The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Off Topic => Topic started by: Ribbs on July 11, 2019, 09:02:27 AM
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Hi all! I have a little informal poll, if you will. My band is about to release our 3rd album, but we are having a rough time deciding what format to release it on. So far we have done cds, vinyl and of course digital download. Vinyl is popular again, which is cool but pressing them can be pricey and the turn-around can take months. (only downside, otherwise I LOVE this format) of course we want to sell the thing, which is why I wanna know which format ya'll listen to and why you prefer that format over the others.
Do you prefer to listen to your music on cd, digital download, streaming (Spotify, Pandora, Youtube ect) or some of the nostalgic formats like vinyl records or cassette tapes? I hear cassettes are popular again too. What year is this again? :blink:
Part of me wants to just to digital for environmental reasons, but I know some people really like to have something physical. Your input is appreciated!
What say you? :cool:
(for anyone curious, here's one of our music videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FwBt8dIR_M)
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I stream everything through Spotify, and I buy the vinyl if I like it enough. So those are the types of media I'd go with!
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Vinyl is my favorite for listening... But I only purchase vinyl second hand.
For convenience I like CD's. You still can convert to a mp3 player/phone, pop or into your car or pimped stereo system at home and be good to go.
I'd bet the demographic that listens to your music may be more hip to the times than I. I think you're best off offering digital and maybe go off of previous CD sales (do you sell a lot at live performances??) to estimate a quantity; charge a bit more and have your band sign limited number??
Skip the cassettes and 8-tracks, they just don't stand up to the test of time and quality diminishes...
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Convenience trumps everything. Bonus points to phones being storage devices and blue tooth to eliminate wires.
Since I listen to ... odd/old/obscure stuff.. a lot of it needs to be converted from an original source. Sometimes I just do YouTube for newer stuff.
However, I totally have some Cassette tapes in my older car. (that I use over the CD player).
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I have my ipod.
It's getting old now. It's going on for 13 years old. And one earphone doesn't work all the time as of late, which is a bit annoying. But it's been my go to since 2006 for music. I like CDs in terms of physical because I can put the songs on the ipod but if it crashes or fritzes on me I still have the songs and don't have to jump through loopholes to get them again. But I did just clear out a bunch of CDs for space reasons as I hadn't listened to them in years.
PCs not having CD trays and my hifi having a wonky CD tray hasn't helped me stay on the CD side of the equation.
I do watch videos on yt sometimes but I don't like or do online streaming. My phone probably could but it might implode in the process. I guess I use itunes because of the above ipod but that's not entirely by choice and they are files on my PC, not on the cloud...
I was the person who ran tapes into the ground till my machines chewed them up so not a fan of that. Plus magnets screw them up pretty bad.
Also I know vinyl has gone through a revival but you have to actively seek out the means to play records these days because you want to, so you'd bypass mainstream if you focused on that.
I think it probably depends most on who your listening base are, though. They're the people whose feedback will be the most helpful to you...
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CD and mp3. :)
Vinyl is pretty to look at, but I definitely prefer CDs. I don't do any "streaming" stuff, I'm not familiar with that. I do use YouTube, but if I find a song I like, I will buy it (on 7Digital, I don't have/use iTunes). All that streaming business is too flighty for me, it makes me restless because it can disappear if I look away. XD
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Digital, streaming and CDs. Occasionally cassettes.
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Vinyls if I really, really love the music. Otherwise, it's CDs. Even though this CD tray is broken...
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I do digital (purchasing like iTunes, Amazon Music) or CDs if it's not available via digital purchase.
