Music Collecting Madness: Streaming

I finally did it! I finally jumped on the streaming bandwagon. One reason that I had been reluctant to join in was because I associated audio streaming with internet radio, especially shitty internet radio. I also couldn't wrap my mind around listening to entire albums via streaming, instead of listening to them via a physical format. But if someone had told me a long time ago about all the kinds of stuff I could listen to on Spotify, I would've done it a long time ago. Like, I'm no longer torn about whether I want to buy deluxe editions of Heaven 17 or Dead Or Alive albums for extra tracks, and I can also listen to Full Dynamic Range remasters of classic Earache Records albums. And remember when I was bitching about how frustrating it was collecting for The Cars? No more! I can listen to the bonus tracks from the expanded versions on Spotify, as well as the "Move Like This" album.

So what convinced me to check it out? One was using a $15 iTunes gift card that a friend gave me for my fortieth birthday, and realizing that there was no way I could purchase every single Eighties song, much less every one of my favorite songs from any other era, anytime soon. Another reason came from trying to find the new Judas Priest album ("Firepower") within the week after it came out, and not being able to, so I gave up looking for it. It turns out that I can listen to it on Spotify. It's a pretty good album, probably the best they've put out in a long time, but I feel no need to buy it now.

I've been looking to downsize my collection, while trying not to add too much to it, and streaming helps with that. I still love physical product, but now I don't have to buy a CD unless I really, really want to, like if it's something I know I'm going to want to listen to in the car.

I actually did end up buying a shit ton of CDs recently, from a guy who was selling them for $5 for a single disc, or 5 for $20, and $7 for a double disc. I ended up getting:

• Three of The Doors' DCC gold discs,
• a couple of early Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper CDs,
• a couple of CDs from an Austin band called 8 1/2 Souvenirs,
• an old Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" CD, just because I have the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Hybrid SACD, which is in stereo, and wanted a mono version alongside it,
• a Columbia/Earache edition of Carcass's "Heartwork",
• OMD's "The Pacific Age"
• The Best Of The Art Of Noise
• A Spiegel Edition of Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man",
• They Might Be Giants' "Flood",
• The Clash's "Sandinista!", just because it had The Armagideon Times, and my "Manufactured for BMG Music Service" edition doesn't.

I've probably forgotten a couple, I'll just update this whenever I remember. By the way, I wouldn't have bought those Doors DCC CDs if they had been more than $5 a piece, and I essentially got them for $4 each. I've given Steve Hoffman shit before, but his version of the first Doors album sounds a lot better than the 2017 remaster.