What's the most you'll pay for a single CD's worth of music?

[Mark]

Having picked up a few bargains yersterday in the HMV sale, I started thinking about what I'm prepared to pay for my music. If there's a CD I really want, it's unlikely that I'll go above £12. Unless it's non-classical; I don't buy many of these, so when I do, I usually really, really want it and am willing to pay a little over my normal limit.

Generally, I use £9 as my ceiling figure - especially when buying from Amazon sellers. And when it comes to downloads, I don't think it's fair to pay more than about £7 maximum for a full CD's worth of music (I don't buy individual tracks).

So, how about you lot?

[AnthonyAthletic]

My figure is appx the same as yours Mark.  I wouldn't dream of paying more than £10 for an individual cd unless it was one which I really would like to hear, or perhaps going out of print.

The last time I went over the £10 barrier would be with Giulini's Bruckner 8th, which was unavailable in the UK and Ebayer's were going over the £20-£30 barrier for this 'twofer' set.

It makes me laugh when I browse the record stores and see cds still at full price in the £13.99 bracket, then you check Amazon and they are £8 and sometimes £5 and under via Marketplace Sellers.

I have now gotten to the stage where I seldom buy from UK sellers unless its a box set of greater value than waiting an extra week or two for lower prices from the UK or Europe.  (Although I did make a balls of it, trusting Amazon UK with the Stravinsky set I have on order..should have got this via Germany/USA).

£10 tops.  I haven't downloaded where you have to pay yet, I couldn't imagine divvying up £7 for a cd download when you can get the original for a quid or two more, don't see the point in that.  A friend of mine downloaded the Barenboim Mahler 7th for £7 a cd which you can buy for that price if you shop around.  If its Free its great, but life is seldom that good 

[yashin]

I do have a limit, i guess something similar. 10-15 pounds for a single cd and no more than 30 pounds for a whole opera.  I would usually want to spend about 20 pounds if i buy a box set.  Don't recall many costing me more than 30-maybe 4 discs is not bad for 30 quid.

If you look at the recent Ring cycle by Keilberth they were going for anything upto 50 pounds per part of the cycle (near me the Siegfried is 45 quid). I would love to buy but think it is a bit much unless it is the one cycle you really want.

Since i buy mainly DVDs now i hate paying 30 quid for them-it is too high. And what do you get?  A glossy booklet with pictures and about 5 languages.  I would prefer some decent info about the conception and the meaning.  20 pounds (30 Euro) is a good price i think.

I can't remember how many operas i have been to see in the opera house and sat there thinking "i could have got the DVD for half the price of this ticket and not had a cr*p seat and surtitles in a language i cannot speak".

[rubio]

I guess I'll normally would not pay more than about £8 for a new single CD, but with classical music there are so many OOP discs that I like to hunt for. The I could pay quite much more, if I e.g. have been looking for it for a year.

[Que]

Could we have the numbers in euros and dollars too? 

Q

[KevinP]

Sure I'd pay more than that if it was something I'd been searching for. But if we're just talking in-print, new releases....probably not.

[Greta]

If I really want it, and it's otherwise impossible to find, I will gladly pay $25-30. Great imported stuff I will pay that much for. A new CD, in store, I try not to pay above $15, look for markdowns and such.

And at Amazon, I use the marketplace, and generally try to find bargains of $10 or less. Same with used bookstore.

[Don]

The one thing I won't do is pay a "jacked-up" price offered by an individual on the grounds that the disc is OOP or otherwise hard to find. 

I remember that I was interested in a Popov disc on Olympia.  Some Amazon seller had it listed for about $50 - screw him and the disc.

[Kullervo]

The one thing I won't do is pay a "jacked-up" price offered by an individual on the grounds that the disc is OOP or otherwise hard to find. 

I remember that I was interested in a Popov disc on Olympia.  Some Amazon seller had it listed for about $50 - screw him and the disc.

I think the disc is still for sale by the same seller.

[Don]

I think the disc is still for sale by the same seller.

I wrote that guy an e-mail telling him what I thought of his greedy ways.  He replied that I was a cheap person who wants something for nothing.

[Kullervo]

I wrote that guy an e-mail telling him what I thought of his greedy ways.  He replied that I was a cheap person who wants something for nothing.

More power to you! I've always thought of doing that. $20 for an O.O.P. disc, (used, even) sure, but more than twice that amount?

[71 dB]

Depends on the music and label. BIS CDs are hard to find cheap and I try to get them for less than 14 euros. CPO/Brilliant Classics and Naxos on the other hand must be less than 8 euros.

[BachQ]

$200

[George]

More power to you! I've always thought of doing that. $20 for an O.O.P. disc, (used, even) sure, but more than twice that amount?

I'm confused. CD's in my neighborhood cost $18.99. $20 for OOP is an incredible deal IMO.

With the idiots (and trust me, I am being generous here) running the labels as they do, you could wait forever for the CD to released.   

My personal limit on OOP stuff that I am REALLY interested in is around double the original price. I almost never have to pay that much, though. 

[Mark]

Guess I'm just a tight-arse, then.

I remember when CDs were about £10 new here in the UK. I think I'm living in the past.

[George]

Guess I'm just a tight-arse, then.

I remember when CDs were about £10 new here in the UK. I think I'm living in the past.

Don't get me wrong. Although CD's retail for $18.99, I can usually get them for half that, or even less.

That's why I love amazon, used stores, sales at retail stores and boxed sets.

Money saved on CD X is money available for CD Y.   

[Heather Harrison]

If something is extremely rare and out-of-print and I want it badly enough, I will readily pay in excess of $50 (the most I have ever paid is $300), and there are a few such items in my collection, including a few rare LPs of 1950's/1960's rock/pop music and some 1890's Berliner records.  (Berliner invented the flat record; his records ran at a nominal speed of 71RPM, were 7 inches in diameter, were recorded on one side only, and played for about two minutes.)  Classical music tends not to go for that much money (with the exception of Berliner records, brown wax cylinders, and a few rare high-quality LPs).  The most I have paid for a classical LP is about $100 for Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on Bare Mountain conducted by Rene Leibowitz.  That one has sentimental value, so I was happy to pay that price just to finally get one.

What all of the above have in common is that they are black (well, usually black) disc-shaped items made of vinyl or shellac.  I can't bring myself to pay quite that much for a CD or a DVD; they just haven't been around long enough for me to see them as antiques worth paying real money for.  Still, if I want something badly enough and can't find a reasonably priced copy, I will grit my teeth and pay $20 to $30, but that doesn't happen very often.  Ordinarily, $15 is a bit of a barrier, so I tend to be drawn to budget-priced reissues or used CDs.

Heather

[SonicMan46]

Well, I only own CDs & DVDs now (no LPs or desire to have pre-optical media - however, I do collect a lot of art and will pay well for that 'addiction') - I'm not sure that I have ever bought a CD over $20, and I tend to find the 'cheapest' option (BRO & the Amazon Marketplace are the first places that I look); for DVDs, just a different optical choice, I also look for bargins (the Columbia DVD Club is a great way to get a lot of 'cheap' DVDs), but I have paid up to $30 for Criterion DVDs that I've wanted to have in my collection (but don't own that many) - guess I'm just not into paying extra money for these discs - 

[Brian]

I saw a recording of "Rhapsody in Blue" at Barnes & Noble the other day for $23, and it ticked me off!