# CD recordings



## Toddlertoddy (Sep 17, 2011)

I personally rarely buy any CDs (I'm not rich and I think it's a waste of money), but I have three (Shostakovich Piano Concerti and Shchedrin Piano Concerto No. 2, du Pre's recordings, and Rostropovich Cello Suites, which was a gift). With the magic of Youtube, I can find whatever I want (except obscure composers), but should I start collecting CDs? What's so good about them anyway?


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Toddlertoddy said:


> ... I'm not rich and I think it's a waste of money ...
> 
> ... but should I start collecting CDs?


In your case, I think it is best not to purchase any CDs.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I think if you're happy listening to music on Youtube thats cool!  There is'nt much to recommend about collecting CD's other than the personal satisfaction you get from building a library of your choosing - have you considered buying MP3's or subscribing to a streaming service like Spotify?.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I don't think it's ever a "waste of money" to invest in something that gives you pleasure and that you're passionate about. Speaking for myself, but I'm sure many others feel the same way, I collect music that I want always available to me. There are many things that cannot be found on YouTube. I'm not discounting YouTube as a good resource because I have heard things on there that I added to my CD collection that I would not have. Also the sound quality of CDs is far superior to any mp3 or streaming source. For much of my life I have been willing to sacrifice some things others think important. I would rather have a nice stereo and a CD collection over a brand new car. I'd rather drive a ten year old vehicle if it means I can continue to own music. I do think a certain amount of restraint is necessary. I cannot reasonably own everything I would like to but I certainly can own copies of the works I love and value the most and would listen to again and again. I feel the same about owning movies. I only buy the films I know I will watch many times over.

That said though if you cannot afford to buy and collect CDs then try a site like Spotify. For only $4.99 a month you can have it commercial free and their library of classical music is pretty extensive. Still a whole lot of gaps but you could never listen to all that's available in your lifetime. And for $9.99 a month you can even have access to Spotify from any mobile device and even download albums via wifi to your cellphone to listen offline and save your data package.

Kevin


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I don't believe in youtube, but at some point in the relatively near future I plan to shift from buying CDs to downloading and burning backups.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

If money is tight, no question, Youtube is fine. Great way to test the waters with new composers. And one can even download tracks from Youtube and burn them on a CD, I've done that on occasion, particularly with recordings that are out of print or otherwise hard to get.

But I grew up with CDs, so for me it's always the first choice. And it's not only about the sound quality, although that's certainly part of it. It's just nice to own a physical object. It makes one value it more, in my opinion. We're physical beings ourselves, and I think we connect best to other physical entities. It shouldn't really make any difference where the music that's coming out of the speakers is coming from, but to me it does. People who grew up with Itunes and e-books etc. will perhaps feel differently about it, though.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

How are the artists going to get paid if people think paying for music is a waste of money? People will pay 80 dollars for a pair of sneakers manufactured by slave labor, but they won't spend 10 bucks on a CD. Strange values this generation has.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

A CD is also more than just the composer's music. It is that particular performance that was recorded, through the coherent playing of a professional ensemble and or a soloist through many hours to practise and musicology (especially in the case of period instrument groups who might have edited and published a set of performaning parts perhaps the first time since the piece was performed centuries ago). It is a chance for you in your humble way to support your favourite artists and even the composers. Record companies will not go on supporting performaers and record every single note written by JS Bach or Arnold Schoenberg if people just sit back and watch bits of youtube clips of music, not the mention the copyright law infringement.

Buy what you can afford. CDs are effectively becoming cheaper in real terms both in price and the breadth of materials.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

I'd guess that, as far as major lables are concerned, like Sony, Universal, EMI, etc., the revenues from their pop music divisions already pay for their classical recordings. And even with smaller, classical-music-only lables, the orchestras are usually professionals ones, mostly on the government payroll, so they already have an income.

Nevertheless, I'd agree: buy as much as you can afford, it's a Good Thing to do.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2012)

I buy CDs so I can listen in the car, and in the home. I have an mp3 player for when I'm out walking the dog (though I can now hook it up to my car stereo). I use Youtube for quick searches...

Each to his own.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

'...the magic of Youtube...'

