Buying Compact Discs in 2023 (and into the future)

[stoopid]

I'm noticing in the past 4-5 years (even pre-pandemic) that many artists are releasing fewer compact disc overall when a new album is released.  I'm looking at (3) new album purchases at the moment, none of them *demand* being purchased on compact disc although I may regret it if I end up liking the music enough to want it on a physical format. They're all selling for a bit more than I'd like to spend for what may amount to a handful of listens.  I suppose I could find the time to youtube the songs but I generally listen to albums in the car and not at my computer.

 

In recent years I've been buying CDs either directly from the band/label or off Amazon because it included the free, day-of MP3s (I think the service is called 'audiorip'?).

 

Thoughts on where to get new physical music?  At this point I'm going to impatiently wait for prices/demand to drop and hope there's still a window of time there's some CDs for sale cheap.  They're all major releases (Foo Fighters, Metallica, and Queens of the Stone Age) and should have availability for a while.

Edited June 20, 2023 by stoopid

[stoopid]

BTW -- Queens of the Stone Age have their new album available as a download on Bandcamp, which is compelling at $10.  But that's $10 I could be putting towards a CD copy and making my own MP3s/FLAC from that.

[grep]

I would have bought Signals 40 on CD if it had been offered and had live material.  But you know, suck. 

[blueschica]

I'm sorry, I'm not much help with new releases.  If there is a CD I want, I buy it used from Ebay or Amazon for like $3.00 , they are pretty indescructable; that doesn't help you for new music though.  At this point in my listening I am basically buying older stuff on vinyl or CD.

Edited June 20, 2023 by blueschica

[bluefox4000]

um.......i've gone almost completly digital.  Spotify has really been my way of listening in the past 2 years.

 

but if an album really blows me back i'll buy but it has to be REALLY worth it. honestly i'm glad not be a physical collecter anymore i don't have the room, lol

 

Mick

Edited June 20, 2023 by bluefox4000

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

I'm old school, I have a home theater system in my living room and a CD player in my car, and when I'm doing serious music listening on those systems I want my music in a lossless format. Buying an album in mp3 or m4a format is a subpar option for someone who cares about sound quality. CDs aren't even the best option sound-wise but they're better than compressed files. I'd rather have the physical CD with the album art and liner notes but as long as I can get original wav or flac files I'm happy.

 

Unfortunately finding CDs in big box stores is not much of an option nowadays, so we're forced to order online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, etc. And like stoopid said, getting them from the band's own websites is a good option when available.

[invisible airwave]

Last ones I got were PUSA self titled and Metallica Load in 2015.  Been doing vinyl since but very rare now since I have hifi streaming with Qobuz.  I only do vinyl for record store day lately.  Last purchase was Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction.  First got it AND Ritual De Lo Habitual on Real Player store of all places in early 2006.  One of my few not bought on iTunes store then.

 

Big difference from the CD version.  The CD and streaming versions have Pigs in Zen as the last track and not Thank You Boys.

[JohnRogers]

I swear I heard a couple of months ago that CD sales were starting to pick up again. Like the resurgence of vinyl. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by JohnRogers

[Union 5-3992]

I have a stereo system and like to play CDs through it. They just sound better to my ears. I also rip the discs in case they get lost/damaged. I jut like physically owning them. I'm not paying for the right to listen to them temporarily. I've also been picking up vinyl here and there too when I really like an album. 

[goose]

3 hours ago, bluefox4000 said:

 honestly i'm glad not be a physical collecter anymore i don't have the room, lol

 

Mick

I'm with you.  There are times when I miss all my old vinyl, cassettes and CDs, but knowing someone else is enjoying then - and storing them - makes me happy.

 

Spotify works just fine

 

edit: and YouTube

Edited June 20, 2023 by goose

[grep]

The thing is - I'm mostly digital now.  In the sense that I have an .mp3 collection.  I don't like subscribing to streaming as my main source of music.

I also like that CD's are tangible. You can see them. I also like still having a (now reduced) collection of them on display.  Alongside some vintage vinyl.

