I don't have to share anymore though lol. My itunes library ripped or otherwise was pretty thorough back in the day but it's a dated mess now and on an old computer, a separate hard drive, but too complicated to work with now really since most things don't even operate like that anymore.

---------------------
Obviously White

I'm a physical media guy, but I haven't played an actual CD in a long time.

Almost anything I buy I'm looking for a vinyl version that comes with a digital download. I guess that's why I love bandcamp so much. I'll cop the vinyl and then have the MP3's for my phone. I also have a few back up external hard drives of my iTunes music library. I have a system I use to rotate music back and forth from m y library to my phone...and I've been rocking that for almost 10 years.

Streaming is not my thing for a couple reasons.

1. The streaming version of Tribe's last album got altered after the release (the song "Donald Trump" I believe). That reason alone scared me from putting any trust in streaming the music. Like, changing songs after the fact? Naw, I'm good. Also see: De La Soul's discobraphy.

2. I have gigs and gigs of unreleased stuff and live shows. Nope. Need those.

3. And this last reason is a bit harder to explain but...I like the idea that everything that is in my music library was hand placed there by me. I read blogs, the Lesson, word of mouth, twitter, whatever music bio I'm reading, etc. That fuels my music discovery. So then whatever I'm researching I find it, then insert it into my library. The idea of having EVERY SONG is too much. I need to absorb music in small chunks.

Now, I will on occasion use Pandora when I get lazy and don't want to think about what to play, but that's a rarity.

https://digife.com

2. I have this fear that my mp3s will somehow get wiped out and I'll lose all that music (which has happened on smaller scales, a few times).

3. Like others have mentioned, I like to hold on to the physical artifact.

all i do now is stream music at work on youtube. at home i stream sade, lupe, and parliament funkadelic. the cd player in my car is broken but if it worked I'd probably buy cds

I dunno why you care what people think you are doing with your cd's but to each his own.

I just know that certain things I buy a hard copy of cause then I'll OWN it. If some streaming service goes down, or the rights revert to such and such and blah blah blah, I'll still have a hard copy that no one can tell me what to do with.
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

>I dunno why you care what people think you are doing with
>your cd's but to each his own.
>

I don't care what people think I'm doing with my CDs; I'm annoyed that people don't understand the various reasons why someone would buy and collect CDs in the year of our Lawd 2018.

I was at an estate sale and this older Black lady was talking about Spotify like the service has every single song and album ever recorded and released available for streaming. I was there looking for out-of-print CDs and hard-to-find vinyl. She's prattling on because she said she didn't understand why people were still buying physical copies of music when Spotify existed. She was characterizing these people like they were stupid. SMH.

I wanted to set her straight and show her all the music on my iPhone that ain't even on Spotify, e.g. The Gyrlz's "Love Me or Leave Me," The Good Girls, Body (MCA-signed trio from Detroit that Onra sampled a few years ago. Yes, I'm going through late 1980s obscure R&B/Soul phase], early De La Soul releases, etc.

Now, keep in mind "dealers" come to estate sales to find shit to resell. She was so clueless why folks were in there going crazy.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

i totally understand why people still buy CDs and Vinyl especially if they're unavailable or out of print

i get why you might want a shelf with CDs on it.

than Spotify for obscure stuff.

I'm into alot of DORF (Dead, old, retro, foreign) music and I find Spotify largely useless, at least for the O and F parts of that. But Youtube often has even the most obscure stuff you could ever think of.

>than Spotify for obscure stuff.
>
>I'm into alot of DORF (Dead, old, retro, foreign) music and I
>find Spotify largely useless, at least for the O and F parts
>of that. But Youtube often has even the most obscure stuff you
>could ever think of.

Absolutely.

Spotify is more organized, and YouTube is the Wild, Wild West. I’ve found so many gems on the ‘Tube, tho,

Of course, shit gets snatched off of YouTube all the time. I saved some rare remixes into a playlist. Half of that shit gone now. Another reason why ownership is key.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

Agreed with your points.

