Is buying more and more new music a compulsion for you?

Reader Patrick Tracy claims that he's addicted to buying music: "As in the studies of lab mice and cocaine, I will repeatedly choose music over most any other pursuit. Like a longtime drug addict, I now need larger and larger doses of new music to achieve the rush that a single recording might give a normal person."<P>How about you?

Is buying more and more new music a compulsion for you?
Yes, I'm out of control!
12% (21 votes)
I barely keep myself in check
44% (79 votes)
Not a problem yet
19% (33 votes)
I've been treated and have fully recovered
10% (18 votes)
Never was a problem
15% (27 votes)
Total votes: 178

COMMENTS
Scot Forier's picture

Five to 10 years ago I was a compulsive music buyer. Today there just isn't enough "new music" out there to make me want to purchase ANYTHING.

Adam L.'s picture

Yeah, I've got problems! I had to sell blood plasma to pay tuition this quarter because I spent all my money on records!

Jussi Melartin's picture

I keep swearing I'll take a three-month break . . . a month break . . . then there's a sale, the magazines arrive, and I'm back in the rut! The Internet has completely changed my buying habits, I buy MUCH more online than ever. The problem is, I don't have the time to really hear and learn the new music any longer, so, yes, the habit has gone beyond reasonability. On the other hand, this is not such a horrible habit, is it?

John Lum's picture

Now that the sale price of CDs is $13.99, I find myself buying less and less. In past years, I may have purchased 25 CDs a year. Now, I might buy ten a year, and some of those are singles!

RVocke's picture

I am always looking to expand my musical horizons

Mitch Barber's picture

I don't have a problem. Of course, my girlfriend claims that I'm in denial whenever she looks at my ever-growing CD library.

Thad Aerts, thad6000@hotmail.co's picture

Hell, yes. If I had put the money I spend [on recordings] into audio equipment, I would have a statement system by now. But I would rather have the music because that is what it is all about.

walkertm's picture

As much as my wife will let me purchase without a divorce.

Ben Asaro's picture

I own 100+ CDs, plus audio cassettes (I'm a child of the '80s) and LPs. Many times I will buy a CD even if it means not eating lunch! I have always been into small indie labels; if I find a band or two that I like on any one label, I usually make it a quest to buy a label's ENTIRE CATALOG!

Al Marcy's picture

One tune at a time.

Peter Randell's picture

I buy 5-10 new CD's each month but the only problem I have is storage space. Listening to the same stuff repeatedly would turn me off music. Bit like sex really, its good to get a lot of variety.

Greg Gacek's picture

The need to be the guy with the best music when my audiophile friends and I get together is certainly an addiction.

Glenn Bennett's picture

I am doing what the article in your magazine was about: buying more and more CD's from the BMG Club...the prices average about $8.00 each.

David L.  Wyatt jr.'s picture

I have discovered that there is possible to have a life outside of music. I have discovered sports car racing!

BCW's picture

I just wish I could find the time to ENJOY all the music I am finding on CD's, but I figure if I keep stocking the pantry I will one day get a chance to sit back and enjoy. Maybe by then they will sound as good as the LP's do now.

Dan L's picture

Perhaps we should start MCA (Music Collectors Anonymous), a 12-step program.

Gene Clough's picture

Yes, I buy lots of music. LPs, CDs, and now DVDs. BUT . . . I am always aware that 95% of the proceeds go to the record companies, not to the artists. If you want me to spend more, then give a fair share to the artist and I will pay them for their art.

J.  B.  Manson's picture

I pick and choose the music I buy. Music CDs are expensive, but on the the other hand many of the CDs are either poorly recorded, or the music itself stinks, and un-involving, so I pick and choose. I am in control.

flash's picture

too much crap new music to overdose but enough to maintain a good social habit. but then again my friends are far worse than me

Howard F.  Goldstein's picture

I only purchase what music I like and enjoy.

Steve Gilbert's picture

But what choice do we have? Here in St. Louis, the FM radio is so bad that the only defense is to acquire as much music as possible. With a sufficiently large recording library, it is possible to survive without getting bored.

Patrick J.  Callery's picture

My theory is that they won't let you die until you listen to them all.

Gabriel de Kock's picture

I go to J&R on Park Row with a list of discs to fill gaps in my collection, and some discs that sound promising based on reviews, "Building a Library," or "R2D4." And, provided the list is long enough, I usually come home with no more than four or five impulse purchases, plus something suggested by Ken Harris---the very-well-informed and opinionated manager of J&R's opera department.

PWP's picture

My house would just about be paid for if I hadn't bought the stereo and all the cds. What the hell, you only live once. I live for the music!

Craig Stephens's picture

I'm not at all sure that, if I started now, I could play all the recordings I own even four more times before I die, and yet I buy 20-50 new recordings a month, some months more. My wife thinks that I should start selling my recordings after the next playthrough, or else we'll need either a second house for storing them, or we'll have to get rid of all our furniture after the kids leave and just store recordings throughout the building. What's an addict to do? Personally, I hope to just keep going 'til I die.

Dave Kershaw's picture

The biggest problem is keeping away from the bargain bins in High Street CD shops, where you can often find rare or obsolete CDs and recordings at giveaway prices (in South Africa, anyway).

Yovchev L.N.'s picture

Always burning problem !

Atlanta, GA's picture

I have so many CDs that it is embarrassing. I no longer have enough space for them. And I refuse to sell any of them---even the ones I hate.

L.  Freeze's picture

Lack of storage space is the only thing that keeps me in check.

Christopher J.  Belling's picture

The bigger problem is finding the time to listen to all the great music out there.

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