On this thread: https://piefed.social/post/1243539 one of the main points of contention is about the tension between how spotify pays artists very little, but piracy doesn’t, on it’s own, pay them at all.

I’m a heavy user of bandcamp, but i know that it has strengths and weaknesses: it’s great for finding independent artists and small labels, but it doesnt have a big catalog for popular tracks.

Do people have experience with other sources for purchasing? What about https://us.7digital.com/ ?

Specifically for self hosting, is there a way to streamline purchases from sites like these into lidarr? If not, is there an automated solution for (1) uncompressing a downloaded archive file from a purchase, then (2) making it conform to a file/folder organizational structure, and (3) having navidrome, jellyfin, etc import it?

Just trying to find workable ideas for owning music and getting artists most of the money.

    • tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.gardenEnglish
      0·
      23 days ago

      CDs take quite some space once you have more than like 50. Selling them after ripping in large quantities is a lot of work. I wouldn’t buy CDs unless I’m really into the physical medium (nothing wrong with that - sadly, most downloads lack high res artworks, booklets etc).

      • seathru@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        1·
        23 days ago

        I just donate them when I’m done. Often you can buy the physical CD cheaper from places like discogs than you can a digital version. So I don’t feel bad giving them away afterwards. Someone might even discover the bands I love.

  • DFX4509B@lemmy.orgEnglish
    1·
    14 days ago

    I’m not so sure I would recommend 7Digital anymore since they’ve been delisting a lot of stuff lately, meaning even if you already bought it, you can’t download it anymore.

    Also, if you plan on building up a mainly digital collection, I wouldn’t use lossy codecs like MP3 for my main files, instead opting for FLAC or some other lossless codec, which can then be safely transcoded to a lossy copy at will.

  • Overkrill@midwest.socialEnglish
    1·
    23 days ago

    hot take: if an artist is already popular, then they dont need your support anywhere near as much as a bandcamp artist does. i believe it is ethical to enjoy “popular” music without paying for every megabyte. just go see them when they come to town and buy a t-shirt if the spirit moves you.

  • sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net
    0·
    23 days ago

    I personally used 7digital to rebuild my music collection. They sell good licensed mp3s.

    I have absolutely nothing negative to say about them. The prices were decent, the files are boring DRM free MP3s, and they had a really good selection of music.

    Honestly it looks almost exactly the same as when I used it for the first time like 15 years ago.

    • nix98@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      11 days ago

      They also sell flac. Bandcamp is my primary but 7digital is great for popular stuff.