Who downloads/who does'nt
- Thread starter JontRevolting
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Cythraul
Active Member
- Dec 10, 2003
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I started listening to music pre-internet, and even after the internet blew up I still had no internet access until way later. I didn't even have a computer until I was 19. I used to buy cassette tapes with my meagre allowance and I would be so stoked to be able to find a metal album that I really wanted in the used racks. Then I started doing Century Media and Nuclear Blast mailorder a little bit, but even that was awkward because you had to send the little order form to them. Getting into metal actually took some effort, especially since in the mid-90s it was pretty much the most uncool thing ever. I still do most of my music shopping by going through the used racks at record stores (when I buy new I usually order from distros online.) I still freak out when I find a good out-of-print album at a store.
Pyro Stick
Member
This. I always prefer to listen to an album before i go and buy a physicl copy so that i dont end up owning something i dont enjoy. I think metal fans download a lot more music than other people but we also buy a lot more physical copies.
crimsonfloyd
Active Member
A mix. I buy a lot of CDs (almost all used, expect my very favorite bands), but I download too. I love my CD collection and love having a physical copy, but I can't always afford to buy everything. Also, I don't like buying stuff by bands I haven't heard before (great way to waste money).
Onder
Active Member
- Apr 10, 2006
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I do both and I don't see why I shouldn't. It's good for the band when I download the album because I'm acknowledged about it and I know whether to buy it or not, even if it's just the information. Let's say that it's a rare cd that I come across in some shop - now I know I need to buy it and I do. Or I can recommend it to someone else or whatever. If I only knew the cover of it, I'd be very hesitant to spend money on it.
Some artists don't see that when their album is leaked to the internet, it's a good thing for them because that is the best advert possible. Internet is a the strongest media and this way people know about the album and want to ckeck it out. If album doesn't leak to be downloaded, the actual sales are much worse. There was some study about this - the people who download the most, also buy the most. I am quite certain that if internet-music-sharing didn't exist, the whole music industry would be half as big as it is, maybe less.
That is what I believe in and that's how I justify downloading. I buy stuff that I like when I have money, also not really to support the artists tbh, that's more of a side-effect to me (as I would even buy a NSBM album, not to support nazis, and I don't think they see much of the money), but to own the physical copy. It's a collectible and my good hobby. It's sex.
Some artists don't see that when their album is leaked to the internet, it's a good thing for them because that is the best advert possible. Internet is a the strongest media and this way people know about the album and want to ckeck it out. If album doesn't leak to be downloaded, the actual sales are much worse. There was some study about this - the people who download the most, also buy the most. I am quite certain that if internet-music-sharing didn't exist, the whole music industry would be half as big as it is, maybe less.
That is what I believe in and that's how I justify downloading. I buy stuff that I like when I have money, also not really to support the artists tbh, that's more of a side-effect to me (as I would even buy a NSBM album, not to support nazis, and I don't think they see much of the money), but to own the physical copy. It's a collectible and my good hobby. It's sex.
Personified Hatred
Member
challenge_everything
Active Member
For most of us serious music listeners we have a budget to spend on albums (be it large or small) and the amount we spend is not going to significantly change whether we download or not. If I download and buy the good stuff, I end up rewarding the artists who I truly like. If I didn't download and only bought, I'd still spend the same total amount on CDs but end up buying a higher proportion of crap.
Also I'm against retailers selling new releases at a premium only for the prices to drop noticeably over the following months. Downloading first discourages this.
Also I'm against retailers selling new releases at a premium only for the prices to drop noticeably over the following months. Downloading first discourages this.
TheInsane
Member
I agree. I started buying albums in 1993 and it probably took until the early 2000's before I started downloading anything. I also love the experience of hearing a new album for the first time, a physical copy and preferably a booklet with all the lyrics which I read as the music is playing. However I guess I have become more concious about how I spend my money. IN the end it seems like I have a higher priority to buy only the things I really like rather than take a chance and maybe end up with something I dont like. I also never sell anyy record I have bought so I do have some stuff I have almost never listened to.
celestialelixir
._.
I was burned out on "buying music before hearing it" on my single album purchase back whenever it came out; Death Magnetic. Was very disappointing, and now I just have the album sitting here doing nothing but taking up space.
One of the problems I have with physical media, though, is the degradation of data over time. A very extreme example is a VHS tape (pretty sure vinyl too) that loses quality every time you play it. With digital media, it's as easy as making a copy, where making a copy of the physically bought copy won't seem nearly as authentic once you realize you're basically just copying the digital files and burning to a blank disc.
I do understand the novelty of buying a physical copy, especially of your favorites and how that was the only way to do it before the internet was really popular. I'm one of those kids that grew up with the internet, though, so this is probably why my views contrast with most of the forum's on this topic.
It's more of the money issue to me, though. I have upwards of a thousand or more albums in my library (in class right now, so I can't check, but 1000 is within the ballpark), and paying $10 for each of those would put me in the hole for more than it's worth. That doesn't even count all the shit I've downloaded and deleted.
Ditto here, I can't afford to buy the music that I like, so often resort to downloading. Once I hopefully get my job upon graduation I'll be able to replace my downloads with physical copies!
There are some excellent and quite different perspectives here that have actually made me questionmy own views on this subject.As with a few others here,when I started buying albums it was in the lateish 80's and was a long before I had access to the net.My fondest memories were from the very early 90's,literally hanging out for a new issue of Metal Maniacs and going through their reviews.I bought so many albums based on the reviews from that magazine and was lucky to have a great music store nearby who specialized in imports.But like I said some of the points put across here have made me realise that downloading can actually be benficial to the listener aswell as the artist.However for those albums that are getting consistent rave reviews or as mentioned are from bands you love and trust,i'd still buy without downloading so as not to spoil the experience.
mutantllama
Active Member
Your fault for buying a Metallica album past the Black Album.
Maybe if you have an old crappy needle, also I hope you have lossless versions of your digital music, because the bytes will literally fly right off the hard drive!
celestialelixir
._.
Nope. Don't get FLAC or EAC or whatever the fuck. Just high quality mp3. One of the wonders of keeping a digital library is if a song/album/etc does go bad for some reason, it is extremely simple to replace by re-downloading. Replacing a physical copy is paying for the same album twice :/
Krow
Garbage Connoisseur
I'm perfectly fine with downloading... but fuck..
If you have 1000 albums on your itunes/library/whatever and only own death magnetic you deserve to be kicked in the dick.
If you have 1000 albums on your itunes/library/whatever and only own death magnetic you deserve to be kicked in the dick.
Saparmurat_Niyazov
Member
I have about 6000 mp3's, but I own Coma Of Souls, Them, Welcome To Hell, among others on vinyl, so I think my credentials check out.
Krigloch the Furious
Pants full of poo
gundamterran
Devouring the Gorepoflesh
- Dec 2, 2009
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I live in a town where there is no shop to buy cd's except for Walmart, and the unemployed way outweigh the job opportunities here. I can't find work, I have no money, I intend on going to College later on, but right now it's incredibly hard just to scrounge up enough money to go out for coffee. Added on to that is the fact that I have no access to credit cards as my family filed for bankruptcy. I download everything. I apologize.
No need to apologize man,I actually did'nt take into account people's socio-ecconomic situations when making this thread.I to am struggling with money atm and know what it's like.I guess for some of us it's the only way to keep up with new music.
Saparmurat_Niyazov
Member
That's what I mean. I believe that people have the right to pursue whatever interests they choose, regardless of their finances. It's one of the most shameful aspects of western society. Far too often people are priced out of self-expression.
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