Anyone here still buy physical CD's?

Yep... but I buy all my CDs secondhand.

I go to an independent 2nd hand record store and look through all the CDs they have, and pick out what I like. Occasionally get a CD purely because of its artwork since the CDs are so much cheaper I like to take the risk every once in a while. I like the mysticism of it all. Don't know what's there and everythings not quite in alphabetical order because so many people have flicked through them all. I much prefer finding hidden gems and buying them rather than going to the store with a predetermined idea of what I'm going to get.

If it's an album by a artist I love like PJ, REM, Neil Young etc then I always buy the CD no question.
But with lots of new stuff, I have to admit to downloading. But if I like what I hear, I'll go out and buy the physical CD. That's just me. I like to have it in my hand.

So my message to artist who moan about illegal downloads is, make good music. That way I'll go out and buy it!

I am definitely a physical copy kind of guy, still blow through way too much money buying cds. I am like several others and like to have the artwork and the whole package to hold in my hand. I use itunes to acquire songs I wouldn't be likely to go out and spend the dough on the whole cd just for a couple of songs. Twice I have dl'd leaks of albums but only ones I knew I was going to purchase as soon as it hit the shelves anyway.
I suppose cd prices are a bit out of control, but WalMart (the evil empire that it is) is currently holding the industry by the balls and demanding more reasonable prices. It did the same about five years or so ago, but probably didn't have as much leverage as it does now in that battle. So I hope some relief is on the way....the only problem is that WalMart carries so little of the music I would purchase and I damn sure don't want to buy a cd with the dirty words edited, so unless the reduced pricing -- if that happens -- carries over to other outlets it won't do me much good

I still buy albums, LP's, VINYL, and used CD's MP3's sound like SHIT if you know anything about music, they are compressed music files that don't sound anything like they were intended to sound like.

So keep downloading all the free mp3 files you want, they sound horrible anyway, if any of the people that download all this crap had half a brain they'd go buy a used turntable somewhere and start listening to music the way it's suppose to sound. Or at least a decent CD player with a good Digital to Analog converter connected to it. WAKE UP young people you're listening to SHITTY sounding music.

Cob wrote:

I still buy albums, LP's, VINYL, and used CD's MP3's sound like SHIT if you know anything about music, they are compressed music files that don't sound anything like they were intended to sound like.

So keep downloading all the free mp3 files you want, they sound horrible anyway, if any of the people that download all this crap had half a brain they'd go buy a used turntable somewhere and start listening to music the way it's suppose to sound. Or at least a decent CD player with a good Digital to Analog converter connected to it. WAKE UP young people you're listening to SHITTY sounding music.

you said it all. mp3s are junk. unless youre downloading flac or shn, with free music you get what you paid for.

that 57% is a bit scary. now artist may not recieve much of the 12.99 cd price but the label is. if the label stops making money you think they will pay for artist studio time? we could very well face bands not releasing anything soon. if you want to hear new songs buy a ticket....... sure people will tape the shows but you'll have a pretty terrible sounding new album, compared to studio.

i will continue to support the independent record store until it is no more. i still thoroughly enjoy the moment of ripping that plastic wrap and sticker off of the case and popping the disc into the player for the first time. that feeling, yes, actual feeling, can never be replaced by watching a task bar or window tell me a download is complete. i am not against downloading as it is the most convenient and probably cheapest form of obtaining music which goes hand in hand with our impatience and lazyness. its nice to have everything at our fingertips and not having to wait until tuesday morning when the record store opens to get what we want. shit, in 2006, it was fantastic to have a recent pj show on my ipod within x hours after it concluded. as far as major releases though, i prefer to purchase a tangible product that hopefully compensates, albeit a silly percentage, the artist that granted us with the gift of music.

Cob wrote:

I still buy albums, LP's, VINYL, and used CD's MP3's sound like SHIT if you know anything about music, they are compressed music files that don't sound anything like they were intended to sound like.

So keep downloading all the free mp3 files you want, they sound horrible anyway, if any of the people that download all this crap had half a brain they'd go buy a used turntable somewhere and start listening to music the way it's suppose to sound. Or at least a decent CD player with a good Digital to Analog converter connected to it. WAKE UP young people you're listening to SHITTY sounding music.

and thus that is why I buy CDs of older music but download newer stuff if somewhat interested. Most stuff released today I will not buy because I cannot support something like that; when CD audio starts to sound like low quality MP3's you can count me out.

If I happen upon something new that actually sounds decent, I'll buy it.

I still buy CDs. I don't download, legally or illegally, because I still like looking at the artwork and having a physical object. I only buy CDs of bands that I know I enjoy and don't do the whole 'well I've heard so-and-so talk about BandX, so I'll pick up this album' thing anymore.

CDs vs downloading is one issue, and mainly a personal choice. Even though I still only buy CDs, I don't think that the ability to legally download a song or album is bad or shouldn't be done. If that's what you prefer then all power to you. Downloading legally vs illegally is an entirely different topic that the OP threw in. While still a choice, one option is a criminal action and the other is not. I do have a problem with downloading music illegally though. Part of that stems from having a mother who is a musician and hearing her thoughts on the issue and part of it is because of the struggling bands who sometimes can't afford to not get paid for their product.

The artwork issue is interesting.

When I was 15 I probably spent hours looking the artwork in my Pearl Jam CD's, but 10 years later I quickly flip through my new booklets and put the case away for months or even years at a time. Most of my listening time is spent surfing the internet, working or relaxing in the dark at night, so there aren't many opportunities to read lyrics and look at artwork.

I miss those days when I'd sit by the CD player listening to the same album 2 or 3 times in a row, examining the packaging.:)

wolfbear wrote:

If I like it I buy it. Simple as that. I enjoy having the 'whole' package as others have said. I do consider it stealing, and therefore won't do it.

but how do you know if you like it? you try it first.

It's not a generation thing.
I'm 36 and there isn't a single vinyl, tape or CD I ever bought without having listened to it first (apart from new albums of people I already owned the whole back catalog of).
In the past through a tape made by a friend or a copy of a CD borrowed at the library, now though download.
It's nothing new and in fact the internet expanded everyone musical horizon since it made music sharing global, your musical buddies are everywhere.

Now I do still, eventually, buy the CDs of stuff I like, but it's really just for the principle because the CDs are just gathering dust. I can't hear the difference between a V2 or V0 mp3 and a CD, so for convenience play the music through the PC (hooked to an amp digitally though)
and anyway listen to most of my music on the move (which is why I consider streaming services pointless).

I will not otoh, pay for a lossy format. Certainly not without a significant discount on what I pay for a CD, which is generally £5-$10, but then if I pay, I might as well get the full thing.
oh and never if DRMd..
DRM = no buy. ever.

actually, I think the decline of the 'value' of music happened not with the internet but with the switch to CD:
It went from something to value, cherish for its look (artwork works only really on Vinyl) and most importantly treat with care, to something light, 'undamageable', easily tucked away, copied (not necessarily bad things in themselves).
the way people treated the support moulded the way they thought about and treated the content.