iTunes: do you still buy music on it?

[AGX]

Do you still buy music on iTunes or do you have stopped in favor of Spotify (and similar service)?

I admit that I prefer iTunes to Spotif, for the casual play, I use Spotify, but for the music that I very love, I buy on iTunes or CD.

And you?

 

[wannabepcuser]

iTunes: do you still buy music on it?

I haven't bought any music from iTunes since I started using Spotify a few months ago.

Previously I bought probably a hundred dollars a year from iTunes, and another few hundred in used CDs every year. Now I don't buy any c.d.s. Or itunes music.

Definitely saving me a few bucks with Spotify.

 

[AGX]

Free or Paid spotify?

 

[wannabepcuser]

Paid..
If I could get cell reception at work I would use the free version.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I still buy music. I stream iTunes Radio on my iPhone, but I tried Spotify/Rdio and could never make it work for me. I don't like thinking of what I want to listen to, and just want to be able to push the play button. Having to search for something to listen to, is like trying to find a file in Finder.

And so I ended up sticking to playlists, which only made me listen to the same few songs over and over, costing more than what I would have spent if I bought said songs.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I don't buy much music, but what I do, I buy from iTunes.

 

[Sangoma]

I buy from iTunes. I'd be unlikely to buy a CD again. Of course, having a largish iTunes library keeps me tired, somewhat, to Apple

 

[adamhenry]

I'm still buying from iTunes and save BW for other things.

 

[campyguy]

I use the iTS to buy some of my music but do shop around on Amazon. Around the holidays I buy $200-$300 in iTunes gift cards at discounted prices - this year the discount was 20% on eBay, last year it was 20% at Best Buy and Staples. Then I wait for what I want to go on sale...

Over the holiday break I snagged 70 albums for either free or $2 each with the Xbox Music Deal app, from the Allman Brothers to Zedd (on my Win 8.1 partition) and ported them to iTunes, and stream my library via iTunes Match or Amazon Music (I have Prime, and Amazon's got about 1,000,000 songs to stream as part of Prime, along with my uploaded music library!). And, UL VZW data on my two iPhones!

I just bought 5 discounted albums from the iTunes Store and am itching to buy the AC/DC The Collection. Also, the iTS is one of the few locations I can find some Ibiza-styled EDM that I like (BT, Chicane). So, it's buy, upload, then stream my stuff. What's Spotify?

 

[Primejimbo]

I buy from iTunes a lot and like it. I don't care for the streaming and as of now, won't use it. I can go for months and not buy anything and that's fine. If I stop paying Spotify, what do I have to show for?

 

[venomgt95]

I just bought over 50 songs from iTunes a few weeks ago. I still prefer CD's though.

 

[Miguel760]

I buy the bulk of my music from iTunes. I love the sound quality and the format. I'm well aware that cd sounds better but I don't have the space in my room for a cd collection.

I tried using spotify but I don't like having to switch between apps if I want to listen to something that is in my iTunes match collection. If apple integrates beats music into the iPhone music app, I will highly considering streaming. As for now, I am perfectly ok with buying my music.

 

[Primejimbo]

I buy the bulk of my music from iTunes. I love the sound quality and the format. I'm well aware that cd sounds better but I don't have the space in my room for a cd collection.

I tried using spotify but I don't like having to switch between apps if I want to listen to something that is in my iTunes match collection. If apple integrates beats music into the iPhone music app, I will highly considering streaming. As for now, I am perfectly ok with buying my music.

I feel the same way about all of this. Yes I know CDs have the best sound, but iTunes does sound great and takes less room in my house.

 

[impaler]

Yes - I still want to own my music. I also want to own movies. TV shows are a different story - I rarely re-watch a series once I've seen it. And the classics I can typically find on Netflix.

 

[mmomega]

Haven't purchased any actually, since Apple Music.

 

[campyguy]

I just purchased the Millennium version of Rainbow's Greatest Hits, on sale for $6. So I'm still cruising the dust bins of virtual and real music stores... Bought the iTS credit at an eBay 25% off sale, so it was a $4.50 deal for me. Still buying from the iTS...

 

[BWhaler]

Nope. I purchased a fortune in music from iTunes, but given the buggy mess that is Apple music, I really regret it. I use Spotify exclusively now and all my music is on a drive in a closet somewhere.

 

[kleinkristi]

I don't buy much music, but what I do, I buy from iTunes.

I tunes is the best platform where you can download any music of your favourite artist and this is also secure

 

[ggibson913]

I subscribe to Apple Music, but if an album that I really enjoy and can listen to over and over goes on sale or is so good that it reached that status for me, I will still buy it.

