One thing @slobberchops and I have in common is a love of the music of Steven Wilson (well most of it anyway). Mr Wilson has revived his old band Porcupine Tree for a new album and I saw Mr Chop bought the download. Actually buying physical music media can be tricky and expensive these days. Fortunately there is still a record store near where I work. HMV (His Master's Voice) used to be in nearly every town, but now branches are thinly spread. There is also a shop that sells mostly vinyl nearby and that is where I met Mr Wilson at his book signing.
With Porcupine not being a mainstream act there was a chance that even HMV would not stock them, but when I got there I saw a good sign (literally).
Actually there is a chance this album could top the UK charts next week. I imagine you do not have to sell anything like as many copies to achieve that as you might have in my youth and so a band with a small, but dedicated following may get there, at least for a week. Steven Wilson can sell out the Royal Albert Hall over several nights, so he has more fans than you might expect. As they are largely an older crowd they have the money to spend on the special editions he loves to put out.
When I walked it I mostly saw toys (e.g. Funko Pops), shirts, DVDs/Blu-Rays and vinyl. I am not a vinyl purist and CD is more convenient. I found a single copy in the new releases rack. I think music CDs make up less than a quarter of their stock when it would have been the majority not so long ago. Streaming and downloads has really killed that market. This is why I value shops like this where there is at least a selection to browse. Supermarkets only tended to have the chart stuff and some have given up on that.
Eventually I spotted this rack by the checkout. I could have got the Vinyl/CD/Blu-Ray special edition, but at £65 I considered that a little pricey and so I just paid for my CD (that was £13).
This CD joins my little collection of Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree music. Actually I missed out a couple of concert videos. You may see a couple of these were signed. One was bought at a concert and the other was done for me at the recent signing session. Some are special editions with extra material, but I am missing quite a few Porcupine Tree albums. I just lack shelf space and I can hear them on Spotify. I am not a completist collector anyway. I did see they have some assorted live recordings on Bandcamp. I will check those out.
Do you still buy physical media? Call me old-fashioned, but having something I can hold for my money still means something to me. A file on the PC is just not the same. Mind you, I tend to rip the CDs and play them on the PC. I really do not mind paying for music and I know it matters to the musicians, especially those who do not get mass exposure. When I die it can be sold or donated to charity. Nobody will buy a second hand download.
Rock on!
I still buy some LPs. I have sone so for a couple of years as some of the local musicians only sell on LP as it is harder to copy. But I really like the download way. Quality-wise nothing compares to a wav or FLAC file, it is easy to set up for playback, you can make playlists and it takes up no space at all.
I still buy and read books and comics as I think they are better reading and gapping at drawings medias. But the LP is a bit outdated and even though I do use it reasonably much and is going to buy a new pickup, I do not gain much from the nostalgia-vibe. As for CDs the whole experience with them starting to degenerate has made me rip it all. They are still there on the shelf, but I never use them.
I have ripped most of my CDs more than once. I did it a long time back to MP3, but not at the best quality. Eventually I re-did tham as FLAC so I never have to worry about quality again. I very rarely play an actual CD. I buy vinyl now and again if it's a special edition I will treasure. Most come with a CD or download code. I love Bandcamp as they do lossless downloads. I've bought loads of stuff from there.
The experience of buying music can be more than just listening to it. Some have fascinating cover art and booklets that you don't always get with a download.
I have decent speakers on the PC, so I get a good listening experience. I have a few albums with surround mixes on DVD or Blu-Ray, so I have to use the living room system to experience those, but I don't do that so often. Steven Wilson has done surround mixes of lots of classic albums as well as his own.
Yes, especially the LPs with their large size has been really important for the accompanying artwork.
My PC is connected to my old NAD stereo and some enormous Danish made speakers, so the listening experience is as good as the LP.
I do I LOVE records lps vinyl. I have most of my parents old records (they were pre rock and roll so jazz and old 40's standards up to pop like Doris Day etc.) I also have old 78's and phonographs that were my grandfather's I STILL will play an old 78 of Caruso when I'm in the garden to remember him. Physical media may become rather important to many as the New World takes shape.
I wish I still had my mum's old 45s, but I think they went long ago. We have a lot of our vinyl that we bought before CDs came along and I have bought a few pieces recently. It has its own sound. I find it amusing that so many young people have embraced it.
!BEER
Oh and we do have the old 45s from the 60s my sisters were much older than myself (I was like an only child stuck at the end of much older siblings and parents haha) So we had old beatles and such on 45 and as a child I had a little red gingham record player and I remember putting those plastic things in the holes of the 45 to make them fit the record player. One 45 I loved was "My boyfriend has a Beatle haircut" lol I used to dance to that when I was a child, funny as non of my peers had any idea what this song was etc, as it was the early 80s haha.
I don't think I've heard that song before. I had my mum's record player. It could play 78s as well as 16rpm disks, but I've never seen one of those. Wish I still had it. She had some Elvis and Everly Brothers 45s. They might be worth something now.
!hivebits
We even have an old gramophone that's what I like to play the 78's on as it feels like time travel :)
This isn't my video but here you go caruso 78 on old gramophone...it's like a portal to the past.
Success! You mined .9 HBIT & the user you replied to received .1 HBIT on your behalf. mine | wallet | market | tools | discord | subscribe | <>< daily
View or trade
BEER.Hey @donnadavisart, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @steevc for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Over the past decade or so I have really gotten back into vinyl. I have a pretty extensive collection by most standards I think. That being said, the majority of my music listening happens on Spotify or Satellite radio. Very cool that you were able to pick this up!
I mostly listen to Spotify or stuff that is on the PC, but I do play some vinyl now and then. Still got the old Technics deck. It probably needs a new stylus.
!BEER
I wish I had a Technics deck! They say the stylus makes all the difference!
This is a basic model. The stylus is ancient :) I had to replace the belt as it perished.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @bozz, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @steevc for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.I hope you got the version with the extra 3 tracks. The standard version has only 7 tracks. They are not fillers and are decent.
Looks like I got the basic version. Ah well, I am sure I can hear them somewhere.
Update: They are on Spotify.
For music I never buy physical copies anymore. There are too many free options now with the different apps and YouTube. The artists still get paid by the apps usually as well so that's good.
I still buy physical books sometimes because I like the feel of them in my hands and the look of them of a shelf. But even that is dwindling for me now that I have an e-reader.
Artists get tiny amounts from Youtube and Spotify, but I use those too. It may be that vinyl is the biggest physical media, but that is more of a style thing. I use streaming, downloads and ebooks too, but sometimes I want more than that, even if it seems irrational.
!BEER
View or trade
BEER.Hey @leaky20, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @steevc for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.So great to hear that you still like to buy physical media! I haven't in recent years as I have been moving around quite a bit, but I do like the idea :) would be so cool if porcupine tree topped UK charts! Another fan here :)
Not similar, but I was just reminiscing over the time when Rage Against The Machine hit Christmas number 1!
View or trade
BEER.Hey @sunsethunter, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @steevc for you. Enjoy it!Do you want to win SOME BEER together with your friends and draw the
BEERKING.The charts are a real mix with old Queen and Bowie albums in the top 10. That may be down to kids buying vinyl. The music industry is very different to when I was young.
!BEER
Congratulations @steevc! You received a personal badge!
Wait until the end of Power Up Day to find out the size of your Power-Bee.
May the Hive Power be with you!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz: