HOW do all of you afford to buy so many freaking albums jesus effin christ ?

i mean, i've always been amazed at how indie kids afford to get so many albums, but i've never figured out how. not to suggest everyone here is "indie" of course, but scanning the "name your top 10 of 2001" thread a majority of people certainly are knowledgable of indie music. and isn't it sort of ironic that some people of the indie community religiously follow the ideal of non-commercialism in terms of the artists/music they support, yet wind up buying more music and spending more money on albums - thereby pumping more $$ into the industry - than non-indie regular top-40 folk? ok, i don't really think that makes sense, sorry, i've been up all night and i'm procrastinating working on something, but hopefully you'll understand, sort of..

so how does everyone here do it? do some of you have actually sort-of decent jobs and sae all your cash and budget your incomes around spending for new music ?? or do you have really NICE sugardaddies, for a change? or do you buy most things used or go online to places like half.com? or do you become members of music clubs like bmg or something? or do you all own/and-or/rob banks or just spend "wisely" or use the internet to download or get your 13 and a half year old second-cousins to burn you cds ? maybe if i wasn't such a pansy and actually got a job instead of struggling my lazy ass in 6 full-time classes i'd be able to understand how a steady income greatly enhances cd-buying powers, since i just use my food-money, currently, to buy used stuff online...

and even otherwise, i don't think i could afford to get 20 new cds every year like all the people on the "name your top 10 of 2001" apparently do..

or maybe, of course, if i had real-life friends i'd be able to borrow albums and so all this wouldn't be a problem. that's it

it's a dirty, dirty habit . i can't help myself and i'm skint

I don't buy that many albums. Maybe 25-30 a year.

i download a lot of them.

but even if indie kids are putting money back into the industry it's trying to keep labels that tthey like financially viable rather than warner records.

i'm a professional music critic so make it rule not to buy ANY — or indeed listen to any, in cae my opinions were ever challenged

arse, i hate thinking about this... probably spend about 25-50 quid a week on records. i can afford it by not smoking or drinking too much BEER, and by having no gurlfriend [sob]. better for one's health to be addicted to records than other things though

I'm not sure about that, all things considered. Everyone should stop buying records - they're boring and you've got enough already. Give your money to the poor children instead.

reasonably good job. second hand records shops. friends lending.

oh yeah, several years scouring second hand shops, charity shops, jumble sales etc, boosts the numbers significantly.

I am a drug dealer.

what josh said.

A month or two ago (after having temped at a music-oriented employer) I was finally able to buy new clothes after a year and a half or so. 2 pants, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 sweaters. The remaining cash went to records and stereo-equipment.

By behaving like an addict. When i do drink, i drink the most powerful rotgut shit i can get my hands on for $5 or less, and then i regret drinking so much that i don't drink again for awhile (as i get older, the periods stretch from a few days to months,) i don't smoke, no drug habits, i wear the same clothes until they literally fall apart, buy lots of used albums, download many singles, work for places that get discounts, run up credit card debts, do an awful lot of trading with friends or complete strangers, and avoiding almost all attempts to think of five or ten years in the future. These days have just ended recently for me, but they were fun.

Priorities. Anyway, I don't by f-in indie albums for the most part.

The world is my oyster, used CD stores my salvation, promo copies a blessing from the almighty, a lack of kids and a car a block on expenses. I WANT THE WORLD AND I WANT IT NOW. And I usually get it.

I am a male prostitute. Aren't we all? Actually, I mainly buy stuff at thrift stores these days. Or the Pasadena City College Flea Market.

I am a male prostitute. Aren't we all?

Only once. Actually, I can afford lots of LPs and CDs because I have a good job. Everyone here isn't a student.

I don't buy CDs anymore. I don't download them either. I just avoid all forms of music, and then rant unknowledably about them.

I am a male model, not a male prostitute.

I shop cheaply online, a little money can go a long way if you're lucky.

I don't actually have that large a record collection, as I have no job and desperately need to consume all the alcohol in the world. Ergo I am fiercely envious of you ILM-ers with yer high-falutin' billions of records... I try to console myself with the knowledge that Ian Curtis never had very many records, as he would swap them every so often for brand new ones, but alas, I am still swamped by that yearning for more vinyl, such beautiful vinyl...

Um, I became a musician so I could play my own music instead of worrying about how to afford records.

