Download_Music_vs._Buying_a_Cd

Downloading Music Versus Buying A CD Advancements in technology over the last decade has made purchasing music as simple as clicking a button. There was a time when the only way to purchase music was by walking into the store to buy it. Different music media has changed during the years. Vinyl changed to eight tracks, eight tracks changed to cassette tapes, and cassette tapes changed to cds, but the popularity of music has not. Downloading music has become the leader in purchasing music, but is it the best way' Depending on the music fan, both ways seem to be up to the consumer. The first major concern for the consumer is the cost. With the economy on the downslide, consumers are pinching their pennies and trying to find cheaper methods of owning music. An economical solution to this is to download music off websites such as I-Tunes and Napster. There is usually a minimal fee for each song you want to download. The fees range from ninety –nine cents up to two dollars depending on the site and popularity of the song(s). Sometimes, you can download these items for free if you know the websites where people share music such as Limewire, but you also have to worry about getting viruses from these sorts of sites. However, with buying a cd, the price is higher because of the people involved in the promotion of the music with consideration to the packaging and shipping costs. These costs include the money to pay someone to promote the album, the artwork, the plastic sleeve, the wrapping, and the disc itself. Companies have to ship the items to the stores which may or may not cost extra. Many people enjoy the pictures and artwork that is included with a cd. People want to have the touch of the sleeve, the look of the pictures, and the lyrics inside. The higher price lets them sing along with their favorite song and feel like they are part of the musical experience. Most people think it is worth it to pay the extra expense just to have it. Besides the cost, downloading music is more convenient and stress free than having to go to the store to buy it. The consumer has to search on the website to find what they are looking for whether it is artist, song, or album. With a click of a button people can preview music they want to buy or immediately download it. The music is then compressed to the computer saving time and space. Music fans can easily plug in their IPod or MP3 player in their pajamas and instantly have their music now without having to put any effort into it. Today’s society has little to no time to waste. Going to the store to buy music is time consuming and stressful. A person having to get dressed and drive to the store takes much time out of the little time in the day that people have. They do not want to deal with becoming stressed while they muddle through large crowds on the first day of a cd release. On top of the crowds, they do not want to deal with ignorant salespeople who have no idea what music the person is talking about as well as standing in those long lines to get their favorite music anymore. Since the availability of genres has grown over the years, an infinite number of selections of artists and songs are available to the consumer’s fingertips. Downloading music from different websites gives people a wider selection of music. If they are avid music fans, they can download certain songs from certain albums and make a compilation of the songs. The websites offer “download exclusive” songs that are only available to someone that downloads. If you buy a cd, the selections are quite different. The selection is limited to what is on the cd. There may be bonus tracks on the disc, but there are no alternate ways to change the selection of songs on the cd. The buyer might not like every song on the cd, but they are stuck with it. People that own cds have only one copy of the album. They might make a copy on another disc to make sure that if the original ever gets damaged, they will have another copy of it. Some say that the quality of a cd is much better as well, but it takes up more space physically. While a song can be downloaded and compressed smaller on the computer, there are several ways to save backups in case the original gets corrupted or erased. The online backup on certain websites such as Adrive, Idrive, or Windows Live Skydrive offers up to fifty gigabytes of free storage space and makes it that much easier to retrieve. Overall, downloading songs seems to be cheaper, faster, and more convenient than buying a cd, so this may be the answer for most consumers. Selection varies from one option of buying to another, but it is all a matter of taste. From clicking a button to traveling to the store, there are many ways and options to purchase music. Whatever the choice may be, it gives that decision to all the music fans around the world.