buying digital mu$ic?

I find myself with a lot of digital music, mostly because of bandcamp.

you can't really resell it.
you don't really "have" it.
you can't even see it.

if your computer and all your backups blow up at the same time (not likely)
then *POOF* it's all gone...

do you think it is stupid to buy digital music?

I buy most of my music digitally to save space and because it’s often easier to get a hold of harder-to-find albums. I usually use iTunes, which means that I have my music on any device that has the app. I’d rather buy music this way then resort to Spotify or such streaming apps.

If you're afraid of losing it, burn it to disc.

Black Rider wrote:If you're afraid of losing it, burn it to disc.

I do that too.

Probably 35% to 40% of my music is legally purchased digital music.  While it is true that you can't legally re-sell it (like you could a cd) and you can't hold it or see it, you still own the right to listen to it just like a CD or LP.  Technically you don't "own" the music on the physical media either.

I end up listening to 90% of my music on my computer's speaker system or car stereo.  I listen to all of it in MP3 (typically 320 mpbs) format regardless of what format I purchased it in.  So I don't really see much difference between the physical cd format and legally downloaded digital files. I'm sure that won't make me popular with some collectors.  Sure it's cool to read through the CD/LP liner notes, but in all honesty I only ever do that once, while I will probably listen to the album 100s of times.

The benefit is digital downloads is that they take up less space and I get them immediately after I paid for it.  With cds the benefit is that I can almost always sell (or give it away) if it turns out to be something I don't want to keep.  I've never lost a digital album, but I keep them in multiple storage locations (at least 2)

crucifyd wrote:do you think it is stupid to buy digital music?

Yes.

Son of Nun wrote:

crucifyd wrote:do you think it is stupid to buy digital music?

Yes.

Please, elaborate? Just curious as to your reasoning.

I would always back it up. If I am not mistaken, places like Bandcamp keep track of your purchases, so you can get it later.

Purchase an external hard drive. It backs up everything.

In addition to the space savings of digital music, consider too that many indie bands nowadays (especially European ones) are not even releasing their music on CD anymore, just download.  And bands like Testimony Of Apocalypse are releasing product on digital and CDR's, presumably because CDR's can be burned on demand which saves money.   We are so used to physical product but it seems like bands are moving away from that more and more, unless it is limited-run vinyl for collectors.

I would say my collection is about 50% CDs and 50% digital. Many of my CDs are things that can't be bought digitally anyway. These days I tend to buy digital downloads unless it's an album that I really, really love or if it is somehow cheaper to buy a used CD than the download, which does occasionally happen. My car has a CD player and an aux port so I can listen to CDs directly, but I have my full collection on my phone, so it tends to be convenient to just use the aux port.

Having moved out after I graduated college, I've reached a point now where I want to minimize the number of physical things that I own, especially since I will probably move at least two more times in the next five years. The more stuff I have, the harder that is to do.

guys, thanks for the interesting replies, keep 'em coming...

just to clarify, I do backup (obsessively!)

I wasn't keying on the potential of losing files but rather
on the buying of something that isn't "real"...and whether
that makes sense to you or not...

crucifyd wrote:guys, thanks for the interesting replies, keep 'em coming...

just to clarify, I do backup (obsessively!)

I wasn't keying on the potential of losing files but rather
on the buying of something that isn't "real"...and whether
that makes sense to you or not...

I would say it’s “real,” just like the Kindle books I buy are “real.” It’s in a different medium is all.

I love buying digitally. I am out of room for CDs. It’s also cheaper. If you include shipping, I can get 2 digital albums for every 1 CD.

Also, you can resell digital albums. You just have to delete the files from your own system if you do.

As far as the fear of losing everything, just use a good backup service. We use Carbonite.

I love buying digitally. I am out of room for CDs. It’s also cheaper. If you include shipping, I can get 2 digital albums for every 1 CD.

Also, you can resell digital albums. You just have to delete the files from your own system if you do.

As far as the fear of losing everything, just use a good backup service. We use Carbonite.

Follower of Jesus wrote:Also, you can resell digital albums. You just have to delete the files from your own system if you do.  

That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that.  I wonder how many people ever actually done that?   It would be cool to have an official secondary market for digital albums. Until then I suppose it's one-on-one deals and honor system

I mostly buy digital now, I think the last physical album I got was Ozzy's last, and that was because I had a gift card.

No, it's not stupid to buy digital, it's practical for many of the reasons cited in this thread.  

I buy CD exclusively.  I prefer physical media and it's the most practical one.  Digital is my backup.  I do like having the thing you can touch, but that's just one aspect of them that I like.  I like lyric sheets, liner notes, artwork, and going to the occasional show to get them autographed.  I understand it also supports the band far more than a digital purchase would.  That's all just my opinion and personal preference, digital makes a lot of sense if you don't "need" the physical product.

I also agree with Pethead about the medium of "real" and his comparison to Kindle books.  Mine is that just because there are no more computer game discs doesn't mean my son's Minecraft isn't "real."

As for books, most of the books I buy on Kindle are just niche titles (mostly nonfiction) that I know my local library wouldnt bother carrying in the first place .

I have only bought CD's as last resort if its not on digital. Ive been that way for years now. I like the booklets and stuff but they just end up as clutter that has to be stored.

I'm in the same boat. My physical space has been running low for awhile.

And space is no issue for me.  Maybe that's part of why I don't mind CDs.

deathisgain wrote:I would always back it up. If I am not mistaken, places like Bandcamp keep track of your purchases, so you can get it later.

Bandcamp and Amazon both keep track of what you have purchased for downloads and will let you download again if you misplaced the original downloads.

I did purchase a single from Bandcamp that is not longer available for sale and it isn't not on my list of downloads at the bandcamp website.  So it seems like they might only keep track of what is still available for sale.

Pethead wrote:

crucifyd wrote:guys, thanks for the interesting replies, keep 'em coming...

just to clarify, I do backup (obsessively!)

I wasn't keying on the potential of losing files but rather
on the buying of something that isn't "real"...and whether
that makes sense to you or not...

I would say it’s “real,” just like the Kindle books I buy are “real.” It’s in a different medium is all.

I would also say that purchasing downloaded music is better than paying for a music or video streaming service (like Spotify or Netflix).  At anytime Spotify or Netflix could drop an album or movie and you wouldn't be able to access it from that service.  If you downloaded the songs (or movie) you still have access to them.

Pretty much anything is better than Spotify!

I prefer cds for the inlay and the reasons in the op but im in favor of anything that helps the artist.