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Post by Kapitan on Oct 16, 2019 20:12:41 GMT
B.E. posting an image of that Beatles singles box got me thinking, I have finally gotten to the point of buying almost no collectibles anymore, and in fact almost no physical product at all. While I was getting mp3s and such beginning in the late 90s onward, it was mostly for, uh, rare import style materials for a solid 10 years. Around 2010, I started defaulting to iTunes, but still purchased those downloads, and only bought hard copies of my favorite artists and the big box sets. These days, I do still tend to buy from iTunes (which of course is also disappearing soon, but that’s another story). But I don’t buy even the big boxes anymore. Made in California was the last physical set I bought, and that’s been a few years now. The reason is that frankly, I don’t go back to those physical materials often anymore. And so those box sets, however expansive, however appealing, just sit on a shelf collecting dust and being a hassle whenever I’m rearranging things or moving. And then I occasionally hear stories of people with collections built across decades that get ruined in a fire, in a flood, or that simply become unwieldy and unwanted when people age or die. What about you? Are you still a buyer of physical products / collectibles? Do you make use of them, or do they just sit in a room (or in storage) somewhere?
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Oct 17, 2019 14:56:08 GMT
Over the past few years, I've bought more physical music than I ever did before. Mostly it's because in my youth I never had much disposable income to put toward amassing a collection, and I moved around a lot, too, so I never was much for collecting, though it was always a dream. I imagined that one day I'd have an enviable music collection, but in the meantime I relied on radio and mixtapes from friends.
Then iTunes became a thing, around the time I started to have money, and the download-fest began. I shudder to think how much money I've spent on something that I can't even hold in my hands. I'm happy to support the artists, but it does make me nervous and every time I buy something digitally, I tell myself I'm going to "solidify" it onto a CD, just so I have a physical copy of it. I have yet to do that, but it's a project I'm planning on undertaking soon, because this iTunes going away thing makes me nervous.
I've been buying less and less digital music since I started collecting records - the first vinyl album I ever bought was Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, in 2013, before I even had a turntable to play it on. The turntable soon followed, and the collection began. Actually, I kind of lucked into an instant collection when I was digging through my grandmother's basement in 2014 and found crates of records belonging to my uncle. When I asked I could borrow a few of them, he told me I could just have whatever was down there! I think it was about 65-70 records that I took home with me over the next little while. I still check down there every time I go home to see if anything else wants to come live at my house. But I've been adding to it with new purchases as well. I think I have about 250-260 records now.
Anyway, an odd thing that has been happening recently is that CDs are starting to find their way back to me as well. In my 20s I had a small CD collection that I kept in one of those folders (I don't even know what happened to the cases, they're long gone, unfortunately). But with the unease I have about downloading music from iTunes these days, I actually prefer to buy the CD, if it's something I can't find on vinyl for a decent price. I now have a little collection of newly bought CDs forming next to my turntable. It started out as a wee stack, and the stack got too tall, so now it's a couple of shoeboxes. I never would have imagined that I'd start buying CDs again, as well as continuing to collect vinyl. What a funny thing to happen.
Regarding box sets, I wonder if it's some residual "I can't afford that" mindset that prevents me from going all-in on those, even though I could shell out the cash for them if I wanted to. I have a couple of the Beach Boys CD ones (Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations) and a couple of years ago I bought that Christmas Beatles one. I have to admit that Beatles singles set looks very tantalizing! With a birthday and Christmas coming up, I may just find myself adding that to my collection.
EDIT: I should add that despite how much I wanted that Beatles Christmas box set and how excited I was when I bought it, I have never played it. I opened it up, looked at everything and read the booklet, and then put it away. This Christmas I will play it, for sure.
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Post by kds on Oct 17, 2019 15:40:29 GMT
I still buy CDs, though I don't really go for the big deluxe super collectible sets anymore. For the most part, my CD's are in boxes in the basement, not being played. But, since I let my Spotify Premium account lapse, I think I'll be going to them more often.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 17, 2019 17:36:44 GMT
I'm still a CD fan and I don't see that changing. I listen to them in my car, in a boombox in my bedroom, and then I'll take the CD and upload it to my computer. I just love making comps, burning them to CD and giving them away. Hopefully they (CDs) will hang around for awhile yet. Amazon is still my go-to source. Although I thought the same thing about vinyl and cassettes, I can't see them disappearing. I just think there has to be a "physical product", but that's how I grew up I guess.
If I REALLY want an oddball, specific track, I'll break down and purchase an mp3.
As far as boxed sets, I don't buy many of them anymore because the only ones that get my attention are by my most favorite groups, and I usually already have 90% of the material on the boxed set anyway. Do I want to splurge for just a couple of tracks? They better be worth it!
