For certain, but then again I am also a complete packaging enthusiast as well. I’ve been buying CD’s since the early 90′s (my first two CD’s I bought with my own money were Siamese Dream and Throwing Copper) and last year that has expanded into almost exclusively vinyl. With the economy the way it is, I have to be more selective with my vinyl purchases, but for the most part my process is tiered. If it is a fantastic album / amazing package, I’ll go buy the vinyl (i.e. Take Care, Take Care, Take Care or The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars). If it is just something I don’t care too much for, but still want to listen from time to time or it has a bonus disc or something to that effect I’ll grab the CD version (ie. The Lonely Island, Foo Fighters). If the album is from a personal favorite band of mine I will eventually purchase both formats (CD & LP), because often the artwork is different in both (Age of Adz CD had extra illustrations from Prophet Royal Robinson in the booklet that the Vinyl copy didn’t). But one channel I refuse to buy from (unless it is an exclusive track and available to purchase as a song instead of tied to an “Album Only” type of deal )is iTunes. Don’t get me wrong, I love the software. So far it is the easiest/simplest/most efficient media consuming software I’ve come across. I still shudder when I think of the early years of Windows Media Player. I just don’t like spending money for an album I can’t touch, smell or look through. It just sits there in my hard drive. I might as well just stream it online for the same effect and save the money. Also, I hear Apple’s royalties system is not very fair to the artists.
Now, on to torrent and pirating. I do this and I do not feel bad about it. I see it as the same way as borrowing a CD from a public library. I use torrents as a tool to explore music. Especially these days where there is access to vast amounts of music, I wouldn’t eat and be on the streets if I bought everything I wanted to check out. Torrents and file sharing allow me the luxury of listening to and sifting through large amounts of music to find what I truly think is worth my money. What I don’t like I delete and what I do enjoy I go out to my local record shops (another very important establishment to encourage and support) and make my purchases.
Cloud-based technology I have yet to explore, but I personally don’t find it necessary for my day-to-day life. Maybe under certain circumstances. I know these days “access to” music is the new “ownership”, but as I stated in my opening statement…I am a design/packaging enthusiast, so I prefer my old-fashioned ownership.
Going to shows and purchasing Merch is also important, but in my eyes it is (or should be) second to album sales. I know that’s not the case these days, but the current system almost requires artists to be “road dogs” just to make a buck, and for the most part touring is an extremely expensive aspect to the business, and how are bands to know where to tour and what size venues if they have no idea how well their album is doing in the market? A purchase of an album is like you said, a vote. It is a vote for what you love and enjoy. Anybody can “Like” a band on facebook or some other social networking site, but I think “real” fans (not meant to sound elitist at all) make the effort to go out and cast their vote with their hard earned dollar.
What I love about pirating and filesharing is that it usurps the control from the major labels. I have no problem with record labels, but I do have a problem with inefficient business models built to maintain and sustain the lifestyles of those at the top while the artists who do the vast majority of the real creative work have to struggle.
I’ve gone on a lot longer than I thought I would, but you can see this is a subject I feel very strongly about. Music is one of the greatest things on Earth (along with tacos, but that is a totally different rant) and I want to see the artists I love and enjoy succeed and be able to afford to produce the music they want and live a lifestyle that can encourage that creativity, not discourage it.
