Note to the RIAA: I just bought my first 3 CDs in 7 months (1 Viewer)

[Joseph S]

Well, today I received my brand new iPod and decided I needed more music. So what did I do? I went out and picked up 3 CDs of music I had previously obtained via limewire. Yep, I already had a bunch of these songs on mp3, but I wanted the whole album and wanted to convert them at higher bitrates so I bought the albums.
My DVD:CD purchase ratio today was 7:3, not bad considering the previous numbers. I've probably bought 200-300 DVDs in that time and 0 CDs(w/1 DVD Audio, and 5 Concert DVDs)
[DVD: Sopranos 2, Star Trek, Final Fantasy, Legally Blond, On the Waterfront, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Empire of the Sun
CD: Lenny, Ben Folds-Rockin', Alien Ant Farm]
You wonder why the number of CDs bought continues to decline?? I don't listen to the radio much, study a lot, and watch movies when I've got the time so I don't get much exposure to new stuff. Napster, Limewire, etc. give me a chance to try out what that interests me.
Why they chose to go down the road they have is beyond me. Hopefully a new kaza client for OS X or my Win 2K machine will put be back in the swing of things. However, they've lost out on a great deal of money over the past year and a half.

 

[Brian Perry]

Why they chose to go down the road they have is beyond me.

You mean going after Napster?
I think you answered your own question. Without the ability to obtain MP3s, perhaps you would have been inclined to make a few CD purchases.
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[Joseph S]

You mean going after Napster?
I think you answered your own question. Without the ability to obtain MP3s, perhaps you would have been inclined to make a few CD purchases.

Yeah, that seems to be their reasoning, although I'm not really talking about just Napster. It was getting to the point where mp3s were becoming a positive marketing tool at places like CDNow and artists websites. Now, it seems they're backpedaling into a state of total private ownership.
Unfortunately for them, what I didn't/don't hear I didn't/don't buy. It was the ability to easily obtain AIFF/MP2/3s that lead to purchases throughout college at a rate similar to that of my current DVD purchase rate. However, I can buy a DVD on a whim, because I can get most of my money back if I sell it. That isn't so with a CD and thus I'm less likely to randomly pick something up because I'll lose half the purchase price just for trying it.

 

[Peter_A]

Without the ability to obtain MP3's?
I hate to tell you this, but it's just as easy to get MP3's now as it was with Napster. Try Morpheus, Audiogalaxy etc.
The death of Napster ment nothing, except more alternatives and choices.

 

[Joseph S]

Try Morpheus, Audiogalaxy etc.

Opennap and limewire are pretty much it for me since I don't like using my HTPC outside of it's use. There are currently no Kazaa/Morpheus OS X clients and the Audiogalaxy client(MacSatellite) has been buggy to say the least. I don't have the time for trying 50 limewire downloads just for 1 song and have been willing to put up with my stash of music for when that time comes.
(Actually there are a lot less for me nowadays, my university had a LAN full of somewhere in the order of a million songs dispersed among several thousand computers (at peak) and capable of download at 1100k/s. Where do you think all those files originated and were dispersed from?

)

 

[Paul_H]

I am not sure how file sharing is affecting CD sales. I find myself buying some CDs from groups I would have heard no other way, and I have delayed purchases because I have an mp3. There is a large group of people who either don't care or don't have the equipment to even notice the difference in quality. RIAA missed their prime opportunity by not setting up legal services quickly(or even slowly now) to consumers. They could easy slow these "competitors" by putting together a large organized high bitrate library of artists but the details have proved hard to agree on.
I think as high speed internet access spreads consumers like you will start downloading DVD quality videos too. A faster connection and bigger library of people who rip DVDs are the only things that are keeping you buying. Or maybe the movie industry has only mobolizied against decss. I typically buy used CDs and DVDs because I can't afford to support my music habit at $13.99-$19.99.
By the way I checked Georgia Tech's dorm network lists 1027.15 GB! of music which is only a fraction considering this is shortened ip range, not everyone is on the neighborhood network and sharing their music.
Paul Hagan

 

[Jeff]

I've never had a problem getting any MP3 from Audiogalaxy.

 

[TheoGB]

Heh heh.
I had to buy an MD player/rec just to listen to my CDs enough. I can't be bothered with MP3's except for obscure unreleased bootlegs and so forth. Just not worth it.
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