hmm, the music business may in fact be dead.

[Jondalar]

So, I just came across an article about the music business and it said that music sales are indeed down by over 50% from 10 years. Of course, the internet and digital music is to blame. But what gets me is that even artists that have hits on the radio can't even go platinum. Jordin Sparks was the winner of American Idol. A few years ago, she had her last worldwide hit with a great song called Battlefield. The song hit the top 10 in the U.S. but the album only managed to sale 177,000 in the u.s. I can't believe that. I download a couple of songs from that album, including a song I really liked called No Parade and I just assumed the album was going to platinum. It never even went gold. The music business is a sad state of affairs.

[Josh2003]

I download a couple of songs from that album, including a song I really liked called No Parade and I just assumed the album was going to platinum. It never even went gold. The music business is a sad state of affairs.

Well there you go.

You "downloaded a couple of songs" instead of buying the album, which is what the majority of people do these days.

[Silver Springs]

Did I ever tell you how much your threads brighten my day? ;) :rolleyes:

Well there you go.

You "downloaded a couple of songs" instead of buying the album, which is what the majority of people do these days.

I don't download. At all. I buy on principle. Because I want to help the artists as much as I can, and at the same time have a solid and tangible record/cd to add to my collection.

[ontheEdgeof17]

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/blamecanada100510.jpg

[Jondalar]

Well there you go.

You "downloaded a couple of songs" instead of buying the album, which is what the majority of people do these days.

I bought those songs on iTunes

[Josh2003]

I bought those songs on iTunes

It doesn't matter. You still did not purchase the whole album.

[Josh2003]

Did I ever tell you how much your threads brighten my day? ;) :rolleyes:



I don't download. At all. I buy on principle. Because I want to help the artists as much as I can, and at the same time have a solid and tangible record/cd to add to my collection.

You can still *legally* download on iTunes, Amazon, etc. That's what I do. If there is a song that I like, I'll pay for it without paying for the whole album, unless I decide that I want to pay for and download the whole album.

[Jondalar]

I don't know, I just couldn't believe that that album never even went gold, let alone platinum. That song Battlefield, I thought, would of pushed it up there. Apparantly not. I'm wondering if even Beyonces next album is going to do that well. A lot of people don't seem to like the first single.

[Silver Springs]

You can still *legally* download on iTunes, Amazon, etc. That's what I do. If there is a song that I like, I'll pay for it without paying for the whole album, unless I decide that I want to pay for and download the whole album.

I know, lol. Guess I just prefer the old fashioned way. I like being able to see in front of me what I have. Look at my rows of CDs and Vinyl and say "Yup. All mine". I'm materialistic, at all XD

[louielouie2000]

I'm not sure I buy into all the doomsday prophecies. I just think a very old and outdated business is (painfully) evolving, and the consumer will reap the benefits. Think of it this way: You can now preview tracks from every song on every album online, & then buy the individual songs you like based on merit. No longer can artists & record labels get away with recording a couple of catchy songs per album, and substitute the rest with filler material. If an artist does do that, they are now drastically affecting their sales, the record company's bottom line, and they're soon out of the game. The internet is forcing record companies to be fair with pricing (or lose out to free downloads), and for their product from their artists to be top notch. I think it's a GOOD thing.

Plus, it makes way for Indie artists and labels in the market place which have less overhead, and can navigate these twists and turns better. I've gotten into indie music hugely the past 5+ years because on average, it's so much higher quality than the "manufactured" content from most larger record labels. Indie artists are in the biz because they love making music, not necessarily because they want to rake in the big buck$. Folks can run around screaming "the sky is falling! The sky is falling!" But I'm loving it! :nod:

[FM77]

So, I just came across an article about the music business and it said that music sales are indeed down by over 50% from 10 years. Of course, the internet and digital music is to blame. But what gets me is that even artists that have hits on the radio can't even go platinum. Jordin Sparks was the winner of American Idol. A few years ago, she had her last worldwide hit with a great song called Battlefield. The song hit the top 10 in the U.S. but the album only managed to sale 177,000 in the u.s. I can't believe that. I download a couple of songs from that album, including a song I really liked called No Parade and I just assumed the album was going to platinum. It never even went gold. The music business is a sad state of affairs.

And in other shocking news, airline travel is more of a hassle since 9/11. Where have you been, dude?