EDIT: If I want something quick, cheap, and maybe it's the only place available, I'll download the track from a YouTube video.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 17, 2019 20:14:02 GMT
Thinking back to when I began buying music, that’s a whole other story. I started buying cassettes at age 11, using whatever little bits of money I had from little jobs (paper route, various yardwork for people, then eventually Dairy Queen, then teaching guitar). It began with two tapes—Europe’s The Final Countdown and Stryper’s To Hell With The Devil, but eventually expanded to probably 300 or so albums by 1994 or so, when I switched over to CDs. Then for the next 10-15 years, it was CDs. I replaced many of my old cassettes (though not most of the metal) and my taste kept expanding. So did my budget, thanks to becoming an adult and having real jobs! That’s how I got into the however-many thousand I’ve got now. I don’t even have a clue, frankly. I know one of my racks holds 1,000, and just eyeballing it, I’d say that’s between a fourth and a fifth of my collection. But as I said earlier and as KDS said about his, most of it just sits in the basement most of the time. Then you get into iTunes, where I’ve probably got at least as much music as is on those CDs, with maybe 10% or so of it duplicated. But like bellbottoms, I’m a little nervous about the digital-only stuff. In fact, I got the notification to update my Macbook (which holds all the music) to the new operating system, and that’s the one that doesn’t use iTunes anymore. They SAY everything will be retained and still work smoothly, but forgive me if I’m not entirely confident in that. I’ve been waiting a week or so now to do the update, but obviously at some point I’ll need to bite the bullet. I think I’m going to at least save it all onto a hard drive first. But burning it all to discs would take an eternity … and CDs aren’t exactly foolproof, either. The last car I got was a 2012, and it still had a CD player. But I know many new ones don’t have them. The new Macbook doesn’t have one. Is a gigantic stack of unplayable CDs any better than a hard drive full of unplayable mp3s and AACs? If there’s one thing we can depend on, it seems that it’s record companies will always find a new way to part us from our money to buy the same thing over and over again.
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Post by B.E. on Oct 22, 2019 23:57:50 GMT
What about you? Are you still a buyer of physical products / collectibles? Yes, but only for my most favorite artists and only very specific releases. Ultimately, I think we can trust streaming services to be there for the core catalog of major artists, but that's simply not good enough for me when it comes to the Beatles, Beach Boys, and a few others. Box sets are exactly the type of release that I think are most likely to disappear from streaming services. Take the Pet Sounds Sessions box set, I never purchased it because it was available on Spotify - it's no longer available. These days my BBs 'vocals only' playlist on Spotify has a lot of blacked out tracks. When I was collecting John Lennon's solo albums on CD in the early 2000s, I unknowingly purchased the then-new remixes. In 2010 his solo discography was reissued using the original mixes. A new box set was also released. You can't stream the remixes or his first box set, they've been superseded. Also, if you're interested in mono mixes, you can't rely on streaming. In these instances, I still prefer to purchase physical copies. Though, cost is always a factor. If it's significantly cheaper on iTunes, I'll consider purchasing there. No doubt, though, I'm purchasing physical copies less and less. I've even started purchasing individual tracks on iTunes (e.g. previously unreleased tracks on compilations). Just a few days ago I was considering purchasing Dylan's mono box set, but as of now I've talked myself out of it.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 23, 2019 0:01:11 GMT
I bought that Dylan set when it came out. Gotta admit it’s pretty cool to have. And definitely I know what you mean about things vanishing: it’s what worries me about streaming only and why I STILL haven’t updated my OS on MacBook, as it’s going to eliminate iTunes. They say it’s safe...
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Post by B.E. on Oct 23, 2019 0:11:14 GMT
EDIT: I should add that despite how much I wanted that Beatles Christmas box set and how excited I was when I bought it, I have never played it. I opened it up, looked at everything and read the booklet, and then put it away. This Christmas I will play it, for sure. Have you heard the Christmas messages before? If you haven't, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I listened to them for the first time a Christmas or two ago and I really enjoyed it. If you're a Beatles fan, and celebrate Christmas, I definitely think it's worth listening to once a year. In that sense, I kind of wish I had picked up the box set. Due to its seasonal nature, you're more likely to take it down off the shelf, periodically (even if that period is a year long!).
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Post by B.E. on Oct 23, 2019 0:15:01 GMT
I bought that Dylan set when it came out. Gotta admit it’s pretty cool to have. And definitely I know what you mean about things vanishing: it’s what worries me about streaming only and why I STILL haven’t updated my OS on MacBook, as it’s going to eliminate iTunes. They say it’s safe... You guys are scaring me about iTunes! I need to read up on it. I've always maintained an iTunes library, used an iPod, etc...
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Oct 23, 2019 18:31:41 GMT
EDIT: I should add that despite how much I wanted that Beatles Christmas box set and how excited I was when I bought it, I have never played it. I opened it up, looked at everything and read the booklet, and then put it away. This Christmas I will play it, for sure. Have you heard the Christmas messages before? If you haven't, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I listened to them for the first time a Christmas or two ago and I really enjoyed it. If you're a Beatles fan, and celebrate Christmas, I definitely think it's worth listening to once a year. In that sense, I kind of wish I had picked up the box set. Due to its seasonal nature, you're more likely to take it down off the shelf, periodically (even if that period is a year long!). I haven't ever heard the Christmas messages! And I have actively avoided them in any other format or location because I want the first time I hear them to be when I do finally listen to the box set. I'm going to have to set myself a date to do this, and now you have me very excited about it
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Post by kds on Oct 24, 2019 15:55:56 GMT
If there’s one thing we can depend on, it seems that it’s record companies will always find a new way to part us from our money to buy the same thing over and over again. Especially since the companies know that legacy act product is more likely to move physical product that newer music.
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