How much do you spend on CDs and recorded music?

[Dave2002]

"Encouraged" :) by threads such as the Bargains one, I seem to be spending maybe £50 per month on CDs, though it comes and goes, plus a further £20 or so on Spotify, Napster and eMusic.

Needless to say, I don't have time to listen to all the music - my role seems to to keep the British economy going. I've only just got as far as ripping one CD from the Britten boxed set which recently arrived, but not listened to any of them yet.

I do wonder how many sheds and other storage locations other board members use to store all their purchases.

How much do you spend on CDs per month/year?

[Roehre]

I am nearly completely "up-to-date" as to listening to CDs (only a couple of the Victoria 10CD and the Huelgas Ensemble "Labyrinth" 15CD jubilee set are awaiting, but will be "finished" within 2 or 3 weeks), and all my LPs have been listened to for at least the pieces for which I bought them.

I have generally speaking stopped buying CDs with music of which I've got an admirable (not necessary the "best") performance/recording on my shelves, and don't buy more CDs anyway until I run out of not-played ones.

I know the temptation is very great, and hence only look rarely at the "bargains" thread or browse through the emails from MDT, JCP or The Woods, except in cases in which I am looking for a piece or recording specifically (which I generally speaking order then as well, most of the time either "new" music or pre-baroque or unknown romantic repertoire)

Therefore my spending varies widely.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's costing me a small fortune at present. People keep recommending recordings , as Dave2002 says, and my bank balance keeps dropping.

And now I want the Furtwangler Legacy on 107 CDs.

[Dave2002]

And now I want the Furtwangler Legacy on 107 CDs.

EA You didn't have to make things worse by mentioning that!

[Chris Newman]

Occasionally my desk resembles the model of a modern cityscape. It is when an earthquake strikes that I remember to stop spending and to tidy up. To be honest most of my purchases are s/h from charity shops and my serious purchases are of about one or two cds each month (occasionally that might be sets each month). I also get through quite a few books.

[Curalach]

The amount I spend on CDs is known only to me and my Bank Manager! I managed to catch up with listening a few months ago but with the help of the "Bargains" thread I again have a large pile of discs awaiting audition. The Britten box has just arrived and the incredible bargain of the Steinberg set, at the wrong price, is due to arrive shortly.
Storage is becoming an issue again. My bespoke shelving was full and overflowing three years ago and I bought a commercially available unit to house the overflow but that is also full and the "cityscape" towers are again a feature.
I keep promising myself "that's enough" then hafod posts a bargain and one of my musician friends has a new disc out. It's a lost cause!

[Norfolk Born]

Occasionally my desk resembles the model of a modern cityscape. It is when an earthquake strikes that I remember to stop spending and to tidy up. To be honest most of my purchases are s/h from charity shops and my serious purchases are of about one or two cds each month (occasionally that might be sets each month). I also get through quite a few books.

Same here. The more 'new' CDs I purchase, the guiltier I feel about all those which I already have and don't listen to as often as I should and they deserve. Having said that, recent developments (to use a carefully neutral term) in the Radio3 schedule, especially in the mornings, have freed up more time for enjoying my existing CD collection and any future purchases. They've also left me with more time to read books.

[Ferretfancy]

I've got so many CDs now that I've decided to try and slow down and make at least some attempt to avoid senseless duplication. As an example I recently bought a Chandos disc of Lutoslawski works which I already have in several other excellent versions, and this is madness!
Sometimes I spot a bargain in HMV or secondhand in Gramex, only to discover that I've already got it ! How dumb is that !
There is always a pile waiting to be heard, but that's a question of mood, isn't it?

There's a lovely essay by Charles Lamb describing how he and his sister made many visits to Colnaghi's ( still there in Bond Street ) to gaze longingly at a Leonardo drawing in the window. Finally they scraped up the money to buy it, took it home and lovingly repaired it, and he never forgot the pleasure it gave.
" Sadly, now I can afford a wilderness of Leonardos "

I never bought a Leonardo but I do remember saving up to buy LPs. It's perhaps a little too easy now.

[Anna]

I now buy very few cds (this year the total is 3) because when I moved them all from one room to another and sorted them out I found so many that I either hadn't listened to, had forgotten I had, or had only played once or only played two out of a boxed set. It amazes me when people keep buying boxed sets of say, 100 cds, that they actually find the time to listen to every one of them. I sometimes wonder if there is an element of obsessiveness when it comes to purchasing cds? A bit like women and shoes?

[mathias broucek]

Two comments from me

One - just accept that you like buying the records at least as much as listening to them and that's nothing to be ashamed of! It does no serious harm, helps musicians and retailers and doesn't cost that much compared to some other hobbies

Two - I would echo FF's comment that "It's perhaps a little too easy now". The Bargains thread refered to a Beethoven 4tets box for £13 or so and my reaction was "well it's not THAT cheap" which shows how far we've come. In the 1980s you used to pay that much or more for a 3 LP set of Op18 alone.

[vinteuil]

I sometimes wonder if there is an element of obsessiveness when it comes to purchasing cds? A bit like women and shoes?

... Anna, I'm sure of it. And I don't exclude myself. And I suspect it is - at least in part - a Boy Thing....

[barber olly]

... Anna, I'm sure of it. And I don't exclude myself. And I suspect it is - at least in part - a Boy Thing....

Is now the time to take on pseudonyms and open up a board headed CD Buyers Anonymous? Does anyone own up to being in a 100 Club ie owning 100 versions of any one work. Not guilty but close with Tchaik 4!

[Dave2002]

Why don't we start with a 10 Club. I can perhaps do that with Beethoven 9, amongst others.

Checking: Walter, Klemperer, Hogwood, Norrington, Mackerras, Schmidt-Isserstedt, Blomstedt, JEG ... Oh dear, may have to go to LP or tape for a few more. - Menuhin, Cluytens, Kempe. Actually I think I've got a few more on CD - perhaps Immerseel ... and surely there must be at least one BBC MM disc somewhere. Ah, Szell's another I think on CD.

I suspect 5 might be a more realistic limit for opera sets, e.g MoF: Gui, Solti, Giulini, Ostman and probably Kuijken.
To think there was a time when I thought I'd only be able to afford very few operas in my lifetime, not to mention sets of Mahler symphonies.

Re the Boy Thing, I might give up when the number of boxes coming into the house drops to a point where it's lower than my odd parcels. I guess the boxes contain clothes or shoes!

[Al R Gando]

I fear my wife may be reading

[Tony Halstead]

I am a member of several '10 clubs' on CD not counting LPs, cassettes etc:
Bach: complete Brandenburg concertos;
Britten: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings;
Mahler: 'The Song of the Earth';
Mozart: complete horn concertos;
Ravel: G major piano concerto;
Ravel: Mother Goose Suite.

plus I'm also in a '14 club' : Delius 'Brigg Fair'.