And especially that Gyrlz "love me or leave me" One of my favorite old school albums!
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

I refuse to rely on streaming as my main means of listening to music; I might as well go back to listening to the radio

>I refuse to rely on streaming as my main means of listening
>to music; I might as well go back to listening to the radio

as a recent convert to streaming, why do you feel streaming might as well be radio?

if i choose a radio station on the streaming service then yes i agree, at least no ads but bleh other peoples (or computers) opinions of what i should like.

but if i make my own playlist, or want to listen to a specific album its right there. no need to worry about only having the songs i like on an album. i can thumb up the songs i really like and listen to a playlist of just that or if i do want to listen to the whole album i can.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

With one of these: http://www.microcenter.com/product/486129/8-x-ultra-slim-external-dvd-burner---black

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

even the most obscure stuff is somewhere

Not always. Often, I’ll find links but they’re dead. Things ain’t been the same since the MegaUpload shutdown of 2012. LOL.

I had to use some weird underground Russian site to obtain The Gyrlz album I referenced above. And the sound quality is shit. Probably the same as converting a YouTube video to a MP3 file.

I’m on the verge of buying the vinyl LP and digitizing the album so I can enjoy it at a better sound quality in my whip. I’ll likely end up paying $30 + time converting, which isn’t all that bad. The last time I saw it on eBay in a CD format it went for about $90 after several bids. It is currently $299 on Amazon, about $150 on Discogs.

I haven’t been able to find it on cassette, which I buy sometimes. I find that strange ‘cuz when it came out, tape was the most popular format for listening.

One day, we’ll have a conversation about these record company fucks that won’t release more shit digitally.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

cause like, you don't own the music

you just HAVE the disc

and having the disc just seems irrelevant if the music is the thing of value and you actually want.

Vinyl i get, i guess. Cassettes, maybe. CDs, not so much.

because when a streaming service decides to remove an album, I still got my CD/vinyl

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

terms of what you're talking about?

so i get like the idea of wanting that on a shelf

i mean i don't personally think its worth having any of them

>cause like, you don't own the music
>
>you just HAVE the disc
>
>and having the disc just seems irrelevant if the music is the
>thing of value and you actually want.
>
>Vinyl i get, i guess. Cassettes, maybe. CDs, not so much.

C’mon now. LOL. You know what I mean:

“Owning” the music = Possessing the physical release so that you can ALWAYS listen to it traditionally and/or through digitization..

Vinyl, cassettes and CDs all have value as collectors items. They offer artwork and credits, which is also important to some folks.

And as someone noted, vinyl can be a hassle as far as space is concerned.

When I buy CDs, I recycle the jewel cases at Best Buy. Disc, liner notes and back insert go in a Case Logic binder. If the CD comes in a eco-friendly digipak case like the Foreign Exchange releases, I keep it.

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

i spent A LOT of years cultivating and organizing this crazy digital library...

and i haven't even touched one of those files since 2011 and that was just to migrate them to a better HDD.

i just don't miss having files and physical albums like i thought i would.

I don’t understand seeing the value in records and cassettes but not CDs.

Seems like an odd statement.

I grew up purchasing and listening to CDs so there a nostalgia feeling to the experience for me personally.

Second, one of the things I can’t get into is having ALL of my music at my disposal on my iPhone at any second. I recognize the covienence being a plus, but for me sometimes it overwhelming to the point where I don’t even know what I want to listen to. Similar to scrolling to Netflix. Too much selection can be a bad thing.

There’s nothing like copping a new CD, playing that joint in the car for weeks until you get something else. Then from time to time seeing the cover and breaking it back out/

Obviously this can be done with digital but it’s nust a different experience to me.

Like I said, seems a lot more microwaveable. It cheapens the art.

You have no control over that medium. I find it funny when the streaming folk don't get 'CDs' over vinyl, like you're the audiophiles now? Makes no sense. There's no point to any elitism between physical formats at this point, they serve their own purposes and listening habits and affected the creation of different types of whole albums during their dominant generation and anyone who cares about that will listen to them for that reason. I personally don't care much for modern-ish music and vinyl reissues, there are some things that are meant to be listened to straight through from a time without a sides or b sides that has nothing to do with convenience.

There's only really one cassette I have that I really care about, as it's the only way she ever released this tape she made in College, even still decades later at her band's merch table sometimes, and you actually can't find a way to listen to it online.

