Buying an entire CD for one song?

[specialk]

I almost always buy a physical CD instead of getting a digital copy online. Once in a great while I want only one song, so I'm glad that's an option. But not always.

I used to own Chuck Mangione's Children Of Sanchez on vinyl. The title track is killer, some of the other cuts are okay, but a lot of it, to me was filler/boring. So I went online to pick up that cut I wanted. Sorry, in order to get it I'd have to but the entire CD, which I won't do.

I'd gladly pay like $5 for that cut, well above what single cuts go for. But there's no way I'm buying the whole CD for that one cut.

The way I see it. the artist/record company is losing out on sales due to this policy. If there is one great cut on an album of not so great cuts, instead of making it an "album only" purchase, sell that cut for 1/2 the price of the whole album, or something like that.

I dunno.

[princeofdarkness56]

Can't you buy it the whole cd used off Amazon or Ebay for a lot cheaper ? I go that route a lot, especially older stuff. Never had a problem.

Side note, I am from the same town as Mangione. Was not uncommon to see him about. About 10 years back my wife and I went out to dinner on ST. Patricks day. We wanted to avoid the crowds so we went to a small Italian place in the neighborhood. It was nearly empty but their was one large table with about 10 guys, one who was Mangoine. He had his horn on his lap the whole time. Even while eating. He also treated the few patrons and staff in the restaurant to a two minute little sample of his music. Very impressive. I don't know who the guys were at his table but they all looked like cool cats and I bet they all had stories to tell.

[velorush]

Like many here, I am of an age where an album was a complete experience - an aural as well as visual statement from the artist. The entire album was a cohesive statement with the album art often being an integral part.

Given that, I find it incredibly difficult for me to purchase a single song. I also find it incredibly difficult to purchase music online rather than a physical CD. I was glad when the courts ruled Pink Floyd could prohibit iTunes from selling individual songs from their catalog and had the right to require the entire album to be sold - personally, I cannot fathom buying "Money" without the rest of DSOTM.

So far the only album I have ever purchased by download was Warren Haynes' "Man In Motion" and I have only occasionally regretted not having the CD - practically speaking, I haven't missed it, but I don't have the artwork (other than the cover) and I can't read the liner notes, etc.

Lastly: IF I listened to the the current overly-processed, homogenized hip hop pap my daughter listens to I would have no hesitance in purchasing a single song as (at least as far as I can tell) the intent of the "project" (as they are calling albums these days) is to simply get a single to chart, randomly throwing similar sounding noises against the wall to see if anything sticks.

Yes, that's prejudicial but I'm an old guy and get to be that way (get off my lawn!). There are plenty of artists producing worthwhile music these days, I've just never heard any of it issuing forth out of her iPod / phone / car stereo.

[Steve Haynie]

Before the Internet existed I had to buy a Judy Collins album just to get to hear what I thought was the original version of Hello Hooray. A friend caught me buying that CD, and it was embarrassing.

[diablo175]

Like many here, I am of an age where an album was a complete experience - an aural as well as visual statement from the artist. The entire album was a cohesive statement with the album art often being an integral part.

Given that, I find it incredibly difficult for me to purchase a single song. I also find it incredibly difficult to purchase music online rather than a physical CD. I was glad when the courts ruled Pink Floyd could prohibit iTunes from selling individual songs from their catalog and had the right to require the entire album to be sold - personally, I cannot fathom buying "Money" without the rest of DSOTM.

So far the only album I have ever purchased by download was Warren Haynes' "Man In Motion" and I have only occasionally regretted not having the CD - practically speaking, I haven't missed it, but I don't have the artwork (other than the cover) and I can't read the liner notes, etc.

Lastly: IF I listened to the the current overly-processed, homogenized hip hop pap my daughter listens to I would have no hesitance in purchasing a single song as (at least as far as I can tell) the intent of the "project" (as they are calling albums these days) is to simply get a single to chart, randomly throwing similar sounding noises against the wall to see if anything sticks.

Yes, that's prejudicial but I'm an old guy and get to be that way (get off my lawn!). There are plenty of artists producing worthwhile music these days, I've just never heard any of it issuing forth out of her iPod / phone / car stereo.

I kinda straddle that fence. I agree that many of my fave tunes were found on albums bought in their entirity and not the official released singles. Additionally, the artwork on an album jacket was also a big attraction. But in recent years, when I've been grousing about how there are only one or two decent tunes, (more often than not, the single)I've limited my self to buying just the song or songs I liked.

and have only wanted to purchase that which I knew and liked.

[jwhitcomb3]

There used to be artists considered to be "album bands" (e.g., Pink Floyd) and others that were "singles bands" (e.g., The Police, Buzzcocks). Some newer bands seem to be keeping the album artist concept going, such as Midlake, but I think younger folks consume far more individual songs than albums.

[MCChris]

I go the a la carte route occasionally with previously released stuff I never owned or used to own but lost the physical copy and am replacing with digital (notably VH's WACF, DD and 1984....passed on most of the covers and huge radio hits that I don't really need to hear again) but I still pop for entire albums. I figure if the artist is capable of creating a song I like enough to buy it that their other stuff will be similarly appealing, maybe not right away, but eventually. Rarely have I been burned by this approach.

[JohnnyB]

Can't you buy it the whole cd used off Amazon or Ebay for a lot cheaper ? I go that route a lot, especially older stuff. Never had a problem.

That was my first reaction too, so I checked Amazon: New CDs are $19.99 and used ones start at $6.93 plus $3.99 shipping.

