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May 17, 2006
Why Do I Still Buy CDs?
I should have gone completely digital years ago; what's the problem here?
I had a killer trip to the record store a week and a half ago. Absolutely killer. Six CDs purchased, all winners. Seriously, not a dud in the bunch. I really couldn't have been more pleased about the whole mission. I imagine the music industry is quite pleased with me as well. Six CDs? That's quite a haul for a single trip to the store.
The question is, what the hell am I doing going to store? This is 2006. Shouldn't we all be buying all of our music through online download services by this point? At the very least, shouldn't I be buying all of my music though online download services by this point? I actually worked for a digital music retailer in 1999. It isn't that I like CDs. Actually, I've been keeping all of my music digitally for years (for which I highly recommend an external hard drive). When I moved out here to C@L, I stored all of my CDs in boxes in the closet. So why, seven years later, do I still go to the store and buy CDs?
It's a fair question, and I noodled on it for a bit. My two big reasons:
(1) The DRM is still a hassle: I've tried a couple of the download services. I've done iTunes and MSN Music. Downloading the music was a pleasure. No problems. The retail environments were lovely. The problems started when I got the products home, where home equals "my computer." Maybe I'm an edge case, but once I buy music, I want to be able to take it lots of places. I have a home PC and a work PC (I share my music between them using this nifty little app called Foldershare -- very cool, easy to use, worth a look). I have two portable players (luxurious, I know). And I have an XBOX 360 that I use to play music as well.
The problem is that when I bought the music from iTunes and MSN Music, the files didn't want to go anywhere else. Sure, the iTunes played nice with my iPod, but not with my other player. And they worked fine on the first PC, but they didn't work on the second. So my hack solution was to burn the music to CDs and then rip those CDs back onto the CDs in MP3 format.
So I get the whole DRM thing. They didn't really have a choice. People had been stealing from those folks for so long that I can understand that they're a bit paranoid. But the solution, and the lame platform competition among the different formats, is complete crap for consumers. Or at least it's crap for me, and I don't think I'm so much of an edge case here. Essentially, I'd rather buy the CD and rip it to my PC than download it, burn it, and then rip the copy. One fewer step.
(2) I Have A Fantastic Local Record Store: Before I moved to C@L, my bread and butter for buying music was picking up used CDs through Amazon. I could find most things I wanted at great prices that way. I know that the music industry doesn't approve of that quite so much, but hey, at least I wasn't stealing it. Since I've come out here, though, I've been a regular and enthusiastic customer of Easy Street Records. It's a great spot -- the selection is fantastic, the prices are reasonable (most new releases are $10.99), and the stuff they promote tends to be the stuff I like. Maybe I've been a bit conditioned by KEXP, but pretty much everything I'm looking for when I walk in is sitting in one of the racks in the front of the store. Also, their listening stations are extremely well stocked, and the used collection (at reasonable prices) is pretty deep.
This is all a long way of saying that one of my favorite things to do in C@L is wander into Easy Street Records on a Saturday afternoon and drop fifty bucks (I'm about to fill my second 15-CD frequent customer card -- yikes, I know). It's a happy place for me. That'll probably change a bit during the summer (when Saturday isn't 50 degrees and raining every week), but I think I'll still have room for the occasional weekend trip. I haven't had a record store I've enjoyed this much since I ussed to go to Cheapo CDs in Austin.
So that's my story. If someone out there has a better idea for what I should be doing here, do let me know. I'm certainly open to suggestions, but until they get the DRM sorted, I think Easy Street Records will continue to have a very happy and loyal customer.
Posted by thatkid at May 17, 2006 7:42 PM under
Stuff To Buy
Comments
You should also check out Sonic Boom, not as close as Easy Street, but the credentials are just as hipster. 2 locations, ballard and capitol hill.
Posted by: micah at May 17, 2006 9:30 PM
Only reason I don't buy CDs is the clerks make me feel inadequate. Ameoba on Sunset or Fat Beats on Melrose were my go to spots but I'm just not hip enough for them to crack a smile or help me out unless I mention the most obscure/craptastic rapper or band ever, then they get excited. I'm sticking to the interweb.
Posted by: Jonathan at May 17, 2006 10:24 PM
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