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[Poll] Music: Rent or Buy? (2018)

As a basic approach - Rent or Buy your music?


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    223
  • Poll closed .
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For music I really like and want to listen to repeatedly, I buy a download (Redbook or hi-res)
For music that is less important to me, or just to explore - streaming.
Streaming pays for itself, as I use it to decide that some albums aren't worth buying, when before streaming I might have taken a chance on them unheard.

Pretty much the same here, except I still buy the occasional CD (new or second hand) and rip them.
 
This is a funny one for me, I’m a long term subscriber to Qobuz and use it a lot, including in the car. However I still spend more on vinyl, some of which I buy after hearing an album on Qobuz!
 
Rent. Listen mostly to Tidal and radio through Bluesound Vault 2, plus pre-streaming purchases as ripped CDs (FLAC files). Very happy with sound quality of all channels.

Have a modest (c.250 albums) vinyl collection but haven't put one on in months. I've thought a lot about moving the vinyl on, having realised that many records new and old are in bad condition and sound pretty poor. The price of new records has become absurd. And I would have to spend a fortune to get a RP sounding as good as the Vault 2. I would also welcome the simplicity of running the Vault 2 with a power amp or active speakers. But will probably keep the records "just in case" I resume listening to them.

Occasionally there's something I really need that isn't on Tidal, or it's an artist I'm in the habit of buying everything by - and I will get that on CD or vinyl. But that's down from a few a week to a few a year.

For me, I've got the SQ as good as I need it and the convenience. There's more good music on Tidal than I could ever listen to. Great!
 
Rent Tidal for digital. Only buy a CD when the album or artist is not available.

Buy vinyl. Mostly used records, but also some new releases from the higher quality labels.

Poll needs a 3rd choice.
 
The record company gets paid. The musicians might, if enough other people buy the CDs and the downloads.

Artists get royalties for vinyl too. The rate may differ from contract to contract, but often out of CD, vinyl and download royalties, download royalties are the lowest. That's why it's nice to use bandcamp if the account is run by the artist themselves. But bandcamp sites are often run by the record company anyway.

All pay better than royalties from streaming, however, unless the artist is a big fish.
 
I rent via Spotify and use it to see whether I want to buy the album, then I'd probably buy the (often) secondhand cd as well. While I know that Spotify has its detractors as far as royalties are concerned, the artists will at least be getting more than they are from the secondhand cd/vinyl market. I would then rip the cd and store it in a cupboard along with the others, but it's surprising how few of the ripped ones I actually end up playing.
 
Both, as mentioned used CDs are almost the cost of postage, so I buy an average of one CD a day, damn you music magpie, rip & box them up. I actually ripped so many CDs that I broke two of those laptop style drives and had to buy a real CD drive, some ancient Freecom external DVD burner, which has proven very solid when faced with 100 CD sessions.
 
Rent. Tidal SQ is excellent. What I like which is not in their catalogue i either have on ripped CD or vinyl.
 
I only listen to classical music & whilst I buy very few CDs these day, I do not subscribe to any streaming services at all nor do I think it likely I will do so in the foreseeable future. My most recent purchases have mainly been vinyl having returned to the format last year after a 25+ years absence & I am using the format to explore different music - mainly concertos & other smaller scale & shorter works. However opera purchases continue but on blu-ray now so I can watch as well as listen, using Radio 3 HD i-player as my initial area of exploration where I can have a few listens to get into a piece better than a single listen on live radio. I also still do quite a lot of casual listening to Radio 3 & Classic FM. Regarding relative costs there are some very cheap good quality bargains on vinyl whereas opera on blu-ray is necessarily new & expensive being a fairly recent development. I have also bought some hi-res pure audio blu-ray which falls into the more expensive category but not unduly so, however the catalogues are fairly small & often music I already have. Physical ownership of the disc is a factor in my decision to continue purchases as however cheap renting may appear to be, in the longer term it is likely to be more expensive as physical discs can be sold - although I have never done so. Another factor is streaming would require more purchases of kit unless I use my laptop as I do with Radio 3 HD & as I understand things, the streaming market in classical has a number problems.
 
I'm buying a lot of vinyl again, mainly those mastered from "original" sources and trying to avoid labels like MOV as I don't know what source they are mastering from. Still buying the odd SACD when they become available. Generally avoiding CDs' unless an interesting new box set turns up or some new, weird Japanese format (Platinum SHM CD etc). I have a full fat Tidal subscription and stream from that when using Roon but too many gaps in terms of available music compared to Spotify so also fill in the holes from my ripped CD library.
 
I was bought up on Reel to Reel, Vinyl and CDs. Now cds are cheaper (thanks to streaming) and the SQ on cds for me always on average have been good (and still are good), they even sound good on my car audio! Presently I rip cds and the thought of streaming for £10 or £20 a month by direct debit for music I will not own is simply unacceptable for me. Maybe if I was much younger without the experience of 'owning' music I would be interested in streaming music and most probably have instant access to a wider range of music...
 
Purchased media for me at the moment, although this may change as subscription services become cheaper.

For now, I'm buying secondhand CDs to explore new music - and buying key albums from favourite musicians as a HD download (when available). The current low value of second hand CDSs make this an attractive proposition as the collection is personally curated, cheaper than streaming, and once ripped, the CDs are a collection back up that can be stored in the loft.

Over the last few days, I've taken advantage of the Winter Music Magpie sale (ends 14/1/18) and purchased 36 CDs - and with the discount / 2 for 1 offer, the final price per CD came to roughly £1.69.

Same for me. I've purchased a lot of discs from Music Magpie and have been very pleased. Only 1 or 2 weren't in good enough condition to play. I haven't got through a quarter of them yet.
 
+1 I continue to buy CD's, of late more second hand, mostly ripped to Media Monkey on dedicated computer. Some hi Res downloads as tests, but can't hear a difference. The radio is a part of my listening pleasure, also have the tv connected into the hifi mainly for the music on BBC 4. Guess I'm a buyer?
 
I am definitely more of a buyer than a renter, even though I have access to both. I just hate the idea that if I stop a subscription then "my" music collection disappears, but I do have the facilities to rent/stream and keep giving it a poke.
I buy quite a lot of CDs from charity shops just to explore stuff and (usually pre-owned) stuff from online stores when I've heard and liked it on the radio, at a hifi show or wherever. I have all my CD's ripped losslessly to a NAS and can stream them but I've never quite found even the best music browser apps a match for casting my eye over a shelf or three of CD's.
I use Spotify Premium mainly to browse, and I buy what I like - partly to get more of my £ to the record company/musicians et al and partly because of the sound quality.
I do like vinyl but confess to finding it a faff for regular listening - I tend to keep it for those special moments or evenings when I can sit and indulge myself.
I've just replaced my Squeezebox/Arcam iRDAC with a Bluesound Node 2 which makes the whole ripping, finding and playing process much more straightforward. I have yet to do a direct comparison of actual CD vs ripped-to-NAS CD regarding sound quality... but even if they were identical, I struggle to imagine this being my primary route to music, whether ripped versions of what I've bought or straight rented stuff.
Getting old then...
 
I'm not sure if I voted in the past, but I've just started streaming from amazon at xmas after much thinking about various solutions for about 6 months...and after buying the audioengine B1 bluetooth receiver and attaching it to my hifi, I'm not sure if I need to buy another cd...
 
Remember that when you buy a cd you don't actually own the music. You own a bit of plastic with a licence to listen to the music on it.
 
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