I agree it can be useful but I could never consider building a 'virtual' collection with it. In addition to the other points stated in the above posts CD players don't have buffering issues.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

starthrower said:


> How are the artists going to get paid if people think paying for music is a waste of money? People will pay 80 dollars for a pair of sneakers manufactured by slave labor, but they won't spend 10 bucks on a CD. Strange values this generation has.


I agree with with this wholeheartedly and that's why if money is tight then I think Spotify is a better source than YouTube. Spotify does pay the artists for every track streamed. Admittedly not a whole lot but it is one more source of revenue for them they might not get otherwise.

Kevin


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## powerbooks (Jun 30, 2012)

CD will eventually be replaced. But not by Youtube for sure!

As I see it: this is the perfect time to start CD collection. The overall price has dropped dramatically especially for classical re-issues, which more often contain best of the performances of many classical masterpieces. Take the legendary 1953 Puccini's Tosca by Callas from EMI/Angel, Since it was released, it has never, NEVER, disappears from the catalog. However, it has been always at full price regardless of the media. Now, you can buy it from different remasters, from different companies (such as Naxos) at pretty reasonable price. 

How can you imagine a complete Mozart set of 180 CDs selling less than $100 20 years ago?

I always try to find best deal buying CDs. You don't need brand new, as long as it plays well. CD is the way of the music industry suicide: they created this wonderful media which lasts "forever" (well, more or less 40 years, but that's not the point). Nobody needs to re-fresh their stock and nobody cares how to abuse their CDs. 

Collecting CDs gives you the opportunity to listen and compare different version of the music, which is very helpful to build up your music appreciation, and you can do it whenever you like. I don't think YT can be that diverse and convenient for the near future.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Kevin Pearson said:


> I agree with with this wholeheartedly and that's why if money is tight then I think Spotify is a better source than YouTube. Spotify does pay the artists for every track streamed. Admittedly not a whole lot but it is one more source of revenue for them they might not get otherwise.
> 
> Kevin


That's overstating the fact by a million miles. Spotify pays the artists virtually nothing. Not even pennies on the dollar.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

starthrower said:


> That's overstating the fact by a million miles. Spotify pays the artists virtually nothing. Not even pennies on the dollar.


I see no "overstatement" in what I said at all. I agreed with you about buying CDs. My point about Spotify is that they do pay the artist regardless of how much. YouTube pays the artist Zilch! Zero! Notta! You may not like or agree with the amount Spotify pays but regardless they have entered into "legal" agreements with the record companies to stream the music on their servers. It is still one more source of revenue. I own several things in my collection that I bought and paid full price for only because I heard it on Spotify first. I think if you asked Samurai, who uses Spotify a lot, you would find he has done the same thing. Now we are just two users and I suspect that millions of users have done the same thing. Don't dis Spotify just because they don't pay as much as you think they should. Musicians have never made much money from purchased music (LPs, CDs, mp3s etc). Most of their revenue comes from touring. Right or wrong that's the way it is. If they did get paid more then the price for CDs etc. would go up, which would likely result in less sales, which would result in lower concert attendance, which would result in lower ticket prices to get fans to come, which would result in less revenue all around. To me Spotify is another tool artists can use to get their music out there and increase concert revenue where they make most of their money. At least Spotify pays them something unlike YouTube.

Kevin


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

Toddlertoddy said:


> I personally rarely buy any CDs (I'm not rich and I think it's a waste of money), but I have three (Shostakovich Piano Concerti and Shchedrin Piano Concerto No. 2, du Pre's recordings, and Rostropovich Cello Suites, which was a gift). With the magic of Youtube, I can find whatever I want (except obscure composers), but should I start collecting CDs? What's so good about them anyway?


I suppose, I'm wondering...

Does this mean, that you would never go to a French restaurant, because MacDonalds will do?
Or perhaps, you might go, if someone else paid for it? 

I barely find anything on Youtube, but then again, I'm not into mainstream classical music. That is for the youtube crowd. Spotify isn't so terrible, however the bills for an internet connection in a remote area are quite expensive, and don't stream very well.

