I've turned digital :-(

[JC_AOR]

After collecting literally thousands of CD's over the last 18 years, I never thought I'd be saying this but I think I have turned digital.

 

It's so sad for me to say this because I absolutely LOVE my music collection and it has been a very big and enjoyable part of my life but it has got to a point where I can no longer afford to purchase CD's.

 

There are many factors which come into this though none more so than the fact that I now have my own family to look after- a beautiful wife and a beautiful baby girl.

 

Up until two years ago, I only had to worry about myself. I didn't bat an eyelid at making regular $300 orders to NEH records and AOR heaven etc. I would even shell out $100 here and there for a single rare CD from collectors and I was all over ebay and other online music stores. Not to mention doing some damn good deals with some of you fine people here at HH's :-)

 

The other big factor for me is that CD's don't seem to be getting any cheaper, and having to import every CD from europe or the US to Australia really is incredibly expensive even before you add in the international shipping rates.

 

I still plan to purchase the occassional CD from my favourite artists such as the new one from Brett Walker which i'm looking forward to but that's about all I can afford to do now.

 

As for my CD collection, I have no plans to part with it, but I just don't think it's going to get much bigger.

 

What about you guys...has anyone else found their CD purchases dropping off and has anyone else been moving toward digital downloads?

[Fat Freddy]

Pfffft. Sellout.

 

Seriously, Y'ALL KIN HAVE MAH CEE-DEE'S WHEN YA PRY'EM FROM MAH COLD DEAD FINGERS!!!!

[Mullethead]

I tried but couldn't do it. In fact, I went backwards and started looking for vinyl!

[Nightrain]

I still try to collect CDs, but I must admit I have probably cut down a lot of buying from average of 10-15 CDs / month to only 2-4 CDs. Some factors because of weakening currency, the cost of buying imported products are more expensive by 20-30%, the skyrocketing shipment cost from USA, and Amazon UK CDs price are even higher than 2-3 years ago (from 7-8 GBP to 11-13 GBP). So if economy is better for next year and at least two factors are switching to my favor, then maybe I'll pick up the pace again, but meanwhile, I also lay low.

[Jez]

I thought about it a couple of years back, walked into my CD/ Music room, had a quick look around and slapped myself in the face and told myself not to think impure thoughts ever again .

[Mullethead]

I thought about it a couple of years back, walked into my CD/ Music room, had a quick look around and slapped myself in the face and told myself not to think impure thoughts ever again .

 

Lololololol!!!

[Stefan]

 

I thought about it a couple of years back, walked into my CD/ Music room, had a quick look around and slapped myself in the face and told myself not to think impure thoughts ever again .

Lololololol!!!

 

 

 

Seriously, I have never thought of the idea of going digital. I have cut down my cd purchases to a great extent but selling the cd collection? No, not yet. And I still wait for the day when I'll be paying for a download...

 

Needless to say I'm no fan of digital downloads and if I pay for music, I want the real deal: physical disc. Period.

 

Speaking of the situation right now. The distant future however, is another story...

[Glen]

I do still purchase cds as like everyone else I much prefer the physical product.....having said that it does then tend to gather dust as I usually rip to my phone or MP3 device.

 

The same goes for books - id much rather have a proper book than a silly kindle thing !

[Reverend Mayhem]

After collecting literally thousands of CD's over the last 18 years, I never thought I'd be saying this but I think I have turned digital....

 

What about you guys...has anyone else found their CD purchases dropping off and has anyone else been moving toward digital downloads?

 

Made the switch-over about a year ago. Took a long time and a lot of effort, but I digitized all my CDs, and anything new is download. Yeah, Ioved my old CDs (and albums -- I still have a few too sacred to part with), but MP3s have become so much more convenient, especially if you want portable music. A lot of saved storage space, that's for sure. I use an old PC for my home stereo now, the HD designated for storing/playing music ONLY (all backed-up, of course). I don't have any regrets.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I've definitely slowed down. I need to start putting away money, start thinking about my future -- what the f*ck has this guy been smokin', right? -- but I'll never switch to digital. I'll pick it up when I'm comfortable throwing around my money, again. Fact is, digital music is shit, unless your files are lossless, which takes up too much space and can't be played on most portable players. And even then, you can lose it all in an instant.

