To Buy Or Not To Buy

[andeer]

It's a moral dilemma. As you've probably already figured out, I'm talking about music. You have a couple of choices when it comes to music. These choices include, when buying, to go out and buy a CD or you could install a program like iTunes or Napster and pay per month or per track ($.99). On the other hand, you could download a version of Kazaa Lite or BearShare. Both ways has it's cons and pros. When you buy music, you are spending money, however, you are getting the actual music and you are guaranteed quality. When you download music off a shareware program, you are not spending any money, and you are sometimes guaranteed satisfaction.

In this thread, I'm going to cover what I've been thinking about for the last few days, and after reading some responses make some personal decisions on some stuff. "Some stuff" includes the purchasing of an Mp3 player, payment of Napster or iTunes, etc.

Personally, I think buying things is always better. Hell, I've bought WinZip. (Okay, I almost bought WinZip) That's the first question I ask, what are your thoughts about purchasing music on a pay-per-month basis using iTunes or Napster. Have you tried it? What kind of favorable offers does each program have? I know Napster has a monsterous selection of music that iTunes can't compete with, and I'm heavily leaning towards them, but is either one worth it?

Over the past couple of months, I've been thinking of buying an iPod. However, without a subscription to Napster or iTunes, and without Kazaa Lite or BearShare, I've got a problem. How am I going to download music to use on an mp3 player if I have no source of getting mp3s? Plus, even if I did have Kazaa Lite or something, all the latest songs are being fucked up by the RIAA or whoever. You know what I'm talking about, the annoying, almost repulsive screeching through out songs that makes you want to rip your lungs out and end it all. Thoughts on that, please.

So did you make your decision yet? Have you devoted yourself to buying music because you know it's the right thing to do and you're getting quality. Or have you decided that you don't need to go out and buy CDs with Kazaa's living head peeking out of it's already-buried grave, even though most new songs are ruined? Discuss.

[Jimmy]

I buy the music I like/listen too

[brentech]

I'm imagining that iTunes gives you the songs in mp3 format -- therefore that is the only reason I would use their site. (Napster uses .wmf)

Personally - I still go out and buy music...but I don't buy into that 1 hit wonder shit - so I only get CDs that I really like. And in the case of downloading - it is pretty rare that what I download isn't a live or free version anyways..so I'm not to worried about any of that.

I suggest purchasing music one way or another. Show homage to the bands you really enjoy.

BTW - if this thread becomes one of "use [insert download utility here] because i'm a warez fene. . ." then it's going to have to close down. Everyone needs to make sure they watch what they say here.

[Devil]

iTunes format is AAC, not MP3.

Here is my personnal thought : I would have never bought the CDs I bought if I didn't know the artists. All my knowledge in music came with MP3 sharing programs... I'm discovering new artis that are not part of the popular culture and that rocks ! I mean, how the fuck could I learn about all the underground band that are on the MP3 sharing programs ?

I know it's not legal, but personally, I discover or "try" the artist, then I buy the artist's CD if I find that he diserves my money.

The point is : If you buy a CD just because it's written on it that a well-known artist did it, well I call that a cult... I have to know if it's good before.

[andeer]

Devil - Good point, that's basically my dad's argument too. When people bring up the discussion of "stealing" music from people via shareware programs, my dad tells them about me. He tells them that his son uses shareware programs to download music, and if he likes the artist, he goes out and buys their CD. Therefore, it is basically just sampling. It's true.

Brentech - I thought Napster uses .wma, is that what you meant? Plus, Devil cleared up that iTunes uses AAC, which I imagine is a Mac format. So I think if I ever get into the $.99 deal I would have to go with Napster. And yeah, purchasing music is better.

One more thing, everyone covered the point that they still go out buy and CDs, but what are your thoughts about buying mp3 players? We've covered that iTunes uses AAC so that doesn't work, and Napster uses WMA so you can't get music from them. Kazaa and BearShare and other shareware programs are getting fucked up with that screeching noise, and I don't need to tell you how I feel about that. Plus, I know there's already a thread on what you use to download music, but could you post that in here too? Also, please don't post any links to shareware or warez programs because it's against the rules and the thread will be closed. Thanks.

[brentech]

I know it's not legal, but personally, I discover or "try" the artist, then I buy the artist's CD if I find that he diserves my money.

The point is : If you buy a CD just because it's written on it that a well-known artist did it, well I call that a cult... I have to know if it's good before.I agree with all of this, as I do the same.

And yeah - meant .wma
As for mp3 players, I don't see anything wrong with them. Just because it's an mp3 player doesn't mean you have to download music to use it. You can extract your CDs into mp3 format onto your computer (as I do) and then put them onto your player and what not.
My mom bought my dad an iPod the other day actually.

[andeer]

Yes, I guess you could spend money on CDs and buy an iPod, and just extract the tracks to your computer. I just tried it with a CD I recently bought, but Windows Media Player extracts it as .wma, not mp3. I won't be able to put that on an iPod.

EDIT: I just read on the Apple website that iPod supports such as MP3 and WAV, but not WMA. So that's good. The thing is, I don't have MP3s anymore. I just extracted my CDs to my hard drive and they're all WMA. Solution?

