What % of your CDs would you be happy with in MP3 format only?
- Thread starter JayKeeley
- Start date
J.
Old Fart
I simply wouldn't even try. That'd be like test driving a CD recommendation from Zod. It just won't happen.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
Although I do usually sample things these days, I agree with J. that unwrapping a CD that you havent heard a single note of, are ridiculously excited to hear, and listening for the first time along with the liner notes, etc is a GREAT feeling....and a feeling that I wish I had more often these days.
Things have become too easy in these days of technology.
Things have become too easy in these days of technology.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
You were saying that you didn't like to sample the songs before buying because it took the fun out of wasting one's own money. And then I found a perfect example of where you did indeed listen to samples before buying. I'm just saying that you can be as self-righteous as you want, but the simple fact of the matter is, you got your ass pwned.
Conspicuously Absent
Linguistically Confused
Movie: $10
CD: about $20 (canadian prices including shipping from say, The End).
so the movie you lose 10 bucks, the CD you lose more.
Not everyone sells 600 toasters and 15 stoves a month, some people barely break even (or don't even come close to doing so) a month, and so want to spend their spare peanuts on music they will like and will have fun listening to?
Same reason I don't do casinos, I'd rather spend my money on something I will have fun at and not risk throwing it away for nothing. I work to hard for what little money I have.
Assuming I resold said $20 CD for $12... I'd rather keep the $8 and spend it on beer and currywurst, thats enough to get drunk over here, and currywurst is fucking awesome....
Beer and currywurst >>>>>>>>>> minor glee over getting lucky with a CD purchase 8 times out of 10
I'm a strong believer in sampling before buying, just like buying a car(and your wife's friend doesn't count towards this example), I don't have money to throw away, I can't even afford all the CDs I want to have from albums I consider 9/10 or 10/10, let alone other albums. So I buy the ones I listen to the most from the smallest of the bands (if I can buy direct so much the better) to support them, and I have a long ass list of albums to buy once I finally do get a real job.
That said, hey, it's your money, throw it away on shit you may not like if you want, I'm sure greedy MPAA executives would hump your leg for it.
Jim LotFP
The Keeper of Metal
You spend way too much time thinking about money.
I hate money. Whenever I have some, I get rid of it. Immediately, if not sooner.
And my wife figured out why. I like mail. Ordering a ton of bullshit over the internet means I'll have a lot of mail. I love mail. "A PACKAGE"!!!! Doesn't matter what's in it. As long as I have mail. DVDs I know I'll watch once, I'll still buy instead of renting because that means MAIL! CDs I have no clue about, I'll lie and say I hope I like them, or that I need them for "historical research." Nope.
I like summoning things. I'm like a fifth level magician, able to cast Summon Weird Useless Shit III, and casting it feels better than having money.
Also...
Rich people have libraries. Poor people don't.
So I have a collection of books, DVDs, and CDs that take up walls. Note the plural. Do I like all of them? No. I mean, did I really expect to enjoy the fuck out of Essential Marvel Team Up? No. But I like the Marvel Essential series, it's a cheap way to read a FUCKTON of old comics. And it was in the Essential series. Of course, I have to buy like 30 more of the books to keep up with what they've released and I'm never going to do that. But still... it looks impressive to have this solid line of Essential books on the shelves. I bought a hardcover book written by this one guy Manly Wade Wellman. Didn't know who the fuck he was, just that he wrote for the same magazine Lovecraft did... decades after Lovecraft died. First story in the book was about, seriously, Count Dracula eating Nazis. I'll read the rest of it eventually but in the meantime, it looks really impressive sitting on a shelf.
And it came by mail.
Evil?
omghaxlol!1
Awesome.
I have to agree though. If i am not pressed for cash, I am willing to risk the money to experience the new unknown cd experience. Just recently I purchased about 10 cds I had never heard before. Getting those in the mail and listening to them for the first time was fucking great.
Conspicuously Absent
Linguistically Confused
I hardly think about it other than the common sense not to waste it, because I don't have much so I have to be extremely careful and make the most of what small change I have. Maybe when I have tons of money I can risk it for the "fun" of trying new things.
