Plankton

Research!

__________________
See location...

Burning Down

I'll do this for you. I tend to ramble a bit so just be patient

1. Could you describe yourself a little bit? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do for a living? What kind of music do you mostly listen to?

- Toronto

- 23 years old

- Right now I'm still finishing school - one credit left for my Bachelor of Music and then I will move on to get a Bachelor of Education to become a teacher, and hopefully a Masters in Music Education later on.

- My current job situation is this: I sit at a desk in an office full of aerospace engineers and do administrative tasks for them. I teach flute and guitar and tutor people of all ages in music theory and history on the side. And occasionally I play flute at events like weddings, corporate functions, graduations, etc, along with my boyfriend who accompanies me on piano.

- I like to listen to pop, rock, jazz, and classical. And most sub-genres of each one.

2. As a music lover, do you still buy CDs or vinyl records? Why or why not?

Oh yeah. Cassettes too. Most of the vinyls, CD's and tapes I buy at the moment are used for school. However, I have a large collection of these that I still play as well.

3. What would encourage you to pay for music if it is currently not the case? Is customized content relevant to you (special editions, bonus tracks, one-on-one with artist, etc)? Would you pay extra for this? why?

I paid for 90% of the music I have right now. The rest is stuff that I've gotten from friends and people on this website. If bands that I really like were putting out special editions of albums or with bonus tracks, etc, I would definitely purchase that.

4. Do you feel that file sharing software are cannibalizing music sales or on the contrary, promoting them?

I think it's 50/50... there are people who only download the music illegally and then there are people who will download it and then purchase it if they really like the music, to get better quality sound.

5. Until the end of the 90's, the music industry had been based on a business model that didn't include the Internet. Nowadays, things are a lot more different. How do you feel about the new ways of providing and selling music, such as ITunes, Rhapsody or Spotify? Do you use them?

The only one of those I use is iTunes, since the others aren't available in Canada. I don't have any issues with buying music over the Internet, but I do often wonder if artists are getting their fair share of the profits.

6. How do you mainly discover new music and artists today? What kind of channels do you mainly use (Radio, Shows, Spotify, Youtube, etc.)? Could you describe the different processes you adopt to discover new artists?

I generally get recommendations from friends.

7. Do you follow artists that you like through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Do you try to connect with them, by commenting or "liking" their posts? If so, why?

On my old Facebook page I was following artists' pages but not actively reading them and whatnot.

8. Are you a member of an online community about music? If so, what do you get from being part of this community?

Well, Music Banter of course. I get a lot of ideas about what to listen to and also the discussions that happen here about music are great.

kidney_thief

1. Could you describe yourself a little bit? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do for a living? What kind of music do you mostly listen to?

- Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- 50 years old.
- IT and Production Technician.
- Primarily hard and classic rock, but I enjoy all styles except for reggae and country.

2. As a music lover, do you still buy CDs or vinyl records? Why or why not?

I buy CDs only, having sold off most of my vinyl fairly recently. I avoid buying digital download versions because I still like buying a physical, high resolution version--I guess it's part of a holdover from my vinyl purchasing habits.

3. What would encourage you to pay for music if it is currently not the case? Is customized content relevant to you (special editions, bonus tracks, one-on-one with artist, etc)? Would you pay extra for this? why?

I don't think customized content would have any appeal to me—maybe it was available on CD, but even then, not so much.

4. Do you feel that file sharing software are cannibalizing music sales or on the contrary, promoting them?

Both. No question that it helps promote a lot of artists, but I'm certain there's a decent percentage of cases where the person who receives music through file sharing doesn't pay for it. That's not to say they won't buy anything, but it's not likely they'll run out to get a legit paid copy to replace what they've obtained for free.

5. Until the end of the 90's, the music industry had been based on a business model that didn't include the Internet. Nowadays, things are a lot more different. How do you feel about the new ways of providing and selling music, such as ITunes, Rhapsody or Spotify? Do you use them?

I'm only familiar with iTunes, but again, not really crazy about digital downloads. In fact, I'm filling in gaps in my music library and since I'm looking at relatively older music (e.g. 1970s—80s), the cost of an actual CD from Amazon is usually in the same price range. About the only time I use the iTunes store is when someone gives me a gift card for a holiday or birthday gift.

6. How do you mainly discover new music and artists today? What kind of channels do you mainly use (Radio, Shows, Spotify, Youtube, etc.)? Could you describe the different processes you adopt to discover new artists?

Since Amazon also has digital downloads for sale, I use them to browse samples of artists to decide whether to buy their CD or not. Also, I subscribe to a few podcasts, like Talking Metal, which has introduced me to a few new bands that I like. Additionally, I check out different discussions/recommendations on music forums like MusicBanter.com; members typically will post a YouTube link of whatever band they're commenting on.

7. Do you follow artists that you like through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Do you try to connect with them, by commenting or "liking" their posts? If so, why?

No, I tend to avoid all forms of social media.

8. Are you a member of an online community about music? If so, what do you get from being part of this community?

I participate in a few online discussion forums, mostly guitar/bass-related ones. I'm primarily a bass player, so I find out about a lot of talented bassists or other musicians that I might not find about otherwise, even in a more mainstream discussion group. I also rely on these forums for exchange of information on equipment, electronics or even just music trivia.

crazed

1. Could you describe yourself a little bit? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do for a living? What kind of music do you mostly listen to?

