Downloads vs Compact Discs

I have read that of the people that download, (legally of course)   that a majority care only about the songs and could care less about posessing a delivery system, ie. record, cassett, CD etc. This of course could be a death knell for recorded music in the future   and there are predictions of it's demise in eight to ten years but of course predictions seem to be right only half the time.

I am a collector and owning a song is only half the package for me. I want the cover, the backsheet and of course the pamphlet preferably with lyrics. I escpecially prefer digipacks and will pay more for that option.

I am curious how the rest of the Forum feel on this issue?

I am aboard the same boat as you, Caio.

Once upon a time, long long ago in a galaxy far far away; almost all radio stations were locally owned.  Locally owned radio stations didn't have to buck corporate profits up the food chain every month, so they had the ability to find a niche in the local market that they could fill.

Some played pop music and that was good.  Some played jazz or classical music and that was good too.  And some were even able to give airtime to really weird stuff called "art rock" or "space rock" or fusion or progressive rock.  That was good too.

It was good because those who enjoyed this strange breed of music could actually hear individual examples and decide if they were something that they wanted to purchase and add to their personal music collection.

Time passed.

The Earth moved in it's course around the sun.  Glaciers melted.  Volcanoes produced islands ..... and all the radio stations and all the record companies were bought up by a few greed head, wannabe media moguls.

All the radio stations played exactly the same music, or else Rush Limbaugh.  And lovers of strange music could no longer hear what they needed to hear to tell what was good and what was less than good to their individual musical tastes.

Some enterprising young Jedis tried to solve this problem by downloading music.  This way you could hear a song and if you liked it you could buy the album on a CD and the downloaded song instantly became legal.  Or if you hated the song you could delete it from your computer and no one, including the recording "artist", was harmed.

But the Evil Empire said this was wrong and made war on the young Jedis.  And so things stand today.  Buy that $20 CD unheard and if it sucks, too bad for you.  If you don't like it you can take it to the Imperial Senate and you know what you'll get then. 

Well said Storm...

This topic is worthy of extensive debate. I approach it from a serious bias. I have been a slave to acquiring vinyl (I've coughed up as much as $50 Cdn in '83-'84 dollars for a Pink Floyd bootleg, and $32 for Obsolete by Dashiell Hedayat, to say nothing of my Japanese vinyl KC albums), and I've spat razor blades at having to pay more than even $10-12 for CD's since the blasted things took over. Song for song my collection has brought me great joy and indescribable highs, and money has been an unfortunate issue along the way.

But now I'm jaded by the music biz and the rebel in me has surfaced via the sharing of mp3's. My plan is to sample as much as possible and when I'm done collecting the music by a particular artist, I'll send him or her a few of my hard earned pennies directly and bipass the record company. I'll still buy CD's if that's the easiest way to get the music, or if the total package is what I really want.

Market forces are wrecking music. We'll be going thru turmoil for some time because of greed, artless opportunists, the triumph of style over substance, and the lowest common denominator effect.

When we value music more than money we'll be one step closer to being civilized. I see a long road ahead. Got my portable in my pocket.

Peace.

Stormcrow wrote: Once upon a time, long long ago in a galaxy far far away; almost all radio stations were locally owned.  Locally owned radio stations didn't have to buck corporate profits up the food chain every month, so they had the ability to find a niche in the local market that they could fill. Some played pop music and that was good.  Some played jazz or classical music and that was good too.  And some were even able to give airtime to really weird stuff called "art rock" or "space rock" or fusion or progressive rock.  That was good too. It was good because those who enjoyed this strange breed of music could actually hear individual examples and decide if they were something that they wanted to purchase and add to their personal music collection. Time passed. The Earth moved in it's course around the sun.  Glaciers melted.  Volcanoes produced islands ..... and all the radio stations and all the record companies were bought up by a few greed head, wannabe media moguls. All the radio stations played exactly the same music, or else Rush Limbaugh.  And lovers of strange music could no longer hear what they needed to hear to tell what was good and what was less than good to their individual musical tastes. Some enterprising young Jedis tried to solve this problem by downloading music.  This way you could hear a song and if you liked it you could buy the album on a CD and the downloaded song instantly became legal.  Or if you hated the song you could delete it from your computer and no one, including the recording "artist", was harmed. But the Evil Empire said this was wrong and made war on the young Jedis.  And so things stand today.  Buy that $20 CD unheard and if it sucks, too bad for you.  If you don't like it you can take it to the Imperial Senate and you know what you'll get then.

Hey Stormcrow, I'm impressed,   if I start another topic can you tell another story.

So far it looks like we're all agreed. Downloading is naughty but necessary.

My story goes like this. in the mid ninties I was so disgusted with the radio style music that was so prevelent. AOR seemed to be a thing of the past on radio so variety was so thin, I gave up on music and started listening to books on tape, telling myself that I just didn't like music anymore.

It wasn't all bad I listened to about three to four hundred books and discovered some great authors while it lasted. Then in 2000 I started downloading and discovered that music hadn't flushed down the toilet and discovered there really was some great music around, it's just that no radio station is going to hand it to you. You must hunt for it like easter eggs. I enjoy it. It's actually more rewarding this way.

And by the way I haven't listened to an Audio book in years.

I'm sure the same would apply. With wave editor software, you can go directly from your reciever into your mic jack on your computer. If you have Midi campabilities on your reciever, use those.

Thanks for responding. I appreciate your insight.

I and it seems most of you used downloading as a discovery technique not as a copyright infringement technique. of course the music we like is not a big seller and can use all the help it can get.

I wonder if the record companies know their stance is hurting all but the biggest selling artists. I wonder if they care. 

Bottom line is, if it wasn't for downloading, I'd still be listening to audio books!