Why do you buy CDs?

[orangeakira]

I selected every option except:

I am... against piracy and illegal distribution!
I have lots of discretionary income!

I'm pretty broke but I really like buying cds. I'm (kind of) an audiophile. I like all my songs in 320kbps, flac, or wav. If I rip the cd myself I know for sure that they aren't going to be transcoded. I'll start buying music digitally when itunes start releasing music in that quality. Also there's nothing special about clicking on the "purchase" button. There's a real visceral experience in owning a physical cd and I feel like I get my money's worth. Holding the cd, taking off the plastic, flipping through the booklet, putting the cd into your computer or cd player to listen to. It's just a personal experience you can't get if you digitally purchase a song.

Also I've argued many many MANY times the bullshit that is "illegal downloading hurts the artist". I almost did a presentation on it in school cause someone pissed me off enough to want to prove their ass wrong. Only for small, local, or indie artists that have music that's really hard to find and really deserve to be noticed do I purchase and not download. They're usually the ones that hold tours where about 100 people show up, and sell all their music on the bandcamp website and always sell their albums as "name your price".

I buy cds all the time. I buy them when I can. If I really really love an album or single, I'll buy it online at cdjapan, yesasia, or best buy. I download a lot, but I also buy a lot of cds too.