Do you pay to download music?

[Pet Terry]

They say that the future of music business is on the internet. While that may well be true, I'm not excited about it at all. I don't pay to download music because I want to have the physical cd/lp/whatever in my hands, admire all the neat cover artwork, read the lyrics and possible additional info from the booklet etc. I also haven't pirated music in ages because I want to support all the good musicians for their hard work.

However, earlier today I decided to buy a bunch of songs by a certain band from the internet. I could have bought all their records instead, but the truth is that, having heard the albums before, I have only enjoyed about half of the songs on them. So I thought I'd pick only the good songs and make a compilation cd of those myself.

After browsing through several internet music stores I came across a place that had all of their albums for sale/download. Unfortunately, that place had their own system that requires customers to download an iTunes-type program through which the music is purchased. After paying for the music, the customers can burn the songs on a cd or transfer them onto an mp3 player. But they also have to use the program to listen to the tracks they've purchased. You don't get actual MP3 or WMA files, all the music you've paid for is only accessible through the program. I thought the system was ridiculous, but decided to go for it because there indeed seemed to be the option to burn the songs on a cd.

Well, that didn't work, the burning process just froze right at the beginning and I had to force my cd drive open to get the cd out. I sent an angry email to the store in frustration after having tried to burn the cd several times without success. If they come up with a solution then everything is fine and I'm happy when I get my music on a cd. But if nothing can be done, I'm left with either recording the tracks from the store's own player and saving them as MP3s or downloading the songs from illegal websites. Because technically that wouldn't be illegal as I've paid for the tracks already... right?

What do you guys think of such means to sell music and do you think it's the way to go? Personally, I'll stick to buying cds as I'm such an old fashioned crazy old geezer!

[Tuomas]

I agree, it's not like I'd buy a painting via internet and only use in digital form. I'd never buy mp3 from the internet, getting additiong to my penis enlarging cd collection the exceeds several houndred is the thing for me. And most of the cds wouldn't be so great without the boxes and the leaflets. Just, stop doing them, and I'll resolve to stealing them from somewhere, but I don't think they'll ever go internet only.

[MrColossal]

I buy music from amazon's download service if the cd is on there, if it isn't I usually just give up and I won't look somewhere else. Jess buys things off of iTunes mostly and sometimes off of Amazon, she has the ipod so it's mostly iTunes.

My physical cds just go into my multi-cd case which means I have to do away with the plastic case anyway, if I want lyrics I just look on the internet and if I really want the album art I guess I can look at that on the internet too or have it automatically downloaded... But I don't see no album art as an automatic fail for downloading music off the internet.

Also, as per your situation, what service was it you used? That sounds crap to have to use their music player. You have to use a small downloader application for Amazon but it's really not that big a deal and is like 200kb. I guess that's why I don't use iTunes for downloading music, it feels too big and bulky when I just want a tiny program that plays mp3s and sits at the top of my window and is almost totally hidden.

[vict0r]

Unfortunately, I just can't be bothered to buy CDs or buy for download as it's alot simpler and easier to just download the songs for free.. I understand that this isn't morally or ethically right etc. but I can't get myself to feel compassionate. The only cd I've bought the last 7-8 years is the "new" Symphony X album, but only after downloading it first.

[riseryn]

Buying music through Internet (I mean buying CD) give to me access to the kind of music I love and I can't find in the supermarket. 

In France music is sold principally in supermarket as it was food and you can find only very commercial one. 

Except if your are living in a big city with a virgin store or a fnac( its like virgin store) you don't have a lot of choice and internet is the only way to order music. 

Internet also give access to small bands or artists which may sell directly their music without have been signed by a major. 

I knew my favorites bands thanks to internet, and I have never heard one of their titles on the radio. 

Concerning the difference between buying a song or a CD I have no problem to just buy a song as long as there is no drm on it preventing me to burn my own CD or listening it to different support. 

I have many problems with dvd legally bought but who don't want to play on my computer (I have no TV) and I have to rip them befor being able to watch the movie . 

Thanks to internet I can discover artists from different countries I had never known by the traditional distribution way.

[Obi]

No.

[Nikolas]

It is a type of DRM this...

I also like to have freedom, so I usually buy the whole CDs. If I want something that I know won't stand the test of time, youtube is there to give me pleasure... And actually from my end youtube is NOT illegal! So I'm fine there!

[Pet Terry]

Also, as per your situation, what service was it you used?

It's (apparently) one of the few "big" Finnish download services (NetAnttila, Finnish site only) and also the only one I've seen that makes the customers to install their own music player. There are of course websites where you just select the music you want to buy, pay for it and are given a download link to the files. And that's how it should be, too. I don't understand why they have seen all the effort to set up a system that just makes things more difficult for the customers. I want to be able to listen to all my music on only one player, goddammit!!

EDIT: heh, I'm actually starting to regret I saw all the effort to buy/download those songs, I just should have bought the albums and live with the less good songs!

