tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848471753025049912.post2770979953231038980..comments2023-10-12T03:40:53.964-04:00Comments on These Gentlemen: Why I Don't Download MusicDavid Pratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09741107987673246357noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848471753025049912.post-35064715356050668412009-12-06T20:10:57.342-05:002009-12-06T20:10:57.342-05:00By the way - I left out the most important point; ...By the way - I left out the most important point; GO SEE LIVE MUSIC.TilderSmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02225979684723660429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848471753025049912.post-83304465903603841402009-12-06T20:09:57.154-05:002009-12-06T20:09:57.154-05:00I sympathize with the sentiments and the dilemmas ...I sympathize with the sentiments and the dilemmas of both the OP and the commenters... let me offer you the perspective of an "old guy." <br /><br />I bought my first record in 1974. Prior to that I held a homemade cassette recorder up to the radio to make mix tapes. You think you have heard bad quality from mp3's? I have easily 1000 lp's, over 800 cd's three suitcases of cassettes, a few irreplaceable 8-tracks (including the Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl) AND an 8-track player to play them, because I haven't figured out how to match the output impedance of the Lafayette 8-track... and now I have a .320TB hard drive that has nothing but music on it. NONE of this takes into account playlists burned mix tapes made, etc... at some point, if it really IS about the music, you learn to forget about the format and just focus on getting as close to the song as you can. I almost NEVER buy CD's, anymore - with one exception: when the artist(s) is/are there, and I know the money is going to them (and I can get it signed... the best thing I may have gotten out of my last relationship is the CD Chrissy Hynde signed for me at Sonar) <br /><br />Also, to me, iTunes is worth it because the quality is so much higher than standard mp3 encoding, and there are plenty of ways to rip the songs once you have paid for them... <br /><br />Less than 15 years ago, I was really more of an audiophile - my sound system was worth several thousand dollars MORE than my car: and it sounded amazing. but after a while, I realized I was listening to music less. Now, i usually have my iPhone, or a couple of pretty decent studio monitors hooked up to a Mac, and that's it... but I listen to music a lot more. As long as that's what it's about, it doesn't matter what format you employ. <br /><br />And by the way, kids (sorry): CD's ARE digital. I remember well when everybody was afraid "digital" was going to ruin the industry, the music, the artists... they were talking about CD's. Almost 30 years later, CD's sound pretty damn good. (Though vinyl still rules, and if you truly love a song, find a way to a 1/2" master tape. THAT will blow your mind.TilderSmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02225979684723660429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848471753025049912.post-29974467485397795862009-12-04T16:04:23.142-05:002009-12-04T16:04:23.142-05:00The "random one hit wonder" is about the...The "random one hit wonder" is about the only exception to the general rule, and even then its barely an exception, because I only have about 20 such downloaded, mostly from college, 5 of which are from Final Fantasy video game soundtracks. :P The only other download exception is 'In Rainbows' by Radiohead, because that's how they released the album. If I ever get a random craving for some random single song, I just listen to it once on YouTube.<br /><br />Usually, for one hit wonder-type songs, I try and find a normal avenue to getting them - either a various artist collection (the Motown "Hitsville USA" box set is awesome) or by finding out whether the one-hit wonder actually has more to offer - like The Buggles, aka the "Video Killed the Radio Star" guys, whose album 'The Age of Plastic' is awesome.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13313409866529435512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848471753025049912.post-46513884707137033002009-12-04T09:57:33.232-05:002009-12-04T09:57:33.232-05:00I say I don't download music, but compared to ...I say I don't download music, but compared to you I do. I utilize itunes for one-hit wonders I have no interest in purchasing a whole album over (although sometimes that backfires and I buy three songs from itunes and then get the whole cd) and I burn and trade mixes and whole albums with friends all the time. On that front, I'd say you're really missing out, because a great mix can be the best thing in the world.<br /><br />I agree with you at a certain point, though, because when I used to download free music it cheapened the whole experience. I would download 50 songs on a whim, and half of them would be labeled wrong, the other half would be bad quality or only part of a file, and they would almost all be utterly unlistenable. When it was free I would download songs that I ultimately found utterly unlistenable, and eventually I became unable to put my itunes on "random." So I weeded through my music collection and deleted all the crap (which took a very, very, very long time I must say) and stopped downloading. I'm a much happier music listener for it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14292773360697246224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1848471753025049912.post-85763946400383159242009-12-04T00:35:13.472-05:002009-12-04T00:35:13.472-05:00I personally love the ability to download songs - ...I personally love the ability to download songs - any song - anytime I want. But I collect things, and that's the viewpoint I take when approaching music downloading. I love the idea of having "complete collections," so if I get it in my head to download one song I typically end up spending quite some time finding everything I can from that artist as a result.David Pratthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09741107987673246357noreply@blogger.com