You can't see digital stuff.

[grep]

4 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

I'm old school, I have a home theater system in my living room and a CD player in my car, and when I'm doing serious music listening on those systems I want my music in a lossless format. Buying an album in mp3 or m4a format is a subpar option for someone who cares about sound quality. CDs aren't even the best option sound-wise but they're better than compressed files. I'd rather have the physical CD with the album art and liner notes but as long as I can get original wav or flac files I'm happy.

 

Unfortunately finding CDs in big box stores is not much of an option nowadays, so we're forced to order online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, etc. And like stoopid said, getting them from the band's own websites is a good option when available.

Not gonna' lie - I don't really mind the lossiness of a well encoded 320 .mp3.  I can hear the difference, but I don't care anymore.   It was more important to me to conserve space and get rid of most of the CD collection.  (digitized to mp3 with flacs for archival).

And yeah, I listen to this stuff through a 2000 era Sony component system with a subwoofer.  A little bit of tweaking on the equalizer, and they sound good enough.  That's what works for me anyway.

 

[bluefox4000]

52 minutes ago, grep said:

Not gonna' lie - I don't really mind the lossiness of a well encoded 320 .mp3.  I can hear the difference, but I don't care anymore.   It was more important to me to conserve space and get rid of most of the CD collection.  (digitized to mp3 with flacs for archival).

And yeah, I listen to this stuff through a 2000 era Sony component system with a subwoofer.  A little bit of tweaking on the equalizer, and they sound good enough.  That's what works for me anyway.

 

 

 

i'm with you.  CD'S are better sounding of course.  but i'm nearly 40 and too old to care.   i just enjoy listening to music howevever at this point.

 

Mick

 

 

[stoopid]

5 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

I'm old school, I have a home theater system in my living room and a CD player in my car, and when I'm doing serious music listening on those systems I want my music in a lossless format. Buying an album in mp3 or m4a format is a subpar option for someone who cares about sound quality. CDs aren't even the best option sound-wise but they're better than compressed files. I'd rather have the physical CD with the album art and liner notes but as long as I can get original wav or flac files I'm happy.

 

Unfortunately finding CDs in big box stores is not much of an option nowadays, so we're forced to order online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, etc. And like stoopid said, getting them from the band's own websites is a good option when available.

 

Similar here, I listen to surround music when I can (which isn't very often) and have been a fan of the higher resolution/surround format for a couple decades.  The CDs I own are mostly my favorites and haven't leaked from my media wall unit yet so I'm not out of room yet.  I treat these physical copies as archival.

 

As I've posted a few times on this forum, I don't trust the music industry to not hold my music hostage if given the chance.  The fact so many are reliant on streaming services as their source for music is right where I think the recording industry wants us.  Took them a while to come around, but they're clearly in control of who gets to hear music nowadays, and how much $$ it will be.  Most of the music I care about I'll be listening to for the remainder of my lifetime, so having a copy that isn't likely to vanish to no fault of my own other than someone else's bean counting driven greed is important enough to me to pay a small premium.

[stoopid]

1 hour ago, grep said:

Not gonna' lie - I don't really mind the lossiness of a well encoded 320 .mp3.  I can hear the difference, but I don't care anymore.   It was more important to me to conserve space and get rid of most of the CD collection.  (digitized to mp3 with flacs for archival).

And yeah, I listen to this stuff through a 2000 era Sony component system with a subwoofer.  A little bit of tweaking on the equalizer, and they sound good enough.  That's what works for me anyway.

 

 

For the car with road noise or on my cheapish earbuds, 100% agree.  For serious listening of any other kind, flac/wav/cd only.  Like you, most of my time with music is on the go, so MP3s are my most played file type.  But not my preferred.

[custom55]

Being a long time collector of hard-copy music ( LP, cassette, 8track, CD ) I've gone 99.9% streaming. 

 

All of my albums ( 800+ ) were destroyed during hurricane Floyd in 1999.  They were stored in my Dad's basement in crates and on pallets but 4 ft of water prevailed.

