Wizrocklopedia

Question Tuesday

Russ

Since we raised the issue a few weeks ago about archiving wizard rock music, we thought this might be a fun question to toss out to everyone:

How do you like to purchase your wizard rock music – on a physical CD, or as a digital download?

A lot of people like the instant gratification of a download, and bands like the lower costs they incur to get their music out to everyone. On the other hand, a good number of listeners like having a CD to hold, cover art to check out, liner notes to read, etc. and some bands have had some really great packaging in the past.

So let’s hear it! What’s your preferred way to get wizard rock – on CD, or as a download?

Russ

I discovered wrock in 2006 and fell in love with it completely in 2007. After fronting a band that played too loud & sang too out of tune but got to perform at Wrockstock anyways, I traded in the guitar and drums for a keyboard to help with the ‘pedia. You may still hear (or see) me bashing away on the drums for other wrock bands.

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9 responses to “Question Tuesday”

  1. Sam Harris Avatar
    Sam Harris

    I like to be exclusively physical CDs if possible. For one, I just love having something that I can hold, it’s important for me. Two, album art is fantastic and definitely a part of what makes an incredible album even better. Three, I love being able to give friends something physical. Sure, I could just burn a CD, but being able to give someone else the album in its entirety is meaningful.

    That being said, I do love HatP for selling wizard rock vinyl albums, cassette tapes and floppy discs.

    Reply
  2. Scott Humdinger Avatar
    Scott Humdinger

    I have found that most artists in the wrock scene are happy to swap CDs. As a result, I do a lot of CD swapping with people and built up a really diverse collection, much of which is autographed. I really like that personal touch and connection with people.

    I agree with Sam that album art/presentation is important. Some of my personal favorites are the hand-made Diagon Alley and Mudbloods CD sleeves. Very cool.

    Reply
  3. ladysugarquill Avatar
    ladysugarquill

    I love CDs. I love the album art, the notes, I like having it on my shelf. Plus it’s a back-up in case anything happens to my computer.

    Reply
  4. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    I’m not opposed to buying digitally, but I do really enjoy having physical copies of CDs. The Remus Lupins in particular is a band that I’ve always thought had cool album art, but even something as simple as liner notes gives that extra bit of personality, and it’s nice to have a physical object to treasure. But then there’s stuff that goes the extra mile, too – a couple of my favourites from my own collection is the hand-drawn cover of my Kwikspell CD and the Mudbloods screenprinted cover I picked up at Wrockstock III. And especially that last point – I particularly enjoy buying them at shows, so I can remember the night when I play it later, and just the interaction when you buy it directly from the artist can open up some cool conversations.

    Reply
  5. Zivlok Avatar
    Zivlok

    I love CDs, but I personally prefer the ease of use of digital downloads, the ability for fun extras to be put in those digital packages, and most of all, because the CD-drive on my computer crapped out and transferring CD to MP3 has gotten more and more inconvenient.

    Reply
  6. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    Because of shipping costs/shipping time and how I listen to music, I prefer buying digitally. I like buying CDs at shows though – almost like memorabilia. Also if I’m talking with wrockers at the merch table I end up buying CDs.. not really sure how that always happens.

    Reply
  7. JamesFromTSBCOSS Avatar
    JamesFromTSBCOSS

    Like most people have already answered, I prefer an actual physical album over just a downloaded copy, though I do have a lot of just downloaded music, and I understand it can make things slightly easier for the musician/band in question.

    Reply
  8. DarkLordofDance Avatar
    DarkLordofDance

    I only buy physical CDs – I like having a stack of wrock CDs at home to remind me of good times! More importantly, my laptop’s hard drive has a yearly suicide, so I want the backups.

    Reply
  9. Camie Avatar
    Camie

    Most of my wizard rock has been purchased in physical form – but in all truth, I wish I had purchased most of it digitally. I keep all of my music in the cloud anyway, and while I love having the liner notes, and the physical CDs, when you live in a small room, that stuff becomes “clutter” way too quickly. I have had all my music on either an external hard drive or in a cloud service since way back, so continuing on with digital copies really isn’t much of a change to what I have been doing.

    My most recent purchases with music have been vinyl – which mostly come with a digital download card on the inside. I know vinyl is a pretty expensive endeavor, and I snatched a copy of the HatP vinyl as soon as I heard about it, because come on! WIZARD ROCK ON VINYL!

    I remember way back in 2007 talking to Brandon Nicholas about The Remus Lupins’ album art – which in complete honesty, he did a phenomenal job on. “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” is still one of my favorite album covers just because of the art.

    Reply

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