Still buying CDs?

It's really funny how you start to hear certain things over and over... I've had two friends ask me in the past month if I was still buying CDs, or if I'm buying everything on iTunes now. And then I stumbled on this Business Week blog asking the same thing...

So I'll tell you fine Music Gluttons my answer, because I know you're all waiting breathlessly for it... If I'm buying something that I think my lovely wife or some of my friends might enjoy, I'll buy the CD. Also, if it comes with a bonus DVD or something that makes it fun (i.e. the trippy 3-d art/glasses pack on the last Tool CD), that goes into my collection. Or, if the thing is priced at $10-11 bucks, I'll buy it... If I don't like it, I can always sell it to the used CD place or on Amazon.com Marketplace.

But, if I'm just trying something out that I'm not real sure about, or if I only want one song, I'll buy it on iTunes.

While I'm on this, here's the thing that bothers me about iTunes... In the glory days of Napster, you could literally find anything... I mean anything! Several years ago, I used Napster to find a long out of print Jon Anderson (of Yes) solo CD. If the thing was out, I'd buy it... I had it on cassette back in the day, and my wife loved it. The tape either got eaten or melted, and that music was out of our lives for several years, until I found the mp3s on Napster. Now that I have the mp3s, would I still buy the CD if it was released in the States? You betcha... ...Because we love that album. And in fact, I still check Amazon for it every so often. The freakin' cassette is being sold for $750 by some greedy soul on Amazon Marketplace.

So here's my question... Why hasn't iTunes been able to take up the slack on this sort of thing? They occasionally have out of print jazz CDs from Verve on there, and that's great... I love jazz, but I don't know enough about it to get excited about these releases. Where's the promise of the great digital marketplace where anything and everything is available? Why could I get my favorite Jon Anderson album from Napster, but I can't get a legal copy from iTunes or the record company?

Short answer: yes, I'm still buying CDs, and I'm going to miss browsing the aisles... It's just not the same browsing Amazon, and Best Buy doesn't have much for people nearing middle age with eclectic music tastes... Have to save my money and head back to Amoeba in San Fran soon...