How we listen/buy our music

N

nojay

Registered
From the MacCentral site: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/06/07/jobsd/

"We looked at the most popular place people listen to their music," Jobs reportedly said during his keynote at "D." "The first place is on the computer; Second is the iPod; The third place is in the car -- right now the solutions out there aren't very good but we are working with some folks on that; the next place is in the home."

I'm sure Apple spends a lot of time analyzing trends on how consumers use technology so that they can introduce products to refine our experience. It got me thinking -- how do Mac users enjoy their music in 2004? Has the iTMS really changed the way we buy music? There's no doubt that the iPod has done that for those lucky enough to own one. But, the jury is still out on AirTunes...

Personally:
- I love iTMS for music previews and occasional 'a la carte' purchases of songs - especially oldies. But my preference is still to buy CD's (or DVD-Audio albums) usually at a large outlet like Best Buy -- especially so I have liner notes and the ability to rip to mp3.

- While I'm at my computer, it's iTunes all the way. Smart Playlists and the Party Shuffle feature are indespensible.

- At home, away from the computer, I'll simply play CDs in my HTIB system which has a 5-disc changer. I also will play the music channels available on Dish Network (including SIRIUS satellite radio!)

- In my car, I generally listen to FM radio while I commute, but on long trips I prefer to make mp3 CD-R's that are playable in my car stereo.

- And on the go, (e.g. in the subway or while I'm running around) I will upload a playlist onto the SD card of my Palm Tungsten and vibe off of that. This is far from an ideal solution, but will have to do until I get my iPod.

Sorry for the long post, but I'd love to hear from some of you as to how you buy and enjoy your music nowadays and whether Apple's innovations have affected that.
 
well i live in the UK so i cant buy from apple itms *yet* but i will *sooner* rather than later I hope. iTunes launches on login to my computer so im always listening to it all the time on it I take my ipod mini with me every where - to school shopping on the train - when im in the car though its the radio - i just like to have a laugh in the car and radio is just better for that - also there is no good solution for listening to music from you ipod in the car - yes theres the itrip but - 1) technically its ilegal here in the uk (counts as pirate radio station) so no one sells them (except gd old ebay) and 2) the current itrip is wider than my mini and it would look so weird - so for now its radio in the car and if my ipods been left at home i can use the radio on my nokia 3200
 
I've found Griffin Technology the best so far for playing music through the car. Although you often have to tune to the right station and tune the receiver I think it is worthwhile. I got the kit so it came with the stand, charger, and charger/receiver. We sync the iPod upstairs with new songs every two weeks and pop it in for trips across town, cruisin, or on a roadtrip across the U.S.

I am interested in AirTunes but until I get a new iMac I wont be able to take advantage of those features in iTunes. We just got cable so I share my library with the pc downstairs to save my brother the trouble from converting cds.

We still rely on cds for our music library and only a couple are bought through iTunes either via the Pepsi contest or via Gift Certificates. If we do purchase music at iTunes we make sure its only one album in a month time period.

To me cds aren't finished yet but the iPod definetly is used more than the entire collection.
 
Buy on ITMS almost exclusively.

At home ... plug iPod into stereo and hit play. I do not even own a cd player.
At computer ... iTunes of course
Car ... iPod and FM oops car has a cd player :)
Gym ... iPod
 
I'm still a buy CD kind of guy, but maybe that's because my musical tastes are a bit too strange for places like iTunes to deliver what I want. Obscure, but otherwise pop-style, artists don't often show up, or have only scattered showing, with such sites. It's just easier, once a band has been found, to go to their distributor and buy their full CDs. I do agree, though, that the old mp3.com and now iTunes are great for sampling some of what's out there to find new artists.

Most of my music listening is on the computer, but it's mostly still audio CDs.
 
I live in Aus, so no iTMS. My music comes either from buying CDs, or swapping them with friends.

At home, I have my PowerBook pumping iTunes out.
On the go, or at Uni, I use the iPod.
In the car, I listen to FM-radio, because it's always more fresh than what's on my iPod, and it's also got real people who talk. That's a nice touch :p.
 
I'm a musician, so I try to buy cds as a matter of album collection. If I know I only want a song or two from an album, I buy on ITMS. But I do really just like the idea of having the full album as it was put together by the artist.