 

I had a variety of cassettes and 8tracks but I gave most of them away.

 

I still have a ton of CD's but most have been copies to hard drives so I rarely use my CD player.

 

The only time I'll but a CD is if it's a bootleg and I cannot locate it on:  Apple, Dime A Dozen, Bandcamp, Guitars101, etc.

 

 

 

 

[Entre_Perpetuo]

For a new album release, you’re pretty much tied to that msrp for the next year or so in my experience. Sometimes if an album does poorly, price points will lower. For instance, very very shortly after Green Day released their last album (also their most reviled to date) I saw it going for 6 bucks on Amazon… on vinyl. With the autorip feature too! But the middling to positive response towards QOTSA’s latest isn’t likely to precipitate that kind of price drop, maybe a buck or two in the next six months. And as for the Metallica album, forget about it. They’re never charging less than premium price, regardless of the quality. 
 

What I *would* keep an eye out for though is barely used copies from unsatisfied fans. Those do have a tendency to crop up here or there, and for those I would keep an eye on Amazon and Discogs. If you’re dead set on physical, but not so tied to peeling off the plastic wrap yourself, that’s probably your best bet.

 

As for the larger format wars conversation, I’m e said my piece around here before but to each their own.  Every format has someone willing to die a hill defending it. My only advice is along the lines of what Stoopid said a few posts back. You don’t know when Spotify is gonna pull the rug out from under you, and rest assured it’s in their best interest to try it if they think they’ll make a profit.  Same with any streaming service.  
 

(also they’re evil and greedy and artists don’t get adequately paid for their work, okay rant over)

[BastillePark]

I just picked up the new Foo Fighters at Target on my way home from work today. If I listen to music on Youtube or Spotify and like it well enough, I'll buy the cd. 

 

As for differences between .FLAC and any lossy file this study goes into detail about it with the relevant part being 

 

Quote

The analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in quality between the uncompressed signals and AAC-LC 320 kbps compression, which means participants did not perceive difference between two formats. It also showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the uncompressed signals and HE-AAC 48 kbps compression. This means participants could perceive differences in quality between the two formats.

 

In a vehicle the lossy files would be completely adequate except for those who swear they can hear a difference. 

[ST3V]

I'll buy CDs for albums that I really really love enough to want to have the full experience of having a physical copy. I'll also buy for a new release from a band whom I love that I will most likely enjoy, although I'm gonna be very picky on which bands I do that with.

Last purchases were Tears for Fears Elemental which was a simple Amazon purchase, and Asia's Arena which I had to go to Discogs for. That site seems to have a lot of sellers, very much a collectors friend.

[J2112YYZ]

3 hours ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

 

i'm with you.  CD'S are better sounding of course.  but i'm nearly 40 and too old to care.   i just enjoy listening to music howevever at this point.

 

Mick

 

 

 

I'm the same way. I don't care how anyone listens to it as long as they enjoy it. I don't like it when people have to specifically point out every time that they're listening to it on vinyl. Shut up! Listen to it on your dad's old eight track for all I care as long as you enjoy it 😄

 

I still buy CDs for bands that I already have the full discography of in order to keep things current. I have also bought CDs for newer bands I've gotten into over the last few years. They have smaller discographies so it's easier and cheaper to keep up with as opposed to discovering an old artist and spending hundreds of dollars on a massive catalog. I listen to everything on Spotify now though. I might spin a new CD a couple of times but that will be it. I pretty much have them now as a way of supporting the artist.

[bluefox4000]

1 hour ago, J2112YYZ said:

 

I'm the same way. I don't care how anyone listens to it as long as they enjoy it. I don't like it when people have to specifically point out every time that they're listening to it on vinyl. Shut up! Listen to it on your dad's old eight track for all I care as long as you enjoy it 😄

 

I still buy CDs for bands that I already have the full discography of in order to keep things current. I have also bought CDs for newer bands I've gotten into over the last few years. They have smaller discographies so it's easier and cheaper to keep up with as opposed to discovering an old artist and spending hundreds of dollars on a massive catalog. I listen to everything on Spotify now though. I might spin a new CD a couple of times but that will be it. I pretty much have them now as a way of supporting the artist.

