So this is where I've come to; music buying and boundaries

This post started as one thing then became something else. It started as an observation then got down to the personal reason behind the observation. It helped me figure out what I'm feeling at this time.


It recently struck me that this business model of remixing older albums is where things are. That there will be probably endless remixes of classic rock albums as a way of keeping those albums in the public eye. Endless remastering of those remixes too. I've enjoyed the hype train regarding reissues for as long as they've been happening with bands that are no longer around especially. I don't know why now, but I've been thinking this will continue to happen and won't stop and to me takes away from the music that is being "helped" by technology. I'm not saying it hasn't "helped" but we've all bought albums/cds where it hasn't. I think what makes all this hit hard is there is a part of myself that's saying 'Get off the train here'.

I really don't buy reissue anymore and haven't for a while and I could see someone reading and thinking "If you're not buying the reissues then what's the problem?" But I do get swept up in the hoopla around these. This feeling may be more about the excitement rather than an actual product. I read what people say here about reissues. Since the 2000's it seems technology is the star, not the music. Who mastered an album is just as important as the music but that's from being on this board. I never thought about all that until seeing how much it's talked about here. Bands will just keep having their albums remastered and remixed to infinity it seems. Eventually there will be nothing left to do but release the complete raw studio rolls as they are with everything on it. Then remix and remaster those.

I've begun buying what I want to buy, and the version of it that I would like best based on posts here, to no longer buy the same album again. I certainly could be enticed with songs I don't know, but not live shows. I don't care as much about those. Or archival releases of entire shows. I was always someone who loved a bands discography as it was when it came out. That's what I'm most interested in.

I've asked myself if I was moving to an island and couldn't buy another cd, what bands would I want to make sure I had with me? Even if I don't listen to them for years. I've had that where I've sold cds because I hadn't listened for a while and figured I wasn't interested in having those albums anymore. Then years later it gets rekindled and I rebuy those albums again. This is in part my own behavior along with buying the reissues.

Bands, their histories and discographies has always been what interests me most about music. That interest is still there but what makes it exciting is buying these albums even if it's again and again. Ah, that's what this post is really about; the real excitement about a album/band for me is buying their stuff. If I buy it that excitement is gone...unless a reissue comes out with extra songs but then it can be diminishing returns.

But what is this post really about? A compulsion to buy what I consider "everything" (your definition will vary) to feel happy. I have based a part of my happiness on owning a discography as I define it. I've done this a number of times; I get everything I want, I'm happy for years, I don't listen to it, I sell some or all of it, years go by and it gets rekindled, I buy it again. What would work best for me is instead of selling those albums, put them away out of sight. When my interest gets rekindled, pull them out again. Money saved. That's become a new way of "buying" albums for me. It's all helping me define my boundaries as a music buyer and where the line is for me. So this is a post without a question but more of me thinking out loud. It helps me figure out why I'm feeling this way and where to go from here. Thanks for listening.

 

Interesting..I have pretty much come to the same conclusion as yourself. I have no idea how much vinyl and c.d.'s I own but it certainly runs into the thousands. As I don't have either the physical storage capacity or the inclination to have them all readily to hand then there is always a large part of my collection that doesn't get a regular airing. What I now do is every few months swop a few hundred records from those that are readily to hand to those that are stored away out of sight...rinse and repeat. Having said all that I STILL buy new releases on a fairly regular basis, I like to try and keep up. The Idles release being a prime example.

 

Hey, that's what therapy is for; glad we could be of assistance. That'll be $125 -- you can pay by check.

There's a fine line between a pastime that you really enjoy and an obsession that eats away at you. It's wise to try to keep it in the category of the former, not the latter.

Just for my own part, I've been buying LPs and CDs for well over 40 years, and I've already got plenty, but that doesn't stop me from continuing to frequent record stores and thrift stores when the opportunity presents itself, and picking up things that I see that interest me. I like buying more, but I don't need to buy more. But it's all inexpensive, second-hand stuff now. The record companies got plenty out of me in the 70s, 80s, and 90s; they'll have to try to find other suckers now.

 

Some people buy them to have them. I prefer OG versions but I’m not paying $400 for one I can get for $25. Punk albums never sounded good in the first place so they aren’t going to sound much better remixed/remastered/re-released. Reggae as well.