[starshine]

I think the music business is in the shape its in because of the crappy music thats out there. There's alot I don't like really. I guess I'm picky. It'll not ever been the 70's hey days of the singer- songwriters. Its really kinda sad. Plus I do think the way people purchase there music does make a difference with the DL and all. I don't do that I'm still old fashioned as well. I like something in my hands. I guess that's personal preference though and really thats ok. I don't even like the country music now either. give me late 60's/70's/80's stuff . Not that I'm some huge country fan but I do like some artists there too. I guess technology is good for some things but I still like somethings the previous ways. Like books still books and magazines still magazines and cds and vinyls still that way. I'm sure the Ipod and the Nook make things very convient etc but well. I guess I'll be kicking and screaming before I go to those items but who knows I'll not ever say 'never' cause well thats usally a mistake. I'll wait for as long as possible though. :shrug::D

[markolas]

What Louie said. :thumbsup:

[Macfanforever]

I remember the day of vinyl.buy the whole lp and get two to three good songs out of the lp and the rest are duds.At lease today you can cherry pick the hits out of an cd instead of plucking down $13.00 dollars for the whole thing.

A foot note at the end of Stevie's shows when she says please save the music biz.

[StandbackStevie]

The Music business is a new ball game for the older artists even the young artists if your not on the top of the charts your not going to sell today an artist needs to tour besides releasing a cd to make money. I don't know why either that they make reg. cd and a bonus with one or two songs on the album more than the reg. release I don't understand that. Why don't they just release one version of the album with all the bonus tracks on it and probably would sell more my guess. I am old school I do remember the days of Lp's and cassettes even having an 8-track player too but Remember waiting to get the album or cassette some times both I used to have a sony am/fm cassette walkman too so I would get the vinly and the cassette so would have it for when I use my walkman.

[Morgana]

I remember the day of vinyl.buy the whole lp and get two to three good songs out of the lp and the rest are duds.At lease today you can cherry pick the hits out of an cd instead of plucking down $13.00 dollars for the whole thing.

A foot note at the end of Stevie's shows when she says please save the music biz.

For those of us who are, "Old School" and, "Back in the day" LP's 45's, cassettes, and 8 tracks were the way to go and as they say nowdays, "The Bomb!" If I remember right, and as I am nearing Stevie's age, " brain burps" happen....but you bought 45's for 2 songs, the front & back. There is just something nostalgic about that.

[Richard B]

Physical media is dead. It servers no purpose other than to accommodate old schoolers, nostalgia and I guess to some degree, a tactile experience.

The faster we do away with all the physical media, the better it will be for everything. At least I will never have to make space for something that just sits there, year after year after year, untouched and serving no purpose. That to me is extreme waste.

Funny how the record companies are crying as digital media takes over, I wonder if book & magazine publishers will also cry the same tune? I love my books and magazines provided digitally, on my ipad or iPhone or computer. In fact one of my magazines is now selling more annual digital subscriptions than to the physical magazine.

As for Jordan Sparks...she has fallen under the AI curse after winning: who?

[bucklind17]

I don't think the word "dead" is even a question. The music business has been struggling since the advent of digital media to figure out a way to stay in control of consumption and provide ways for artists to measure success but nothing has improved. Record sales are only going to continue to fall, and they are SO much lower than ever before. Part of this is the way major record labels have operated for years and continue to. There's a definite corruption in the industry, especially as far as radio and major promotion is concerned.

A lot of independent artists, either on independent labels or their own labels, have been encouraging the actual purchase of their albums by creating unique packages that include an added benefit to buying the album, but in most cases, that is only going to appeal to actual fans of the band and not necessarily a new listener.

It's too easy to steal music. Way too easy. It's like walking up to a produce section in the supermarket and taking a bite of every thing available before you decide if you want to actually buy it, only you actually get to keep it and continue using it, so you choose. Everyone has downloaded music that they haven't paid for. Some people make good on it and later support the artist financially by legally purchasing an album or buying concert tickets or merch but a lot of people "sample" to see if it is "worth" their money and this is just something that never could have happened before the dawn of digital media. If the amount of music stolen digitally was stolen in hard copy form, from a record store, there'd be a lot more people in jail.

Annnd, I didn't intend to rant THAT heavily in this thread, so feel free to move this elsewhere if necessary.

[HighPassion]

Physical media is dead. It servers no purpose other than to accommodate old schoolers, nostalgia and I guess to some degree, a tactile experience.

The faster we do away with all the physical media, the better it will be for everything. At least I will never have to make space for something that just sits there, year after year after year, untouched and serving no purpose. That to me is extreme waste.