I want a library, I love books. But even there I'm loath to spend my peanuts on books I'm not sure I'll like, I'll often go to a library and borrow a book by a new author before I'll just up and buy one.
Again, if you've got the money to lose, go ahead and gamble on stuff you don't know about, just don't criticise us poorfolk for being a bit more stringent with our bread money.
Jim LotFP
The Keeper of Metal
Since the end of July 2004, I have been employed a total of 5 months.
So no accusations of my having some stash of money I'm rolling in, please.
So no accusations of my having some stash of money I'm rolling in, please.
dorian gray
Returning videotapes
- Apr 8, 2004
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J.
Old Fart
Too many, to be honest. But hey, I get one shot at life and I ain't gonna live it worrying about something as minor as money.
To the thread: I'm not saying I buy blind once a week. In fact, lately the only two CDs I've bought were over $20 because of their OOP status. But if a chance presents itself to buy something I'm almost 100% likely to dig, then why not?
Case in point, I want to test Countess. I know where to buy one of their limited-to-666 albums. If I don't lie it, I'm pretty sure I can sell for a profit (not that I'm buying it for that reason) and break even if I hate it.
The CD you have a chance to make back some of that loss, if not make a profit depending on the CD.
yeah i'm sure they want to take me to dinner since i bought amesoeurs and alcest blind.
J.
Old Fart
Haha, ok let's address this...
1. I'm the sole earner in my household.
2. I have a wife and 2 kids. Both of those kids are in pre-school.
3. I live in New York (not the city but still expensive as hell)
4. Did I mention I lived in NY?
Honestly, I'm just fine knowing I aint wasting any rupees anymore (and yet still hearing more music than ever).
I was thinking about this a little....
If I truly think about it, a CD collection really shouldn't be greater than, say, 200 - 300 CDs:
50 CDs -- 10/10 classics
50 CDs -- your guilty pleasures, you'll always keep them for whatever reason
50 - 100 CDs -- your 7, 8, 9/10 solid albums
50 CDs -- this is the stuff you keep in circulation. You buy it thinking you like it, maybe it gets old, or not as good as you once thought, and so you trade it away
I think keeping those 50 CDs in circulation is manageable. My problem is that I've never traded or sold so I'm stuck with many more than just 50 unwanted CDs.
This thread went on much longer than I ever anticipated.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
Jim LotFP
The Keeper of Metal
Isten had an awesome quote concerning this in their last issue:
Janne Sarna said:
Unless of course you're listening to all these mp3s and not "archiving" them, but I understand that's not the discussion we're currently having.
SonOfNun
Bill Ward's Red Pants
Obviously, your life situation and philosophy on purchasing music both come into play here. How much spare money you have, what your priorities are when it comes to spending it, how high a risk you're willing to take. There's really not an objective "right" answer to a lot of these questions, it just comes down to each individual's quirks. It seems that having a collector's mentality, a certain set of standards on what music to keep, etc. all comes into play.
Personally, I have probably somewhere around 550 CDs now and I have no urge to trade any of them. I do spend a lot of time researching albums. Not just reading a single review or looking at the cover, but actually searching through threads to get an overall feel from people who's taste I know and what they think about the album, reading numerous reviews, researching the bands metal archives page, looking for connections to other bands members may have, looking over song titles, themes in the music, requesting opinions from people on here. I take a lot of joy in all of this and I almost never listen to samples before I buy, and yet I am satisfied with almost every purchase I make. I have a process that I go through and I have ways of knowing whether an album will suit my tastes before I buy it, without having to spoil any of the magic. You also have to factor into this that I'm ok with keeping an album that I only listen to once every couple months or that I would rate 6/10. These albums all have value to me, there is always something to bring me back to them and it always resembles some stepping stone in my musical growth. I differ in philosophy from JayK here, because he'd rather trade that album or sell it to purchase something more meaningful, but that album still has a kind of magic to me because I spent a lot time getting to know it before I even bought it.
I've only traded away three albums in my time because I thought they were utter crap. I still kept them on my computer just in case I'd ever want to hear them again and change my mind. I don't think that's a bad concept at all. But for me, I just don't have any albums that I dislike or find unworthy of keeping in my collection and so I have no real use for the system. JayK has higher standards on what is worth keeping in hard copy form and that's fine.
