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

[elan]

I often use http://www.allmusic.com/ for 30 second samples. It's funny that you'd start this thread. I was wondering what everyone else was doing too. I wish there was something better out there, ie. full song samples. The music industry 'doesn't get it' as far as I'm concerned. The more variety that I hear, the more I buy.

 

[Sovkiller]

If you are planning to buy the album later if you like it, of course, there is not such a crime IMO, in downloading the music and listen to it, from any online source legal or not, most of the times the sample rate you will get in most of those "illegal sites" is not good enough for the majority of us, so anyway we ended buying the album....

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaboosh So allofmp3.com is not a good solution, since it is doubtful that they pay much, if any, to the artists/record companies.

How about reading my whole post before responding.

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller If you are planning to buy the album later if you like it, of course, there is not such a crime IMO, in downloading the music and listen to it, from any online source legal or not, most of the times the sample rate you will get in most of those "illegal sites" is not good enough for the majority of us, so anyway we ended buying the album....

Exactly.

I dunno about the general populous, but at least I believe people like Head-fiers can work within the confines of a trust model where you try it before you buy it. If we truly like something we're not going to want compressed afterall, right? Allofmp3 is a perfectly legal model at this moment. Plus with their explorer software it's not such a big deal if you have a slow connection, you can download a ton of stuff in batch and let your computer sit overnight, as it comes in slowly anyway...

 

[kampfy]

I download everything, I buy everything I like or everything from an artist I would like to make more albums. Might not be the most legal solution, but I feel it's definitely moral.

Besides, when there are bands like Harvey Danger that release whole new albums free for download, you have to wonder how many bands outside of the RIAA truly care about people downloading their stuff. I've almost entirely adopted the policy of not downloading or buying anything from any RIAA bands, just because.

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kampfy but I feel it's definitely moral.

Not only moral, but good for music.

Not everyone has the cash flow to buy gobs and gobs of music. If you only purchase music outright on a budget then your exposure is reduced.

I've seen a ton of bands listed on this very forum I've never heard of. I've listened to many clips on Amazon and have found myself thinking "maybe". Maybes rarely inspire $15 to leap out of my wallet, but a $1 download? Sure, why not. Then that maybe has a second chance to become a "definitely".

 

[s m @]

Saying that it's good to just jump in and buy something you don't know much about is totally true, but obviously a way to improve quality control is what's being asked for here. 30 second samples don't do much for me, so I'd say you pretty much have two choices:

1. A couple of the better record stores in my area will let you listen to pretty much anything they have in the store. Cool, but I rarely bother, as I find being on the spot to make a snap decision isn't necessarily the best way to decide on new music, much of the best of which takes repeated listens to really sink in anyway. I've made poor decisions like this (both for and against) in the distant past when those were the only option. So you're pretty much left with...

2. Just download it and listen to it in the comfort of your own home, a few times if necessary. The only important question WRT morality here is are you going to buy it if you like it (ie. if you want to listen to it more than five times). If the answer is yes, and you're not using downloading to decrease the amount of music you buy, then I don't see a problem. I don't know what kind of musician would object to a potential paying customer auditioning their stuff a couple of times. I think most people who do this actually end up buying more music b/c of it.

Don't get me wrong, I know a few people who just d/l everything and rationalize it. I don't think much of it. But if you can keep yourself honest, which I'd think most here can, there's no ethical issue at all, both sides benefit. That's my take.

 

[sonick]

most B&M stores should have a listening booth you just bring a CD up, they open it up and you can listen to it.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Steal and buy as much as I can before I go penniless.

There is no morality in a society obsessed with materialism.

-Matt

 

[rextrade]

I've never seen this anywhere else, but you can listen to any CD in the Virgin store in London--you just take the CD you want to hear and waive the barcode under the scanner and you can hear the entire CD if you want. Fantastic idea, and I'm not sure why they can't do that in the US (probably something to do with the US's licensing laws). Has anyone seen anything similar in the US?

As for other methods--I usually use Amazon to listen to samples, or I just download as much as I can from Limewire or some other service. I have no moral problem at all with downloading music for free--I've purchased about 50 CDs in the past six months, most of which were the result of downloading tracks first to see if I liked the music.

 

[C38368]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rextrade I've never seen this anywhere else, but you can listen to any CD in the Virgin store in London--you just take the CD you want to hear and waive the barcode under the scanner and you can hear the entire CD if you want. Fantastic idea, and I'm not sure why they can't do that in the US (probably something to do with the US's licensing laws). Has anyone seen anything similar in the US?

Sometimes, yeah. Bigger chain stores (such as Borders) often don't let you listen to more than 30-45 seconds of a track while others (Sam Goody comes to mind here) don't provide any listening provision.
However, just about every small-chain or independent store I've found has had some system in place to allow you to listen to the entire album if you're so inclined. That often includes new (unopened) albums as well.

 

[gshan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rextrade I've never seen this anywhere else, but you can listen to any CD in the Virgin store in London--you just take the CD you want to hear and waive the barcode under the scanner and you can hear the entire CD if you want. Fantastic idea, and I'm not sure why they can't do that in the US (probably something to do with the US's licensing laws). Has anyone seen anything similar in the US? As for other methods--I usually use Amazon to listen to samples, or I just download as much as I can from Limewire or some other service. I have no moral problem at all with downloading music for free--I've purchased about 50 CDs in the past six months, most of which were the result of downloading tracks first to see if I liked the music.

Hm, I wish the barcode kiosk existed in the US stores. AFAIK you can still manually search with the keyboard in their database and listen to albums. A great idea, but I wouldn't stand there for an hour

.

I use Limewire too. After coming over to Head-Fi and buying new headphones and reading other's opinions on music, I found much of my music unacceptable in terms of quality. Kind of a confusing situation, but I fell in love with buying albums and learning to appreciate them. That said, I still download off Limewire to sample new songs from artists that I've never heard before.

 

[NightWoundsTime]

Borders has the barcode system. I've ruled out lots of albums in there, and found a few that I'd have never payed attention to otherwise.

I download a lot of music and on many occasions have waited until I could see the band on tour to purchase their cd's. Indie bands love this. I've told a few of them this and they're pretty happy with that system. Anything to get people listening, bring them to shows, and buy the stuff at the merch table where they get the highest profit from it. Of course RIAA bands then charge $25 per cd for some insane reason, so I'll agree with anyone who doesn't give any money to bands in the RIAA fold.

 

[trains are bad]

I still remember going to a show. It was my favorite band. I bought a Tshirt and two of their CDs.

I said something about making up for the music I had downloaded. They said not to be rediculus, that music downloading was the only reason they were playing this show so far from their hometown because it had made them popular.

I admitted that I would have never heard of them if I hadn't downloaded some songs on a hunch.

An aquaintance makes indy films. I said something to the effect of 'you are probably mad when people put your films on P2P.'

He said, don't be silly, p2p is the best thing to happen to indy film, and he planned on having a bunch of friends at large colleges put it up on their computers as soon as it was finished.

So that pretty much eased my conscience when it comes to P2p. Plus I still buy anything I really like because I want the lossless version and the whole album and album art.

 

[kramer5150]

I download P2P with Morpheus. If I like it I go buy the CD. if I dont like it I delete the files from my HD.