[Neil Dnuma]

I do buy some music off the net, but never if there's a "protective" system like that. I like flexible files. Physical CD's I'm not very interested in anymore, all the plastic takes up so much space. I've put most of my collections in big cases, throwing the plastic out - same with most of my DVD's. Having the entire music collection on disk is much more convenient. With cover "art", it's no big deal. Most of it isn't particularly pretty anyway, and as written above, you can look at it on the net. I guess the only thing missing is the smell... This solution is better for the environment too, instead of ordering plastic and aluminium which are transported halfway across the planet in big B-52 planes.

I do like to pay for the music, to support the artists, and besides I have a job and can afford it. Back when I was a poor student I might have broken that rule, though.

[veryweirdguy]

I never buy albums online, I much prefer the physical releases.

HOWEVER I have been known to pay to download a single song or two in iTunes - usually rare b-sides or whatever. I could download them for free, sure, but I feel warm and tingly inside for having contributed to the artist. This is especially true of new, indie or up and coming bands who probably need the support.

However, after that I see no moral or ethical problem with removing any DRMy type protection for my own use.

[vict0r]

I do like to pay for the music, to support the artists, and besides I have a job and can afford it. Back when I was a poor student I might have broken that rule, though.

Good point.. If I were to buy all the music I've downloaded, I'd be in a huge debt.. I really can't afford buying music without having to cut down on other things.

[riseryn]

One question I often ask to myself before buying a CD is
"Do you like to see this band on stage?"
If the answer is yes, most of the time I buy the CD.
The real place for an artist is on stage, isn't it?
CD must be a kind of reminder of what they really play. 
It's true that CD is also a way to discover an artist, so what is first: egg or chicken?

[LimpingFish]

I've never illegally downloaded music from the internet.

I've also never bought music downloads either, but that's only because I still haven't seen a service that offers anything other than what I can already get from ripping a CD that I've bought myself. Plus, at least then I can control the quality of the rip.

It's a little bit more expensive to buy an actually CD, sure, but the difference in price is minimal.

Some musicians/producers are already starting to produce MP3-friendly mixes of their output, to compensate for the formats shortcomings, so I guess that's a step in the right direction.

But the majority of back-catalog stuff is just bog-standard CD rips.

[Tuomas]

So I would then presume they'd sell them in extensions better than regular mp3? I read in this hifi magazine where they made a blind test of speakers, players and stuff, that most of the people actually did find the original vinyl the best. I've got loads of vinyls myself, and nothing really beats the feeling of putting one in, dropping the needle and listening to the first cracks. Well, if I were to pay for digital format, I think it should be at least .flac. Not that with my equipment it would make a difference, but damn if there's even some loss, to me it would mean buying a cut out. Sure it's smaller, but still.

[Eggie]

I buy stuff off Itunes all the time.
The main problem I see with it that you can't return it or sell it on eBay if you decide you don't like it.

Then again, websites like Last.fm let you sample everything to hell before you've handed over a penny so the chances of buying music you don't like are acrually quite slim.

[Fleshstalker]

I usually do download for free. Why by the cow when the milk is free I say. The only CD albums I do buy are Iron Maiden or anything related to them. Also Helloween I sometimes buy if it's really good - which reminds me that I need to buy Gambling With The Devil  (best Helloween album since Keeper Part 1 &2).

[TwinMoon]

I never bought any music online, because I want something tangible. (I do buy rare stuff at online stores though.)

I'm still waiting for some kind of system where you pay for the royalties and get a license to get it in other media at cost price. Why should I buy the CD if I already have it in vinyl? I consider it legal to download an album for free which I have on vinyl - I ripped all my CD's as well.

[Domino]

Yes, I have been a Napster subscriber for almost 3 years now.

You can stream all the music you like plus download albums and tracks for a price.  I have bought quite a few albums off of Napster and then am allowed to back them up on a CD.

It is a great service, even though i don't like the price increase from $9.99 a month to $12.99 a month.

[skuttleman]

I don't like paying to download music. It isn't really that I'm cheap, it's just that there's something about paying for something that you don't really get to call yours that turns me off. When I put money out for something, I want a product. I want a physical thing I can hold up and say, "I paid for this." The whole digital-consumer age leaves me kind of high and dry, especially when so many things are available via the internet for free.

[CodeJunkie]

I don't pay for music downloads because I don't like the idea of paying to download something which has exactly the same end result as downloading it illegally, so you have little to show for your purchase.  In fact, buying online involves going through the paying system and possibly having a less flexible music format.  When commercial products are more cumbersome than their pirated counterparts (copy protection in games is another example) I will opt for the pirated version.

In fact I don't pirate music anymore, at least through p2p.  I like to have a physical product sitting on my shelf and to act as a kind of receipt to show that I like the artist enough to pay.  If it's too expensive I'll just take the mp3s from friends.

I know not paying for music is wrong and it feels bad, but seeing millions of others amass large collections while I'm throwing my money away feels worse.