I know that buying digital music has been alive and kicking for quite a few years now. However, I had been one of those CD purists who refused to purchase it. Particularly, during the dark days of DRM-protected material and less than desirable bitrates.
My how things have changed!
Much to my surprise I took a look at all of the music I've recently purchased and saw that over 90% was digitally acquired (notice the word "purchased," support your artists people! lol). What slowly won me over was Amazon's MP3 store and my beloved, soon to be betrothed, eMusic. However, the main reason I believe, is the independent/foreign music scene.
To put it lightly, it was often a pain in the ass for me to purchase indie/foreign CDs. For one, it was expensive. Secondly, I often took a gamble because it was much harder to sample albums before purchasing. Not anymore, the cost lines have been blurred between domestic best sellers and pretty much any other album that is out there in the digital domain, and I love it! While radio and mainstream music in general seems to be narrowing it's scope with each passing day, there seems to be a musical digital renaissance going on that is available right at your fingertips. And I'm so thankful for it because I've discovered some exceptionally good music because of it (Muhsinah, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Zaki Ibrahim, Brittany Bosco, Amanda Diva, to name a few). Yes, I don't get the joy of opening up a brand new CD (my shrinkwrap, sticker removal skills were so honed I was like a CD-opening ninja) but my wallet is in a much better state and my ears are thankful for the ever changing sonic landscapes they've been traveling through. And while I wish there was some magical, lossless format being widely used, encoding quality has gotten much better over the years. So cheers to you, digital music, for reinvigorating my music collection!
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