This has too many answers for a poll, but I'm curious.

How has the internet and the increase in the amount of music released changed your criteria for buying music? I used to be the type of person who only needed to hear a couple songs I liked to go ahead and take a flyer on the record, even as late as 2001. Nowadays, it seems like I'm not buying an album unless I'm thoroughly blown away by it, and that kind of saddens me. We have the power now to hear 500-1000 records a year fairly easily. Couple of good songs? Not good enough anymore. Few good songs? Maybe. Mostly good songs? Probably buy it. But damn, those are high standards.

Those are also high standards for an artist and record label to try to meet, and now that I'm recording my own album, it seems like "pretty good" just won't be good enough. Know what I mean? It's frustrating.

Anyway, I'm curious...do you only buy music if you've heard the entire album and are floored? What is your criteria for buying music? Are there any artists you would buy the record of without even hearing it?

i am very selective on new artists unless some people on here or in publications I trust give it high marks and let me know what the riyl is.

For the most part...mt strategy is this...

Read about a band that interests me in a magazine or wherever...
Download it, play it a few times...

if i like it, i buy it....i'm a purist and want the actual cd.
if i dont like it, i delete it....

for too many years, I have bought stuff based on one song i heard on the radio, or one samlet track, or a video, or a decent review, to have it be shi-ite....i put enough money into the system, where i feel justified in taking a little back, and being more selective.

I check for RIYL's whenever I can even though they are sometimes complete BS. If an album seems to have something in common with other stuff I like it will get my attention.

I'll try and read reviews of the album to get a "feel" for it and look for things within the review that are a potential turnoff for me.

Word of mouth from friends and people on boards such as this can affect my decision.

As far as artists that I will buy pretty much automatically, there are a few. For example, I picked up Aimee Mann's latest because I enjoy even her weaker albums so she's a pretty safe bet.

Once I do get an album, if I'm not blown away by at least half the songs it's getting traded or sold.

Steve

do I have money?

do I know someone that can get me this record for free?

is it less than $14 (I refuse to pay more for any domestic single CD release)

Sometimes my excitement over a few really unique, interesting tracks will prompt me to buy an album. This was sort of the case with Jamie Lidell which I got on mp3 first and then bought on vinyl (I do that with a lot of new music that I DL first these days). That album is kinda inconsistent, but it was different enough to make it worth purchasing for me.

Otherwise I'm kinda with you about having to be thoroughly impressed. Unless it's an artist that I'm fairly "loyal" to or just some really unusual shit, it better not have more than a few weak tracks. I certainly won't buy any records just for one good, catchy pop song.

i buy on whims, through the internet. if something def. sounds like something i'll like, i'll buy it right then because i know that i'll forget later.

i feel like i sell a fair amount. i'm a quality not quantity kind of girl.

It's gotta be cheap.

My budget for CD's is small now and will be for the immediate future.

I can only really pick up one CD a week now (down from an average of about 4 or 5) so I read a lot of reviews and websites and (usually) pick one new release that has just been released that week,

I like to constrain my potential choices now because with so little money it forces me to pick up albums I might not otherwise and it gets me listening to different genres and styles rather than if I had the pick of the entire record store back catalogue where I'd probably play it safe or pick up artists I'm already familiar with.

It's risky I suppose but it keeps buying music with a small budget kinda fresh and unpredicable for me.

I'll take a flyer on the strength of one song.

I've been burned a bunch of times, but all in all my hit rate is pretty good.

Last night I ordered everything I could find by The Shazam based on the strength of RU Receiving.

I also recently grabbed Pan Am's album based on the strength of "Japanese Girls" and that record is amazing.

Ditto The Romantics' latest.

I'm becoming more set in type I like as I get older, so anything outside that has to appeal to me by a quick soundbite perhaps that I catch on the radio, or through a friend. Or as is the case of Iron & Wine recently, through a film(I'm more influenced by film soundtracks then I am tv soundtracks)

Most of my friends seem to know what I like and if they stumble across something let me know, then I check it out and perhaps buy it.

But I really don't have money this year so I would say I've become rather selective(I haven't bought more then two albums this year I think).

The initial couple songs I hear have to not suck, then I just hope the rest of the album is appealing.

(I need to follow Katie's direction and start selling, I have too much stuff I never listen to anymore and probably never will)

Since moving to obner, and the rampant aim/ysi ing of almost everything, it's rare I purchase a cd anymore. I wil probably buy the new stones rekkid, cos i have em all, and depending on leaks, dat new Strokes rekkid. But yeah, the days of taking a flyer on something intriguing are pretty well done for.

I am in the rocess of buying the whole Warlocks catalog based on 3 songs I heard..so i do still buy on whims as well.

The internet has completely altered the way I listen to music. I can't believe it's only been 10 years. I always preview first, but it's always more qualitative when it comes to whether or not to buy, as opposed to quantitative (must like 7/10 album tracks). For instance, today, I have about 2/3 of the Sufjan Stevens Illinois album, which I'll buy based on those tracks alone. On the basis of the 3 tracks I heard from Clap Your Hands, I'd likely buy that as well. It's never consistent, it's just a 'feel'.

By & large I stick to my old rules of "at least 2-3 quality songs before I buy" or "bands I buy no matter what" , but the advent of promo CD's at Amazon for $2-3 has really increased my number of impulse buys.

