How do we buy music these days?....

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cookiemonster

Legendary Member
Location
Hong Kong
OK, I may well be a couple of iterations behind the curve here, but just how do we 'buy' music to keep/own these days?

I'm not about to subscribe to a streaming service, I want the files in my possession to load to devices that I can play whenever and wherever I want without relying on an internet connection. In the past I have embraced Mp3 and still have my music library in this format but with the hard file back-up being that I buy and store the CD version of any album I want to own as this is the ever-lasting, almost uncorruptible master copy from which the data copies can be ripped should a total data meltdown ever occur!

Just looking at buying a copy of the Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon album as it is 50 years old this year, as it happens so am I. :cry:

I was looking at CD versions when my clever 17yr old son pointed out that we don't even have a functioning CD reader at the moment as the desktop PC we did use has now been decommissioned.

So just what is the best, VFM method of legally downloading music to own (legal being quite important as I believe the artists and businesses that support/promote them deserve their slice for providing the music)?

I use Spotify and Tidal and I hook up to the internet and download what I want to listen to. Once downloaded, you can listen without internet. They will cost you more than 2 quid a month though.

I also use them to listen to music before buying on vinyl.
 

cookiemonster

Legendary Member
Location
Hong Kong
HOW MUCH? I buy maybe 2 CDs a year, so I'm looking at about £2 a month......

I pay 9.99 for Spotify and 25.99 a month for Tidal (my preferred streaming service) as the sound quality is superb. Far better than Spotify and you get videos too. Also, Tidal pay artists more money per stream.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
CD and Vinyl here..............MP3 is a 'compressed' format invented to make the files smaller and a decent quality system will allow you to hear the difference, I don't own a £3,000+ system to listen to an inferior quality format although I do have the ability to connect an MP3/i pod/smartphone to my CD player through a front mounted HDMI socket and have done so.
Preferred source is my Turntable although I could do with a new Stylus just haven't got the @£300 a new one costs at the moment
 

Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
This is perhaps the most useful post so far. I have previously bought CDs via amazon and also received the MP3 files alongside the physical copy. Was just wondering if that was the only/best way?

10 years ago I used to only buy mp3s from Amazon. But they didn't have as much music on offer than other streaming services. Depends how weird or underground your music tastes are. But I found most stuff I wanted. Then drag and drop the MP3 onto whatever you want.

I was against streaming at first, but there are now much cheaper ways of doing it.
I still don't understand having to "own" the CD or vinyl. By streaming, you own the right to listen to it legally and can download for offline listening later.
 

Julia9054

Guru
Location
Knaresborough
There's some merit in having a DJ choose for you though, you don't get stuck in listening to the same stuff all the time
Spotify also does this for you. Choose an artist and it will make a playlist of other artists that go well with it. Listen to an album of your choice and leave it running. It will pick things that go with it to play afterwards. I have discovered lots of new to me music this way
As has been said before, you can download on to your device and play without Internet. We pay £16.99 a month for a family subscription and there are 3 of us using it. It has 3 separate log ins so it doesn't lump all our musical tastes together.
My kids are both musicians. The bands they play in don't release physical cds any more but release new music via streaming services. It pays them bugger all unfortunately but physical cds cost a lot to produce and they wouldn't make any money from sales of those either (even if their fans were still buying)
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
Dark side of the moon, £8.99 for the CD with 'free' MP3 rip download. Looks like we have a winner and now in my Amazon basket waiting for another £11.01 of expenditure to get free P&P (wonder what other albums I might want to splurge on?)

Sounds like 10 months of your budget blown right there 🤣.
 

Rooster1

I was right about that saddle
I pay for Amazon Music which I stream on an Amazon Echo or a Sony Wireless speaker, and I have Spotify Free (my Daugther has Spotify Premium which I pay for). I still have a record player and a small collection of vinyl.
 

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
I get any music I want via Spotify nowadays, I am on my lads account, so free, but I would pay if he packed it in. Still have loads of CDs but no player rigged up at the minute. I ripped all my music to a NAS Drive but that hardly gets used because of the convenience of Spotify. I don't see the attraction of vinyl listening wise, my ears aren't good enough to pick out any difference and faffing about with LPs is a down side IMO, but I can see the attraction of owning the LP sleeves artwork etc.
 
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mustang1

Legendary Member
Location
London, UK
Screw Apple! I'm not about to sell my soul to something I will never own.

I didn't think this was an Apple problem but a music industry problem. The music industry (and movie industry etc) does not want you to own the music but only pay to have it stored on your computer to listen to. Or some such license bxllxxks like that. I don't like it either but whatever man, these business guys just wanna make a buck or a million.
 
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