Also, I'll always have a place in my heart for taking that CD out of it's case and popping it into my ol' CD player. I have absolutely no problem throwing it in my coat pocket and carrying it around, whether it's bulkier or not. I know my CDs are getting good use and that makes me happy. I don't even have a CD player in my truck for crap's sake. I rig up one of those plug a tape into your personal CD player and into the truck dealies. Why? because I don't care about the convenience. The money I save from not buying a 200 dollar car system goes back into buying more music. It's the same reason I can never bring myself to buy band shirts online. A shirt doesn't bring me the enjoyment that buying and spinning another CD will. Bottom line, it's just different lifestyles and what may work for JayK in New York is just unnecessary for me out in the boonies. I don't need things to be streamlined and up to date.
I'm happy with all of the purchaes I make and I'm happy with taking CDs off my shelf, popping 'em in and having a visit. I listen to music almost 24/7 and I've got plenty of time to spend with my albums. I've noticed that every album I own is worth listening to and is enjoyable. For me, there's just a difference in knowing that the music I'm listening to is coming off the actual CD that I bought and can hold in my hands than knowing it's just some file on the latest device. In the end, just do whatever makes you happy, I've found a system that works, whether in makes sense or not.
Personally, I have probably somewhere around 550 CDs now and I have no urge to trade any of them. I do spend a lot of time researching albums. Not just reading a single review or looking at the cover, but actually searching through threads to get an overall feel from people who's taste I know and what they think about the album, reading numerous reviews, researching the bands metal archives page, looking for connections to other bands members may have, looking over song titles, themes in the music, requesting opinions from people on here. I take a lot of joy in all of this and I almost never listen to samples before I buy, and yet I am satisfied with almost every purchase I make. I have a process that I go through and I have ways of knowing whether an album will suit my tastes before I buy it, without having to spoil any of the magic. You also have to factor into this that I'm ok with keeping an album that I only listen to once every couple months or that I would rate 6/10. These albums all have value to me, there is always something to bring me back to them and it always resembles some stepping stone in my musical growth. I differ in philosophy from JayK here, because he'd rather trade that album or sell it to purchase something more meaningful, but that album still has a kind of magic to me because I spent a lot time getting to know it before I even bought it.
I've only traded away three albums in my time because I thought they were utter crap. I still kept them on my computer just in case I'd ever want to hear them again and change my mind. I don't think that's a bad concept at all. But for me, I just don't have any albums that I dislike or find unworthy of keeping in my collection and so I have no real use for the system. JayK has higher standards on what is worth keeping in hard copy form and that's fine.
Also, I'll always have a place in my heart for taking that CD out of it's case and popping it into my ol' CD player. I have absolutely no problem throwing it in my coat pocket and carrying it around, whether it's bulkier or not. I know my CDs are getting good use and that makes me happy. I don't even have a CD player in my truck for crap's sake. I rig up one of those plug a tape into your personal CD player and into the truck dealies. Why? because I don't care about the convenience. The money I save from not buying a 200 dollar car system goes back into buying more music. It's the same reason I can never bring myself to buy band shirts online. A shirt doesn't bring me the enjoyment that buying and spinning another CD will. Bottom line, it's just different lifestyles and what may work for JayK in New York is just unnecessary for me out in the boonies. I don't need things to be streamlined and up to date.
I'm happy with all of the purchaes I make and I'm happy with taking CDs off my shelf, popping 'em in and having a visit. I listen to music almost 24/7 and I've got plenty of time to spend with my albums. I've noticed that every album I own is worth listening to and is enjoyable. For me, there's just a difference in knowing that the music I'm listening to is coming off the actual CD that I bought and can hold in my hands than knowing it's just some file on the latest device. In the end, just do whatever makes you happy, I've found a system that works, whether in makes sense or not.
Demilich
Remember
I own about 300 albums right now and I'd say there are more I want to add to that collection now than ever! If I was listening to only metal and only stuff released after 1990, maybe 50 *great* albums would be feasible, but there's too much out there beyond that narrow confinement
