How to go about auditioning CD's legally and morally?

[1967cutlass]

You guys surely have experienced the " Hey! I liked that one frou frou song, I think I'll buy the CD! Four days later... This is a horrible album" situation. Not that I would do such a thing

. As far as I know there are only a few options: listening to proples opinions (horrible way to buy music IMO), listening on amazons sample thing (limited usefulness), going to a music store (that probably won't have what you're looking for out to be auditioned), or downloading the album and giving it a listen. How do you all decide what to buy? CD's, even used, can really add up...

 

[brandoj]

I always use amazon.com.

 

[Aman]

I buy even the lowest rated albums. I think that just about every album I buy I can find to appreciate, especially over time.

If a band or album looks intriquing to me, I'll get the album and see what it's like. Worst case senario is that I don't like it. I don't make stupid decisions, however, and go out buying pop/rap albums that I know I'll never like because they don't give to me any depth at all.

 

[nanahachi]

like brandoj, i also use the 30 sec samples at amazon.com, although not all albums have had them.

I sympathize with this dilemma, as I like to buy the albums I enjoy, but hate wasting money on untried albums that I end up not liking and wish I had been able to listen to ahead of time. unfortunately, one may have to download the album in less legal fashions in order to actually listen to it before deciding to buy/not buy it.

Here in LA, there are some stores, such as Hear Music, where one can listen to albums in the store before buying them, but that requires going to a B&M location.

 

[Oski]

iTunes Music Store is also very convenient.

 

[Jahn]

Most of the stuff i'm interested in checking out is so old, that they're all at the NYC Public Library hehe. Just borrow it, check it out, if you like it great if not return it.

 

[wakeride74]

Between Amazon and CDUniverse you can usually find 30 second samples for every track.

For Country music I use CMT.com, they have a section titled "Listening Parties" where you can listen to the whole album for many artists.

 

[Feanor]

I download the whole album, and see what it's like.

 

[bobeau]

Allofmp3.com. If you're worried about legalities it does appear to be a hazy matter. But fwiw the industry has been trying hard to crack down for awhile now, doesn't appear it's going to happen.

You can download an album in 128 bps, listen to it a half dozen times, if it sells ya, then go buy it.

Unfortunately their selection doesn't lend itself to terribly obscure stuff, and with many artists you might find only a small part of their catalog, but nontheless it's a good tool indeed.

 

[Yaboosh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau Allofmp3.com. If you're worried about legalities it does appear to be a hazy matter. But fwiw the industry has been trying hard to crack down for awhile now, doesn't appear it's going to happen. You can download an album in 128 bps, listen to it a half dozen times, if it sells ya, then go buy it. Unfortunately their selection doesn't lend itself to terribly obscure stuff, and with many artists you might find only a small part of their catalog, but nontheless it's a good tool indeed.

If someone feels bad and doesn't want to use illegal methods for downloading music, it is probably because they feel like the original artist is owed the sale of the album. So allofmp3.com is not a good solution, since it is doubtful that they pay much, if any, to the artists/record companies. You might as well just download the songs for free from a file sharing program, in my opinion.

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau Allofmp3.com. If you're worried about legalities it does appear to be a hazy matter. But fwiw the industry has been trying hard to crack down for awhile now, doesn't appear it's going to happen. You can download an album in 128 bps, listen to it a half dozen times, if it sells ya, then go buy it. Unfortunately their selection doesn't lend itself to terribly obscure stuff, and with many artists you might find only a small part of their catalog, but nontheless it's a good tool indeed.

Actually, I think this is a brilliant idea. I never download albums and I'm always buying the albums I listen but I think it would be great if the record companies make available all the albums at (let's say) 80 bps or something like that. Enough to have a rough idea about the CD but not good enough so people who really like it, need to buy the album. It should work. Isn't it?

Cheers

 

[Beach123456]

Most of my friends like the same type of music as me, so I can find out through them. Other times, I know some people have very similar music tastes to mine and just go on recommendation. So far its worked out good.

 

[K2Grey]

I think a decent percentage of the population wouldn't care about 80bps music...

Wait, 80bps or 80kbps? 80bps, I don't know how much of the album you could even make out from that

 

[C38368]

I used to do the download-to-demo thing, but then I moved away from high speed internet. There went that.

I did, however, spend a couple years as a DJ for the campus radio station, which led to the discovery of a LOT of new material. That, coupled with a handful of friends with similar tastes and I was pretty well set for a time.
But the big secret in my book has been sampler CDs. A good one will set you out down very long roads of musical discovery, I've come to realise.

I've also come to the conclusion that labels are a good source of indication: if you like half a dozen bands, all on the same label... there's a pretty good chance that you'll like most of the rest.

The end result of all this, I think, is that I buy a lot more music sound unheard than I used to. And I've never gotten a really "bad" album. I think that Aman is right about all albums being appreciated sooner or later.

 

[mysticaldodo]

Listening on Amazon is not such a bad thing. I think they would showcase the best part of the song within that 30 sec clip? At least thats what I'm hoping for.

Anyway I alwayss frequent stores that let me listen as long as I want even though I only use 15 minutes max per cd. Usually no ones waiting in line so I don't think I'm causing any inconvenience. I usually avoid Tower Records as they allow only a max of 3 minutes testing time.