I'll tell you one thing... since ITMS, I stopped pirating those few songs I wanted to have without buying the album.
 
iTMS almost exclusively. I do not have an iPod yet, so all the music I listen to is on my computer. I do buy the occasional CD, but usually only if the song I want is not avalable on the iTMS. This is primarily because I tend to like individual songs, rather than artists in general. Very rarely do I find an artist whose songs I like enough to make it not a waste of money to buy a full CD.
 
I use iTunes on my G4, and thats all. I ripped all my CDs onto it and never use the stereo I bought a few months before my Mac. I gave up personal stereos of all kinds years ago; I don't like to listen to music on the go - on a long train journey then ok (and I don't do that much anymore) but I don't like to walk around listening to music; beats confuse my footstep rythm (I'm one of those people who just can't not react to music) and I keep thinking I'll miss something - I never undertand these people who have the 'phones in all the time but its low enough to have a conversation.
Knowing my luck if I got an iPod it would be DOA or go screwy within a month - I had about a dozen walkmans in the space of a couple of years and they all went on the blitz, and digital watches too - I don't wear a watch now either.

But yes, basically, its iTunes@home all the way for me....

But who am I kidding, I'd still love an iPod.....
 
I listen to music mostly on my iMac or iPod. I like the iTunes/iPod experience so much that I spent a bunch of money getting my iPod mounted to the dash of my car. I bought an adapter from Blitzsafe that makes the iPod plug into the cd changer port in my VW Passat. Sounds great, and the iPod is within reach for navigating thru playlists.
 
No iTMS here in Switzerland, so it's CDs or those 'other ways' for me - sadly, we don't have the choice here (yet!).

I use my iPod, and only my iPod, to listen to music. At home, I hook it up to my stereo, on the way, I have it with me, of course. It's got all my music, so why should I bother using the CD and/or MD player? ;-) But I need a new one soon. My 10GB model is filling up now...
 
MacMuppet said:
… I don't like to walk around listening to music; beats confuse my footstep rythm (I'm one of those people who just can't not react to music)…
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We used to take a Stereo With us on Competition Hikes. We used to always play music with Brisk Beats, so we could hike faster. It also helped us ignore fatigue. On one occasion, we even used it to keep time, since no-one had a watch that worked.

Back On Topic:
I almost exclusively Buy my own CD's. Very few of my Friends have similar music tastes, so My Collection is quite extensive. I don't know whether I'd buy from an Australian iTMS; it would depend on Accessibility of the Artists HardCopy CD's. If I can't buy a copy of the CD, I'd probably buy it only, if it's in the iTMS.
Some Indie artists only have Music in Australia through the BigPond Music Online Store (WMA), and haven't published CD's yet.

At home, I've most of my CD's ripped to AAC, so generally just play them through iTunes.

In the car, I drive for a living, and my Company Car doesn't have a Stereo with Audio-in. Fortunately, here in Melbourne we have a plethora of Public Radio Music Stations, so there's always something fresh to listen to.

If I had a wired Desktop Mac, rather than an iBook, I'd probably get a RadioShark. Then I could listen to radio at Home too.
 
Most of my music is now bought via iTunes or through eMusic. For those with a strong interest in indie labels, it's awesome. They are just adding Thrill Jockey stuff which is a great label. Also have extensive classical recordings, and an amazing blues selection. Anyway, in the first 6 months of 2004 I have purchased one CD for $7 at Target and Air's latest from Amazon because it was only $12 but came with a DVD with concert footage.

As far as how I listen, I've got quite the disjointed setup. I used to be an MD man and didn't see any use for an iPod, until I won one. The iPod's name is obviously Lucky. I love the iPod except for (the 1st gen anyway) doesn't play nice with long tracks like Radio 1 Essential Mixes because they drain the battery quickly. So, for exercising I use my very rugged Sony MD sport (I fell on it once, all 6'2" 220lbs of me, barely scratched it). For longer car journeys I mix the MD with the iPod. At home, I've got two Macs and a PC sharing their iTunes libraries to one of the Macs which is hooked up to my stereo.
 
I like to listen to my music on my stereo :-0. I also like to listento my iPod.

Kinda surprised with Steve's survey, but is that because I am a laggard in some ways????? Yes, I'm in front of the computer quite a lot, and listen to music using iTunes is better than going over to the stereo every hour to change the disc. Like is probably too strong a word -just either in a different room, or simply bone idle.

DOnt have iTMS yet, but intend to try it out when it arrives. So far unimpressed with the quality AAC tracks encoded at 128k compared to a 192k mp3, so I'll keep ripping.

Wonder if Apple will start a premium iTMS with files created by lossless cmpression sometime soon..........
 
