buying digital mu$ic?

Yeah, I can't bring myself to use Spotify. I want to at least buy an artist's work in some form. That limits me in terms of my listening, but I'm fine with that. There's more than enough out there for purchase.

I have a spotify account but usually only use it to either listen to things I cant get digitally or as a place to listen after I purchased it figuring every other little bit helps. I dont tend to worry about listening to large secular artists figuring they are making more then the Christian artists. So I tend to keep a playlist full of purchases.

I buy CDs in 99% of the cases. I like the booklet, having lyrics, liner notes, album art, thank you lists. If the album is just a slipcase with no lyrics or a single panel insert and I know that ahead of time I may just purchase the digital copy. I immediately rip all my CDs to audio files and play them in the car or on the computer so I sometimes question, why waste my money on a plastic disc with a cardboard sleeve?

Yet, that final question asked, one of the biggest reasons I don't go digital is I will forget I have the album. Every time I purchase the album the CD stays on my desk at home for a few weeks and even then a drawer in that desk for about 6 months after. Then it gets filed away. It may sound foolish but with a large collection and a really busy life (2 jobs, wife, 4 kids under ten) if I don't have a physical reminder, after a week or so that album's digital existence will slip my mind and I won't give it proper listening time.

For that final reason I will, at times, still purchase the CD.

When the album is digital only I have to really want it and know there is no possibility of a physical release.

There are actually a lot more variables than these but those are the basics for me.

Frozen Fire wrote:I immediately rip all my CDs to audio files and play them in the car or on the computer so I sometimes question, why waste my money on a plastic disc with a cardboard sleeve?

this is me as well...

Just out of curiosity, I know Bandcamp has specials sometimes but, on an ordinary day, how much of a digital sale goes to the band? I usually feel like I'm supporting the band more with a physical purchase, especially directly from the band. Has anyone ever seen this or dealt with it first hand?

crucifyd wrote:

Frozen Fire wrote:I immediately rip all my CDs to audio files and play them in the car or on the computer so I sometimes question, why waste my money on a plastic disc with a cardboard sleeve?

this is me as well...

I should probably stop buying CDs, but with a lot of the indie labels like Roxx, Retroactive, and Girder, their new releases and reissues usually are only available through a physical product.  Sometimes that is the only way to own a copy of something.

On the flip side, if my Hidizs or FiiO players crap out, or my outboard storage bit the dust, I could bring back most of my collection from the CDs.  There is that plus.

Frozen Fire wrote:Just out of curiosity, I know Bandcamp has specials sometimes but, on an ordinary day, how much of a digital sale goes to the band? I usually feel like I'm supporting the band more with a physical purchase, especially directly from the band. Has anyone ever seen this or dealt with it first hand?

Definitely more than normal.  The whole thing iirc

Man after watching videos with people like Scott Waters it reminds me 1 disaster and all your music is gone. made me happy to have my collection digitally in multiple places. There are even cool ways to make your own streaming box without even relying on Google etc. Forgot to finish my thought, if anyone wants to create one let me know and I can help out. With mine Im using an old laptop and can listen to my library from anywhere.

I used to buy physical CD. But i live in Southamerica and is keeping harder and harder to get CD here, the shiping most of the time is insane. So even though i still buying CD from time to time. I also choose to buy digital music. My last pursache today is the new Flood record from Itunes. 

I use Spotify too, but no so often.

Yes, shipping costs these days are completely insane.  It's hurt our European sales tremendously.

I am very glad that digital exists for those folks overseas for that reason.

Interesting topic. Glad to see the point already made that we don't 'own' artist music, whether download, CD, etc. We own a copy of it.

Regarding Christian (metal) artists, I don't think its stupid at all to 'support the band', whether buying digital, streaming, physical or donating to their cause. A few advantages to digital - if I had 500 albums on CDs, that's going to make a room look like a warehouse. Meanwhile a 500 digital albums, can fit in my pocket. No shipping costs for digital either.

Streaming support, at least from my experience, has a corporate middle man that prevents any significant income, lest a track or album is extremely popular or 'goes viral', which I would know anything about. HAHA! (Then again, streaming service wouldn't be available if it weren't for that corporate entity, so.... meh.) I've got multiple albums on Spotify, and I get about .02 or .03 per song play so, with my underground nonsense artistry making pennies there, it ends up being a surprise $20 every few years. LOL

You're the first person I have heard of in all the indie bands I know who has gotten a check as large as $20 from Spotify.

mothy wrote:Man after watching videos with people like Scott Waters it reminds me 1 disaster and all your music is gone. made me happy to have my collection digitally in multiple places. There are even cool ways to make your own streaming box without even relying on Google etc. Forgot to finish my thought, if anyone wants to create one let me know and I can help out. With mine Im using an old laptop and can listen to my library from anywhere.

maybe a new thread? I'd be interested to know what your setup is...

crucifyd wrote: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?

Stupid? Not necessarily. But the idea is still way too weird for me, apart from charity singles for instance.

