Do you still buy cds, or do you download everything? I ask, because out of all my friends, I am only one of two that regularly buy cds. I buy between 10-15 cds a month, if I do ever download music, I use itunes, but having the physical cd and all the album artwork means a lot to me.

Anyone else feel the same?

I copy all my cds to my pc, but still use my cd player to play cds more often then I ever play the songs off my pc, can't beat cd quality!

I still buy CD's,tho not as many as you per month. I may get 2 or 3. I've copied all my vinyl and CD's to my PC and a backup drive. I have over 12 Gig of music. I have more than 700, 12" LP's. I still think vinyl had better sound. A NYC -DJ,when I was a teen played an album uninterrupted at 10 pm on Friday night. I have this big box load of cassettes from recording like a couple years worth. I did miss some.

I still buy CDs I dont own an iPod and never will. I've had one or 2 MP3 players but I have ripped those from my own collection of 400+ CDs. I may buy one or 2 a month tops.

I generally listen to classical music, so I buy CDs almost exclusively (ever tried downloading Die Meistersinger?). I also prefer listening to music using my somewhat old fashioned stereo setup.
Z

I like the versatility of owning a CD -

I can "rip" it to whatever format will work for me.

Ditto with JohnWho, it's the only good thing about CDs as compared to getting all your music from the Internet.

There is a second "good thing" about owning CDs, Yano. It is the tactile feel of holding a jewel case in your hand, of inserting the CD in a player with anticipation of hearing and listening, of looking at the case cover, or reading the lyrics as one listens. I think the human sensual experience is important.
Thus muses Zarathustra

Yes, but the one thing I can't stand about them is that, I might only like 1 song on an entire CD! Argh!!!

Hence why Silicon Valley made the CD-R

That's one of the main reasons why I prefer CDs over internet downloads. On a lot of CDs, the album artwork is beautiful, something you'd miss buy just downloading the music.

Yes I still buy cd's and am not into d/l music at all. Don't have the time and no real need to be listening to music from d/l sites. I enjoy old vinyl of various artists which I still play on my record player occasionally and as others have said I like the presentation of art on the cd's and I have a "vitalizer" unit with my audio set up and i can adjust it so that the artist sounds as if they are in the room....great for the Stones, Joplin, Dylan, Rod, Bonnie Raitt, BB King and some of my old Leadbelly recordings and the countless other artists that I really enjoy.

I don't know, I simply like to read and listen about/ to the artists and often google the writers of the songs that i like and that info of course is on the cd or record jacket. I love music of all types and it simply makes me feel a part of the whole essence of the music to have something in my hand that also connects me to the sound.
Probably sounds silly, but that is the way I personally feel.
I find music an essential part of my life and the best part of my day is when I turn on the audio components!!!

There is something special about arranging your CDs in "proper" order, looking at them lined neatly before you. Tactile ownership has something to be said for it, I suppose. Looking at a case, or a record cover, and remembering precisely when you bought it, how you felt when you first listened to it. A CD has a presence, a history, that seems lacking with a download.
The feel of peeling off the plastic cover, of opening the jewel case to see what was inside---ah those wonderful DGG pamphlets in several languages---of carefully holding the CD by the side and placing it in the player. The whole process was an EVENT.
Concupiscent souls who sit on the carpet in front of their collection, running their fingers along the lined up edges of cases, pulling out one and cherishing it and the miracle it contains. What download, so abstract and impersonal, can compare with that feeling?
Z

All this talk about lyics and looking at the wondeful artwork...sure makes me miss vinyl !!
Just for the heck of it here's Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Album Covers

The 100 Worst Album Covers EVER

EDIT: forgot this

Best All Time... In any genre, from any period

I dont listen to music much, so my CD buying is very slow. I have had the chance to download songs from itunes for free for a while and am not yet really comfortable with the service. The price is great at 99c, but the doubt of being drm free and the number of times you can copy a song make me stay away from it. However, I feel CDs are far too expensive, considering that sometimes you only like half the songs on them and in general. I dont see why I should pay an average of 20 bucks for 12 to 15 songs. They had a trial going on about two years ago, selling cds at 9.99, 14,99, and 17,99 - depending on whether you bought it with booklet and / or additional cd/material. I loved that idea but unfortunately they discontinued. Now I buy CDs of Alternative bands and wait for the mainstream to be at 5 or 6 bucks level before I buy it. I aint paining the damn music industry! I would wish more bands would do this

- edit - as always fixed some typos. heck can i post once w/o typos ?

I can't wait till I can download that album, although I also ordered the deluxe box set at £40!

The idea is a bonus price for the fan I guess and also for the artist, but for a collector such as myself of certain musicians I still like to have the CD insert in my hand so that I can read the lyrics and see who the writers are etc.