I didnt listen to music much before I got my mac. Of course once i found iTunes and how easy it was to use, its kind of hard not to. Now i have most of my cd's imported and I listen to them all the time. I will buy an occassional song off of iTunes when i think of a song that would be cool to listen to.

For Example:
Today our Youth Group had a sort of cultural night where we each presented things from different cultures. Our culture was Japan and while we were finishing setting up, just before everyone arrived, i thought it would have been cool to have some Japanese music to play. Where can I find Japanese music at the last minute? iTunes! I ran home and searched for some music. Found a couple of tracks that sounded great, downloaded and burned, grabbed a CD player and I was ready to go! Everyone thought it was so amazing that i was able to to that in a matter of minutes. iTunes is awesome, even for people like me who dont have a huge music interest!
 
****** :eek:

I don't normally buy music unless I want an entire album or if I like the artist/song enough to want a high quality version. I frequently sample the top 100 list on iTMS, then I go download the songs I like on p2p. Kinda defeating the whole purpose I guess, but it would be impossible for me to enjoy music as much as I do now if I had to spend a dollar on each song, primarily because I'm a student on a very limited budget. I'm also a proud owner of this shirt: http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?affid=-1&productID=232

I'm surprised to see that most people here (truthfully or not) report that they buy basically all of their music. I've personally found that iTMS is missing a majority of the songs that I look for, and often p2p is my only choice even if I wanted to obtain them legally. My music library currently consists of nearly 1200 files, most of which I listen to frequently and many of which aren't even available on iTMS. It would be extremely hard for me to give up piracy.
 
WinWord10 said:
**** :eek:

I don't normally buy music unless I want an entire album or if I like the artist/song enough to want a high quality version. I frequently sample the top 100 list on iTMS, then I go download the songs I like on p2p. Kinda defeating the whole purpose I guess, but it would be impossible for me to enjoy music as much as I do now if I had to spend a dollar on each song, primarily because I'm a student on a very limited budget. I'm also a proud owner of this shirt: http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?affid=-1&productID=232

I'm surprised to see that most people here (truthfully or not) report that they buy basically all of their music. I've personally found that iTMS is missing a majority of the songs that I look for, and often p2p is my only choice even if I wanted to obtain them legally. My music library currently consists of nearly 1200 files, most of which I listen to frequently and many of which aren't even available on iTMS. It would be extremely hard for me to give up piracy.
Click to expand...

I hope you start buying more music when you graduate...

I used to be like you until I realized that, as a musician, Music Piracy makes it almost impossible for me to make money off of album sales. Musicians really only make money from touring now, and it's kinda sad. I could go into a huge diatribe, but I won't. Suffice it to say, unless you're looking for a bootleg, which is almost always illegal anyway, you can ALWAYS find a song you're looking for on an album, so go buy it.

Support music, people.
 
i use, depending on where i am, radio .. i odnt have one. the only music i really dont like is top 40, or anything unexpressing.. no r&b either. but everything else from astor piazzolla to yo-yo ma, traditional native american music to african contemporary stuff .. anything that sounds good.

there aren't many radio stations that have interesting music anyway. in uk all sounded the same, so did in italy. or of 30 radios 29 were copies of each other, and i didn't just handle so much the bubblegum music. so often no radio. in us there were about 2-3 nice channels.

when i can be on broadband, there are a few ambient music stations that i listen to in itunes. when offline, my ipod. i have no cds with me here, so it's ipod.
 
WinWord10 said:
***** :eek:

I don't normally buy music unless I want an entire album or if I like the artist/song enough to want a high quality version. I frequently sample the top 100 list on iTMS, then I go download the songs I like on p2p. Kinda defeating the whole purpose I guess, but it would be impossible for me to enjoy music as much as I do now if I had to spend a dollar on each song, primarily because I'm a student on a very limited budget. I'm also a proud owner of this shirt: http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?affid=-1&productID=232

I'm surprised to see that most people here (truthfully or not) report that they buy basically all of their music. I've personally found that iTMS is missing a majority of the songs that I look for, and often p2p is my only choice even if I wanted to obtain them legally. My music library currently consists of nearly 1200 files, most of which I listen to frequently and many of which aren't even available on iTMS. It would be extremely hard for me to give up piracy.
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With all due respect, although your honesty is appreciated, it is generally in poor taste to even suggest that you use that type of software, even for noncopyrighted material. This site has a 'zero tolerance' policy for that and I would hate for a moderator to close this interesting thread.
 
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