Why do you buy CDs?

[~.:*:.YaSuMi.:*:.~]

I love collecting!
I want to support the artist!
I like to rip them to play on my digital devices!
I love the product design and packaging!

Enough said. The problem is that my budget is quite low and I can't purchase all the cds I would like to buy.. Japan versions are outrageously expensive compared to western cd's , most of the time I buy overseas versions (TW, korean) which are cheaper but when it is a new release I guess the overseas versions doesn't count on the sales chart so it's not like "really helping" the artist.
Also I only buy music from certain artists that I consider worthy enough, so I have a lot of pirated music on my computer. Well I'm poor and I can't afford to buy a lot of cds so what?

[toniayu]

I love collecting!
I want to support the artist!
I love the product design and packaging!

[Corki]

I don't spend a lot of money on CDs. I buy them when I want to support the artist. I rip them to put the music on my iPod but I also use the CD. The only ones I'm collecting are the ones from Ayu.

[MeltingCORE]

I love collecting!
I want to support the artist!
I like to rip them to play on my digital devices!
I am... against piracy and illegal distribution!
I love the product design and packaging!
I like to show-off my collection to people!

Well, I used to download music illegally but it started to feel wrong. Now I'm personally against it. If I can't afford it, I'm not going to steal it. I've legally purchased over 1,000 songs over the (many many many) years, so it's not like I have a shortage of songs or anything. I do sometimes listen on YouTube, Grooveshark, or Spotify to see if a song or cd is worth buying. Plus, I love having physical cds. (I think I got that from my dad, he also collects cds.)

[mi|kshake]

I went for:

I love collecting
I want to support the artist!
I like to rip them to play on my digital devices!
I am... a traditionalist!
I love the product design and packaging!
I still listen to music in CD format!

^Didn't realise I had so many reasons to continue buying CDs lol!

[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.

[aqua_crystal]

1. I love collecting
2. I love awesome packaging and extra goodies

Honestly, there's no better feeling than having a physical copy of an amazing album in your hands. I only buy releases from my absolute favorite artists of course, and I'm usually tempted to buy those with awesome packaging.

And after spending so much money and effort to make my collection bigger, I have every right to select the following option:

3. I love to show off my collection

[happiholic★]

Collecting and support for me. Except, I buy to support only when digital support is not an option. And for collecting I mean when there is a special edition with some sort of bonus.

Otherwise, download, download, download.

[Isicio]

Because design and packaging, and japanese covers are better than US/EU ones

[Chiharo]

Originally Posted by 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.

Wow, all of this is almost like I myself wrote it. It's exactly why I buy CDs, too. I agree on everything, especially the audiophile and piracy parts.

I love the experience of ordering and looking forward to the actual album coming to my door. Then actually getting it, feeling it in my hands, and opening it slowly, saving the plastic wrap, and looking at every small detail on and in the case. I usually comment to myself stuff like "Wow, this looks so amazing!" or "They seriously could have put more effort in the overall design of the album". And it's not just the one time when I receive album that I look through it and admire it. Sometimes I go through my library of CDs and choose one to open and look through again. And I love doing it. I love knowing that I own them and see them sitting right there. My family has never understood this because they think everyone must buy CDs just to *have* the music and be able to listen to it. But it's far from only that.

I admit that the aesthetics of an album/single became of great importance to me lately. But still, if I really love an album, and even if it has an awful cover/packaging, I'll STILL buy it. Because the main reason I buy CDs is to, in a way, show that such and such album really does mean a lot to me. In a way it's saying that music means a lot to me, so even spending $40 on one CD is justified for me. I own the original physical copy because whatever is on that CD is my treasure! That's how I look at it. And after all these years of buying CDs, I don't regret buying even one of them. And God knows I spent tons of money on them.

Even so, what put me off a little from buying CDs when it comes to Jpop is that I know all of it is squashed to hell, even on CDs, and I know that the songs really suffer from this kind of production and almost all of the dynamics are gone. It's not that hard to hear, but I can't help that over the years I've really gotten into Jpop and there is no way I'm abandoning it just for these technical reasons. Music is still music, after all. So yeah, I'll still buy CDs.

[//ABEST]

ayu is actually only artist who's albums i buy

[Honey_Jae]

Argh, that's tricky - I love to collect CDs and I want to support the artist. It's something special to me to have the original CD in my hand with booklet and the other stuff.

[Ryusei]

Collecting, supporting, having the DVDs/Blu Rays which sometimes have amazing content, I love watching on my tv in original quality not through a laptop or smth, quality, I buy a lot of songs digitally too but if everything seems nice to me I'll go for the CD ^^

[Ravana]

I love collecting!
I want to support the artist!
I like to rip them to play on my digital devices!
I love the product design and packaging!
I still listen to music in CD format!

Nothing beats owning the actual CD for me. I have several plastic storage boxes full of CDs, and I love them all.

[YukiUsagi]

Ayu is only artist
just by to complete my collection. Although I just listen to some her CDs

[Strawberryfieldsforever]

well i used to buy loads of them but now i just stick to digital : compact and easy to find.

[Fubuki]

Actually a lot of the answers are true for me, but since I can't afford to buy everything I want, I need the artist to somehow catch my admiration other than making music I enjoy listening to. So I just voted for the second, even tough I wish I could do it more and in an other way

[XFER]

A few years ago, somehow it seems I had more money. Nowadays, I don't, so I usually only buy cds that aren't available on the net.

[EndOfTheWorld]

Collecting cds is a big passion of mine! Especially Ayu cds! I like having something physical and being able to own the music. Cds also offer the best sound quality over mp3s and streaming. I also love being able to look at the design and browse through the booklet included.

I just wish that Japan would lower the prices of their cds and dvds.

[ayumi_croatia]

I love buying CDs because:

a) I love collecting stuff, music included
b) booklets
c) great quality of music
d) I love listening to albums on my stereo