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Most of my music collection is in form of mp3 files (easy to listen to on the go from my phone), but I also love collecting music on physical vinyl records and sometimes CDs. If I don't feel like having my own copy of a song/album, I just listen to it on YouTube. I don't like dedicated streaming services like Spotify for some reason, though (maybe because I just have an aversion for modern things)
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I listen to music via mp3 but collect physical CDs and vinyl. I primarily collect CDs (I don't have as much display space for vinyl, everything I own is confined to my sorta small bedroom), and with them I buy CDs, rip them to mp3, and listen to them on my laptop and/or phone. But I keep buying CDs for something to display on a shelf. I don't actually listen to the music through the CDs, with the exception of when my dad and I go to concerts in Seattle, and I like grabbing a CD and listening to it in the car on the way there. But otherwise they're for displaying. As for vinyl, while I collect them, I don't buy them as often as I do CDs. They take up significantly more space and I have a lot less space for them. While I have a record player, I don't have space for actually good speakers for it, and I just have the built-in ones, which sound bad so I rarely ever actually listen to music on vinyl even though I collect them, I tend to just play an album on vinyl after I buy it and then it just gets displayed. I also prefer colored vinyl over regular black, more fun to collect. :) When it comes to streaming music, I stream music via Spotify when I first get into artists. If I'm looking into getting into somebody I'll stream their entire discography on there in chronological order and if I like them enough, I buy their stuff on CDs (all studio albums and EPs, at the very least). I also sometimes use its recommendation features to find artists too. But I don't use streaming as my primary source to listen.
I only buy an album digitally if it isn't available on CD. With digital-only I'm like "alright I'll buy it digitally but as soon as they put out a CD I'm buying it a second time so I can have it on my shelf". :lol:
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I only use Spotify nowadays. Easy to stream, and you can download playlists and/or songs to your device and listen to them offline, so it doesn't take any surf from the phone and it works on aiplanes. I know Within Temptation realeased their latest music on both CD, vinyl and casette and a lot of their old CDs are being released as vinyl. From comments I realised many are buying the vinyl, but it's not for me.
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Download. I am still keeping my old CDs, but I don't buy any new ones. But that's only because I am not in that band-fan-phase anymore, I think if I had a favorite band I was crazy about, I'd consider buying a CD.
By the way, happy to see that you are still around!
Best wishes for your release!
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Spotify, and only Spotify. I've had a premium sub for years now, and the only albums I've bought (via iTunes, so digital download) since then have been the Eurovision albums and I only bought them instead of simply listening to them on Spotify, too, because Spotify is not supported by a music game I like to play, while iTunes is.
Some friends are more into the fine details of listening to music, and they have proper stereos and boxes and all that equipment, they prefer vinyl; I only listen to music on my computer, tablet or phone and usually via headphones, so Spotify makes the most sense for me, too.
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Youtube, using my laptop which bluetooth connects to my sound system
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I download on Spotify or iTunes. If its a really special album I buy it on vinyl!
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I am the old so I like CDs and ripping the mp3s to put on my phone. But I would assume young people cut out the middle man and go right for digital (streaming with the option to download?) I guess it would also really depend on your target audience
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I appreciate your input everyone! :) I think we're going to press a small amount of CDs and have the album available for streaming and download. I'm still new at Spotify, but it seems increasingly popular these days. Here's our Spotify link if anyone likes what we're doing. https://open.spotify.com/artist/1dQla5TZY6h1hmDyAIDtrF?si=B702bfWBTa6rU0mCh5CxWw my mother says our music is "pretty, spooky, and otherworldly" if that sways you in any way to follow. Thanks again friends! 🖤
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Bonus with CDs is if you have live shows, you can sign them. :)
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I collect vinyls and adore my baby Crosley Cruiser, but for everyday/on-the-go listening, I agree that convenience is key. I currently stream most everything from YouTube, with a little Google Play Music on the side when I'd rather listen to a mix. I don't have Premium currently, so I still wade through my share of ads; but now that I'm re-enrolled in school I plan to get the Google student bundle, which I'm told is the best value for its kind (it combines YT Premium and Music Premium). I'm actually kind of glad for the death of iTunes, as I never wanted to sync my entire library and picking and choosing songs was always tedious. But plenty of people prefer different formats for different times and places.
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For on the go and discovering new artists, Spotify is my preferred music platform! But for artists I really love and want to support vinyl is my favorite format! ^.^ colored vinyl is always fun, but more than anything I love the larger format for being able to admire the album artwork! I won’t lie, if the album is cheap enough and I really like the album art I might take a gamble and just buy the album and then see if the music on it is any good! :P
I’ll be sure to check your music out on Spotify! I’m always on the lookout for new artists! :)
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I Prefer To Buy CD'S And I Can Take them to concerts with Me and have them Autographed