Street Release or Leaks? (1 Viewer)

[Lucia Duran]

This my unofficial poll here...


When it comes to new music are you more likely to search the net for illegal copies and leaks or are you patient and wait just like we had to back in the day for the official street release?

For me, I use to love waiting for my favorite music store (PDQ's) to get in the newest releases. My friends and I use to make a day of it and skip school to go to our favorite record store and pick up our favorite bands new album. Since I knew a guy that worked there, he use to always hide a copy for me behind the counter.

I will admit that I do occasionally listen to the leaks of new music online, but sometimes there is something about just waiting for your favorite bands music to hit the streets when they are suppose to.

 

[Phil_L]

This is a tough one. I know Madonna's new album leaked, like most other albums nowadays, and I am trying VERY hard not to listen. I am still one of those guys who loves the experience of going to a record store and holding the physical CD in my hands. It's the combination of the anticipation of opening the darn packaging, the artwork and the tactile and sonic feel that is irreplaceable with digital downloads. I shop at Newbury Comics, an independent record store chain in New England and I love going in and digging through the racks. Something I will mourn when the brick and mortar record stores disappear.

Of course, I still buy vinyl, too. Does that make me a 30 year-old dinosaur??

 

[TravisR]

Same here.

There's been a few very rare instances that I've downloaded leaked records from my favorite bands but, since they're my favorite bands, I always buy the actual record anyway. And then since I've heard the record, the anticipation of hearing their new record is gone when I go out and buy it.

 

[Will_B]

I tend to search out advance review copies that turn up on ebay a month before the street date (from critics and radio stations that sell the discs rather than review them). I feel bad about buying a promo that will not be tallied in the album's sales, but, I'm impatient.

 

[AnthonyC]

It all depends on the anticipation--I'm more likely to listen to a leaked song from an album/artist that I'm not incredibly crazy about than one that I've been looking forward to for a long time. Weird Al officially 'leaked' two songs from his last album about a month before the release but I went out of my way to avoid them since I wanted the whole album to be a fresh experience. Of course, with more mainstream artists, it's harder sometimes--when STP releases their reunion album I know I'm gonna have to do a lot to avoid hearing the lead single.

 

[Ron Reda]

If it's someone I have an interest in, then I'll go ahead and DL the leak, but I almost always buy the actual physical copy (unless it royally sucks). Don't get me wrong, I used to love going to the store the day the CD went on sale, but sadly that experience is not what it used to be as you tend to hear some of the the songs some other way (blogs, web, commercial, TV show). I really don't feel bad DLing a leak though as I buy more CDs than all of my friends combined.

 

[Eric Peterson]

This pretty much describes my attitude on the situation. I'm really jazzed about the new "Testament" & "Portishead" CDs next week (nice opposites, heh?). Testament decided to stream the whole album on Myspace though and I finally brokedown and listened to it. I'm still anxious to listen to the album properly on the CD when it arrives, but my anxiety is greatly eased now and to some degree that disappoints me. Luckily, I have avoided all of the Portishead material even though several songs have popped up on the Internet.

 

[Ron Reda]

A bit off topic, but I finally broke down and bought "Practice What You Preach" on CD recently..it was one of my favorite CDs when I first got into metal back in the mid to late '80's. Not sure how the current incarnation stacks up, but I may have to go check.

PS - Wasn't there an Eric Peterson that played guitar with them back then?

 

[Eric Peterson]

Eric Peterson still plays guitar with them. He's one of my claims to fame!!

Actually, the original lineup is all back together for this latest album (minus the original drummer Louis Clemente). In my opinion, Testament is one of the only metal bands from that era (along with Slayer) that has totally bucked all of the trends and stuck to their guns and in fact have actually gotten heavier. This is the first album that Alex Skolnick has appeared on since "The Ritual" in the early 90s. As I mentioned, if you're curious check out their MySpace page.