 

[Alrescha]

Nope. I purchased a fortune in music from iTunes, but given the buggy mess that is Apple music, I really regret it.

One does not have to use iTunes to play the music, only to buy it. The recent changes to Apple and iTunes have encouraged me to complete a long slow move away from iTunes as file manager/player. I still use it to buy music.

A.

 

[OllyW]

I still buy the occasional album from iTunes but I've found a lot of new albums have got too expensive recently. It's often the same price or cheaper to buy it on CD so I'm happy to get the physical copy and rip it myself. I'm even happier when it's cheaper from Amazon and it comes with an instant AutoRip download.

 

[kleinkristi]

One does not have to use iTunes to play the music, only to buy it. The recent changes to Apple and iTunes have encouraged me to complete a long slow move away from iTunes as file manager/player. I still use it to buy music.

A.

Yes you are right most of the people use Spotify instead Itunes but I want to let you know that Spotify is costlier than Itunes if you compare both platforms in term of the monthly fee, free option, free trial period and family sharing, I suggest everyone go for Itunes.
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I subscribe to Apple Music, but if an album that I really enjoy and can listen to over and over goes on sale or is so good that it reached that status for me, I will still buy it.

Yes i still prefer Itune to buy or listen songs and video because of so many reasons

 

[Blujelly]

I prefer to own my own music and play it whenever, rather then wake up one day and realize they have taken an album of there list.

So yes I still download from iTunes

 

[MrAverigeUser]

I still buy the occasional album from iTunes but I've found a lot of new albums have got too expensive recently. It's often the same price or cheaper to buy it on CD so I'm happy to get the physical copy and rip it myself. I'm even happier when it's cheaper from Amazon and it comes with an instant AutoRip download.

That´s what I do as well...

As someone with many thousands of CDs (and still some 1000 LP) I started late (2011) with ripping in FLAC on NAS. Still being CDs and SACDs (preferring the oldest versions of the Albums) because with the beginning of the mp3 era not only the mp3-files but also the Cds have been "remastered" by compressing them and so destroying any dynamic part of music.

For more information look here:

for a first understanding of the problem:

The last one is a perfect lesson for what happened with music: It´s now mostly crippled.
I am not at all against mp3, but I hate nowadays over-compression which KILLS music.

The wonderful digital age gave us 100 dB of dynamic range from about 40 dB in the Vinyl era. And what are they doing since the beginning of iPod ? They are compressing music down to just 4-6 dB!!

Back to iTunes and Streaming:
Since some months I use also Deezer when searching for new Music/groups or when I am on the road... Like it more than Spotify. high-level mp3s and there is a rumor that they even will start soon with lossless files (FLAC). I will love to pay for that.

The market will change now radically: mainstream-people will only do streaming, people wishing to hear authentic, not-crippled music will nevertheless generate a market niche of music lovers who mostly hear also with semi-Pro equipment.

In some years shops like iTunes will melt down because there are clear advantages in comfortably streaming music - this change will be much more radical and much more faster than that from CDs to non-physical file-selling via internet BUT: I hope the loudness war will soon cease and natural dynamic will get back.
Music is too important to cripple it.
So - I´d like to have lossless streaming of non-crippled natural recordings with full natural dynamics...

 

[tomekosiowy]

Talking about mp3 (MPEG-2 Layer 3 in fact) in 2016, is like talking about dinosaurs. The worse thing is that people "believe" in high quality, when they subscribe (or buy) mp3 320 kbps. And it's not fair-play, becouse human ears does not hear any difference above 192÷224 kbps in mp3, in shorter words: mp3 320 kbps has the same quality in sound as mp3 192 kbps, it is just bigger file in size. And now the best about iTunes and Apple Music: it is lossy, yes, but it is based on MPEG-4 Advanced Audio Coding, and music encoded in AAC (LC) 160÷224 kbps (or even AAC-HE "High Efficiency" 64÷80 kbps) always sounds better than any mp3. People just compare "kbps numbers", but not real difference between MPEG-1/2 and MPEG-4 encoding/decoding possibilities. I do not buy currently, I subscribe since Apple Music started in 2015. In the past I was ripping CD's into my iTunes library as AAC 192 kbps VBR (they always sounded better than any mp3). The problem with mp3 is that detailed sounds like hi-hats are hardly destroyed, but in AAC they sounds good (acceptable) even in compression with 80÷112 kbps (and 48÷56 kbps for AAC-HE). My suggestion is: don't pay for mp3. It's 2016, your devices can play better formats (and so quality). Realy.