Why did you left CDs?

[husker37]

I still religiously buy CDs. I currently have 3,323 and I still purchase regularly.

I buy CDs for a few reasons:
1. I like to have something "in my hand." I have a large bonus room where I have my studio, so I have plenty of room to store CDs. I don't find that they take up much room. Except for box sets - I love box sets (Rhino is the greatest thing ever).
2. Once I buy a CD - it's mine. I can do whatever I want with it, with only a few restrictions (for example, I cannot charge people to come listen to my CD). I detest Apple and its products, so I refuse to get into the ITunes thing. Most online services reserve the right to pull a purchased album from you at any time.
3. If I have physical media, I can also control digital copies of the disc.


Once I buy a CD, I have a whole process I go through:
1. I add it to my CD Database. Years ago (probably mid 90s), I wanted to learn Microsoft Access. I figured I would start by putting all my CDs in an Access Database. (At that time, I only had a few hundred). So, for the past 20 years or so, I have input each purchase into this database. I track all sorts of data in the record - artist, album info, year, record label, genre, other data (live collection, box set, CD Single, greatest hits, etc.). In addition, I also input every track as well as its time. A bit obsessive, I know.
2. I rip the disc in multiple formats (.flac and 320 .mp3). A few years ago, I purchased DBPowerAmp, and started ripping my collection (I had around 2200 at the time). I was careful (and remain careful) about adding the correct metadata. It took the better part of 18 months, but I completed the project. Ever since, I have religiously ripped each disc I purchase. The current size is only 1.4 TB.
3. I store the digital copies in three places - a local drive on my main computer (using MediaMonkey to play), on my Plex server (which allows me to listen to any disc at any time anywhere in the world as well as mobile device sync capability), and finally I store a backup copy on a removable drive which I store at in my office at work. I use an application called AllWaySync to sync everything.

[zerocrossing]

I still buy CDs from time to time, but no where nearly as voraciously as I did in the 90s. I just bought a Prince CD I’d overlooked (The Beautiful Experience). Before that I bought the new Negativeland album (brilliant) and I’ll buy anything Radiohead or Thom Yorke releases. I probably have about a thousand. I still mostly use Apple Music because it’s a way my entire family can access music whenever we want. For instance, I’m not going to buy the CD of Frozen II (way worse than the soundtrack of Frozen 1! ) but my daughter likes to listen to it, and with streaming it can happen in my car, my wife’s car or at home.

When I was single I had the time to sit in my living room and pop in a CD and I could have a long stretch of silence that I could fill with whatever music I wanted. Now life is so jam packed that there’s no way that could happen. Most of my music listening now happens via my AirPod Pros from my iPhone while I’m doing some sort of chore. Long gone are the days I could take a hit of acid and spend the day listening to CDs and making music in my studio. Life’s pretty amazing though, I can’t complain. Yesterday my daughter crept up behind me and whispered in my ear, “Poop’s coming over later for a poop party.” It’s kind of like being on acid sometimes.