[jtwrace]

Quote:

Do you guys think buying CDs is still worth it now in 2012? If you had a list of songs, how would you go about getting them? I reckon in the next few years CDs will become extinct as the masses continue to stream their tunes at 128kbps through cheapobuds, leaving those who want a physical/lossless collection in trouble.
 
What's the most future-proof way of obtaining my "list of music" right now, bearing in mind all the songs are post-1980, other than classical stuff. Buying the CDs for a couple of quid on Amazon, or just giving up on lossless as the labels seem to be doing?
 
Your thoughts are welcome

I still like to have the Cd.  I'll continue to purchase them no matter what....just like vinyl!
 
 

 

[Magick Man]

I like physical copies of my music, whether it be CD, SACD, DVD-A, or vinyl. Some albums I buy in multiple formats, like everything that tool has produced domestic or overseas. My database says I have almost 19,000 disc shaped media of various types.


I think I've bought 4 lossless audio files, and that's it.

 

[brod]

Quote:

Do you guys think buying CDs is still worth it now in 2012? If you had a list of songs, how would you go about getting them? I reckon in the next few years CDs will become extinct as the masses continue to stream their tunes at 128kbps through cheapobuds, leaving those who want a physical/lossless collection in trouble.
 
What's the most future-proof way of obtaining my "list of music" right now, bearing in mind all the songs are post-1980, other than classical stuff. Buying the CDs for a couple of quid on Amazon, or just giving up on lossless as the labels seem to be doing?
 
Your thoughts are welcome

I think it's a very strange question. From my perspective, no physical media purchase is 'a worthy investment' as it isn't an investment at all. You are paying money for something that is available for free online.
 
As for the issue of copyright and money, I think it's worth pointing out that if you buy CDs the only people you are helping is the record companies. The share that artists get of CD revenue is pathetic at best. If you really want to support your favourite musicians, buy tickets to see them in concert.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

I think it's a very strange question. From my perspective, no physical media purchase is 'a worthy investment' as it isn't an investment at all. You are paying money for something that is available for free online.
 
As for the issue of copyright and money, I think it's worth pointing out that if you buy CDs the only people you are helping is the record companies. The share that artists get of CD revenue is pathetic at best. If you really want to support your favourite artists, buy tickets to see them in concert.

The physical media itself isn't available online. In many cases the actual digital content is altered by lossy compression, sometimes several rounds of it when people try to "fix" low bitrate downloads. And regardless of who gets the money, it's still stealing. Especially when talking about it vs. physical purchases because then you are talking about a lost sale.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

I think it's a very strange question. From my perspective, no physical media purchase is 'a worthy investment' as it isn't an investment at all. You are paying money for something that is available for free online.
 
So people should get their degrees from some cheap online University since by that criteria Harvard is a bad investment since it's not free or cheap?
 
As for the issue of copyright and money, I think it's worth pointing out that if you buy CDs the only people you are helping is the record companies. The share that artists get of CD revenue is pathetic at best. If you really want to support your favourite musicians, buy tickets to see them in concert.
 
Two things.  Some artists do run their own record label.  Some people buy CDs and also go to concerts.  One reason I missed Canjam last year.  Err...two, Korn and Godsmack.  I also fail to see the logic in how DLing free music helps artists more than buying the CD's.  You are going from something to nothing for the artists sake. 

Another point, not all investments are done for the express purpose of making money.  Investments lose money all the time.  Look at the housing market, homes are still worthwhile for those that want a roof over their heads.  Most people don't buy homes with the express purpose of flipping them.  Collector cars, most people buy them because they truly enjoy them for personal reasons, not to flip or accrue wealth as most will likely die w/ them in their possession.  An investment can offer personal pleasure, a timeless opportunity at rare ownership, represent equity or simply be worthwhile to someone for any other reason.  It does not have to translate into direct economic profit.  I'd hate to live my life looking through those lenses myself.
 
I can only imagine Bill Gate's disappointment when he lost that auction on Leonardo's notebook to Warren Buffet.  Think of all the money he missed out on from flipping it on Ebay.  

 

 

[Magick Man]

I think it's a very strange question. From my perspective, no physical media purchase is 'a worthy investment' as it isn't an investment at all. You are paying money for something that is available for free online.

As for the issue of copyright and money, I think it's worth pointing out that if you buy CDs the only people you are helping is the record companies. The share that artists get of CD revenue is pathetic at best. If you really want to support your favourite musicians, buy tickets to see them in concert.

Suit yourself, but I'm not a thief. A lot of the music I buy is from small indy studios, and I choose to support their work.