Before i buy any music, i have rules:

01) i can NOT buy a new album from an artist on a major label unless they're on of my shortlist favorite artists (radiohead, ryan adams, wilco).

02) everything else i buy used

03) i go emusic before used if possible

When trying music, this is probably my thought process:

01) favorites i check out right away (sometimes before release dates -- i just can't wait!)

02) those i like & think can/have improved, i check out as soon as i can

03) for artists i haven't heard music of before, or very little, i try out a couple songs. if i like those, i try out a whole album. if i like the album enough, i buy it

back in the day i'd wait til i heard 2 or 3 good songs from an album before buying. now in the age of p2p, i can check out 2 or 3 songs, or an albums-worth, before buying, scraping off the foam to suck in the sweet juice.

i wouldn't buy cds anymore except that there's no intelligently-economical mp3 store out there except emusic. no way i'm paying $10 to $15 for an itunes album when i can find it used for less than $10 including shipping.

and as of 07/01/2005 i've revised my music allocation to not exceed 7 albums purchased/downloaded in any 2 week period. (not to exceed 6 in non-emusic-refresh periods.) that usually allows me a few purchases, a couple downloads, and a hankering for the next music allocation period.

Back when CMJ put out a magazine they were my official recommender.
If I liked ONE song off a sampler, I bought the album because I trusted them to only sample quality bands and nine times out of 10 the whole album was damn good. Examples......

Spoon
Muse
Bran Van 3000
Mellowdrone
Far
Portable
ON

And the list goes on. These are off the top of my head. I know CMJ is responsible for a lot more. Numerous artists I first heard on a CMJ sampler are some of my favorite artists today. (Muse)

Unless it's an established artist I'm most likely now sampling the first few songs on the album or even the whole thing before I hit Reckless or Amazon.

I don't record, but you'd put out a "pretty good" record. That scares me and I don't know if I can explain why. Always do your best, right?

I have a number of artists that I'll buy pretty much anything by, because I just like to hear what they're doing. Everything else I go by any samples I can easily find - Amazon, CDUniverse, etc. If I happen to download something (when I actually have time to track things that suit my eclectic tastes) and I like it, I buy it the second I can. If I don't like it, I hit delete.

I'm more cautious in general because I'm finding more and more music that I think is good, yet I don't really see a need for it in my life. I'm more curious about hearing new things than anything else - more often than not, I just plain don't need to own a lot of these bands many of you swear by.

Here's a question: if you buy something and only like a song or two, or have something you only listen to once in a while, do you feel guilty making a copy of what you like and selling/trading off the original? I'm currently grappling with that. I've got somewhere between, I'd guess, 1700 and 2000 CDs, many of which I could probably live without, save for a few tracks. My inner angel tells me ripping and trading dirties my soul, but my inner demon says "You've got a baby due in a week and a VERY tight budget for the next few months. You want new music, don't you? Rip and sell, dude!"

I usually go with reviews... you guys, Pitchfork, allmusic, etc. Believe it or not, you guys have a huge influence on me these days... like with the Clap Your Hands. I probably never would have listened to it unless you guys hadn't been raving about it. But alas, I didn't care for it, but hey... you live, you learn.

I also usually download the full album and listen for quite some time. If I'm intrigued enough, like Twilight, I'll buy the actual cd. I very rarely pay full price for a cd these days-- I watch for used and sales.

But Spade's right... it's tough when you can pretty much listen to anything you want, whenever you want. It kinda takes the mystery and magic out of buying albums. But then again, it's also saved me a lot of money and headaches by not spending money on crappy albums that have maybe 1-2 good songs.

Dude, rip and sell with a clear conscience. The way I see it, you paid for a right to own a copy of the music when you initially bought it (especially if you bought it new). It's not like you're going to recoup your original investment when you sell it so what's the problem with hanging onto a digital/burned copy? You've already made your contribution to the store, label, and artist.

edit: and this is not to say that the law is necessarily on your side, but as far as feeling guilty, screw that.

I totally agree.

I never download. I'll read descriptions in places, and listen to the 30 sec. samples on Amazon. If I'm intrigued, it goes on my list of things to investigate.

I almost never get burned--I'm pretty good at assessing w/ little what I'll like and what I won't.

I also feel the need to actually own everything I own on CD -- I'm not exactly sure why I'm this way, but it's an expensive habit. For me, the artwork of an album has a lot to do with the feeling I get from it; more than I can get from just looking at the cover online. For example, I don't think I would get that same fiery, burning kick from Funhouse if I had never in my life seen the album cover.

As far as the actual buying goes, it's pretty simple:

1. I read about something I like
2. I look around for reviews from critics and/or "normal people" to make sure it's not complete shit
3. I wait around until I can find it used, or if it's cheap enough, buy it new.

I don't get this gult with downloading/filesharing. Bands (especially the bands most of us listen to) don't make the majority of their dough from album sales---they make it from touring/merch. Chances are I'm not going out to buy an album by a band I've never heard of, but if I get it for free, chances are I will share it, spin it, put it on mixes, etc.

I dont buy nearly as much as I used to; in my pre BB days, I basically just read album reviews and talked to my friends who are really into music to figure out what was hep.

Boutique labels (yeah, like mine) need every sale they can possibly get to stay in business.