CD ripping to be permitted following UK copyright reform

[bobafetthotmail]

yeah, the only way to fight piracy is trying to compete with it (which means someone up there has to actually understand what people wants and why piracy is more palatable to the general public than a lot of legal products).

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...What's a CD !! -- does anybody BUY these any more. ...

I do. Often, they are the only media some music is available on, such as from independent musicians who don't have downloads available. I just bought 11 CDs while on a trip last week that weren't available for download (they will be all ripped before the end of the week).

Another advantage to buying and ripping CDs opposed to downloads is for the "jacket" art and data (I scan them and keep them on a PDF in the same folder with the CD's music files). Often (if not usually), downloaded mp3s have incomplete tags and the info needed to complete the tags isn't always available online.

Another reason I prefer ripping from CDs opposed to downloads is the bit rate. I like to rip mine at 320 kbps. Granted, that's insanely overkill but I wind up with a file type that is compatible with any player I throw them at. Even though technically lossy, I can't hear any difference from the original wave file (heck, I usually can't hear the difference at 128 kbps). 320 kbps gives me plenty of "head room" should I ever get better equipment and still gives a file size that's roughly 1/5 that of a wave file.

I occasionally buy downloads from Amazon since they are usually have a 256 kbps bit rate and are DRM free. Generally, the downloads are music that any information needed for completing tags will be easily obtained from the interwebz or the original albums are no longer available.