Why I Buy Music

I have an absurd amount of music at my fingertips and all the technology to track down anything I could reasonably or unreasonably want.

Still I make a point of buying albums upon their release (and pre-release).

Why?

The same reason I pay a cover for (some of) the bands* I see play and make sure everyone I am with is drinking . . . a show of support for the artist.

I own albums I hate by artists I love. Though I never listen to them, I support their quest to keep making music. I know that, at some point, they may again scale those creative heights.

I also make a point of buying cds from new artists I think show potential. Hell, I also buy them at small Stubb's inside shows or shows at Red Eyed Fly or anywhere else I see a lonely merch table. In Houston, I make a point of buying the $5 rap cds people hawk outside of stores.

Every once in a while, there's something really surprising in there. But that's not the point. What's $5 or $10 to me as compared to what it is to a new band. Not the money, the vote of confidence that people will buy their music and the hope that they can keep doing it.