Where are you buying your music today?

[Hardbopjazz]

I know we've had this discussion over the years, many times. Today, where are you buying your music from online?

Why do you choose this online store?

Edited October 6, 2013 by Hardbopjazz

[xybert]

Usually i will either order directly from the artist or from the record label. If i'm ordering from a particular online retailer it's usually Amazon. Ordering from overseas and what not i guess i just kind of trust them (i've never once had a problem with them), but i think it's more that they were the first online retailer i used and i'm just used to using them. But yeah, never had a problem ordering directly from the artist or the record label before. It's a beautiful thing. I have ordered from other random retailers in the past with mixed results but even with the good ones there's no real incentive for me to re-use them. I think if i lived in the states and some of the online stores were like de facto brick & mortars where i could pick up the phone and speak to someone like i presume some here would do with Jazzloft et al it would probably mean something to me.

[brownie]

I'm lucky to have several record stores with excellent jazz selections in my neighborhood.

I rarely go the internet way to get my jazz...

[A Lark Ascending]

I just download now except where music is unavailable that way; or in some music where I fear there might have been carelessness in ensuring the tracks are gapless (some older opera transfers can be a bugger about that, foxing all the gapless solutions I can find); also some boxed sets are easier to get that way.

• Amazon - my main port of call.
• E-music - I have a generous 'legacy' plan there from a time when they changed operating methods - allows me to experiment.
• iTunes if it's cheaper (rarely) or unavailable on Amazon.
• I'll also dl direct from artist/label sites if available that way.

I no longer get any pleasure browsing record shops (has more to do with the dearth of anything unusual in current shops in the UK [might be different in s/h shops]). Even a relatively well stocked place like Ray's Jazz in London couldn't hold my attention for long - I was just too aware that there were loads more recordings by the performers I was looking up than the shop could realistically stock. But they are all there online.

A huge change for someone who was still record hunting on foot 10 years ago (and came back from New York with a suitcase overflowing with unseen treasures from the Babylonian excess of wonderful shops there then).

Edited October 6, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[erwbol]

Over the last twelve months:

amazon(.co.uk, .de, .fr, .com), primarily third party sellers

cdjapan

ebay

importcds

jazzmessengers

mosaic

organissimo

I've never paid for a download in my life and will likely stop buying music altogether before I do.

[sidewinder]

I've never paid for a download in my life and will likely stop buying music altogether before I do.

Pretty well sums up my position too.

[ArtSalt]

Not in any particular order:

• The Jazz Center in the Hague
• CD Japan
• Mosaic
• Utrecht International Record fair
• Jazzmessengers
• And various known and proven ebay sellers for out-of-print Mosaic box sets and Japanese Imports (Australia, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany and Japan). Unlike many, my experience with ebay has been extremely positive.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Mostly Amazon UK. I use them for downloads, too, because they've got African stuff on DL but not on CD. For CDs, mostly I use sellers. I think I've bought 15 CDs from them in the last three years; hundreds from sellers.

MG

[J.A.W.]

Over the last twelve months:

amazon(.co.uk, .de, .fr, .com), primarily third party sellers

cdjapan

ebay

importcds

jazzmessengers

mosaic

organissimo

I've never paid for a download in my life and will likely stop buying music altogether before I do.

Same here.

[kh1958]

On the internet, from amazon.com--the majority from sellers (importcds is my favored seller),

dustygroove.com,

ebay (mostly LPs),

cdbaby.com, and

direct from various labels and artists.

In person, mostly various Half Price Books stores, and CD Source (a used CD seller).

[erwbol]

Not in any particular order:

• The Jazz Center in the Hague

That must be the best jazz CD store in The Netherlands. They used to have all those David Murray DIWs in stock when I first started collecting jazz. I no longer live nearby, so I haven't been there in years.

[J.A.W.]

Not in any particular order:

• The Jazz Center in the Hague

That must be the best jazz CD store in The Netherlands. They used to have all those David Murray DIWs in stock when I first started collecting jazz. I no longer live nearby, so I haven't been there in years.

Their prices were always very high. The current owner is (former?) board member "bluerein", who hasn't posted here since May 2012.

Edited October 6, 2013 by J.A.W.

[felser]

I also have never and never will pay for downloads. In order of frequency, I buy from Amazon, from board members here, occasionally from half.com or ebay for items where they beat Amazon marketplace prices or where Amazon doesn't list the item at all (happens much more than I would expect). Can't think of any sources other than those. I have no brick and mortars that I frequent at all. King of Prussia Mall has 400+ stores, none of which sell CD's or books.