 

Though my buying has slowed to barely a crawl I still enjoy going into record stores and looking. I feel at home there, like I belong. The reissues, remixes, remastered, etc. have not lured me to get back to where I was as a buyer. I enjoy what I have. There are mono albums that interest me. FYI, I started buying in around 1955 - 1956.

 

I had a conversation earlier this week with a friend who along with her husband have recently retired & with the resultant spare time they have discovered that something is missing in there lives.
She believes that what she & her husband both need is a hobby. Most people on this forum can consider themselves lucky because they are already working on filling that retirement gap.

 

There are some very excellent reissue/remasters out there.

 

I get a lot more satisfaction from buying something new than from buying a reissue of a record I already have. In fact, I do that never. The only exception is to replace an old record that is noisy. I buy a reissue if I was not able to get my hands on that album in the first place.

 

The remixes are never going to supplant the originals, outside of perhaps one or two exceptions where the originals sounded so bad that anything would be an improvement. But since most older acts can’t release anything truly new (or they could but no one wants to hear it), they have a limited pool of material to draw from for releases, so remixes make sense from a revenue standpoint. To me they’re a curiosity and I would not buy a remixes album just to have the remix. In the case of The Beatles stuff I’m buying for the extras and the remix is a fun bonus that I’ll listen to a few times and then put away.

As for buying/selling/rebuying, I think the idea of storing stuff away as you lose interest, and unearthing them when the interest returns is a great idea. If you’ve already got your preferred masterings then no reason to get rid of them.

 

Not really to the main point of your post, but I don't think there will be endless re-mixes/re-releases. It may not stop before we are gone, but given that the younger folks are not into physical media, there just won't be a target audience.

Once those of us in this small niche stop buying (whether from not being around or finally saying "Enough!), these re-issues will stop.

 

The buying of these reissue/remixes boxsets is baffling to me. I like watching the unboxing videos on youtube & some seem like nice items to have, packaging, design ect.. But are people not bored of buying & listening to the same music over & over? Not to mention the expense.

 

For us surround-heads, the re-mixes/ box sets are about the new multi-channel mixes. I'd be skipping them if it wasn't for that. Not sure what %age of the sales are mainly due to surround, we are a small niche, but I think possibly significant enough that we'd have a lot less offered if they stopped including 5.1 mixes.

 

Great Idea!
Reading the OP’s suggestion:
“....What would work best for me is instead of selling those albums, put them away out of sight. When my interest gets rekindled, pull them out again. Money saved. That's become a new way of "buying" albums for me....”

Reminded me that:
My coworker has a 5 year old son.
They keep his toys in several plastic bins, where their child cannot access them. The son plays with the toys from one bin during the week. The next week, they swap the bin out with another.
They keep rotating bins for weeks.

The child rarely asks for new toys.

 

It’s all in the Marbles and Scarves!!!

 

What my behavior has shown me is I was doing something without realizing it that led back around to itself. When I sold stuff I always felt good because I was freeing up space. I love getting rid of things I feel I wasn't using so much. I really like clearing out any clutter. What I've realized in the last year is when it comes to music, that behavior really was setting up the other half of the behavior which was to buy it again and enjoy it again. I hope this comes across in print. I was fooling myself and didn't even know it. For a couple of decades. Thankfully it really wasn't a lot money wise. And there wasn't a ton of bands I did this with. It's more the compulsive feeling I can get when I want to buy a certain band again.

All this really has nothing to do with music or cds. It's got to do with looking for happiness outside of myself. This decade has really been about finding these things and changing that behavior. The hard part is knowing I'm taking away something that I enjoyed to do but as I get older I can't see the point of buying the same thing again because I got rid of it. There is a thrill in reliving an album that way for me and I'm looking at myself saying this is changing and I need to focus on the emotional story behind why I've always done this. I know what it is actually but it's seeing what behaviors are still being acted upon by it. The scary thing is that part of me saying "Well what do I do for fun now?" It's finding something new while not having it fulfill an emotional void. Consciously choosing a hobby rather than unconsciously reliving a habit that covered something else which is just any emotional pain of childhood.