---------------------
Obviously White

You have no control over that medium. I find it funny when the streaming folk don't get 'CDs' over vinyl, like you're the audiophiles now? Makes no sense. There's no point to any elitism between physical formats at this point, they serve their own purposes and listening habits and affected the creation of different types of whole albums during their dominant generation and anyone who cares about that will listen to them for that reason. I personally don't care much for modern-ish music and vinyl reissues, there are some things that are meant to be listened to straight through from a time without a sides or b sides that has nothing to do with convenience.

There's only really one cassette I have that I really care about as it's the only way she ever released the tape she made in College, even still if she has some at a merch table decades later, and there is literally no way to find a way to listen to it online.

---------------------
Obviously White

>There's only really one cassette I have that I really care
>about as it's the only way she ever released the tape she made
>in College, even still if she has some at a merch table
>decades later, and there is literally no way to find a way to
>listen to it online.

Whatchu talmbout?

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

Oh it's a Canadian indie rock thing. It was a tape Lizzie Powell made in college in Montreal in the late 90s, she fronts the band Land of Talk now, which was broken up for almost a decade but she came back out recently, and I think I still seen her selling that tape at her merch table. I've looked online to see whether it's actually available to listen to in any kind of way on the net and never found, and that's always felt kind of cool.

---------------------
Obviously White

>You have no control over that medium. I find it funny when
>the streaming folk don't get 'CDs' over vinyl, like you're the
>audiophiles now? Makes no sense. There's no point to any
>elitism between physical formats at this point, they serve
>their own purposes and listening habits and affected the
>creation of different types of whole albums during their
>dominant generation and anyone who cares about that will
>listen to them for that reason. I personally don't care much
>for modern-ish music and vinyl reissues, there are some things
>that are meant to be listened to straight through from a time
>without a sides or b sides that has nothing to do with
>convenience.
>
>There's only really one cassette I have that I really care
>about as it's the only way she ever released the tape she made
>in College, even still if she has some at a merch table
>decades later, and there is literally no way to find a way to
>listen to it online.

i guess i'm just ok with not listening to what's not available online.

But I just can't get into it. A lot of it has to do with how much I don't care about my 'smart'phone. And I relate to your old organized hard drive struggle, I used to rip all my stuff back in school, I have a hard drive of it from an old pc but I'm not trying to organize that again, it almost seems more daunting then keeping my cds and vinyl in check. It's a habit for people mostly at this point. There's music I miss out on now because I'm just not paying attention to digital only stuff.

---------------------
Obviously White

https://www.complex.com/music/2016/12/aaliyahs-music-isnt-online-and-her-uncle-barry-hankerson-is-the-reason-why

https://www.newsweek.com/aaliyah-streaming-online-apple-music-spotify-782787?amp=1

--
"Music is not to be possessed; it's to be shared.” - James Mtume

"Just stay loose, keep it raw, and bang ya drums out sometimes." - Madlib

i wonder what happens if you buy an album from an artist on google play or wherever, as a digital only. you dont bother to download it cuz well you can just stream it then the artist decides to pull their music from that platform. their albums can no longer be purchased but if you already did do you still have access to it?

im thinking this has happened but i dont know.

if i do purchase a digital album im definitely downloading it and keeping an archive.

you can still stream it if you bought it, but you can't get it on Apple Music anymore.

He re-released all 3 as one album but you can't get the og separate versions

its logical but cant take anything for granted these days.

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/2407899?ev=rb

You may have to pay and at times be patient but you can find shit.

I still prefer and will continue to buy cd's or vinyl for all the reasons already covered including:

-having a "real" copy of a release (artwork, liner notes, credits, etc.). I prefer to have a physical copy of a music release and I'm the same way with movies, video games, and books.

-the belief (true or not) that I'm providing more support to an artist by copping a physical album vs. only streaming

-the ritual of going to the record store or as it's been more common lately seeing I have a package in my mailbox

-the annoyance/fear that something digital-only will go away due to changing streaming rights


With all that said, it's not unusual now for me to buy a cd, check to see whether it's on Google Play, and if it is then not open the cd until months later. It's hard to beat the convenience of streaming at home, at work, or in the car.

Buying the cd also allows me to keep track of what's came out and to remind myself to give an album its chance in court. If it's a highly anticipated release I obviously won't forget I have it but sometimes I pick up stuff based on a recommendation or cool artwork and if it was part of a larger purchase I'll lose track of it. Seeing the stack of cd's...some unopened....reminds me to give them a spin.

__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)