Regarding the OP, I went to a Chuck Mangione concert around 1979 at Cincinnati's Music Hall (nice venue, great acoustics). The second half of the concert was the "Children of Sanchez" music (for a film that never got made). And I fell asleep during that segment. Proof of concept.

[cynic]

What format are you looking for? The mp3 single is available on iTunes and Amazon.

[Armitage]

Amazon sells songs for about a buck and a quarter....

[Biz Prof]

I, too, have succumbed to the single download syndrome, but I still like long play formats. To wit, I once bought ZZ Top's Deguello just for "Thank You". Of course, there a few other tunes on that album that are quite popular and some others that few would even recognize as being ZZ Top. "Manic Mechanic", for example, became my young kids' favorite commuting song and after a while, they dubbed it "The Darth Vader Song". I guess those kinds of surprises make the $5-$10 purchase price more acceptable; as one would find no such discoveries by downloading a single tune.

[hamerhead]

Way back when, there were 2 ways to get a single - buy the 45, or record it off your trusty AM radio onto your equally trusty cassette player (only to have the DJ talk over the intro AND the outro. Bastards!)

I've never bought a single (download). I always trust there will be at least one more good song on a disk. So far it's worked out.

[specialk]

What format are you looking for? The mp3 single is available on iTunes and Amazon.

You had me going there, and I appreciate your effort, but the singles for sale on both sites are the reprise version. The title track is 14 minutes long. Maybe a used CD is in my future.

[cynic]

14:09?

[specialk]

14:09?

Fukkin' A!

My hero!

Thank you so much for this..

[Ethan]

I only really buy single songs if I have to learn them for a gig or something. One exception-one time a used Police cd I bought was scratched so the first song didn't play without skipping, as soon as I got itunes, I bought that song!

[gorch]

I have ever been an album guy and will ever be. In case I want to listen to single songs, I turn on the radio.

[specialk]

I have ever been an album guy and will ever be. In case I want to listen to single songs, I turn on the radio.

So let's talk about this, getting back to the original post now that Cynic has helped me out of the jam that began this.

Suppose there was an album (double album, actually) that only had one song that you thought was killer.

Would you buy the entire album for that single cut?

[zorrow]

^If it's from an artist I really like, very probably I'll do. I'm an album guy anyway, though my policy of buying albums applies just to artists I really like. Err... I'm confused!

[gorch]

I have ever been an album guy and will ever be. In case I want to listen to single songs, I turn on the radio.

So let's talk about this, getting back to the original post now that Cynic has helped me out of the jam that began this.

Suppose there was an album (double album, actually) that only had one song that you thought was killer.

Would you buy the entire album for that single cut?

Yes I would! I've done this in the past and had surprising results. Even bought albums unheard. Flying Colors, Tommy Castro, and Roger Daltrey & Wilko Johnson were some of the latest. I had never heard of any band before. Bought them on notes in a music magazin. Bobby Rush had been recommended on the HFC. The recommendation turned out trust worthy.

[cynic]

I have ever been an album guy and will ever be. In case I want to listen to single songs, I turn on the radio.

So let's talk about this, getting back to the original post now that Cynic has helped me out of the jam that began this.

Suppose there was an album (double album, actually) that only had one song that you thought was killer.

Would you buy the entire album for that single cut?

Yes I would! I've done this in the past and had surprising results. Even bought albums unheard. Flying Colors, Tommy Castro, and Roger Daltrey & Wilko Johnson were some of the latest. I had never heard of any band before. Bought them on notes in a music magazin. Bobby Rush had been recommended on the HFC. The recommendation turned out trust worthy.

I'm not sure this answers the question. Buying a CD for a particular song and being pleasantly surprised by others you weren't aware of or were unfamiliar with is different than buying a CD with the knowledge that nine of the ten tracks are bad.

[FGJ]

Way back when, there were 2 ways to get a single - buy the 45, or record it off your trusty AM radio onto your equally trusty cassette player...

"Cassette"? I used to spend my Sunday evenings as a kid recording songs off the radio on my Akai reel-to-reel -- I think those were eight-inch reels. I wish I had kept that player/recorder. (I remember recordeding a lot of Dr. Demento back then during the junior-high years.) I recall when my cousin came to visit with the first cassette recorders -- wow, what a revolution that was.

I think my mom was still recording stuff on eight track back then. In fact, my first "boom-box" had a radio, cassette, AND eight-track player. I hated the way eight-tracks interrupted the middle of songs when switching to the next track. That was worse than any DJ speaking at the beginning and end of songs.

[gorch]

I have ever been an album guy and will ever be. In case I want to listen to single songs, I turn on the radio.

So let's talk about this, getting back to the original post now that Cynic has helped me out of the jam that began this.

Suppose there was an album (double album, actually) that only had one song that you thought was killer.

Would you buy the entire album for that single cut?

Yes I would! I've done this in the past and had surprising results. Even bought albums unheard. Flying Colors, Tommy Castro, and Roger Daltrey & Wilko Johnson were some of the latest. I had never heard of any band before. Bought them on notes in a music magazin. Bobby Rush had been recommended on the HFC. The recommendation turned out trust worthy.

I'm not sure this answers the question. Buying a CD for a particular song and being pleasantly surprised by others you weren't aware of or were unfamiliar with is different than buying a CD with the knowledge that nine of the ten tracks are bad.

Understand. I need to check the collection since I can't remember right now. The idea requires to check any title before buying. I really need to check.