 

 

I do enjoy vinyl but honestly it's so time consuming and the upkeep and repair turntables is ridiculous.  i just like hitting one button, lol

 

Mick

[blueschica]

3 hours ago, custom55 said:

Being a long time collector of hard-copy music ( LP, cassette, 8track, CD ) I've gone 99.9% streaming. 

 

All of my albums ( 800+ ) were destroyed during hurricane Floyd in 1999.  They were stored in my Dad's basement in crates and on pallets but 4 ft of water prevailed.

 

I had a variety of cassettes and 8tracks but I gave most of them away.

 

I still have a ton of CD's but most have been copies to hard drives so I rarely use my CD player.

 

The only time I'll but a CD is if it's a bootleg and I cannot locate it on:  Apple, Dime A Dozen, Bandcamp, Guitars101, etc.

 

 

 

 

Belated condolences on the loss of your albums!  Husband and I lost ours in a flood in 1989 (smaller collection, different flood, but yuck.) We took the insurance money and bought what we wanted on CDs at the time.  It turned out I missed my top favorite albums on vinyl so I have been slowly buying them back.     Everyone needs a hobby, lol.  

[blueschica]

5 minutes ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

 

I do enjoy vinyl but honestly it's so time consuming and the upkeep and repair turntables is ridiculous.  i just like hitting one button, lol

 

Mick

I have been listening to vinyl more lately since someone was kind enough to give me a Sony turntable, receiver and speakers on our neighborhood Buy Nothing group, I put it in the kitchen!  I usually meet people on the porch ( ha ha I have done it like twice only) but this guy had it all packed up in bubble wrap and wanted the box back; he came in and turned out to be such a nice guy and seemed to be happy his system was getting a good home. But yeah, turntables get weird after awhile.

[ozzy85]

2 hours ago, BastillePark said:

I just picked up the new Foo Fighters at Target on my way home from work today. If I listen to music on Youtube or Spotify and like it well enough, I'll buy the cd. 

 

As for differences between .FLAC and any lossy file this study goes into detail about it with the relevant part being 

 

 

In a vehicle the lossy files would be completely adequate except for those who swear they can hear a difference. 

This. Exactly. If I listen to it a few times  on YouTube and like it, I'll get a copy. I also don't trust streaming services. Like someone else said, what I get is what I want to listen for the rest of my life. I don't trade off/sell off stuff anymore. If I pull the plug on media, I'll still have my tunes. That goes for DVD/Blu-Ray also.

 

[stoopid]

16 hours ago, blueschica said:

I have been listening to vinyl more lately since someone was kind enough to give me a Sony turntable, receiver and speakers on our neighborhood Buy Nothing group, I put it in the kitchen!  I usually meet people on the porch ( ha ha I have done it like twice only) but this guy had it all packed up in bubble wrap and wanted the box back; he came in and turned out to be such a nice guy and seemed to be happy his system was getting a good home. But yeah, turntables get weird after awhile.

There's usually a reason new formats are invented and take hold.  In the case of vinyl, cassettes and then compact discs came along and supplanted its usefulness to the average listener.  Much in the same way the convenience and "good enough" audio quality of today's streaming services provides what the average music listener needs.  But I'm not average.  And for the record (har har), I was never much of a fan of vinyl and as soon as I started my own music collection as a teenager went with cassette and cd.  Now as an (older) adult in 2023, compact disc and the surround formats (which often are/include higher resolution streams) are the only ones left that appeal to my ears and wallet.  My music collection isn't huge, but it's quality and it's going to last me for decades more.  Which is all it needs to at my advanced age.

 

IMO the streaming services are best for people who treat music as background noise and/or who don't care if their music is taken from them.

Edited June 21, 2023 by stoopid