Fair points. The fear of losing thousands of dollars worth of music, whether from technological advance or accident, is certainly justified.
I buy about 80% of my music digitally these days. Roughly on the order of a couple of albums per month. With artists that I really like, I buy the physical CD and/or the SACD. That is, when I really want the Nth-degree of SQ. But for most things, I'm content with the downloaded versions.
Both Apple & Amazon lets you burn your music to CD, if you're so inclined to do so. I do often, mostly for playback in my car (which doesn't do MP3 CD's). True, it's not a pressed CD with the jewel case and the artwork. Matters for some, not for others.
Amazon's MP3's and iTunes+ files are DRM-free, so even if Amazon or iTunes disappears, your music will still play on any device that can process a MP3 or AAC file. Worrying about not having a device that will play those is the same as worrying about not having a CD player anymore to play your CD's. I suppose a day could come, but I'm not really that worried about it. If/when that day is on the horizon, I'm pretty certain that someone, somewhere will come up with some method of transforming the
billions of existing MP3 files into magical new FormatX.
It is, however,
totally true that it's far easier to wipe out a thousand CD's worth of digital music than it is to destroy a thousand physical CD's. The former requires a few key presses, the latter requires a chipper-shredder, a fire, or C-4
. A robust backup plan is
absolutely critical when you have a digital {whatever} collection. If you're not prepared for that responsibility, then keep buying CD's. Keep those 35mm film negatives locked away too.
<- note the wink, it's a joke.
But of course, there's a flip side to having digital media. When my co-worker's car was broken into a couple of years ago, the thief stole a slip-wallet full of CD's.
Real CD's. Insurance covered the broken glass, and damage to the car, but not the CD's. He was SOL. Had they been self-burned CD-R's from a digital-collection, he could have spent $3 on CD-R's to burn new ones. Even if it had been an iPod full of music, the cost would have been less than having to repurchase those 20 or so CD's that were stolen. The moral of the story is to rip & reburn the CD's that you own if you're going to keep them in a car.
I believe that Amazon keeps a record of whatever you buy and allows you to re-download it whenever you want. I do not think Apple does the same, but they might reset your account if you talk to tech support. But no, I wouldn't count on either company being able to help you 15+ years down the road. Just like Best Buy isn't going to help you in 15+ years replace a CD that you lost.
