Digital Vs Physical Format

[Pandabear 414]

​ I was just curious to see what format everyone prefers to have music in. Personally I've always liked CD better. I like holding holding the physical CD in my hands, going through all the nifty artwork, reading the lyrics and linear notes and on occasion getting stuff like stickers and cool promo codes. All the stuff that with digital music, usually you can't have. Plus once I have the CD I can just rip it  into whatever digital format I choose. mp3, wav, flac etc.

[Kaye 296]

I love having the physical version in my hands with the booklets, cds, pictures etc etc.

 

I will never, ever pay for a digital version if a physical release exists.

[Mr Bacon 106]

I'm kind of indifferent about CD or Vinyl, but CDs are easier to rip so yea... I own both tho!

 

But as long as I can hold it, smell it, see it, it's good haha! I enjoy looking through booklets and cover art and all that. That is also part of the "album" experience, not just the music, as the artist also put time and effort into stuff like the art and packaging.

 

 

And this, pretty much:

 

I will never, ever pay for a digital version if a physical release exists.

 

[Greyen 173]

I prefer CD's, but I have no problem with Digital releases. If a CD is expensive (mostly because of the outrageous shipping costs of a lot of Japanese releases for example) a digital copy if available is very convenient and cheap, and if I like it enough I'll end up buying a physical copy once I find it in stores/have enough money to order one online.   

[stylelover 1086]

It depends on the CDs for me. As for japanese releases i would always prefer the digital version, even if i still buy many physical CDs. But for korean stuff i prefer the physical CD´s as i always get more for my money. Western stuff depends on the band or CD.

 

But yea overall both is ok for me

[sai 868]

I prefer physical releases too for pretty much the same reasons Pandabear has already stated. Reading through the lyrics, looking through the artwork, playing it on a CD player...plus you can decide what bitrate you want it in. With digital releases that's pretty much impossible unless you buy from bandcamp. If it's really hard to get a physical copy, only then I'd buy the digital version if possible.

[Replicant 133]

If I can obtain it physically, I will always try to do so. I like having something... tangible. Plus the ability to rip in any format/bit rate is nice.

 

NOW. If digital distributors actually released stuff in Lossless quality (cause I can convert it if need be...) and I couldn't find/afford it any other way, then I'd go with that. (As long as a booklet of some sort is included.)

[Dark Kinma 960]

I prefer physical for my favorite band, but for discover or band who I just appreciate and don't love, I get a digital version, or when i don't have money for pay cd + shipping charge.

[clow_eriol 240]

I prefer physcial always. For a digital lossy version I won't pay the same.

[Flame-X 441]

Definitely physical because not only you can rip at preferred settings but also there's collection value. It feels a lot more authentic with physical than digital. Same can be said for books.

 

When it comes to singles, then I'll buy it digital. Buying a CD with just 1 or 2 songs on it just seems like a big waste of resource to me.

[JukaForever 758]

physical copy but more so inclined to get with added stuff such as the limited releases' photobook, poster etc

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

A few years ago I would have said physical but this past year now I now say digital. In the end I just rip the CD and listen to it in a digital format anyway, it seems pointless now to own a hard copy.

 

However this mostly applies to easily obtainable media. To me there's no real value in owning something I can easily buy from Amazon, CDjapan or any local music store. Rarer items are an exception and since I find more value and appreciation in owning something that was printed in a limited number or not as easily available or simply for nostalgia sake (mostly nostalgia). So stuff like KEY PARTY releases, would love to have the physical copy over a digital rip but something like the latest Galneryus album, rather just buy the MP3s instead. There are still selected few artists that I buy physical releases for because I just like them a lot but stuff that I just passively like then I just rather have an MP3 copy.

[Number Girl 48]

I love CD's, but only of artists I really love. Even then, I usually only bother purchasing the limited edition releases or full albums, with the exception of an artist that only releases minis/singles or has a particularly cheap mini/single. I mainly enjoy being able to rip my shit in the quality or format I desire without waiting for others to upload it, especially in the case of rarer artists that hardly anyone uploads or don't sell their music digitally. The package itself is also a bonus, but it's becoming less and less of an attractive factor as more and more artists are starting to print paper sleeve CD cases with no lyric books or pictures. 

 

For artists I'm indifferent about or for singles/minis, I usually don't mind just settling for the iTunes/Amazon download or getting it through file-sharing sites. 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Let's get physical, baby~

 

I much prefer CD but if it seems too unobtainable or just that that digital version is so much more affordable and convenient to buy (like on bandcamp), then I settle for digital of course.

[DeithX252 1266]

I prefer buy physical cd, only if the stuff is not uploaded in the internet, and of course  only for my favorite band/artist. Waiting the CD come to your house, is totally worth and you will be satisfied if you can receive it by yourself

 

The most annoying thing to buy physical is the customs, lol

[Gizorz 24]

I prefer physical for my favorite band, but for discover or band who I just appreciate and don't love, I get a digital version, or when i don't have money for pay cd + shipping charge.

 

This basically.

I much prefer owning physical copies, and I try to buy them whenever I can but importing cd's from Japan is just ridiculously expenive. So I like having the option of buying the digital version.

[beni 2149]

Much prefer a physical copy, but because of shipping costs, I don't have a single Japanese CD of my own. I purchase digitally when I can.

[Ro plz 1290]

Physical because I like having it there to add to my collection.

 

Id much rather download a leak instead of digital, especially if I know for sure that I'm getting the physical copy.

[doombox 4421]

All of the above.

I buy all three media types, depending on what band it is and how much I like them. Also convenience and how I'm doing financially at the time will factor in. I find digital purchases are my most common. They're the most affordable, give me pretty much instant gratification (no waiting on shipping or shipping costs for that matter). If the band is one of my favorites or I am a fan of their artwork and lyrics, etc I will collect CDs (and recently vinyl) from them. But to me I view these as collectibles. Much like t-shirts, DVDs, cheki, etc. They come secondary.

[Deathtopi4 428]

Whatever is cheapest is usually what I go for, unless there's some sort of bonus song or item or whatever coming with a physical copy. Vinyl takes some extra work to convert to digital format though, so they aren't my first choice.

[Lestat 2167]

Physical releases. Digital releases do not feel as if I actually own something.

[kyoselflove 2680]

Always physical unless you know it's...Royz or something haha then iTunes it is!

[Thedane 176]

If I can't buy the physical release, I don't want it.

 

There's simply no fun in buying some files, there's no artwork to admire, no booklet to read, no little fun bonuses along with it.

[ghost 2687]

I wish the poll was a multi-select.

I do vinyl if I can because they just look so cool and I like CDS too because above reasons. I don't mind having the same release on different mediums.

But what about Casette tapes?? I know they're inferior in audio quality to the other formats but there's something special about them!

[MaikoMizu 167]

I always prefer to buy the physical copy. I don't like digital copies because they don't come with the booklet or artwork as most CDs do. Plus most booklets come with colorful pages and extra information such as the recording studio, lyric and music composer and a thank-you message.
A plus is that we get to rip the song at any quality we want.