Poll: how is your music purchase behavior trending?

Curious about this over SHF members. When all is said and done, how have you been trending over the past 24 months? Is that trend a change for you?

 

Less reissues of stuff I've already heard, more new releases. That could include older stuff I have not heard before so I chose "mixed".

My musical purchases overall have not dropped in the last 24 months. I believe they actually rose slightly in 2016 (that was a fantastic year for music so not too much of a surprise).

 

Well, yesterday I bought the new Ty Segall, the Lemon Twigs LP, and used albums by John Lee Hooker, Janet Jackson, and Box Scaggs, so I would say mixed. I am down slightly from last year in terms of overall purchases, though. I bought nearly 200 albums in January 2016 alone, and only about 40 this January.

 

A large percentage of my purchases have been the classical mega-boxes. Even though there are usually a few dups the bang for buck ratio can't be beat. The next category is albums or compilations of groups that I had not seen on CD before. That leaves a small amount of stuff on various artist greatest hit compilations (like those on Eric Records). So I said "New to Me Selections" Overall my purchasing has been stable.

 

I kind of miss my own scenario as an option: Purchasing much less. Discovering new (to me) music by streaming (Spotify) while rediscovering my old physical collection. Bying a couple of releases on CD or LP during the year.

This situation is very much a result of having small children and a very tight economy as well. Will be interesting to see how that maps out when that particular period of life has passed.

 

95% of all my purchases these days are mp3 downloads from Amazon of individual songs. This morning I downloaded two old ELO hits, "Do Ya" and "I'm Alive" that i like and were missing off the comps I own.

Every once in a while I'll download an LP I've been on the fence about if it's a $5 sale. Not a money thing, I could afford $200 box sets of 180 gram vinyl LPs if I wanted, but I don't want, LOL.

If i download a studio LP that isn't a comp, these are always pre-2000 releases, I haven't bought a non-rap studio album released this century.

 

I've slowed way down on music purchases in the last few years. I mostly get both physical and streaming releases from my local library these days. I have enough in my collection already to keep me busy.

 

With several thousand LPs and several hundred CD's I pretty much have all that I want. I still hit the stores 4 or 5 times a week however. Friday I picked up NM LP's of John Mayall Down the Line, James Taylor (Apple), and Ron Wood Gimme Some Neck(WLP) for 2.00 each! Also yesterday at the flea mkt got Neil Young MFSL Old Ways for 1.00!
Most of my hunts are for deals like this to replace my not so NM copies. Or CD's for a buck or two. Also never know what I may find. I've also had good luck lately with classical NM on the cheap.

 

Last option. Before it was just new music, but now it's reissues too.

 

I've been mostly upgrading CD's of old titles with high-rez versions as they become available: SACD, DVD-A, Blu-ray & high-rez downloads. Occasionally something unknown to me comes up that looks interesting and I'll try it, but mostly it's the stuff I've been listening to for decades with better sound quality.

 

Definitely "mixed" for me. I have always been in a life-long pattern of adding versions/reissues of artists I love most, alongside scattered purchases of "unfamiliar but intriguing artists".

 

There are just too many reissues and box sets - I think I'm tired of them. I did buy the Stones mono box, and the Tom Petty boxes, but I passed on the new Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, Neil Young, David Bowie and Paul McCartney box sets (at least for now).

I've been buying a lot more newer artists on vinyl recently.

 

As far as new releases I tend to buy from Amazon. My wife has an Amazon Prime account and uses her card to make purchases. Every couple months I go in and use all her points. She didn't seem to know they're there or that she can use them.

I'm a sucker for $1 bin CDs and will also buy a lot of catalog filler if it's less than $5. I feel like I've been buying a lot more these days.

 

When I started 6 weeks ago - I wanted to get a few albums by my fave artists just to spin. Since doing that - I've since bought 28 releases (so far) of my fave band's albums (They only have 7 albums). I'm buying all different colours, pressings, territory releases, box sets, limited website releases.

I've found that all those years of digital music left me feeling... neutered. So sterile. All that digital music/art work. Not being able to actually ever touch it... Click. Click. and music comes out.

Now - I love coming home - and reaching into the stack of albums I have - and I have no idea what colour the record is going to be. Maybe the cover will different based on the pressing. Maybe the lyric sheet or sleeve is different. It's really made playing music much more pleasing visually too which I've found to be really, really fun.

 

A mix of all the choices, i've probably slowed a little but were only 6 weeks in. I especially love to find new artists/bands but it does get harder as you get older. I'm not really one for buying a lot of reissues, I find that a bit dull. When i'm buying older music its usually new to me stuff, exploring older sub genres ect...

 

Would you elaborate on how finding new artists is getting more difficult with age? I am genuinely interested as I have been experiencing the same thing, and I'm only 44.

 

I'm always looking for sounds I've never heard before. I've never had any trouble, I'm 46. Then again I'm looking across ALL genres.

 

You need an option for:
Slowing down - where the hell's my money?

 

The 40 club? I'm 49 and still find new artists to enjoy. In some ways it's easier today than it was a quarter of a century ago, as the tools as so much better than what we had back then.

I would've loved having Napster or Spotify when I was in my 20's. Probably would have bankrupted me, however.

 

Mostly film scores, both on LP and CDs with expanded scores.

 

Mixed here. I have only been buying records for the past year and a half or so, and on a small budget(thankfully about to change), so I'm buying new releases and reissues, but try to find original pressings over reissues when possible. I'd say it's gone up at a steady rate and don't plan on stopping cause I'm always discovering new music to enjoy.

 

....pretty much the same as it's been since I re-discovered vinyl and used record shops in my area in 2008. I'm always on the close lookout for well done re-issues; currently, I'm waiting for the OMR of Layla which SS has had on "pre-order" for the last two months or so. As far as the used record stores, I simply walk in and start "the hunt". I may end up with a version of an album I already own (This especially applies to Beatles...I have multiple copies of quite a few albums)or I may pick up an original pressing of something I never bothered with back in the day.

This is one aspect of my daily life of which I can happily say, there is no ending in sight.

 

Slowing down a bit. But, the post office just delivered Ryan Adams, Prisoner today. It's Sunday BTW.

 

That's were I've been since the late 80s. Pretty well stopped buying music. But concerning the Beatles, I had to have the 2004-06 Capitol box set (no brainer), and the 2009 stereo & mono sets.

Then I bought the 2014 US box set off of Amazon and thankfully cancelled the order the next day before it shipped, as I just didn't sleep that night wondered why I bought it when I already had it all. - I think I'm tired of them too.

I refuse to do the Macca reissues, but did suck myself into the Zeppelin reissues......

 

I don't "trend."

I am Random Man.