Funny how the record companies are crying as digital media takes over, I wonder if book & magazine publishers will also cry the same tune? I love my books and magazines provided digitally, on my ipad or iPhone or computer. In fact one of my magazines is now selling more annual digital subscriptions than to the physical magazine.

As for Jordan Sparks...she has fallen under the AI curse after winning: who?

It's things like this that scare me. I wouldn't say I'm "old school" cause I'm only 21, and I have mixed feelings about digital music. I like I-tunes for those CD's/songs that seem impossible to find, unless you order them online and have to pay an arm and a leg for them... And, for browsing songs. But getting the physical copy of a CD and skimming through the book and the first listen being a "surprise" is something I feel a whole new generation is missing out on, which saddens me.

However, the whole thing about books and magazines now being on I-pads etc is just rediculous... Looking at a screen that much can't possibly be good for someone's eyes. A major reason why I think books are good to keep around is because it takes people away from the screen.

I think people in general are just getting too carried away with this whole technologically advanced thing... Plus the fact that they're so expensive you could probably buy an entire library with that money. Oh wait, charge it onto the credit card -- duh. Who cares about debt?


I don't know, when I think about even thigns like this ---maybe we are living in an apocolyptic/end of the world age. ;)

[APerfectLie]

The music business is not "dead" and it has infact grown over the past ten years. Record sales are whats failingz but those are not indicative of the music business as a whole. Physical records and record labels are becoming obsolete, but that is just the evolution of the industry.

[Macfanforever]

The product sucks today.These days with the glut of rap.hip hop.dance.teeny bopper tunes .the Icons like Stevie,FM and and rock performers from that generation will have to work their a$$ off to get noticed on the charts.as we Stevie with her IYD cd.Some newer rock groups are getting notice like Train which I like are geting notice.one thing that I'm happy with is more of the country artists are crossing on to the mainstream charts.

[jellyman10]

Indie artists are in the biz because they love making music, not necessarily because they want to rake in the big buck$. Folks can run around screaming "the sky is falling! The sky is falling!" But I'm loving it! :nod:

I agree. I think we're already looking at something like the Tusk tour, and all that high-living rock n roll, in much the same way that we look at the court of Louis XIV. A decadent and theatrical expression of an idea of how rock n roll royalty was supposed to behave. It was loosely relevant to the music, in that people would write about 'the road' etc., but really it was a lifestyle that squandered extravagantly the huge amounts of money that flowed from the fans who, as well as buying the music, may well have also bought into the spectacle.

Now, though, and in the future, the wealth is/will be more polarised. There will always be a few acts who transcend to global prominence in a way that makes them hugely wealthy. But it's a mistake to think that huge wealth as a necessary condition for sustaining an artistic career. And, in fact, most artists don't. Most artists would be happy to make from their work the same kind of income that a middle manager in a bank makes - but they can't, because people steal their work.

Loz

[HejiraNYC]

I have a problem with paying for downloaded music, and I am sure I am not alone. It isn't that I don't believe in the concept of rightfully paying for and supporting music that enriches my life. For one thing, I get a bit of cognitive dissonance here- paying for something (for about the same amount of money that I would pay for physical media) that I can not touch, see or smell. Call me old school, but part of the music collecting experience for me is about the physical manifestation of the music. Secondly, there is no backup plan when it comes to these MP3 or AAC files; one dead hard drive or freak accident of nature can wipe out thousands of dollars worth of music in an instant. At least with physical media, you have something that is stable, relatively secure and can serve as an archive.

My prediction about the future of music is that the technology that destroyed music will come back and save it. The existence of music-only devices is dead. Everything in the foreseeable future will be based on the smartphone platform, i.e., the iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. At some point there will be a convergence of standards/platforms, as well as breakthroughs in connectivity that will allow devices to communicate with each other wirelessly and effortlessly without the need for computers and software. At some point albums will be purchased and used like a smartphone app. This will help to alleviate the problem of having a disaster back-up since all purchasers of the "album app" will be registered and can re-download music as-needed. The album app will enable the incorporation of multimedia such as text, pictures, video, games, puzzles, etc. And best of all, the album app will be dynamic- it can be updated and enhanced over time, just like smartphone apps today. So, for example, at any given moment, all registered users of a particular album may receive a free update of live bonus tracks or a new music video or even blog entries and concert tour announcements, etc. Everybody wins- the consumer gets an enhanced musical experience, the artist gets paid, the record labels get paid and the cost of distribution is much lower.

It is a shame that Apple hasn't started up a music label division; they currently have dominance in the smartphone/portable music playing arena and all of this technology is within reach. It's a totally lost opoprtunity!

