How do you usually listen to music?

[Diamond45]

I do a little bit of all the above .

If I purchase CDs, I ususally rip them and put them on the iPod and listen in the car to and from work. If I'm not familiar with the CD, I may obtain "samples" and listen. If I like, I buy. If not, I delete. Very rarely do I buy a CD cold (i.e. not listening to it). I've been burned too many times. Sometimes I do go to a band's MySpace page and listen there.

I also obtain legal MP3s from eMusic. I can sample on there and if I like, I download and load the iPod.

But I do support bands that I do like. In fact, I downloaded MP3s from eMusic and later purchased the CD at ProgPower. Lanfear's "X to the Power of 10" is one such example because I liked it so much!

I know we've discussed this kind of thing on here many times. I do support bands, but won't purchase something unless I know I like it. Why buy a CD that I don't know if I'll like it or not. I'd rather download, give it a test listen and see if I'll like it. If so, I'll throw the band some dough.

Just my 2 1/2 cents.

 

[AirGuitarLoonhouse]

When purchasing I only go the route of the whole CD. I enjoy hearing all the tracks and the artwork and liner notes. And I'm a bit of collector. But more importantly, I like having the CD as opposed to just keeping downloaded tracks in case my iPod, computer, or backup hard drive fails. So if any of that ever happens, I always have the original on the shelf to re-digitize. Sure I could burn everything to a CD, but home burned CDs have a shorter shelf-life then professional CDs.

 

[No-Mercy]

i stopped buying cds a while ago.

now i just use itunes for most everything. depending on the band i might buy songs or the whole album...it depends how much i like them already and the faith i have that the entire album would be cool to have.

if i cant find something on itunes i just order it. no leaving the home for me! ahah

i wont illegally download anything from any band that isnt already pretty financially "set"...just the way i am.
the only time ill download from a band that is not very wealthy is if i already bought a cd but lost it.

 

[Stingray11214]

I need to buy the CD. I want to read the liner notes. What also helps is if I am not sure of the lyrics, you can read them while listening from the booklets.

 

[adaher]

I wanted to say I illegally download, but the choices didn't fit my habits and I'd imagine the habits of many others. I try before I buy, having gotten burned to many times by cruddy albums. My CD cases are filled with albums I listened to once and never listened to again. I buy just as many CDs as I always have, but now I only buy what I've actually heard and know I will like.

The only things I download illegally and keep are albums that are out of print, never released, or otherwise impossible to get in the US. IMO, that's abandonware.

 

[adaher]

I consider myself a collector, so I NEED to have the complete package. How the hell can you get the full feeling of the artist's intent without having the package with you when listening to an album? Just my opinion.


Well, a CD is also a product of the record company. The music is the artist's, but the packaging is more a matter of marketing than art.

In regards to just ripping a few songs, some albums you just can't do that with. You just can't do that with some of the better concept albums. if you don't listen to Symphony X's V all the way through in order, or Shadow Gallery's Tyranny, or Royal Hunt's Mission, you're not even coming close to the experience the artists wanted you to have.

 

[GameFreac]

I illegally download a lot of stuff but if I like it a lot, I'll buy it. I do keep a lot of albums that I downloaded and never buy the album though. I want to eventually but right now I have a crappy job and I'm 18 trying to save for College so cd's aren't my #1 priority right now.

But if I didn't download, I wouldn't know half the bands I do now or be into metal as much as I am. If I download 1 album, the chances of me buying their next album or going to their next show increases. For example, I downloaded 4 Enslaved albums. I never liked them before, but after listening to them I saw them live last year and paid $20, plus $25 for a shirt, plus $20 for the new album recently, Vertebrae. So basically, if I didn't download those albums, they would of gotten none of my money.

But I still support bands. I go to concerts a lot and usually buy a shirt at almost every show.

 

[adaher]

Metal is bigger now than it has been since the 80s. I can't see that happening without the internet or downloading. I remember when the only way to get a real metal album around '96 was to notice a Shrapnel ad in Guitar Magazine or Hit Parader. Artension? Who are they? They sound like they must rule. And that was the ONLY band you could find except for the old warhorses if you were US metal fan. There were other bands, but you wouldn't find them in record stores.

My opinion is that downloading is a HUGE boon to independent labels and artists, and probably a huge loss of money to the artists the major record companies are pushing, like Metallica. Independent labels lament the lost sales, but how much sales would they have if we were in the environment we were in in 1995? How many units would Lance move with Nightmare records if the only way to get the word out was to buy a page ad in Circus? You can say you support the internet but not illegal downloading, but one comes with the other.

 

[Diamond45]

European bands are getting far greater exposure in the US now with the Internet - both via legal means and illegal ones.

Without the Internet, my friend and I would not have known about ProgPower or any of these European power and prog metal bands that otherwise would have zero exposure in the US. It only was a couple of years ago that MySpace came on the scene - now every band has a MySpace page of some sort promoting their music. And we all know how Napster changed the way we get and listen to our music (MP3 vs CD) almost overnight in the late 90s and early 2000s - which has been surpassed by other means which I won't bother discussing here.

But the point is exposure - which is much more prevalent than ever before. Adaher is right - the major labels are losing money hand over fist, but the independent labels actually may be gaining. All record companies must embrace the new technology rather than fight it. The Internet has changed all the rules. Steve Jobs made good use of it, bands are making the best use of it, but the major labels are not.

Pretty soon, the major labels will be appealing to Congress asking THEM for a bailout!

 

[General Zod]

I almost never buy CDs without having heard them first.

I download the entire CD. On my iPod I set the Genre to "Recently Added", so that I know what's new and what I need to check out. I listen to the MP3s anywhere between one and three times, in an attempt to determine if it's something that resonates with me. If I like it and feel that I'll continue to listen to it, I buy it. If it doesn't resonate with me, but feel it's something I might someday want to revisit, I retag the MP3s with the appropriate Genre (so that it no longer shows up under "Recently Added"). If it's something I find myself reaching for periodically, I buy it. I'll periodically check the play count on my iPod. If I find I've played something a bunch of times, that I don't own, I buy it.

This year, I've downloaded roughly 260 CDs and purchased 59.

Zod

 

[Ascension]

Right with Zod...where downloading has really hurt the industry...is the fact that now more than ever you can preview CDs before you plunk your money down. Before downloading...there was alot more "blind" purchasing and tons of crappy material being bought & pissed off consumers. Very little of that now with the ability to preview.

 

[Pellaz]

I virtually always buy CDs, and then rip the entire CDs to my computer (for broadcast) and to my iPod (for the car). I selected option #2 in the poll (since when making up a playlist on the iPod, I pick and choose the best songs), but should have gone with #1 based on the replies in the thread.