Poll: Do you buy music online (iTunes, etc)?

I've made the first post but I never said that before.

what about the "I enjoy stealing money from poor, starving artists by doing the nasty deed of downloading with file sharing"?

I wouldn't mind it, but I haven't set up an account yet.

-- Pauley

I steal it then if its worth my attention I buy it if not it gets trashed.

I think that someone should set up a site where you can download the album then they will send you a hard copy for a few bucks more if you want it

Better sound quality and I'm always afraid I'll lose my files accidently.� I think being able to rip them to my computer and then put them on an iPod (when I get one) is pretty awesome though.

i don't have enough money to buy cds OR songs online!

Even though they get immediately ripped onto my hard drive and stuck in a box in the garage, I want my physical CD. I want to look at the liner notes. I want a full-quality copy if I need it. I want the collector factor.

This poll came about when I found out about Magnatune, which is an online record label who only sells MP3s, no actual CDs. To which my response was "huh?"

See, while I voted "CD only" (no working burner, no real interest in listening to all my music in one place) I think that's a good idea. I don't think I'd want to be on the label, but I imagine the costs are much less, and they can take more chances with who they sign.

For albums that I expect to want to be around long-term and with all the fixins (like Guster's latest), I'll buy the CD. For albums that I expect I'll grow tired of quickly and probably not listen to too often, but I definitely want to give a complete listen to (BNL's latest), I'll buy the tracks. And for albums that I'm a huge fan of the artist and want to get right away and have the physical disc (like Jim's Big Ego's latest), I'll do both.

It's not that I expect to lose the AACs or the MP3s or whatever -- I've got all of my "bought" AACs on three or four different hard drives already -- it's just that I can foresee the day when I decide to wipe out my collection and start again. And those bought tracks might not make it through the transition.

I misread - and jumped to the conclusion that it was a "buy CD's" online question.

So, unless you count the cell phone ring I downloaded for 99 cents, move one answer "b" to the "c" tally.

On a half-decent CD player they sound a lot better - I want to read the liner notes and/or the lyrics while listening and prefer a media that I can touch anyway. Playlists are too "virtual" for me. Hee. And what about CD release parties?

I definitely prefer to own the CDs, but I do have a few albums that I downloaded from eMusic back in the TMBG Unlimited days, and that I'll probably never buy on CD. I think it's fine if people are given the choice between downloading and buying the CD, but I don't like it if something is ONLY available for downloading, and not on CD at all.