[PenguinHead]

Some of the songs that I love the most are not hits or the obvious ones, but deep album tracks. I didn't get instant gratification from them, but began to appreciate them for the fact that I heard them in the context of a group of songs (an album). These are songs that don't hit you right away, but grow on you over time. With iTunes, songs become an instant gratification prospect, and other songs are instantly cut, dismissed and ignored. It's a detriment to the experience of music as a whole. iTunes radically changed how we process music. It''s great fo commerce, but horrible for artists, and people who truly respect artists' work.

I can never read a book on a Kindle- just sterile words on a computer screen, and have the same intimate experience of a physical book and its presence: the image on the cover, the turn of the page, the smell and tactil feel of the entire package. It's similar to an album: holding it in your hands, the imagery giving it context, reading the liner notes etc... The digital age has destroyed the concept of a body of work, and caters to an obsessive self-selection indulgence. Granted, it has made music more accessible, but the losses are immense and grave.

I suppose if I buy a digital book, I can edit out all passages that I don't like right away, re-arrange the chapters in a sequence that I find more preferable. I'll make it just like I want it be for me, me...and me!

[KarmaContestant]

Digital books and music might feel less tangible, but the emotions of the songs or words - the music or story - the experience the artist wanted you to have is not diminished in any way by a digital product. Any perceived loss of experience is, well, imaginary.

The real experience is still there when you play those tracks, in order, and feel that album - it's the same regardless of cassette, CD, digital or record.

The ability to buy individual tracks, I agree, has diminished the album concept, but we've always been able to buy 45s, cassette and CD singles - so it's not really a new concept, it's just different in that more than the single is available from an album. The remedy lies with the record labels - they could disallow the distribution of single tracks and make album purchases mandatory, which I would support wholeheartedly - but then again I always buy full albums anyway so I have nothing to lose or gain by this.

I am a mixed bag...I prefer paper books, but when it comes to music I'm equally happy with a CD or a digital purchase. I'm a collector at heart, so if it's an artist I collect (there are only 5-7 of these) then I always go for the CD or record. Everyone else is a digital purchase.

The environmental impact of a material versus a digital purchase is massive, from the oil used to make the plastic CDs and cases, to the fuel used to transport the product and the energy used to light the stores and pave the parking lots where the stores are located. In most cases, a CD is just not worth it.

The one downside mentioned by HejiraNYC is the potential to lose your entire collection due to something beyond your control - but even this is not new to the digital age - Fire, flood, tornadoes and hurricanes pose as much risk as a hard drive crash. As a precaution, get an external hard drive and copy your entire music collection to it - let it run over night. Keep that external drive stored somewhere safe and back it up again at least twice a year. Additionally, the iPod is a backup of your music collection as well. If you have a computer, an iPod and an external you're dealing with three copies of your whole collection that are far more manageable than moving and storing hundreds or thousands of records and CDs which, like it or not, will eventually end up in a landfill somewhere.

[markolas]

Secondly, there is no backup plan when it comes to these MP3 or AAC files; one dead hard drive or freak accident of nature can wipe out thousands of dollars worth of music in an instant.

Speak for yourself. :) All my files are backed up. :cool:

[justdreamin]

Everything in this world is in a constant state of flux. Governments, business, technology, perceptions and definitions of (name it; morals, sex, religion, politics, money...) One good solar flare could wipe out electricity and corrupt digital files for a part or the whole of our planet. Mother nature always wins, right?
I remember very distinctly when CD's came out I swore I would never buy a player or a CD. Same with DVD's... I have 100's of CD's now, though I still prefer vinyl, but I'm all about DVD's over VHS!!
You can't worry about what you can't control... and how many things can we really control? Maybe the music industry will have to make some big adjustments as we all have over the years and change how it awards unit sales. Out with the gold, platinum etc. album sales and in with a different kind of measurement. Who knows...just an opinion.
One thing I really hope though, is that we can always try to be as honest as we can, not just about downloads, but in all we do. (Not preaching I promise!) I really dig this forum, BYW...always makes me smile.

