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iTunes Music vs Original CD's

NZed

NZed

macrumors 65816
Original poster
So I've been checking prices and realize that maybe albums on the iTunes Store is more expensive than a real physical CD. I know buying off itunes saves time and if you live in a place where CD's are impossible to fine, its worth it. Also, it saves space and probably global warming.

I live near the CBD and access to real CD's are not hard at all. And with CDs that are cheaper than iTunes, i would probably still buy it from itunes.

What would you do? Buy it physically or online?
 
I buy physically online from Amazon. Even after $3 shipping, I save money, I get a physical product that I can resell, and I have a back up.
 
Where I live, CDs are more expensive than iTunes (or at least they were the last time I looked), and then, it's not worth the effort to go to the store.
 
Last time I looked at a CD it was way more expensive than on iTunes (conditional on being in iTunes). With the convenience of just hitting a button and getting it all downloaded, I haven't bothered actually going out to look. However, when I can't find something on iTunes, I usually manage to find what I want on Amazon for a decent price.
 
mobilehaathi said:
Last time I looked at a CD it was way more expensive than on iTunes (conditional on being in iTunes). With the convenience of just hitting a button and getting it all downloaded, I haven't bothered actually going out to look. However, when I can't find something on iTunes, I usually manage to find what I want on Amazon for a decent price.
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The worst price discrepancy I have seen is 22$, for a double album (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence from Dream Theater, if you want to know). 32$ at the local music store, 9,99$ on iTunes.
 
lewis82 said:
The worst price discrepancy I have seen is 22$, for a double album (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence from Dream Theater, if you want to know). 32$ at the local music store, 9,99$ on iTunes.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's crazy...

I was once waiting for a train in France and wandered into a Virgin store. I left wondering who in their right mind would pay 25 Euros for a CD...
 
I haven't bought a CD since about 1995 or so but when I asked what the average prices of a single CD are these days, people on MR replied that they are about $15 or so. With that in Mind, I always bought my music on iTunes since the average price there was $9.99. Then don't forget the price of gas driving to a gas station. With iTunes, I can have the music in five minutes.

My old CDs and DVDs are sitting in several of those old Case Logic 100 CD albums collecting dust. What I could not find on iTunes, I ripped since some of them have been out of print for 10-15 years.
 
I still buy CDs as they are a lot cheaper than on iTunes, i can usually pick them up on eBay for around £3 including P&P. The rest come from Amazon, i think CDs are better as they're physical and i can rip them to Flac. Nice to look at as well 🙂
 
If you think about it, it's iTunes that are more expensive. Digital downloads don't really cost that much-- maybe the server cost. I would buy the CD instead of on iTunes-- best quality.
 
I tend to buy CDs, since you get the lyric booklet etc. I've seen a few albums in iTunes that include the book, but they're few and far between.
 
lewis82 said:
The worst price discrepancy I have seen is 22$, for a double album (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence from Dream Theater, if you want to know). 32$ at the local music store, 9,99$ on iTunes.
Click to expand...

And it's only six songs (realistically). 😱

Great album, though. I bought the CD some time ago. I think I paid around $20-22 for it at the time.
 
Anything I can buy on iTunes, I buy. When I can't find what I'm looking for, I will then order it online (usually if iTunes doesn't have it, my local store doesn't have it either).
 
I prefer original CDs. I can then rip lossless FLAC copies and listen to them using Fidelia. The best quality iTunes offers is, what, 256 kbps? Absolutely atrocious quality and for 99 cents a song?! That may make sense for some music, but for any textured music, it's a waste.
 
yojitani said:
I prefer original CDs. I can then rip lossless FLAC copies and listen to them using Fidelia. The best quality iTunes offers is, what, 256 kbps? Absolutely atrocious quality and for 99 cents a song?! That may make sense for some music, but for any textured music, it's a waste.
Click to expand...

This, why cant Apple offer FLAC/ALAC on the iTunes store, especially now that 1080P is offered for films and TV shows
 
I'd rather buy the CD. So then I've got a physical copy to easily play in the car or anywhere else needed, and a ripped copy for my MP3 player (thanks to CDDB) with all my meta data and album art intact at any bit rate I want.

Also I love that I've inherited my parents record collection (well, the good bits 😉). Even ripped them to MP3 for them for all our iPods.
 
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