Why buy CDs?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I dislike the lack of a tangible object with downloads - I seem to end up putting them on Cd-Rs anyway.

Yes; that's me, too.

And the printed booklets, and the colourful covers, and the way they look on the shelves <sigh>.

As teamster says, there are some remarkably good bargains instantly available as downloads, and I was able to get Ferneyhough's Sieben Sterne without having to buy the rest of the double album. But real CDs, real books for me as a preference.

[teamsaint]

does anybody download and read the sleeve notes for downloads? Well I suppose we do, I did for then Rubbra, but generally a lot must get ignored.
Sleevenotes are a mixed bag, but some are goldmines, especially for the less well versed.
The notes I read recently for Stravinky's Symphonies of Psalms/in C/in 3 movements were a great source of info for me.
And a lovely way to spend a brief snatched lunchtime.

Gripe of the day: on very cheap box sets WHY do they sometimes leave out even basic movement info on the card sleeves? Cutting and pasting these would be the work of seconds.
But with Myaskovsky symphonies at 77p each , something has to give, I guess !!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes. I learnt so much about music from LP sleeve notes when I was a student.

[Roehre]

Yes. I learnt so much about music from LP sleeve notes when I was a student.

... and even after I had completed my studies

[amateur51]

Yes; that's me, too.

And the printed booklets, and the colourful covers, and the way they look on the shelves <sigh>.

As teamster says, there are some remarkably good bargains instantly available as downloads, and I was able to get Ferneyhough's Sieben Sterne without having to buy the rest of the double album. But real CDs, real books for me as a preference.

Every time, ferney!

[umslopogaas]

#28 pastoralguy

Please let me know the outcome. I have to go about some other business, but I would like to know the final price.

[pastoralguy]

#28 pastoralguy

Please let me know the outcome. I have to go about some other business, but I would like to know the final price.

Well, no one has bid on it so far and I doubt will. Still, you never know.

[richardfinegold]

Yesterday I happened to be in one of the remaining HMV shops, and saw a few interesting CDs on offer. Two were of some interest - Colin Davis and the LSO playing Nielsen symphonies (LSO Live - £6) and the other was Harnoncourt conducting Haydn's Nelson Mass (£5).

I didn't buy them - preferring to buy a couple of others instead. However when I got home I thought I'd check to see if I could listen to the performances on Spotify. The Nielsen symphonies are on Spotify, and there is a recording by Harnoncourt of the Nelson Mass - though I'm not absolutely sure if it's the same one.

Most of us know, or would at least expect that, the sound quality on Spotify is lower than a CD. Despite that, the SQ is arguably acceptable for most people, for most purposes, and in the future we could expect that the SQ from streamed or downloaded sources would be at least as good, or even better. This is already the case for some providers (e.g Linn) - though at a price.

My monthly premium for Spotify is slightly less than the amount I paid for 2 CDs which were on offer yesterday. I also subscribe to Rhapsody/Napster, though listen to it less, but it has a lower subscription cost. It is useful for exploring performances which are not on Spotify - and there are quite a few of those.

Re the CDs I didn't buy, I may still go back and buy them anyway, though I wonder whether this really doesn't make sense. In the case of Davis/Nielsen the performances are decent, but if I can listen on Spotify, why would I need the CDs? Re the Harnoncourt, I found quite quickly that I wasn't immediately attracted to the performance, though it's probably decent enough. This raises another question - "should I buy it anyway, and see if in time I get to like it?".

Do others sometimes buy CDs which are different from what they're used to, just to see if in the longer term they find something worthwhile to take away?

Most of the music buying world agrees with you. CD sales have declined about 2/3 in the last decade.
I have been using Spotify for the last two weeks only. I like it's portability and wide range of selection. I like to sample recordings that other forum members suggest and decide for myself before purchasing. I would never make it my main source of listening due to it's low bit rate sound. Those less finicky about sound quality can use on line services and need not ever again bother with Physical Media such as cDs, SACD, Blu-Rays, etc.

[akiralx]

I only buy SACDs. I rarely buy CDs any more, preferring downloads. An exception will be Salonen's new violin concerto recording on DG as I want the booklet.

[gurnemanz]

Most of the music buying world agrees with you. CD sales have declined about 2/3 in the last decade.

It will be interesting to see how soon this trend will lead to "the death of the album", as widely predicted, and whether this will be seen as a regrettable development. If in future people are just downloading a personal selection of tracks from a massive online database, what reason will musicians have to put together a coherent collection of related tracks about an hour long (the concept album)?

An example of the latter is the marvellous Marlis Petersen album "Das Ewig-Weibliche" (The Eternal Feminine), which I bought recently. It is contains familiar and very unfamiliar items carefully assembled and beautifully produced as an object by Harmonia Mundi. It has 50-page booklet, containing notes, pictures and full songtexts. It would be well suited as a present. I expect you can give a download as a present but it is not quite the same as actually handing something over and watching them unwrap it.

[pastoralguy]

Six.

Frau Alpensinfonie recently bought some audio book downloads for her iPad, and these were backed up on her PC. Recently, she found they had disappeared from her iPad, so we looked the backup. That too had disappeared

That's a scenario that worries me. There's too much trust put into the hands of disinterested third parties who may well profit from someone having to start from scratch after losing their data.

[remdataram]

I still buy CDs, in fact more than ever before.

Like many others I enjoy the sleeve notes, the album covers, and even the shelves bristling with great music.

As the world moves increasingly to downloading we are enjoying a magical period of maximal CD availability coupled with very low prices. Add to this the secondhand market via Amazon as just one supplier and we have treasures aplenty.

I confess that I do rip my CDs to a NAS and Stream my music - the sheer convenience of being able to access any track of any recording in just a few seconds is fantastic. The sleeve notes are in our Study whenever they're wanted.

Despite the 'Streamed collection' I don't like downloads, there's something about owning a recording that just can't be achieved with a download; in someways it's like buying nothing!

[amateur51]

Most of the music buying world agrees with you. CD sales have declined about 2/3 in the last decade.

Is that declined by 2/3 or declined to 2/3?

There's a fifty per cent difference

[EdgeleyRob]

50/50 for me.
I download music and still buy cds,depends on the price.
I get the same buzz from downloading cheap music as I do from buying a bargain box.

[mikealdren]

Yes Mike, that was me. I usually visit Gramex every few weeks, normally on a Saturday. I get a certain enjoyment from the exchange of views while browsing. I do wish the CDs were not in tottering heaps though! Let me know if you are visiting, we might meet up.
Bws.
Ferret

Perhaps we ought to descend on Roger en-masse and have a forum meeting!
regards
Mike