[Macfanforever]

As everybody knows on here.I love the old school media,Vinyl,Audio Tape{what ever shape and size},Video tape ,same as audio tape what ever shape and size.Since Since I do have an other life then Stevie and Fleetwood Mac.like my friends always say I dont.I do have about 35 years of experience in the electronics profession.I do know the digital thing is in today.like one little thing goes wrong with a digital device.or media of DVD,CD,CDR.flash memory,Hard drive or builtin memory on devices like mp3 players.cell phones.cameras ,camcorders.and other digital devices.
At that moment will we say its a goner.of corse it can be send out to a data recovery
company with a big fat price that could pay for a several of Stevie FM concerts including travel.Yes I do backup all of my files onto those ext boxdrives.I dont burn backup no more onto cdrs.Like it was mentioned before if a emf wave comes .it could muckup everything.at lease my 4 dozen copies of Rumours lp's will play.

[bucklind17]

My prediction about the future of music is that the technology that destroyed music will come back and save it. The existence of music-only devices is dead. Everything in the foreseeable future will be based on the smartphone platform, i.e., the iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. At some point there will be a convergence of standards/platforms, as well as breakthroughs in connectivity that will allow devices to communicate with each other wirelessly and effortlessly without the need for computers and software. At some point albums will be purchased and used like a smartphone app. This will help to alleviate the problem of having a disaster back-up since all purchasers of the "album app" will be registered and can re-download music as-needed. The album app will enable the incorporation of multimedia such as text, pictures, video, games, puzzles, etc. And best of all, the album app will be dynamic- it can be updated and enhanced over time, just like smartphone apps today. So, for example, at any given moment, all registered users of a particular album may receive a free update of live bonus tracks or a new music video or even blog entries and concert tour announcements, etc. Everybody wins- the consumer gets an enhanced musical experience, the artist gets paid, the record labels get paid and the cost of distribution is much lower.


Isn't this the general basis of the cloud technology that Apple is currently trying to perfect? I agree with you that this will be the best way for digital music to be consumed and likely regulated. I don't have an issue with paying for digital music because like another poster, I back it up and also, if your hard drive DOES crash, Apple will, on a case by case basis, allow you access to your purchased media for your new computer or hard drive. Ideally, though, once actual computer files are no longer necessary, people will need to pay to have access to the music on the home base through their own subscription or what have you and there will not be files floating around for consumption that can be "stolen" and artists will be fairly compensated for their work.

[KarmaContestant]

.Like it was mentioned before if a emf wave comes .it could muckup everything.at lease my 4 dozen copies of Rumours lp's will play.

There will likely be no electricity in that scenraio - so your LPs won't play unless you have an old hand-crank Victrola you can play them on. :woohoo:

[SuzeQuze]

Speak for yourself. :) All my files are backed up. :cool:

What do you use to back up your files? I have so much on this computer attempts at a full backup always fail. I need to at least manually back up the data.

The music industry ripped us off for years and consumers even won a class action lawsuit against them. Did they reduce the price of CDs? No. They are crooks and they're reaping what they've sewn. That said I do buy all my music with the exception that I have a friend who downloads and shares tons of music. I know technically that is the same thing but I didn't actually download it myself. The music I want I buy.

I have an issue with the audio quality of MP3s which is why I like to get the physical CDs. MP3s lose some of the richness due to compression and it sucks. I heard that a new format may be coming out that is higher quality. Well I read it somewhere in my FB news feed so it must be true! ;) I want a turn table and a record collection. Mine was stolen. I didn't have more than a dozen records but they were mine and they're gone.

Books are going through something similar. I don't think that industry is as shady as music. Maybe because there's a lot more sobriety there. ;) I love my Kobo and read more and buy more books since I got it. I'm terrible at organizing physical books and they seem to pile up so fast. It's really nice to have so many books at my finger tips. It also comes with 100 classics that are in the public domain. I just got it and Borders is releasing the new touch version soon. Ugh! They're product is technologically behind though so waiting for the next gen makes sense.

Anne Rice talks a lot about the publishing industry on her Facebook page. She is open with fans and it is fun to chat with her there. She is bummed out about the eBook revolution but I think she's coming around a bit seeing that sales are good. The thing is you can't write in the margins or fold pages you'd like to revisit which does detract from the experience many readers/authors enjoy when reading. As the technology improves I think it's likely you'll be able to do this digitally. Maybe on some readers you already can IDK.

Speaking of AR she loves Stevie's NOLA and said she was honored and it made her want to go there. She no longer lives there.

[Musicman408]

Speak for yourself. :) All my files are backed up. :cool:

What do you use to back up your stuff? :)

Oh, and BTW- whoever mentioned Train as a new band they like, they've actually been around since the early 90's! :nod:

[KarmaContestant]

What do you use to back up your stuff? :)


What do you use to back up your files? I have so much on this computer attempts at a full backup always fail. I need to at least manually back up the data.



