Just interested - how everyone(I might be wrong here but it just seems this way) gets all this music so easily? People putting their top 10 of 2007. I've only got one album from 2007,and that's because it's FREE(Radiohead). I only really get music from stores,but I just think it's more important for me to cover off all the classics before getting new stuff. And besides,it's way too expensive - I can buy 2 or 3 Beatles albums for the price of the latest chart topper. But I want to get some new music - I just wish there was some cheap and simple way. I can't really download songs because the internet here is much too slow - it takes like 2 hours to download one track...

I download pretty much everything, only the really good stuff I buy. I know it's illegal.. but look at it this way; I wouldn't have bought the music I'm downloading in the first place, because I don't have the money for it.

I spend too much money, that's how.

I just passed the 100 mark for 2007 albums I've bought.

It's really a matter of having disposable income. When I started having some, I starting buying lots and lots of albums.

Rhapsody subscription. I highly recommend it. I'm not sure if it's available outside of the US or not but almost every release is available to me for 15 bucks a month. 10 bucks a month if you don't need it on an Mp3 player (although you can't put it on an Ipod or a Zune anyway so you'd need a Creative or something like that). The only drawback is that once you quit paying them your music loses it's license. I'll keep paying them as long as it's available.

Spending too much cash sure helps :-) ... and being able to do that comes, I'm afraid, not just from holding down a job but also from being more obsessed with music than with a number of things normal people are supposed to spend their hard-earned Euros on. If I can sit in a flea market armchair and listen to more music, why the hell would I want to buy a nicer-looking chair and fewer CDs?

That being said, it's definitely **not** everyone here who buys a 100 newly-released CDs a year. In spite of being in the AM club of old geezers, I think more than half of the music I buy is older stuff -- much of it disovered in here.

Well I download a lot both legally and not, and I borrow records at the local library
downloading won't last : France is th nb1 country in terms of illegal downloadings, but the government is taking measures.
it's a project for the moment
Sort of gradual retaliation : first you'll get a warning then you'll lose your subscription to Internet

It's like any other addiction really. If you really "feel the need" to add to your collection, you will. I've been buying at least 50 albums per year since I was in my late teens and I'm in my mid 40s now. Some people spend money on booze, drugs, lottery tickets, cigarettes, video games, bling, etc. Me, I spend my money on CDs, music books, sound system equipment, and guitars.

Keep on Rockin'
Neil

Yeah, I'm a local library guy. I've only bought a few albums this year (LCD - Sound of Silver, New Order - Technique, Springsteen - Darkness, Sunday Drivers - Tiny Microphone) and that's because the local library didn't have them. I don't like stealing the music, but if I'm ever making 6 figures I guess I can go back and buy those albums I've stolen.

And it's definitely not a perfect system. Thanks to holds I probably won't hear Robert Plant/Alison Krauss til February of 2008.

I use the library once in awhile to find local stuff. Libraries are always good for out of print gems and local music but always bad for scratched beyond repair CD's and DVD's. I don't get how they can get that scratched up, I don't even take that great of care of my own collection but I have no idea how a cd can become that scratched.

Seriously guys, give Rhapsody a shot. Nobody else uses it? I can almost guarantee everyone here would love it. They don't have everything but they have at least 75 percent of what I have looked for.

I used the '25 free plays' service of Rhapsody to find out if I liked some artist I heard about.

But in general I prefer to own CDs, because that way I'll still be able to hear it if I stop paying. (Music should be a PRODUCT, not a service!)

Newbury Comics also helps. They're like 30% cheaper than places like Barnes & Noble and FYE, and when an album is new they're often down around $10.

That's why the record industry is dying. Music is not a product anymore, it's the band that is the product. I don't really like the word product though. It makes more sense to say promoting bands is the way to make money not selling cds. The problem is, the record industry hates that and is doing everything to protect their involvement in the music business. They really have no place in the system anymore other than the rights they own.

The step NBC took in creating Hulu (All of their TV shows are online for free with limited commercial interruption) is kind of what I see happening in the future for music. A little different since you can't interrupt music but it should be a similar model. 99 cents for a song is ridiculous. When packaging, middlemen, shipping and various other things get taken out of the equation I expect to pay far less than what it would cost me to buy the actual CD.

This is probably only for U.s., but if you want to catch up on music purchasing quickly, and you might have got some bonus funds for the holiday season, you should try Indie-Rock-In-A-Box.

http://www.insound.com/holiday_top100.php

If you consume music patiently like I do, 10 new CDs can last a while. By getting 10 CDs you save close to 30 dollars, and pay less than 10 bucks for a CD. I did it last year and I think I'm going to treat myself again.

Slush,
You can listen to the entire Plant/Kraus album here: http://www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com/content/jukebox.php

What libraries do you guys go to? The most popular records at my local library are by the Fixx and Kim Carnes.

I'm lucky. Columbus, OH has 1 of the best library systems in the country (voted so repeatedly by library associations) so I can usually get all the stuff that ends up on Top 10 of the year lists. (But I do have to be patient to hear them all...sometimes it'll take 4-5 months for a really "hot" title..even though the library has 40 or 50 copies of it.)

I pretty much download everything and then buy the things I like.

Sadly where I live is very difficult (and in some cases almost impossible) to find things before '975, so i've to ordered it (but also i've to pay a lot more due to taxes, so i don't do it frequently ).

I won't say where i live...you wouldn't believe me anyway .

Come on Chevi, you've said too much
It's too late
We 're eager to welcome people from new countries/places, so please tell us where you're from here or on the demogeographic thread

Midaso wrote: "How do you guys do it?"

I don't. I lost it years ago. I can't keep track with new music. Instead I just buy old music I've quite recently started liking, like Phil Ochs and Elvis Costello. That's cheap music!

I went on a Phil Ochs kick in college, but I haven't listened to those albums in a long time. His story is pretty sad.

Well, I personally have no mortgage, car, or children. So I can make under $20,000 a year and still have loads of disposable income.

Amazon is a lot cheaper than big record stores. You could either go there, a smaller chain like New England's Newbury Comics, or wait a few months and try to get a cheapo possibly dubious ebay purchase.

I've bought some vinyl from Newbury Comics on Ebay.

nicolas :
"Come on Chevi, you've said too much
It's too late
We 're eager to welcome people from new countries/places, so please tell us where you're from here or on the demogeographic thread"

Didn't know that thread existed. I guess I'll post in it later .