[Stefan]

I've definitely slowed down. I need to start putting away money, start thinking about my future -- what the f*ck has this guy been smokin', right? -- but I'll never switch to digital. I'll pick it up when I'm comfortable throwing around my money, again. Fact is, digital music is shit, unless your files are lossless, which takes up too much space and can't be played on most portable players. And even then, you can lose it all in an instant.

 

For once, I totally agree with you.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

I've definitely slowed down. I need to start putting away money, start thinking about my future -- what the f*ck has this guy been smokin', right? -- but I'll never switch to digital. I'll pick it up when I'm comfortable throwing around my money, again. Fact is, digital music is shit, unless your files are lossless, which takes up too much space and can't be played on most portable players. And even then, you can lose it all in an instant.

 

For once, I totally agree with you.

 

 

Okay, but lets not make this a common occurrence. ;}

[Stefan]

 

 

I've definitely slowed down. I need to start putting away money, start thinking about my future -- what the f*ck has this guy been smokin', right? -- but I'll never switch to digital. I'll pick it up when I'm comfortable throwing around my money, again. Fact is, digital music is shit, unless your files are lossless, which takes up too much space and can't be played on most portable players. And even then, you can lose it all in an instant.

 

For once, I totally agree with you.

 

 

Okay, but lets not make this a common occurrence. ;}

 

 

No. I disagree.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

 

 

I've definitely slowed down. I need to start putting away money, start thinking about my future -- what the f*ck has this guy been smokin', right? -- but I'll never switch to digital. I'll pick it up when I'm comfortable throwing around my money, again. Fact is, digital music is shit, unless your files are lossless, which takes up too much space and can't be played on most portable players. And even then, you can lose it all in an instant.

 

For once, I totally agree with you.

 

 

Okay, but lets not make this a common occurrence. ;}

 

 

No. I disagree.

 

 

Um, I don't know how to respond to this without agreeing.

[AlphaMale]

I had to sell off all my stuff.

 

And I'm still broke. :(

[Nightrain]

I'm still wondering, how to this day, they don't slash CD price by 30% or something to stimulate purchase because the industry is dying. They sure know the fact that CD buyer and economy are somewhat both deteriorating, something needs to be done I guess to revive it, or like it or not, more and more people will migrate to digital

 

Or maybe they're trying to treat CD like vinyl, where as time goes by, it'll become rare items and they will even charge higher for that

[Glen]

 

I've definitely slowed down. I need to start putting away money, start thinking about my future -- what the f*ck has this guy been smokin', right? -- but I'll never switch to digital. I'll pick it up when I'm comfortable throwing around my money, again. Fact is, digital music is shit, unless your files are lossless, which takes up too much space and can't be played on most portable players. And even then, you can lose it all in an instant.

 

For once, I totally agree with you.

 

 

its actually impossible to lose your digital files - itunes remembers everything youve bought and amazon now auto loads everything to the cloud.

 

Every now and again you might get a blip and your files get deleted from your selected music player, but they are still on yr computer - just re-import them....takes 30 mins tops.

 

Cheers

[Rockposer]

I don't use iTunes, bloody awful software. I buy CD's, mp3's & vinyl. I don't get all wound up as to the format. for me the music is more important.

[Shawn Of Fire]

I still plan to purchase the occassional CD from my favourite artists

 

This is me. I still buy CD/DVD/Box Sets from my all-time, never-changing mega faves....all else is digital. New releases usually come from Amazon MP3 for me. Like Rockposer states, it's all about the music at the end of the day...not the delivery method.

 

I did start buying vinyl again last Summer and am now at about 100 titles...

[martinsane]

I hate to admit but my wife has been pounding me with guilt and remorse and more guilt about my cd collecting, she did it with my vhs collection too, which I sold off (fekkin dolt that I am)and my Star Wars toys ( I had a HUGE collection from when I was a kid, also sold). I rarely buy cd's any more as money is tight. She just doesn't get it and see's only $$$ signs. Sure I see $$ signs too, but I sold off everything else that was moderately important to me as to her wishes, but I am having a real difficult time swallowing the thought of no cd's... She is not a collector or has no attachment to possessions.

 

That said I will more than likely have to do some downsizing or who knows what road our relationship will turn down...

 

Sorry for that.

