Just to elaborate and reminisce:
In the "old" days, when decent music stores still existed, I'd drop in 2, 3 or sometimes 4 times a week. I'd spend an hour or two perusing the shelves, pick up half a dozen records and saunter over to the counter behind which were 5 turntables (later swapped for CD players) and play 3 or 4 tracks of each record to check it out. Which meant I could make an informed decision about whether or not to buy.
That possibility no longer exists, so for me downloading has replaced it. Simple as that really. I listened to the records before buying them then and I listen to the records before buying them now. Personally I don't think that's too much to ask. After all, I don't buy anything else without knowing what I'm getting (with the possible exception of books) and I don't see why buying music should be a total crapshoot.
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