Though my interest in The Beatles started because my older brother turned me onto them, I've chosen for them and buying albums to cover over when I felt unhappy in my life. I don't think it's anymore painful than anyone else but it's just claiming that behavior and being responsible for it. I've seen posts on this board where I can feel there are others who also have this behavior in place. Those are the most intense people. I'm not saying if you really enjoy music it means you're suppressing your emotions. Music is a wonderful tool to help with getting through difficult times. But for me there was a line where it became something else. I just didn't noticed it until lately. Because this has been there for so long it's like part of the foundation broke away and needed to be replaced to make the structure more stable. A better word that has been on my mind rather than stable is balanced. Coming into my own balance about who I am and where I'm going next. It's all really great. This is just more clutter clearing which is not about rebuying anything later.

 

That's an awesome idea! I see this as a pattern that would work for me in other areas. I find I can get bored with the same things like walking the same street all the time or when i do yoga, doing the same moves. I'm a creature of habit but lately I've found I actually like having the same thing but in different ways to keep it different. In doing yoga if I do different moves I don't feel bored with it. This also points to music and not seeking out new music. I haven't minded that for a long time but still wanted a thrill from the same old bands, hence, buying them again. Being aware of myself this way, I am willing to store them away and "rediscover" them myself.

 

I go from not wanting to buy anything to looking to buy everything on a weekly basis.

 

I don't think there are going to be endless remasters/remixes. As the population of Boomers shrinks, the audiophile market is going to contract. There isn't going to be anywhere near as much demand for another Hendrix pseudo-album with the 724th version of "Hear My Train A Comin'" or for Dire Straits in the highest-possible quality. My sense is that the idea of having eight different copies of DSOTM is mostly a generational thing. It's not like there are analog master tapes for the last couple decades of music, anyway.

 

My collecting has evolved over the years.
From needing to have everything to just stuff I regularly listen to.
And I don't need every pressing of most albums.
The one exception is T Rex. Even then I'm not all that excited about remixes.
Also I get more excited about vinyl releases than the endless parade of CD reissues.
It's a good idea to store stuff away rather than selling.
I try not to purchase music that I may eventually sell later.
I buy to listen to, not to buy/sell/buy again.
Also when buying original vinyl pressings, I try to hold out until I see the vinyl/cover is in excellent (clean) condition.
Helps the avoidable upgrade later.

Darryl

 

You think this is a business model that is only about boomers? This defies age. Kids who grew up with computers are used to buying upgrades. That's where everything is now. Everything becomes "obsolete" when the next version is released. This is not about what is being sold but how it's being sold. Again and again. That's a model that a lot of businesses exist on. Not that it didn't exist before, but upgrading really wasn't like it was when computers went into almost every home.

 

I’m totally sympathetic to the OP.

One of my tactics hinges upon the fact that I love buying stuff, but rarely listen to the new stuff immediately. So it goes on a shelf, away from the rest of the collection. Every now and then I’ll look at the stuff on the shelf and get excited again, maybe pulling one down and playing it. As soon as it is played it joins the rest of the herd.
I’ll try and play that new disc to death, to let it get into my consciousness. The new music gets ‘time-stamped’ with whatever I’ve been up to that week.

I do the same with new books. It’s like walking into a bookshop sometimes- the number of ‘new’ books that I have and haven’t read yet.

Consumerism run riot.

 

Maybe a better analogy with computers would be more like this: do you think that years from now, software companies will be able to sell reissues of "classic" computer games to those people who grew up playing those games? It's hard to say.

 

They do already. There are people buying versions of games from the 80s & 90s that work in newer consoles.

 

Some; but will they be able to do it years from now at premium prices for "deluxe", "new-and-improved" editions? (That's what many of the current reissues are, in effect.) Only time will tell.

 

Always interested in reading these types of introspective posts.

OP and I are different people though, it seems. I understand much of what was stated as I've seen that in myself, in the past. Today I don't get on that particular remix / reissue train except pretty rarely (i.e. I bought that 2017 Sgt Pepper remix LP last month).

But I do still purchase albums...it's just generally newer stuff. I don't get caught up with owning entire discographies either, and I will cull my collection to keep my shelves under control. My goal is to be happy with my music library - when I feel it's overloaded and not fun anymore then it's time to correct it and get back on track.