Music CDs: Who still buys them?

For a while I was a huge CD collector. Then when Megaupload, Mediafire, and Rapidshare, as well as various P2P service like SoulSeek became huge, I was really into just downloading. But after Megaupload was shut down and the others got more restrictive, that all changed. Eventually, I got back into buying my favorite music and have been enjoying my collection again. I've gotten rid of alot of 'fat' in it and have many that I want which can't be found easily online.

To be honest, I wouldn't bother pirating a CD I liked nowadays even if I had the chance. I only really download rare stuff like independant releases or demos. I'm a big japanese music afficianado and the japanese are not as big on piracy as the west is which actually prompts people to buy more (they have great packaging and bonuses too). Much more hidden gold to find in that field.

I also got a few domestic releases from my nearby record shop, mostly classic pop and rock like Simon & Garfunkel and Hoagy Carmichael.

The thing is, I don't generally collect every variation, single, b-side, format, etc. and usually just stick to the main studio albums of an artist I like. Some I only like enough to have a "Best of/Greatest Hits" CD around. I am not really big into DVD/VHS concerts so there are almost none of them in my collection.

Wondering who else here still enjoys some CD love every now and then?

i still mostly buy all my cd's and rip them myself
what i dont rip i buy on itunes

I'm way into Vinyl, and now that Amazon has their AutoRip service I'm a happy camper. You get the best of both worlds that way, digital format for ease of listening and the physical album. I'm just glad vinyl is taking off again, pretty much everything is being re-issued with the AutoRip option these days.

I still buy CDs, when I can find something worth buying.

I buy them at Goodwill for $1.

I have a handful of favorite bands that I still buy CD's of, but sometimes I wait for the price to drop..

so.. no I don't really buy many cd's.

I still buy CDs I only use them at home though, I rip my favorite songs onto my IPod

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Originally Posted by QuickSciFi

I buy them at Goodwill for $1.

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This; I occasionally will buy from a used CD store, but usually get my CDs from thrift stores and rip them to my computer. I like having the high quality, physical backup copies. I also like to have complete albums rather than buy individual songs. I've probably bought less than 10 songs on iTunes (usually for some oddball or rare song).

I buy physical media when there's an option.
I will not pay money for a lossy file format, but I have bought some WAVs and FLACs.

I bought two vinyl albums that just came out within the last year yesterday, and i bought a new CD a few months ago. so yeah, i still buy music sometimes.

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Originally Posted by sketch

This; I occasionally will buy from a used CD store, but usually get my CDs from thrift stores and rip them to my computer. I like having the high quality, physical backup copies. I also like to have complete albums rather than buy individual songs. I've probably bought less than 10 songs on iTunes (usually for some oddball or rare song).

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Yup. Same here also. I like to own full albums. I rip my entire CDs and place full albums on my devices even if I only like one song.

I sample new stuff on Spotify and buy a whole album on CD if I like the album, in the cases of singles / digital exclusives / one track out of the whole album, iTunes can be useful.

I am usually very careful about how I rip and encode whole CDs, trying to do them perfect is like an art and science to me. I usually than enjoy them on any device. Oddly enough I do keep back ups of these, as transfer time is quite faster and less annoying to keep the metadata perfect. I love things like artwork and linear notes and bonus stuff. But like to keep it CIB and the condition is as good as possible. Using lossless formats (often stuffed with metadata) is the best way to keep it. Replay gain (metadata tag) to level out things between albums works quite well (death to the loudness wars).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by QuickSciFi

I buy them at Goodwill for $1.

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This is what I do now. I used to buy CDs at retail when I was a DJ. Having the legit physical disc became important to me about 10 years ago when I had started to be a DJ. Just a couple weeks before I started, ASCAP had done an audit of the venue. You were allowed to use comp discs or MP3s but you had to prove you actually owned the media too.

Bought two CDs after a longer hiatus.

I will occasionally pick up stuff from Japan, but there's not much domestic that I want anymore. Like others, thrifts are a decent place to hunt for CDs, but I'd rather my shelves have games than music CDs.