I can see that point. But, maybe things aren't meant to last for all eternity anyway...

This is a question though! When it comes to VGM, does any of the money you pay for a legit copy of a soundtrack actually reach the composer? Its not a secret that when it comes to "regular" Western music, very little of the profits of a CD actually reaches the artist - most of the money goes straight to the record company. Most artists make their living largely by touring and playing concerts. Is there reason to believe that in a niche genre like VGM, where the composers sometimes aren't even credited properly, more money reaches those that actually crafted the music?

Imagine this thought experiment. Everyone stops buying CDs - the record industry totally crashes. I bet in this situation, VGM composers would be *better off* than "ordinary" music artists, since their income comes from their salary working at their respective companies. If games are still being sold, their situation will remain largely the same, since the major source of income for the video game company is from their games. VGM CDs - whatever we like to believe - sell like shit. If a VGM album sells a couple of thousand copies, its a huge hit. If all production of legit VGM CDs suddenly stopped, no one outside our group of fanatics and enthusiasts would even bother. That's the plain truth. I'm not even sure it would touch most Japanese VGM composers as much as one gets the impression it would touch some people in our community.

I too want to support the artists I like, since I love music. But greedy record companies and overall shitty releases (the all-too typical "a couple of good tracks, the rest is crap"-deals) has jaded me to the point that it doesn't matter much to me either way... Sometimes I buy CDs, sometimes I don't. And its becoming increasingly "don't", I fear. Downloading just offers too many advantages compared to the alternative.

Just two years ago, I would consider what I'm writing now practically heresy, but not anymore... If the entire VGM "industry" crashes tomorrow, I'm not sure I would care too much... As long as games are still being made, I'll get the music somehow if I want it, even if I have to record it myself. And if I don't want it, well, as GoldfishX pointed out, there's a whole wonderful world of sound out there, just waiting to be discovered.

Music will never die!

I recognize this. There are CDs I've gotten rid of that I never thought I could manage without (for whatever reason) a few years ago... But I'm not getting rid of Dewprism quite yet!

It's more of a principal...I'm not going to argue that Ishiwatari gets 2 bucks or 20 from me buying a Guilty Gear soundtrack. It feels right buying the OST because I like it. And...I guess that's enough for me. For the record: This is why I prefer donating stuff (canned goods, toys, supplies, etc) than straight up money to troops/kids/etc. Who knows what "collection fees" are involved...

In any case, with cocoebiz at least, it IS pretty directly effective, since you're supporting her, the publisher/artist and her ability to keep restocking exclusive albums (make no mistake...that's a good thing, no matter how much money the artist gets!). CDJapan or something like that, I'd feel less socially responsible about, to be brutally honest. But again...Kind of like why I said I outright favor an indie album than a big label one when it comes time to lay out the moolah. Same concept. I'll buy from the smaller company that gives outstanding (and in coco's case, unique) service more readily.

Daniel, I thought you cashed out of VGM a LONG time ago! I remember you had a huge collection and stripped down to the bare essentials (like, 2003-ish or so). You know, back in the days when no one cared who Akira Yamaoka was. ;p

Yeah, I'd agree to that. I was not entirely right in writing "If all production of legit VGM CDs suddenly stopped, no one outside our group of fanatics and enthusiasts would even bother", but it was close enough.

Heh, I'm not sure "cashed out" is the right way to put it. Its more been like a slow decline (for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread). I still have a lot of CDs (100+) left, since up till about 2 years ago, I kept buying new stuff all the time. But I'm getting tired of most of it... Watch the Marketplace in the next couple of months!

I have the haunting feeling that I'll never quite leave the VGM scene either, since I occasionally do buy new albums. STC, for example, is hard to leave. I've tried, but always keep lurking back somehow...

And the days when no one cared who Yamaoka was was back in 2000.

Same here...I'll never leave (take THAT, Dais!) and I still follow the scene, but just with 99% less obsession and 200% more objectivity. Better to find stuff that completes 10 years of personal enrichment than something I "like" because I have false hope in.

Who knows...Maybe I'll actually play a game that has original music I like AND a CD release for the music. That'd be different...

Heh, that reminds me of one (non-VGM) album that had a track up for download called "A One Minute Silence," which is exactly as its name implies. I'd hate to be the poor souls who spent 99 cents on it.

Uh...

No contradiction. The first statement is analytical and realistic, the second is poetic. Get it?

Last month, it was reported that Sony BMG had agreed to sell its music in the Amazon.com MP3 store, and now the soundtracks for Silent Hill 1 through 4, "[s]old by SONY BMG Music Entertainment Downloads LLC," are available there for $9.99 each.  Consequently, I feel some regret for having previously purchased the soundtracks for Silent Hill 2 and 4 at much higher prices.

Although the Silent Hill Zero soundtrack isn't likely to be available in the Amazon.com MP3 store for months or years, I am nonetheless disinclined to buy the CD version for $35, not including shipping costs, while the possibility exists that I may be able to buy an MP3 version later for a quarter of the price.