[ghost of miles]

Two brick-and-mortar storefronts: Luna Music in Indianapolis at 52nd and College, and Landlocked Music in Bloomington at 6th and Walnut. I also prowl the used sections of a couple of other stores in both cities. I also buy online, almost always through Amazon.

Edited October 6, 2013 by ghost of miles

[B. Clugston]

I mostly buy from record shops or record fairs. Online, I use Discogs or straight from the label.

[jeffcrom]

Atlanta is blessed with several good record and/or CD stores. I buy new CDs from Decatur CD, but the owner can't get some of the more esoteric stuff, so I also use various online sources - mostly Amazon, because it's easy. I tend to buy smaller labels like Emanem, Roaratorio, and Nessa directly from the owners. I make the rounds of the used stores and end up buying lots of stuff. I will buy downloads if I can't get the music any other way, but downloaded music still doesn't quite seem "real" to me.

[JohnJ]

I'm lucky to have several record stores with excellent jazz selections in my neighborhood.

I rarely go the internet way to get my jazz...

Same here Brownie, the various Disk Union stores around Tokyo have excellent selections of used CD's often at lower prices than the cheapest Amazon sellers.

When I do buy online it is almost always from one of the Amazon sites.

[Gheorghe]

well amazon, often third party sellers.

I really miss them groovy record shops.

That was part of my youth and part of the scene. Usually, the jazz oriented record dealers had small and fancy shops where you could sit down, have a coffee and smoke (yes indeed) , listen to records, talk to other guys, make connections, check out who´s playin that particular night, who´s in town, and all that nice neighbourhood things.

I must admit, the records I listen to most often even after 35 and more years, are the ones I purchased then, or at least stuff that´s built on my listening habits during that time.

[ArtSalt]

Not in any particular order:

• The Jazz Center in the Hague

That must be the best jazz CD store in The Netherlands. They used to have all those David Murray DIWs in stock when I first started collecting jazz. I no longer live nearby, so I haven't been there in years.

Their prices were always very high. The current owner is (former?) board member "bluerein", who hasn't posted here since May 2012.

It depends, some of the box sets can be pricey, but then again some of them are reasonable and are in line with Jazzmessengers. What you would pretty much expect. They currently have 3 Japanese import CDs for 30 Euros, now that's not a bad deal at all!

[jazzbo]

I've never paid for a download in my life and will likely stop buying music altogether before I do.

Pretty well sums up my position too.

I've paid for downloads, but not at all lately. Going to continue seeking out discs, just don't like mixing my computer with audio, don't do "music on the go," etc.

Lately I mainly use amazon US and fr and de for new (I have prime) and amazon, half.com or ebay for used, and I confess I use Dusty Groove a lot, those bast'ds.

Edited October 7, 2013 by jazzbo

[John Tapscott]

Directly from the artist or label, if possible.

Occasionally cduniverse (used to order from Words records a lot).

But mostly now from amazon marketplace (which often is importcds). The amazon.ca shipping deal is really good - $3.49 Canadian per item, which given the recent hike in postal rates around the world is very good for Canadians. I find now that the general shipping rate for a single CD from almost every other retailer runs $5-10 per single item. Of course, it goes down significantly if you buy more than one (not that would ever consider such a thing).

Edited October 7, 2013 by John Tapscott

[mjazzg]

Discogs/Ebay/CDandLP and some shops for second hand vinyl

Cds - At gigs from artists; Squidco (love 'em) but less so since postage hike (not their fault); direct from labels in UK/Europe, less so from US (postage again); Amazon/Ebay tends to be last resort or laziness

Only ever paid for two downloads and I don't discount that as an option in the future, space saving primarily but also cost saving

[paul secor]

Probably 95% online from various sources. I wish I could buy from local record stores, but they don't exist in my area. One of the many things in today's world that's changed for the worse - at least imo.

[ArtSalt]

Only ever paid for two downloads and I don't discount that as an option in the future, space saving primarily but also cost saving

I still dig the presence and artifacts of having a physical collection. It seems to me, to have more intrinsic value, presence and meaning, than a mere download. And that's why I've never down loaded any music ever and I doubt I ever will.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I also have never and never will pay for downloads.

So, if there's no other way to buy the music you love, you'd all prefer not to have it at all?

I honestly can't understand that. All my record-buying life, it's been between difficult and impossible to get most of the music I've wanted at different times (perhaps because I've seldom lived in the right places). I'll put up with anything - jam on vinyl, trashed vinyl, cracked but playable vinyl, muddy K7s, to get the music I want.

MG