[brentech]

Don't use windows to extract the cds.
Go to www.downloads.com and download Easy CD-DA extractor. Puts it in mp3 format for you ;)

[fugazi]

Not ALL new songs are being messed up, if you look hard enough you can still find a good copy using kazaa or whatnot. I basicly use kazaa to sample stuff or just to listen to when Im on the computer (which is a good percentage of the day). I will admit I've burned full albums before mainly because I don't have a job so I don't get money often. I figure if I can buy 12 blank cds for 15 bucks and get 12 full albums that would normally cost me at least over 100 bucks then why not do that? I know you're probably thinking I'm a bastard who's ruining the the music industry but you should also be aware that the industry makes profits off recording accessories such as blank cds, tapes, etc. When I do get money however and I really like the band, I'll go buy their album. The only thing is, alot of the bands I like aren't popular so the albums cost quite a bit (for example I just purchased the My Chemical Romance album for 32 dollars + tax) and I can't really afford to buy every album for that much. Like andeer said, there's pros and cons to everything. I'm not fond of the whole 99 cents per song thing either. Like I said, I use kazaa for sampling so if I had to pay for every song I sampled with no gaurantee I'm going to like the song, it'd be just as expensive as going out and buying the entire album.

[MulletMan]

Heres a tip. Don't download songs that look PERFECT and have more than 50 people who have the song on kazaa. Download the songs that have maybe 10-12 songs. It works 8/10 times i figure.

Now, I don't pay for CDs, because I see no point. I dont even have a CD player in my house. When I get a CD player in my car though I plan on actually buying some CDs to play in it.

[andeer]

Don't use windows to extract the cds.
Go to www.downloads.com and download Easy CD-DA extractor. Puts it in mp3 format for you ;)
Thanks alot. I'll look into it once I find out if I'm getting an iPod or not.

Fugazi - Damn, I'm sure you could have found the My Chemical Romance album for a lower price than that. But the thing is, I've searched Kazaa Lite day and night for songs of the Thursday and Thrice albums and no luck whatsover. Screeching galore. Plus, I just installed Windows XP and I'm not about to risk chances downloading that ad/spyware infested parasite aka Kazaa Lite. BearShare is okay, but it's not very popular so it's hard to get those songs that aren't on MTV or another cable television music channel. (VH1, Fuse) And like you said, a lot of the stuff I like is not popular. I'll probably buy the MCR album soon. Thanks for your input.

[chrisv]

I like to have some tangible.

[MulletMan]

Some tangible what...?

[Liquor_Riss]

I thought Kazaa was the ad/spyware-infested parasite and Lite was clean? :?

[fugazi]

yea, supposed to be that way.

[MulletMan]

I heard e-mule was pretty good, and that it rivaled Kazaa in some places in Europe for the amount of users it has. My friend uses it cuz he says its the best for underground music that barely gets any recognition elsewhere.

[andeer]

I heard e-mule was pretty good, and that it rivaled Kazaa in some places in Europe for the amount of users it has. My friend uses it cuz he says its the best for underground music that barely gets any recognition elsewhere.
Thanks, if you could PM me a link it'd be much appreciated.

[Shamus]

I've taken a liking to buying music lately; it makes me feel good giving back to the artists that give me everyday joy from their music.

[Jimmy]

I've taken a liking to buying music lately; it makes me feel good giving back to the artists that give me everyday joy from their music.

Yeah, I bought some albums from Frear Factory, SlipKnot and Pantera the other day, feels better than downloading there albums.

[MulletMan]

I haven't used E-Mule myself, but for those interested, here are some links my friend has given me.

Home Page (http://www.emule-project.net/index.php?s=home)
Server List (http://ed2k.2x4u.de/index.html)
File Donkey Search (http://www.filedonkey.com/)

[chrisv]

Something tangible, I like to have something tangible.

[Shamus]

Touch your hard drive; it's not like the data doesn't really exist

[andeer]

Touch your hard drive; it's not like the data doesn't really exist
I'm guessing that was in response to Jimmy's post.

So did you make your decision yet? Have you devoted yourself to buying music because you know it's the right thing to do and you're getting quality. Or have you decided that you don't need to go out and buy CDs with Kazaa's living head peeking out of it's already-buried grave, even though most new songs are ruined? Discuss.
i don't like the proposed choices.

i choose to not pay for music. but i don't use kazaa or bearshare. i use IRC, Direct Connect, or Hotline. and i only download full albums at a time. however, most of the stuff that i get is not regulated by the RIAA. most is independant record companies.

but i do have 18 eminem albums :P

if you want details (i.e., chanels, hubs, servers), don't ask me here. contact me elsewhere, as these conversations aren't welcome here :)

PS
i legitimately own 39 albums and have well over 1000 illegit albums.

[MulletMan]

i legitimately own 39 albums and have well over 1000 illegit albums.

I would not say that's a good ratio.

[chrisv]

I love my CD collection, I own over 80 cds.

[fugazi]

I have about 40 but I hate about 25 of them. I went through a style of music change when I started playing guitar.

[andeer]

I love my CD collection, I own over 80 cds.
I'd love to build a strong CD collection.

By the way - I figured out what I'm going to do. I am going to continue to buy CDs, plus buy an iPod and extract all the CDs I buy to my hard drive using the program brentech gave me. (Thanks again) Then I'll just upload my mp3s to the iPod and blah, blah... Thanks for all the responses.

[chesh]

Hahaha! I have like 200!

[fugazi]

want a cookie?

[rocket.]

Hahaha! I have like 200!

I have eight.