 

[andrew3199]

Or you could do this.....Got some real gems from here www.swapacd.com 
  I don't actually swap my discs out but for the price of a "cup o joe" you can buy a credit..
I just scan the artwork rip the disc (EAC to Apple lossless) and store the CD away in a box.

 

[PhoebeFairchild]

As I wrote earlier in this thread, CDs are still a good investment because I will always have a physical hard copy of the music just in case my hard drive fails. I am free to rip and encode my CDs into any audio format that I choose and I choose to encode them into .FLAC loss less audio files. CDs are convenient and I can buy multiple copies of CDs to give as gifts to family members and friends easily. CDs are also dirt cheap with new releases priced under $10 USD and most used CDs go for a few bucks plus shipping. I just bought Hilary Hahn's Spectacular 3 CD album for less than $13.50 USD. I bought the new Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball Special Edition CD album for less than $13 USD. How much have you spent on your audio equipment thus far? If you do the math, then you will realize that your CD library is far less expensive than what most people here spend for their headphones. Most people wind up stealing music by downloading torrents from high speed seeders which I think is wrong and it is illegal. Buy the damned music and support your favorite artists, singers, and bands! Anyway, CDs will continue to be made and sold so I doubt that CDs are going away anytime soon. In fact, I plan to buy more CDs from Amazon right now.

 

[brod]

This forum's quoting system is a pain in the butt, so I'm just going to type some stuff.
 
1. Downloading digital copies of media is not stealing, and it's also not illegal in many countries.
 
2. FLAC files = CD quality
 
3. It's true that when you buy a CD you are paying for the physical media. I think this is a bad thing, because a CD is a far less convenient storage method than FLAC songs, especially for portable use.
 
4. Hard drives are no less physical than CDs. In the end they are both methods of imprinting a series of 0's and 1's in a way that can be read by computers. Also, if you have data that is valuable to you, you should invest in a reliable backup system.

 

[AnakChan]

I believe FLAC >> CD quality since CD's are at 16/44 whereas you could buy FLACs at 24/96 or 24/192.
 
I still buy SACDs but admittedly I don't buy anymore CD's. At the same time though I'm not disposing my CDs I ripped from years back. For some reason over the years I -do- hear differences my ripped AACs even at the same bitrate (admittedly not ALAC) so this leads me to think sometime over the past 10 years, Apple has changed the algorithm of ripping CD's over the years even for the same bitrate specs. I'm not so confident to say that FLAC algorithm is immune to changes too.

 

[bigshot]

Wow! I bet you have some interesting theories on the Kennedy assasination too!

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

This forum's quoting system is a pain in the butt, so I'm just going to type some stuff.
 
1. Downloading digital copies of media is not stealing, and it's also not illegal in many countries.
 
2. FLAC files = CD quality
 
3. It's true that when you buy a CD you are paying for the physical media. I think this is a bad thing, because a CD is a far less convenient storage method than FLAC songs, especially for portable use.
 
4. Hard drives are no less physical than CDs. In the end they are both methods of imprinting a series of 0's and 1's in a way that can be read by computers. Also, if you have data that is valuable to you, you should invest in a reliable backup system.

1. Yes it is, if it's not being sold or offered for free by the artist or label. Especially if you use it as an alternative to CDs, and not simply as a method of sampling audio before buying.
 
2. Yes they are, but I said you aren't going to get everything in FLAC online, and not all FLAC is encoded from a lossless source.
 
3. You don't pay for a CD because of the storage method. You pay for it because of the artwork and the physical reminder that you own the material. That is worth it to me, and why I don't even buy digital music. The fact it won't get wiped out in a nasty power surge or something is just a plus.
 
4. You really misunderstood what I meant by physical.

 

[Magick Man]

I admit that storing all the CDs is getting to be a PITA, though. I wish recording labels would move to micro thumbdrives with completely uncompressed audio files. They could sell them in tiny cases that are less than half the size of a minidisc.

 

[Perplexed]

200 CDs will take no more space than a full tower PC.
Quote:

I used to buy CDs, now I exclusively buy all my music from iTunes. I just do not have the space to store 100s of CDs. Also with iTunes in the Cloud, I can download my music to my iPhone, iPad, and iMac when I want and where I want. Buying digital also helps the environment in small ways.

 

 

[Magick Man]

200 CDs will take no more space than a full tower PC.


 

Then you can imagine my dilemma, it's like I'm storing almost 95 full-size towers. The discs have been ripped to my media server and most (~90%) have been put into basement storage, but that's still an awful lot of space being taken up.