Singles or albums?

[bandit957]

Which did you buy in your day?

I usually buyed singles, because they were the people's medium. But Men At Work had a couple great albums.

Usually, however, I liked the album version of a song better, but not enough to buy a whole album.

I also remember buying brand new singles but they always skipped on a small record player we had, which played really old singles just fine.

[Max Rockatansky]

Albums until most records stores in my area stopped carrying vinyl in favor of cassettes by the late 80s. 

[bandit957]

One of the first 45's I had was "Rubber Biscuit." But I've never been able to find the parody that a local radio station made called "Rubber Baseball."

[abefroman329]

I really didn't buy music much at all until college, and I was more likely to spend the extra money on the entire album vs. buying the single.

One of the first 45's I had was "Rubber Biscuit."

The Blues Brothers version?

[bandit957]

One of the first 45's I had was "Rubber Biscuit."

The Blues Brothers version?

Yes.

[hbelkins]

Albums. I only bought singles if they had some obscure non-album or live track as the B-side, or if it was a song that I liked but didn't like the album, or the artist in general. Prime example: "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. I'm definitely not a fan of his, but that may be the best guitar solo Eddie Van Halen ever did. I wouldn't have been caught dead buying the "Thriller" album, but EVH made that song listenable. I also think there was a Michael Jackson/Mick Jagger collaboration in that era, and "Easy Lover" by Phil Collins/Phillip Bailey. Also, the studio version of "Chip Away The Stone" by Aerosmith that wasn't available on an album for years after it was released as a single. I may have even bought "Come Together' because I wasn't going to shell out the $$$ for the "Sgt. Pepper" soundtrack.

[abefroman329]

I'm definitely not a fan of his, but that may be the best guitar solo Eddie Van Halen ever did.

I thought it was interesting that David Bowie countered by asking Stevie Ray Vaughn to play guitar on Let's Dance.

I may have even bought "Come Together' because I wasn't going to shell out the $$$ for the "Sgt. Pepper" soundtrack.

And I wasn't going to buy the Godzilla soundtrack just to hear "Air" by Ben Folds Five, but luckily they included it on the re-released Whatever and Ever Amen from a few years ago.

[kphoger]

I've never bought a single.

[Takumi]

Both.

[dlsterner]

Mostly albums.  And back when they were 33 1/3 rpm vinyl LP's.  I would usually like enough of the album to make it a better deal than buying the 45.

[Scott5114]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

[1995hoo]

I have always bought primarily albums. Still do. The last single I bought was a Springsteen 45 I picked up on eBay a few years ago to get a non-album B-side that, at the time, hadn't been released on any album in its studio version.

[abefroman329]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

Really, it's better now with digital downloads.  Before, you could only buy copies of recordings of songs the record company released as singles.  Now, you can buy a digital copy of a recording of virtually any song on a particular album.

[ET21]

I used to preview the albums on streaming now to see if it would be worth buying it. If there was only one song I liked, I'd search to see if it was a single.

Nowadays with Spotify I just listen entirely through streaming unless it's an album I really want to have on CD or vinyl. But as abefroman329 mentioned, it's really easy now to just buy a single song from an album

[bandit957]

One thing is for sure: Radio pretty much has no influence these days. In my day, radio was one of the biggest influences as to what songs became hits.

[ET21]

One thing is for sure: Radio pretty much has no influence these days. In my day, radio was one of the biggest influences as to what songs became hits.

Work pretty much is where I listen to radio the most. I catch some newer songs every once in a while to play on Spotify. All my listening is through my phone whether it's podcasts or streaming

[hbelkins]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

Really, it's better now with digital downloads.  Before, you could only buy copies of recordings of songs the record company released as singles.  Now, you can buy a digital copy of a recording of virtually any song on a particular album.

On the flip side -- no pun intended -- there are a number of digital tunes that aren't available individually, but only as part of an album.

[abefroman329]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

Really, it's better now with digital downloads.  Before, you could only buy copies of recordings of songs the record company released as singles.  Now, you can buy a digital copy of a recording of virtually any song on a particular album.

On the flip side -- no pun intended -- there are a number of digital tunes that aren't available individually, but only as part of an album.

Yes, this is true (and annoying), but it's still probably a net positive.

[Roadgeekteen]

neither

[ClassicHasClass]

Albums, but I consider myself an old soul in an increasingly old body.

[Mark68]

Albums, but I consider myself an old soul in an increasingly old body.

The same for me. On all counts.

[Scott5114]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

Really, it's better now with digital downloads.  Before, you could only buy copies of recordings of songs the record company released as singles.  Now, you can buy a digital copy of a recording of virtually any song on a particular album.

On the flip side -- no pun intended -- there are a number of digital tunes that aren't available individually, but only as part of an album.

Yes, this is true (and annoying), but it's still probably a net positive.

I interpret this as the seller declining to accept my money and proceed accordingly.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

Really, it's better now with digital downloads.  Before, you could only buy copies of recordings of songs the record company released as singles.  Now, you can buy a digital copy of a recording of virtually any song on a particular album.

On the flip side -- no pun intended -- there are a number of digital tunes that aren't available individually, but only as part of an album.

I notice Apple for instance generally doesn't make songs over 10 minutes available individually. I've never been sure why, unless they think a song of that length is worth more money than $1.29.

[abefroman329]

When I was growing up, everything was on CD, so you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter; you were getting the album.

Now, it kind of depends. If all I know about an artist is that I like one particular song of theirs, I'll just buy the single. If it's an artist I like that has the song I want, I'm more likely to buy the album. Although really 99% of the music-buying in the house is my wife's doing, and I just nick the files I want from her.

Really, it's better now with digital downloads.  Before, you could only buy copies of recordings of songs the record company released as singles.  Now, you can buy a digital copy of a recording of virtually any song on a particular album.

On the flip side -- no pun intended -- there are a number of digital tunes that aren't available individually, but only as part of an album.

I notice Apple for instance generally doesn't make songs over 10 minutes available individually. I've never been sure why, unless they think a song of that length is worth more money than $1.29.

I hadn't noticed a correlation between song length and whether it's an album-only track.  I've seen some albums where nearly all of the tracks are (a) album-only and (b) short.  I just figured it had something to do with the position of the owner(s) of the rights to the recording.

[kevinb1994]

I have always bought primarily albums. Still do. The last single I bought was a Springsteen 45 I picked up on eBay a few years ago to get a non-album B-side that, at the time, hadn't been released on any album in its studio version.

Which Springsteen B-side was it?