[nyoilers]

I've actually been buying a lot of used CD's on ebay plus new CD's.I might average 1 new CD a month.I do have a Kindle Fire and it is nice when you buy a CD from Amazon and they also give you the digital copy.I rarely listen to the music on my kindle but there are times when I do use it,like last week when my car was getting serviced I brought my kindle and listened to music while waiting.

[Geoff]

After collecting literally thousands of CD's over the last 18 years, I never thought I'd be saying this but I think I have turned digital.

 

It's so sad for me to say this because I absolutely LOVE my music collection and it has been a very big and enjoyable part of my life but it has got to a point where I can no longer afford to purchase CD's.

 

There are many factors which come into this though none more so than the fact that I now have my own family to look after- a beautiful wife and a beautiful baby girl.

 

Up until two years ago, I only had to worry about myself. I didn't bat an eyelid at making regular $300 orders to NEH records and AOR heaven etc. I would even shell out $100 here and there for a single rare CD from collectors and I was all over ebay and other online music stores. Not to mention doing some damn good deals with some of you fine people here at HH's :-)

 

The other big factor for me is that CD's don't seem to be getting any cheaper, and having to import every CD from europe or the US to Australia really is incredibly expensive even before you add in the international shipping rates.

 

I still plan to purchase the occassional CD from my favourite artists such as the new one from Brett Walker which i'm looking forward to but that's about all I can afford to do now.

 

As for my CD collection, I have no plans to part with it, but I just don't think it's going to get much bigger.

 

What about you guys...has anyone else found their CD purchases dropping off and has anyone else been moving toward digital downloads?

 

Haha, looks like we're in the same boat, mate. For very similar reasons to you I am in a very similar situation to you.

 

I pre-ordered the Crashdiet CD at the start of the year and only last week (November!) did I purchase my 2nd CD of 2013. And I got a few with that purchase, buying a few of the highest rating albums I've heard so far this year.

 

But I made a lot of decisions this year regarding music. And it's not all because of my cheeky little baby boy. But I guess it all stems from a strong desire to use what little money I do have on/for his happiness rather than buying new CDs for me. And I don't mean that in a bad way, like I think I'm missing out because I have to spend money on him instead of CDs. That's not it at all. Just the way my priorities have changed, I guess. I truly don't feel like I'm missing out on CDs, and I can acknowledge that I have bought WAAAY too many over the years, including way, way more than I need or can listen to properly.

 

It's going to take a long time, but in time, I hope to rate every CD I own and anything under 70-75% will be gone. And that will be a lot. I want to sell off all unessential CDs, keeping only the good songs off those discs, and turn a major portion of my music collection into MP3 only.

 

I hope to be able to use some of the money from the sold CDs to fund future CD buying, but I will cull that down to only a few per year - only the highest rated albums I hear on MP3. I'll try to cut that down to 20-30 new CDs per year, down from hundreds and hundreds per year. I just don't need all those discs!

 

Yeah, I never thought I'd see it happen, but I'm trying to make decisions that will make listening to music a lot easier and cheaper for me. And going digital is no doubt the best way to achieve this result.

[Jacob M.]

I'm pretty sure I have never paid for an mp3. I have paid for plenty of other downloads though. It just doesn't make sense for me. If I download an mp3 I can't let someone borrow it. If I no longer want the music it no longer has value. I can't resale it or give it to someone.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I'm pretty sure I have never paid for an mp3. I have paid for plenty of other downloads though. It just doesn't make sense for me. If I download an mp3 I can't let someone borrow it. If I no longer want the music it no longer has value. I can't resale it or give it to someone.

 

I paid for a file once. Once. It was through iTunes. Immediately after purchasing it, I felt sick to the stomach. I am completely serious. I felt like I had just done something horrible. And I paid for it using a gift card someone gave to me. Not even my own money. I am not exaggerating when I say I don't believe in going digital.

[PeterS]

Went digital years ago. Digitised everything I have , uploaded it to Google Play Music and subscribe to Deezer (Spotify type service in Germay). Deezer has re-invigorated my love of music. Now I try a lot of new stuff where as before I'd never give it a chance. Also means I can afford to bring up two kids.

 

Racks of CDs and Vinyl left unplayed. Probably could sell them but somehow can't bring myself to.