Do you have a photo album of your life? Probably not, as most of this generation, now store images digitally on their Facebook account (until it gets deleted). Having a CD collection ...is a photo album, of your life. At least, mine is, in that I relate with specific albums, associated with strong memories of the time when I discovered the music. My CD collection is like a photo album of my life. And that's nuffin'. Wait till you see my vinyl LP collection. That's even more megalomaniacally wonderful and puts any cruddy .wav or .mp4 files back into the obnoxious little hamster cupboard where they came from 

With Youtube only, your memories are impoverished; there will be no recollection. Just pure amnesia. Even digital files that you buy off the internet, are effectively worthless to sell on. With CDs, you might get anything up to its whole value back. And you have a coaster for your coffee whilst surfing the net


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

/\ What is the current market status of 'self-published' recordings by musicians? Awhile back I read a few articles that suggested 'good things' were going to happen there. I purchased a couple CD-Rs from Sergei Schepkin, but have seen nothing on the subject lately.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Another thing I would add about CD purchasing is that I cannot understand why so many young people are willing to spend their hard earned dollars on mp3 purchases when they can oftentimes own the CD for the same price or just a little more. The CD has better sound quality and if you really want mp3s can be ripped to make your own. At least then you own something physical that's not going to disappear when your hard drive crashes (and believe me it will sooner or later). Also as stated above you cannot resell mp3s but you can resell CDs and recover some if not all of your investment. I don't like this trend of not having really anything substantial to show for your money. Having an mp3 collection on my Ipod, mp3 player or computer is not the same as having a nice rack filled with my CD collection. I also don't have to go online to read any information about the recording because it's in the booklet that came with the CD and I can look at the nice cover art. I feel the same about books but with books I am willing to invest in ebooks for the convenience of being able to adjust font size and style, but if my eyes were as good as they used to be physical books would be my first choice.

Kevin


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Have you checked your local public library ?Many of them in America have extensive collections of 
classical CDs . Not only that, you can always ask a librarian at yours to order any classical CDs you'd like to hear if they don't have it there . Some libraries have interloan systems where you can get virtually any book, Cd or DVD from other libraries in the county .
I've been taking advantage of the excellent ,highly convenient interloan system in Westchster county,NY, just north of New York city where I live. All I have to do is go to my library's website and I can search anything in the entire WEstchester library system and reserve it online, and within about a week,it comes to my library and I can pick it up for only 40 cents !
I also have i tunes on my computer, which enables me to download any CD onto my computer , and I've been doing this with the classical CDs I borrow. I don't knwo whether this is strictly ethical, but I don't see why not . With i tunes, you can also burn these CDs onto a black CD . 
My library also has a good classical CD collection .


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Oops. That should read "a blank CD". Bad fingers ! Behave !


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

superhorn said:


> Have you checked your local public library ?Many of them in America have extensive collections of
> classical CDs . Not only that, you can always ask a librarian at yours to order any classical CDs you'd like to hear if they don't have it there . Some libraries have interloan systems where you can get virtually any book, Cd or DVD from other libraries in the county .
> I've been taking advantage of the excellent ,highly convenient interloan system in Westchster county,NY, just north of New York city where I live. All I have to do is go to my library's website and I can search anything in the entire WEstchester library system and reserve it online, and within about a week,it comes to my library and I can pick it up for only 40 cents !
> I also have i tunes on my computer, which enables me to download any CD onto my computer , and I've been doing this with the classical CDs I borrow. I don't knwo whether this is strictly ethical, but I don't see why not . With i tunes, you can also burn these CDs onto a black CD .
> My library also has a good classical CD collection .


The one thing I have found about library CDs is that they are often in bad condition from abuse. Many of the ones I have borrowed over the years skip. Otherwise it can be a great resource for music and other things too!

Kevin


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2012)

Head_case said:


> I'm not into mainstream classical music. That is for the youtube crowd.


I'm not entirely sure what you are insinuating here. Would you like to elaborate?


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I barely find anything on Youtube, but then again, I'm not into mainstream classical music.

I'm not entirely sure what you are insinuating here.

I would assume he's suggesting that as your experience and your music collection grows, you move beyond the so-called "core repertoire" (not that you stop listening to these). I must say... in YouTube's favor... that there are a good many more obscure or less-well-known composer's works available on YouTube today. I'm especially interested in live performances. But I agree that YouTube would never be a major source for my music... at least not considering the limited sound quality, the limited image quality, and the fact that in many instances all that is available are 10-minute intervals of music as opposed to entire works.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

On YouTube, I look for and find complete works. And many that never were on records, or are totally OOP, or came from old vinyls almost nobody has. If I want the composer/work/player, and I can't get it anywehre else, I don't mind the bad sound.