Having said that, I understand the preference for owning things in tangible form.  I probably would opt for same were the price difference not so staggering.

Not me. Hate iTunes.

I still like picking up the physical package. This way, I can rip it, listen to it on my computer, put it into my MP3 player, and then put the CDs for a spin in my CD player. It's double the hassle for digital files and if my computer goes "crash" one day, there goes the digital files. At least, if that happens *knock on wood*, I'll still have my music in high quality sound.

http://www.gamemp3s.net/

If you still like it when/if the mp3s are released for purchase you can just as well buy them later.

Having music on a physical CD is admittedly often a better way of conserving music than storing it on a hard drive, but there are other options available. Personally, I use DVDs and external hard drives to back up stuff. These things will invariably fail one day, but then again, so will probably CDs. CDs aren't indestructible, and there is always the risk of it being scratched/broken/stolen/lost in some other way. In the end, the music is the most important thing, and we make the choices on how much to spend on it and in what format we like it.

Even though we ourselves aren't permanent, we somehow still have the notion that the things we buy are.

This is a very healthy thing to realize and accept.

I'll probably go mostly digital for audio, video and games in the future. It's just more convenient, and I hardly look at my albums after I've ripped them to computer anyway. I'll think I'll always hold on to some 30 CDs or so, because I love the packaging (SoM2, though the music is equally great) or because they have some weird collector's value to me.

I hate to bring up this chaotic thread again but I just came across this article and thought about this discussion. Kind of a light-hearted take on music piracy that pokes fun at both positions... Although I'm not sure how the "elite person with a large vinyl collection" would translate to the VGM case. Maybe people with a lot of rare originals?

I have Stuff White People Like in my RSS feeds... very funny blog!

As for me, I've got my entire collection (physically owned albums and downloaded albums) on my hard drive.  Albums that have been opened are stored on my 300 Gigabyte hard drive as lossless FLAC files ripped to my specifications.  Albums that I have which are still sealed are either MP3 or lossless FLAC files downloaded (mostly from VGM Central on Direct Connect).

And yes, I have used iTunes, and continue to do so every now and then.  However, I don't use it to purchase VGM.  I agree with one poster who mentioned the extreme care that Japanese publishers take when releasing albums.  I mean, just think about the original prints of Final Fantasy IV - Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections-- the CD showing in the cover, the piano scores and artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.  Sonic The Hedgehog 10TH Anniversary Birthday even had a little gold-colored coin with its own spot in the fold-out case!  This is the sort of thing I love to show people who think that VGM is just the old square/sine-wave first seven notes of the Super Mario Brothers main theme.  Getting the officially released items makes this hobby seem very magical, and allows 'VGM doubters' to see that this is indeed a little world with its own culture, norms and values (like paying US$300 -$400.00 for one album!, W00T!).  I think in a way iTunes reduces these albums to just the experience of listening, and takes away a lot of the reflection and critical response fans can have when they read liner notes (or play the songs on piano/other instruments).  There is something very special about the care the composers, artists and publishers put into something that has such a small market, and I fear that those who first experience VGM via iTunes and similar download services will miss out on so much beauty (like the lenticular sticker that comes with Super Mario World-- http://www.vgmdb.net/db/albums.php?id=533) and background information about the music.  As well, there are so many copies of any limited edition albums, but a file can be downloaded forever until the end of time.  There are limited edition albums, but no limited edition files.

Yeah, getting royally ripped off is great, huh?

I wonder if this little fella is a VGM collector? He sure has the right attitude.

Oh, the horror! Reduced the music to just plain old music. The listener will be forced to - gasp! - judge the music purely on it's own merits.

I kind of agree with what aotearoa said, but in total reverse...Download the music, THEN appreciate the non-musical portion of the package if you love the music (read: buy the thing!). I can enjoy the artwork of a CD I don't care for just fine by downloading a scan. That way, I don't have to worry about having the original CD OR the files of something I won't listen to.

This is true for a lot of the older Falcom releases. I love the artwork (particularly the landscapes) and some stuff (like the Special Boxes) had a LOT of extras, but it wouldn't mean crap if I didn't also like the music. There's quite a few cases where the artwork and music just naturally are to my liking. Like...hmm, Guilty Gear or classic Rockman. *drool*

You know, I'm kinda reminded here about those old computer games, especially adventures from Sierra and Lucasarts, that had large wonderful extra effort to make you feel like you're buying more than just a game. Large backstories, deluxe packaging, nifty inserts that weren't just novelty (Loom included a 30 minute audiodrama!).

Sure, appreciating on its own merits is all good, but when the extra effort is put forth, it's very much worth it to have. Even if it's just nice things like a score or pictures of the recording sessions.

-Joshua

The only reason that I would like iTunes would be if they released OSTs that otherwise would remain unreleased (or unreleased tracks)

~Andy