I know you weren't asking me, but I use an external hard drive - it plugs in a USB port. From there, I just take my iTunes Music folder (C>My Music>iTunes>iTunes Music) and copy the whole thing to the external hard drive, in a folder named with the date.

The only downside is that I can't get the external to sync like an iPod so that only new files are copied; instead I have to recopy the entire folder each time. I've got about 90 gigs of music, so I let it run over night. I do this about every 6 months, give or take a few. The upside to this is that anytime I buy a new computer, i just copy the entire folder back over to my new computer and my music library is ready to go.

Between the iPod, external hard drive and my actual computer, I've got three copies of my entire music collection. I'd venture to say that about 60% of this is also on CD, since I do buy them from time to time, albeit less and less.

[Macfanforever]

There will likely be no electricity in that scenraio - so your LPs won't play unless you have an old hand-crank Victrola you can play them on. :woohoo:

That will be it.I wonder how would she sound on a crankup.Or like the one on the Flintstones.LOL........

[xxxmx]

I love records. It's a romantic process - open the sleeve, blow the dust off, set the record down, pull the needle... I love it. And I love my iPod, too. It's the size of a fig newton and holds like EVERYTHING. There's something to be said for having all of those files sorted and accessible with the flick of a finger.

I love my Kindle, too. I have always been a reader and this just makes it easier for me to read. I'm such a tree hugger - the resources that go into physical media just, eh. I understand the other side, but I'm firmly planted in the digital age. Just back it up. And pay for it - illegal DLing is soooo 1999.

:wavey:


I want a turn table and a record collection. Mine was stolen. I didn't have more than a dozen records but they were mine and they're gone.
I can hook you up with a complete Mac/solo collection. PM if interested.

[KarmaContestant]

That will be it.I wonder how would she sound on a crankup.Or like the one on the Flintstones.LOL........

My best friend has an old Victrola with the hand crank. It came with a Billie Holiday 78. It sounds like...music coming through a paper-towel tube. I love it!

[SuzeQuze]

I know you weren't asking me, but I use an external hard drive - it plugs in a USB port. From there, I just take my iTunes Music folder (C>My Music>iTunes>iTunes Music) and copy the whole thing to the external hard drive, in a folder named with the date.

The only downside is that I can't get the external to sync like an iPod so that only new files are copied; instead I have to recopy the entire folder each time. I've got about 90 gigs of music, so I let it run over night. I do this about every 6 months, give or take a few. The upside to this is that anytime I buy a new computer, i just copy the entire folder back over to my new computer and my music library is ready to go.

Between the iPod, external hard drive and my actual computer, I've got three copies of my entire music collection. I'd venture to say that about 60% of this is also on CD, since I do buy them from time to time, albeit less and less.

Yeah that's what I have. I tried using the app it came with to do a full back up which would back up incrementally in the future but it failed. I also tried to use Windows' utility to back up and that also failed. I'm trying to avoid this kind of manual back up so it will run weekly for me. I may have to suck it up and copy and paste though.

[SuzeQuze]

I love records. It's a romantic process - open the sleeve, blow the dust off, set the record down, pull the needle... I love it. And I love my iPod, too. It's the size of a fig newton and holds like EVERYTHING. There's something to be said for having all of those files sorted and accessible with the flick of a finger.

I love my Kindle, too. I have always been a reader and this just makes it easier for me to read. I'm such a tree hugger - the resources that go into physical media just, eh. I understand the other side, but I'm firmly planted in the digital age. Just back it up. And pay for it - illegal DLing is soooo 1999.

:wavey:



I can hook you up with a complete Mac/solo collection. PM if interested.

I agree with you 100%. There's a time/place/mood for each audio format and I'm married to my eReader! :D

[KarmaContestant]

Yeah that's what I have. I tried using the app it came with to do a full back up which would back up incrementally in the future but it failed. I also tried to use Windows' utility to back up and that also failed. I'm trying to avoid this kind of manual back up so it will run weekly for me. I may have to suck it up and copy and paste though.

I tried the same thing! Windows 7 has a built in Sync feature, but it told me my device was not compatible. In all fairness, the external drive I have is 4 years old, so maybe I need a newer one.

[SuzeQuze]

I tried the same thing! Windows 7 has a built in Sync feature, but it told me my device was not compatible. In all fairness, the external drive I have is 4 years old, so maybe I need a newer one.

I have a newer one but the software it came with is crap. I wonder if I can just reformat it and use whatever software I want.