I'm from Indiana, 57 yrs young, unemployed (though I have a pt time/temp job starting in August at the university). I listen to a lot of different kinds of music: blues, jazz, rock, world, soul, funk, indie, psych, prog, country, electronic, pop, metal, whatever- I love to mix it up genre-wise.

2. As a music lover, do you still buy CDs or vinyl records? Why or why not?

Yes, I buy more than my share of CDs & vinyl. I have a pretty good home music system and love the sound of CDs & vinyl.

3. What would encourage you to pay for music if it is currently not the case? Is customized content relevant to you (special editions, bonus tracks, one-on-one with artist, etc)? Would you pay extra for this? why?

I only buy special editions & bonus tracks if I can hear them in advance and feel they're worth the extra cost. Which is not often and when it is, I buy the CDs used at a bargain price when I can find them.

4. Do you feel that file sharing software are cannibalizing music sales or on the contrary, promoting them?

I see both sides. I'd hope people can pay when they really like music. But if they can't afford to, I can understand that as well.

5. Until the end of the 90's, the music industry had been based on a business model that didn't include the Internet. Nowadays, things are a lot more different. How do you feel about the new ways of providing and selling music, such as ITunes, Rhapsody or Spotify? Do you use them?

I don't use iTunes, Rhapsody or Spotify. I have bought downloads from Amazon and through Bandcamp. I have mixed feelings on the results of the sound quality.

6. How do you mainly discover new music and artists today? What kind of channels do you mainly use (Radio, Shows, Spotify, Youtube, etc.)? Could you describe the different processes you adopt to discover new artists?

Music forums, online reviews & shops, music magazines. If the review or music description looks interesting, I'll check out the artist through whatever site(s) they offer samples on.

7. Do you follow artists that you like through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Do you try to connect with them, by commenting or "liking" their posts? If so, why?

No, I have no interest in social networks.

8. Are you a member of an online community about music? If so, what do you get from being part of this community?

Besides Music Banter, I'm a member of several forums, though most are genre-specific. There's a lot of great discussion, suggestions and fine folks on the forums, and even though I read more than I post, I completely enjoy being a part of each community. Considering that most of my friends in real life listen to music from a certain era (the '70s), if it weren't for these forums I'd have no one to chat with about all the great music that's out there regardless of era, genre or style.

RoadCrew

Wow! Great guys! I wasn't expecting all that! Awesome!

Trollheart

My replies below...

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Justthefacts

I completely agree with your answer to number 7.

__________________
The Best Collection You'll See Today

Arya Stark

1. Could you describe yourself a little bit? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do for a living? What kind of music do you mostly listen to?

22, I work in Publishing, I mostly listen to Hip Hop, Rap, and R&B.

2. As a music lover, do you still buy CDs or vinyl records? Why or why not?

I buy CDs if I really love the album as a whole, otherwise, I listen on Youtube, or download single tracks.

3. What would encourage you to pay for music if it is currently not the case? Is customized content relevant to you (special editions, bonus tracks, one-on-one with artist, etc)? Would you pay extra for this? why?

If an album is good as a whole, I will buy it. If I only like some songs on it, I'll only buy or download the ones I like, I don't want to waste my money.

4. Do you feel that file sharing software are cannibalizing music sales or on the contrary, promoting them?

I don't think my opinion on this really matters, as I'm not personally affected by the sales.

5. Until the end of the 90's, the music industry had been based on a business model that didn't include the Internet. Nowadays, things are a lot more different. How do you feel about the new ways of providing and selling music, such as ITunes, Rhapsody or Spotify? Do you use them?

I use Spotify sometimes, because they have a lot of older music that I love and i can often listen to albums whole without having to download them or search each song on Youtube.

6. How do you mainly discover new music and artists today? What kind of channels do you mainly use (Radio, Shows, Spotify, Youtube, etc.)? Could you describe the different processes you adopt to discover new artists?

I listen to the Radio to discover new music. Hot .97 and Power 105.1 are my favorite channels to listen to, listening to a great interview with an artist always makes me excited to hear their music.

7. Do you follow artists that you like through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Do you try to connect with them, by commenting or "liking" their posts? If so, why?

I follow a lot of my favorite artists on Twitter as long as they post stuff other than promotions. I don't like that much. I don't always try so hard to connect with them but if I'm tweeting about them, I'll tag them once in a while. I think I do it because it would be cool if they did see what I wrote, but not because I need them to.

8. Are you a member of an online community about music? If so, what do you get from being part of this community?

Well isn't everyone here a member of Music Banter?
I used to get a lot of my new music from here. I had friends who would always recommend new music for me to listen to, and I would review it on my journal. I still kind of do it, when I swap albums with DJ Chameleon, but that's about it. Now I just like any general music discussion, although it always seems to spark some kind of weird argument on these boards lately.

__________________

MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

RoadCrew

You guys are great! thank's for all these cool answers!

Arya Stark

I remember when I first came here, it was for a stats class. I obviously ended up staying but a lot of members were really helpful!

__________________

MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.