[tuoret]

CDs just feel so utterly pointless to me these days, since I can have the 100% identical content on a hard drive. Not trying to diss what you do, it's just a weird state of mind I entered once MP3 players and bluetooth speakers replaced CD players everywhere and I can't seem to shake it.

Agree about the principle though, I try to buy merch at every gig I go to. Makes me feel slightly less bad about using Spotify.

[palemoondrop]

Having something physical is nice, though. You can have the exact bits off the disc and maybe even the artwork on your hard drive, but you can't hold the album and look at it all together - especially for more elaborate packaging than your standard jewel case with inserts. In my mind, having something physical and not implicitly copyable makes it feel more real.

I'm in my own weird state of mind where I prioritize collecting physical over digital to the point of neglecting digital-only releases - digital is always going to have a copy somewhere I can listen to or purchase, but physical is limited and there's no guarantee I'll be able to get a copy later. This is probably an overly materialistic view, though.

[catapart]

I've been thinking that what I would like as far as "physical copy" of my media would be more like a card than anything that is actually used to play the media.

Something like an NFC-equipped greeting card (maybe more than just a cover; pages can be inside for fun stuff that used to be in the CD inserts/jackets/etc), that I could set on a stand which would then interface with the card and start playing music. Pull the card, playback stops. You get the idea. I just think something like that would serve both purposes - look and display nicely, while giving a conversation piece and more content from the creators; but not prone to damage causing issues with playback and as durable as you want them to be (could be more like HID Prox cards; plastic instead of cardboard. Or even more "exotic" materials. Lots of room for creativity).

[SketchySeaBeast]

If you want to do MP3, bandcamp has digital downloads and days when 100% of the proceeds go to the artists.

And I understand about the movement to digital - I typically rip the CDs as FLAC files and put them on a hard drive.

[crtasm]

And as well as MP3, buying on there gives you access to FLAC (+ multiple other lossless formats) for no extra cost.