This argument only really works when the artist/album is not available for purchase online in a digital format. More and more music is and now you can also support artists by paying for services like Spotify. Supporting artists no longer equals buying CDs. It's a dying medium which of course is something the record companies are aware of.

Lateralus, I get your argument about using CDs in the car. An alternative is of course to have a digital library, then just burn the albums you want to listen to while driving to CDs. All computers sold today have burners anyways.

I see the attraction in CDs because I feel it myself. It's when I compare the pros and cons that I think CDs are net worse. When I buy a CD, the first thing I do is rip it. Then I usually don't use it anymore - it's archived and the only joy I get from it is knowing I own it and looking at it now and then. It's good, but is it good enough reason to support the continuation of the whole CD printing and selling industry? I don't think so. To keep from cluttering my life with things I don't have a use for, I've adopted the philosophy that if I own something which I don't use somewhere between 6 months and a year, it's likely something I don't need that can usually be safely sold or thrown away. This goes for all my CDs.

So .. think about the amount of plastic bags you go through during a year. Think about the CO2 emissions from your car. Think of all the CDs you buy whose value by far can mostly be digitized. ;)

I get that point of view Tore but i would hate for all of my music to be in digital form, whether it was legally paid for or not. Having a digital library is fine, i like it, but i want the physical one more. I want the disc, the case, the artwork and the booklet.

My bitch about CD's is that they degrade over time. While my computer will too, I can transfer things to new computers and still have it.

CD's, which I am unbelievely anal about people not touching the shiney sides of, still scratch, skip, and fail. It drives me crazy that a CD I've had for 8 years finally dies, and I have to buy it again for an extra $9 because its no longer a "new release."

I enjoy having the physical album.
I'll download the album if I don't know them well or something like that, or if it's just a recommendation.
If it's an album I like or really want to hear, I'll buy it, I won't even consider downloading it.
I love the excitement of opening the packaging, and getting ready to hear an album you've been waiting for.

I work at a music store, and I have a sever cap on my monthly bandwidth, so I end up buying most of my albums (I get cd's for about $3 a piece, give or take) Also, I really enjoy vinyl, so if it's available and I really like the album I buy it on vinyl.

I will download an album if I've never heard the band before so that I can give it a chance before I spend money on it, but if I really like it, I end up buying it.

So I voted buy mostly with the occasional download.

i think if i had access to a constant stream of good cds, or even to the rummage sales like mojopinuk mentioned, i would be much more inclined to actually buy CDs. but i can't even remember the last time i was in a shop with CDs in it...

i suppose the fact that i have a 30 megabit internet connection with unlimited bandwidth and several terabytes of hard drive space also contributes to my tendency to download rather than buy. i can fetch a full album in under 30 seconds. hence my 150gb collection...

i love it when someone scans my music collection on my computer. it is such an ego stroke...

but i gotta play it cool

I hate to be off topic this bad, but I just wanted to comment to the fact that you actually referred to your internet connection transfer rate correctly.
It's joyful to me, as an IT guy.

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought an album but I typically go to on average 3 or 4 shows a month so I feel that I'm supporting the artists I like.

I love listening to new music and checking out artists I've never heard before so I think my downloading their albums before I buy a ticket is a fair trade.

I also was one of those people that hated my cd collection when I had it because of the amount of space the cases take up, and before that I was one of those people that hated my cassette collection because of the amount of space it took up. I love the fact that everything I want to listen to can fit on my external hard drive and my ipod which take up a combined space of less than one square ft.

not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. but hey - i'm proud of my collection! you should see how meticulously tagged it is :D

yeah i'm a geek too :beer: