Hear, hear.

But I buy wayyy too much new stuff as well. I've started to think when I pick something up, "is this worth being at work for an hour for?"

fp

Purchaser.

There's just something about CD's I can't shake. I want the superior sound CD provides over MP3, I want the linear notes, I want to support the artist & if it's a good indie label I want to support it too. Not at $18.99 a pop for every CD that's why I am such a big supporter of used CD's. If it's a big artist on a major I'm more likely to holdout for a used copy where as if it's a small time artist on an indie I'm might be more likely to buy new.

Didn't stop me for DLing around 40 gigs off slsk back in its heyday. It was just fun to test stuff out & decide if it was worth buying or get commercially unavailable stuff (DJ mixes recorded live or a radio show, bootleg mixes, instrumentals, live shows ect). A majority of that 40 gigs I can say I either bought, wouldn't buy or since it was never released couldn't buy. I loved the p2p option being there for that reason. Even if I was a millionare & could afford every CD my ears desire I'd want that option. And trust me if I was a millionare I'd be buying a lot of CD's

i dig swaping stuff....

dvd swaps are the best....i love the fact that you can put (say) u2, rem, and radioheads complete discography on one dvd.....give to someone that gives you (say) a ton of jazz stuff that you dont have.....for example

I was never at ease with downloading. It's just to easy. Who wants to spend all day in front of a computer when you could go out , head into the city, go round all the record shops and just have a day out. Much better than gazing into a monitor. Like we don't do that enough already.

On top of that I'd a collector. I like actually having the CD. There are many albums that I will probably never listen to again but which I refuse to sell or give away. I have to keep everything. And all in alphabetical order.

I also, as opposed to most people, prefer to 'buy' blind. I much prefer to buy an album going by the name of the band or the photos on it or just the art work and coming home and having no idea what it's going to sound like, when I buy something I want to be surprised and it for to be a new experience.

I completely trust my instinct and it rarely lets me down.

i have no use for physical product. i don't want liner notes, i don't care about the story behind the album, all i want is the songs and that works out so rarely that i'm not sure i even want that. i have gotten drunk and paypaled money to a band before. i'm not opposed to paying for music, but i don't think that anyone has addressed a sales model that offers a product that i value.

Purchaser.

I'll download stuff the artist makes available and I'm cool with swaping to get familiar with some new stuff and whatever. I like to support the artists as much as possible and feel like if I choose not to buy an album, I don't deserve to own it. I think iTunes and other such pay-to-download sites are cool but I'm not into stealing songs.

A consumer model inadaquately addressed by antiquated corporate sales tactics and only exacerbated by strong arms threats and lawsuits.

There are more chase models coming up then there are traditional hard product people and labels had better realize that or their way of doing things will be history. Which wouldn't really be a bad thing, actually.

For a few months I was downloading like sumbitch. But it was all old songs or one-offs that I would even consider buying an entire album of (shit like Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend"). But now I'm downloading a lot less.

I've always prefer buying to downloading. I'm a admitted inlay whore. Gotta have 'em.

one thing that has changed for me lately is almost all of my downloads are coming from the blogs, rather than p2p.

i have $30 every 2 weeks for my music budget. (down from $35 last year.) at used cd prices (i buy most stuff used), that's about 4 cds per 2 weeks, or at least 7 per 4 weeks. this is stuff i know i'll like (radiohead,wilco) or is really cheap and i want to take a chance on ($1.99 gingersol or $5.99 new mars volta). i buy used mostly because i don't want to give $ to the big4 record label greedy bastards, and partly because it's plain cheaper. last year, purchased music equated to about 65% of my music intake.

the other 35% came from dls. i use the internet to try stuff on and see if i like it. if i like the music enough, then i'll buy it outright (usually used) like spoon's "girls can tell" a few days ago. i give first consideration to artists on indies to purchase-after-dl because most artists on big labels don't see much of the $ anyway. there's just no way i can afford all the music i want to listen to, and this is a good way to discover new music, as well as artists to eventually see in concert (if i can ever drag my arse out).

total music intake came to about 3 albums every 4 days in 2004, and i'm at 61% so far in 2005 with about 8 cds in the mail. i can't stop listening to music -- been that way since i can remember -- and the internet is just another way to discover a helluvalotta more artists than i would've otherwise. Sure, thru a bunch of illegal downloads, but those downloads eventually turn into sales for the artists i really like.

i've been downloading like a champ for the past 10 months or so that i've had hi-speed internet. in that time, my purchasing has gone waaaay down as well. before hi-speed, i was probably buying about 20-30 cd's a month. i thought of myself as someone who needed the artwork and liner notes, etc. but now i burn to cd, and use fellowes slimline inserts...copy the artwork to it...and i am almost as happy as if i had the real thing (plus, it takes up 1/2 the space on my shelf).
i do plan on purchasing the albums i really like, but as someone said earlier...it's hard to justify to myself when i already have the album and there is something else i could buy instead.

spizzle trunk's model is also very close to mine.

This is pretty much my take, too - except that I've downloaded a few songs here & there. All from band's sites, though - none of the Soulseek type sites.

I only purchase. I usually try to work my CD shopping into my monthly budget, but I also don't mind if I go over my budget on occasion.