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## Toddlertoddy (Sep 17, 2011)

Head_case said:


> I suppose, I'm wondering...
> 
> Does this mean, that you would never go to a French restaurant, because MacDonalds will do?
> Or perhaps, you might go, if someone else paid for it?
> ...


Of course I would never go to a French restaurant if I can't afford it. However, I would not go to McDonald's because of my own reasons when you can make your own food at home.

To me, a photo album is nothing like a CD collection because CDs are things while a photo album is full of events. (I do own one, by the way.) And besides, a collection of 70 CDs could be more than a camera and photo album combined.

One thing a CD does not have is a visible score that you are able to see. It's incredibly interesting and gives you a better sense of the piece.


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## Carpenoctem (May 15, 2012)

I love CDs, but I think digital files are more convenient.

But then again with CDs you can have both if you rip them to your pc, but in the end I think it all comes down to money, how much are you willing to spend for music.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

Toddlertoddy said:


> Of course I would never go to a French restaurant if I can't afford it. However, I would not go to McDonald's because of my own reasons when you can make your own food at home.


Lol. By your analogy, then you would not be listening to others' music: wouldn't you be busy playing your own, rather than listening to youtube?

In this context, Youtube is like scavenging for free scraps. Not cooking your own compositions at home :/

I guess you'll stay with the digital flow. Good luck with streaming!

Macleod - StLukesOhio & Odnosposoff have already answered your question better than I can.

None of the repertoire (specifically string quartet) I listen to, is in abundance in mainstream markets. At the minute, I'm listening to Matyas Seiber's Quartets No. I-III; David Diamond's extensive cycle of 11 string quartets; Hugo Kauder's Quartets No. I-IVl; Klebanov & Stankovich's LP vinyl recording by the Lysenko Quartet (thanks to a friend for translating the Russian .. I finally know what I'm listening to!).

The amount of time wasted spent trying to listen to a) find any of this repertoire on youtube b) trying to get through the illegal uploads if it isn't a live recording c) trying to stay near the computer in order to listen, rather than concentrate in the listening experience from the programming given on a CD or vinyl LP and d) getting music of the audiophile quality that I'm used to, rather than hearing a 2 dimensional recording.

PS - of the scores that I do own, none of them are big enough to fit in a CD sleeve. LP vinyl records aren't in the same league. All I'm after is an Okki Nokki Record Cleaner and hey presto ...no more snap, crackle and pop!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

CDs are the equivalent of postal mail in the email era. They may have sentimental value, but please don't talk to me about the "convenience" of waiting weeks for an interlibrary loan system lest you date yourself horrifically.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I would also include DVD/Blu-ray with "CD" - all physical mediums. Of course, operas and ballets can be enjoyed further with DVD/Blu-ray. Especially Wagner's.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The Westchester library system is very efficient in this respect. Whatever you reserve usually gets there within a week or less. You can reserve several CDs at the same time.


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## msvadi (Apr 14, 2012)

I have a collection of about 1000 CDs, but recently I have stopped buying CDs and now purchase music on iTunes instead. I can't hear any loss of quality on my home system or with my Shure SRH-840 headphones. So, in a way I do agree with you: CDs are a waste of space and money (digital music is usually significantly cheaper). I only buy CDs when music I'm interested in is not available on our Canadian iTunes or at classicalarchives.com (the selection on Canadian iTunes is much poorer than in the US store, same thing with Classical Archives).



Toddlertoddy said:


> I personally rarely buy any CDs (I'm not rich and I think it's a waste of money), but I have three (Shostakovich Piano Concerti and Shchedrin Piano Concerto No. 2, du Pre's recordings, and Rostropovich Cello Suites, which was a gift). With the magic of Youtube, I can find whatever I want (except obscure composers), but should I start collecting CDs? What's so good about them anyway?


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

CDs forever!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I will turn to downloads (or whatever follows/improves on that) only when it is physically impossible for me to satisfactorily store any more CDs. Due to space constraints quite a few of my discs are already encroaching like a plastic Japanese knot weed onto shelving where I used to have nothing but books. Wait a minute - I think I've some spare room in the fridge...just need to move the milk over...


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