I do have lots of legally downloaded albums though, but those were all for free. Dutchies love free stuff.

crucifyd wrote:

mothy wrote:Man after watching videos with people like Scott Waters it reminds me 1 disaster and all your music is gone. made me happy to have my collection digitally in multiple places. There are even cool ways to make your own streaming box without even relying on Google etc. Forgot to finish my thought, if anyone wants to create one let me know and I can help out. With mine Im using an old laptop and can listen to my library from anywhere.

maybe a new thread? I'd be interested to know what your setup is...

Shoot me a PM and Ill hook you up with my email address unless there are others interested.

Temple of Blood wrote:You're the first person I have heard of in all the indie bands I know who has gotten a check as large as $20 from Spotify.

I'm sure part of it is me making too much music, and my Spotify entries are at least 3 projects and each project is more than one album. :B

Still, $20 every few years is hardly something to write home about, considering a couple CDs or a couple downloads could be that for an artist as soon as those orders came in.

YouTube streaming revenue is even worse. There's a subscriber/views requirement to even get setup to receive payments, and that's again relevant to the ads now bombarded onto the 'tracks' (videos). Clearly monetization there would only benefit viral or extremely popular entries.

I can make 20 bucks by selling 5 albums, physical or digital.  But why should they ever buy the cow if they get the milk for free?

Btw i think your math is a bit off.  I dont think anyone gets 2 or 3 cents a play.  I think its more like 3 percent of 1 penny per play.  I also wonder if the 20 bucks isnt a culmination from all streams everywhere, not just spotify.

Temple of Blood wrote:I can make 20 bucks by selling 5 albums, physical or digital.  But why should they ever buy the cow if they get the milk for free?

Btw i think your math is a bit off.  I dont think anyone gets 2 or 3 cents a play.  I think its more like 3 percent of 1 penny per play.  I also wonder if the 20 bucks isnt a culmination from all streams everywhere, not just spotify.

If its easier for you, you can just accuse me of outright lying about this.  I'm not about to post my sales receipts here to enable your skepticism?  jealous butthurt?  whatever this is?  ...but I'm sure if you can try hard enough, you can pretend to make a huge public deal that I'm misrepresenting a whole $20 of music revenue.

Sure my math could be off.  Sure it could be for other streaming services too, since this is through CDBABY.  This whole situation basically involves me getting an unexpected $20 to my PayPal, and then the pages and pages and pages pages pages of the payment breakdown, was a ridiculous number of Spotify entries.  I remember seeing .02 and .03 and taking 5 seconds to wonder what the difference is, before "Weee! $20!" sets in, and I didn't feel any further examination was warranted.  Had I known 'but my friends didn't get $20 from their Spotify, so you're lying or fail at math' was going to be your mantra, I wouldn't have even brought it up.

As for the cows and milk analogy that makes zero sense, that's perfectly find if you want to make it about produce and math.  There's also the outlook of 'support' that isn't tied to a specific dollar amount, and this concept more to do with 'someone actually took the time for my art' than it does pennies here and $20 there.

I get those statements from cdbaby too, and i didnt accuse you of lying.


https://freeyourmusic.com/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream

That's unfortunate they're paying that amount as of 2021.

Frozen Fire wrote:Just out of curiosity, I know Bandcamp has specials sometimes but, on an ordinary day, how much of a digital sale goes to the band? I usually feel like I'm supporting the band more with a physical purchase, especially directly from the band. Has anyone ever seen this or dealt with it first hand?

I guess it depends on if there's some studio in between taking a cut too, but for independents Bandcamp is very good.

The way it has worked for me is that I get 100% of the money at first. Their fee is 15% for people with small amount of customers and 10% for those who get a lot of purchases, but they don't take that from every purchase. I have sold very very little, so the way it works is perhaps clearer in my case as I can see it happen getting the odd sale once in a blue moon instead of getting hundreds or thousands of purchases. Each time someone buys from my Bandcamp page, I get 100% from the sale, but 15% of it goes into a "tab" of sorts, and when the amount owed reaches from 15% to 100% of an album price, they will take 100% of the next album sale, and after they've gotten the amount I owe, I get back to getting 100% of sales.

Like, for example if I have only one album for sale and that costs 10 euros, then if someone buys that and pays 10 euros, I get the full 10 euros, but I will now owe 1,5 to Bandcamp. For the next 6 or so sales I would get 100% of the sales, but once the amount owed reaches 10 euros, Bandcamp will take full 100% from the next sale. It gets more complicated once there are more albums and all set to different prices, but it generally works very well.

I think there could be some kind of a payment processing fee also calculated and taken at some point but independent artists get around 80-90% of the sales (of course there might be tax to deal with in whatever country you live in, but the amount received until then is around that).

Bandcamp doesn't pay from streaming (as far as I know) so all revenue comes from actual sales. But I would say Bandcamp might be the best platform to get digital purchases, at least what comes to supporting the artist.

It appears AFAIK from Bandcamp's website that Bandcamp Fridays are over. 

Also, we have nowhere around that sells physical music, aside from Wal-Mart, who have almost nothing in the music section anymore, and I dont think they sell stuff like Theocracy or Witch Hazel.

I buy over 90% CD's. I have only bought a few digital. I like having physical copy with all the art and lyrics.

crucifyd wrote:

do you think it is stupid to buy digital music?

YES