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Underground > Radio & Music >

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby

14:46 / 18.01.02

quote:sleazenation:
er-- why buy the cd when you can download the song you want for free?

From this thread. sleaze's post has prompted me to look at my own purchasing habits a little more closely. Why do I buy music when all I have to do is load up Audiogalaxy?

I like having the artifact there in front of me. Consumer slut that I am, I also like owning the official package. The inlay, jewel case, sleeve, appearance of the disc itself, label, all have some impact on my enjoyment of the music. They're obviously far less important than the music held on the disc (LP or CD), but it's undeniable that the look of an album can colour my judjement of the music itself.

If I'm given a copy of a record or download a few tracks from one, if I like it enough I'll then go out and buy the thing proper. The same thing happens with films recorded off the TV; if they're good enough, I'll probably buy the video or DVD at some point.

Am I simply being a fool to myself in this? Does anyone else find themselves basing some of their view of an album on it's physical appearance?

[ 18-01-2002: Message edited by: Q. Randy Dupre ]

Matthew Fluxington

14:51 / 18.01.02

Lately, my budget dictates that I download more music than I buy, just to be cost effective. I tend to download music that I don't really know, I do a lot of 'research', I read up on things, then go on mad downloading sprees. I still buy at least five records per month...though that does sometimes include bootleg cdrs on the street (I bought the No Doubt record that way, for instance). I've had some xmas cash, so I've bought a good number of records this month...

If I had a lot more cash, I'd buy a lot more records, and still download like crazy. I'm an addict, baby.

16:03 / 18.01.02

I don't download songs because I'm not online at home, and I really don't think my boss would be pleased to see me doing that at work.

Used records have always been the way to go for me...I've not actually bought CDs off the street, I'm worried that I'll get home, throw the CD on and it'll be "Phreaky Polka Toonz" instead of "Radio Bengal"

Matthew Fluxington

16:14 / 18.01.02

The only thing like a bad experience that I've ever had with bootleg record guys on the street is sometimes the bootleg will be of the 'clean' version of the album, which is always terribly obnoxious...

I've never heard of anyone getting the wrong cd in the case...almost all of the bootleg guys will let you listen to the cd on their boombox if you insist...

I'm really impressed by the range of bootlegs being offered lately...it used to be almost exclusively hip hop/r+b cds, but now I see a lot of alt rock and other things floating around...