I spend a lot of money on food, CDs, and dance lessons (until recent knee injury), but I haven't taken a vacation where I've actually gone somewhere for a very long time. I don't own a car. I haven't gotten around to buying a TV. I have an okay marginally middle class job, but money is pretty tight. My rent is high. I don't know how I do it. I wonder how other people do it who buy far more than I do, but I definitely can afford 20 CDs a year. It's hard for me to go the used route (aside from the fact that I don't like the idea of buying CDs used) because many of the things I want the most are very hard to come by that way.

trade alot with friends,look for deals on ebay(i know ,i know) used stores as ned said. also ,darla now has a few used cds/vinyl listed on their site at reasonable prices. the canadian buck sucks when buying from the us though .

btw:: what does "unknowledably" mean? ;-)

*whisper* Vic, i have no idea what any of these people are on about. just play along. make up a band name -- bung a couple of random words together, errr.. Black Acid, -- and say how there early stuff was much better and was obviously influenced by mid-era Kraftwerk and the stooges. works for me.

UsedUsedUsedUsedUsedUsedUsedUsedUsed.

And more used. I don't buy anything BUT music.

I used to help out at my college radio station, thus providing me w/a steady diet of.. (sure, why not) nothing, we were in the DC scene vicinity after all. Lots of indie records to listen to for free; lots of old cds and records I snagged before they went in the trash. Now that I've graduated & got a real job I spend all my money on clothes because I am a snob.
Plus I no longer care about being indie enough & so don't walk into record shops and get struck by this feeling - I really should own that new Thrill Jockey disc, shouldn't I? It's a little worrying, once I rid myself of the sense of obligation, as often as not I leave stores empty handed and say to myself, "music sucks."

music does suck it should be cheaper.

alan at home: that would be a good idea but i'm not that creative.

"unknowledably" is what ally becomes when she gets really mad at people who pay attention to spelling? i dunno you'll have to ask her.

alright, so the solution i've gottten from most of you is to become a male "sex-worker" (i *am* politically correct), but considering that i'm not that good looking, i'll have to find sugarmommies instead, since everyone knows mommies are nicer than daddies..

the only problem is that mommies aren't as horny.

buying used cds from amazon, i've learned, doesnt really amount to anything since bullshit shipping and handling is charged INDIVIDUALLY for every album you buy used, and it all adds up to about the equal amount anyway. i should check out half.com, but if forget if they have free shipping

used CDs from Amazon? weird...

i buy used records from Ebay, record fairs, second hand record shops and charity shops

how do you find out about record fairs?

from music mailing lists - there's often another person going or with a stand. in the UK there are only a few organisations which organise them regularly, and you only have to go to one fair to pick up flyers for all the others around the country that year. if you're sad and have nothing better to do at weekends then they're great. no idea what the CD stands are like though, since i usually just go through the vinyl. it helps to be organised and make a want-list, because its guaranteed that your mind will go blank while you ponder if this was the album someone recommended or not. also at the fairs you can give your email address to stall holders or pick up their website address, or ask them to reserve certain things for you if they find them. also other customers sometimes see what you're buying and get into conversation with you, or maybe have something you're looking for. they're very sociable places if you like talking about records all day.

VIP organise a lot in the UK. in the US it seems a lot are run, or at least promoted by, radio stations.

I think I'm down to only get 5 or 6 albums a month. I don't smoke, drink so that I can afford music! :)

We steal money from Prog-Rockers and Michael Bolton fans and snatch lunch money from N*Stynck fans. We also sell suck-rock musicians into white slavery. I was able to afford six box sets and a fistful of gold Ultradisks with the profits I got from selling Vanilla Ice to a brothel in Thailand.

a cd burner and genirous friends

Used to be a hooker (aka expensive restaurant waiter) buying 30-40 albums per year, now I squeak by on 1-2 per month as a full time unemployed student. The pain! still can't help myself tho...even if it means I won't have next months rent.

the twenty i bought were my vancouver binge

Shit!

I wish you hadn't asked this question because it made me think "Hmmm, gee I wonder how many CDs I bought this year" and just going by ones I bought full price (ie not in sales/second hand &c) I'm in the 40-50 bracket (and you can add at least that many again for second hand/special offer ones).

Shit!

ps: Look, I'm so shocked by the answer I swore! Twice!