What Kind Of Downloader Are You

thirstyear

I am curious as to the way people go about the download process at emusic. My daughter and I have such different approaches that it makes me wonder how other folks go about it.
I begin to throw things things that look interesting into my SFL file right after my refresh date. I let these accumulate for a few weeks. Then with about a week or so before my next refresh I begin to listen closely to my SFL files and winnowing out the stuff I decide doesn't interest me after all. The last few days before refresh I really hone my selections, so that by refresh day I have a specific list, of exactly the right number of downloads prepared. On the day I refresh, I immediately download everything on the list, leaving me with no downloads for the rest of the month. Then the process begins again. I consider myself a Compulsive Immediate Gratification downloader.

My daughter does not use the SFL function at all. During the month, if she is reminded of a band or specific album she may download them. Otherwise, she generally waits until the last day and then begins a thorough search for worthy downloads. She is determined to use all her downloads and use them wisely but doesn't usually finish the process until hours before her refresh. I consider her a Determined Procrastinator.
My daughter seems just as happy with her downloads as I am with mine, and her approach is a lot less work. I realize that there must be other approaches people use. So what's yours?

Nereffid

Heh, that pretty much describes the situation in my household.
I'm the thorough one, with the review magazines and the long lists on spreadsheets. Although now I've stopped doing Nereffid's Guide I'm paying less attention to lists and things are a lot more haphazard - the randomness is more fun in one way, but now I'm constantly saying, uh, where did I see a review of this one? I might have to start being systematic again. Generally all downloading is done as soon as I refresh.
Mrs Nereffid, on the other hand, leaves it till the last minute, has no idea of what to get, and pokes round on eMu for a couple of hours, usually the day before refresh date. Sometimes she doesn't have time and I get delegated to pick stuff out. (Usually I'm pretty successful)

TimMason

I just go when the downloads arrive and see what happens. Look at the boards, look at the 'New Music for You' (it was quite good for a while) and maybe check out the new arrivals. I never use SFL lists, but just let one thing lead to another.

This month I knew I was going to download Otis Taylor and continue with the Cooper/Podger Mozart cycle. I then found myself downloading Podger's Sonatas and Partitas (thought I was going to get the Ehnes, but this site may have changed my mind.

elwoodicious

Our house runs very similar to yours, Nereffid and thirstyear, wherein I obsessively dig through the site all month long finding things I might like, searching for reviews, and setting calender reminders of upcoming releases (Soundamus is great at this). My wife on the other hand, one hour or so at the end of the month and she is done and she uses her SFL only if she cannot download the album that month. My purchases are often fraught with opportunity cost anxiety and she never looks over her shoulder...that actually sums up our basic personalities. :-/

brittleblood

i like to pick an artist.

go to the lists that might be generated around the artist.

select a list. assess list on the following criteria: 1. if i recognize alot of things in the list i move on (nothing to explore) 2. if the list is pure indie i move on (i'm indied out) 3. if there are any broadway show tunes in the lot i move on 4. if there are things i have never heard/recognize, i get deep. sample...possibly follow other lists.

this is how i came across the latest: kayhan kalhor + tribute to om kalsoum. now, with 15 credits left i'm staring at the deadly snakes...now, to me, lo-fi garage will never be indie. it'll never be anything but trash. which i love. stay tuned.

Televiper

For the longest time I did a blitz based of my SFL list. I still work from the SFL and download everything on refresh day, but now I focus more on a particular style or artist, always picking up a couple random outsiders.

My SFL is mostly built from researching what I'm currently listening to, and picking up recommendations from friends, blogs, and message forums.

elwoodicious

@brittleblood Silent City is fantastic but thanks for the rec on Om Kalsoum, I'll be checking that out next refresh. :-D

BigD-Bluez

On Refresh day, I hit the SFL but am often distracted by new things thrown in my path by rec's I see or the MYL or a quick peek at the freshly ripped - basically Disorganized Schizophrenia with Compulsive tendencies.

Then there's the ongoing projects - like filling in every later Kinks album song I didn't already have - nearing completion, one thing eMu's been very useful for- or building up the jazz library.

cafreema

I have a few lists that I generally pick from, but I begin plotting my next month's downloads about 24 hours after a refresh. It almost always ends up including something new from the last month and something older as I work to fill in the gaps left by several years of dropping out of music.

My plot changes repeatedly throughout the month but always adds up to 50, and my nps are gone within an half hour of me noticing that I've refreshed.

Craig

brittleblood

side note > this is pretty much why i hve to leave that other place. since the first of the year, my 50 has been gone in a blink of refresh. i was srsly thinking about upping my plan, but i have always had the basic plan and - as byproducts have their ways, my non-addictive persona over-ruled any such change.

yes, i know...i can change my plan to stick somewhere around 50. but that will only get me back to a point where i was already hitting "inadequate" by my measures. it's not in the cards.

am i crazy, but with the reduced plans is the sfl feature pretty worthless??

thirstyear

Yea, SFL is pretty frustrating now. But if you have a very understanding wife and can squeeze in a few Best Buy cards now and then, it's tolerable. (She was aware of my addiction when we got married, and even told me once that she knew I'd still be buying music in my seventies (something I didn't even believe then, but do now)).

cafreema

I just use the SFL so I don't forget about an album I want between refreshes. I scroll through it and think, "oh yeah, that album did look awesome."

fduniho

I normally browse through the lists of new releases provided by Mutantis, looking mainly for artists I already like, but sometimes for interesting band names or album titles. Finding albums this way has frequently used up my downloads before their expiration date, and I rely on my SFL and other lists mainly as something to fall back on when my downloads are about to expire, or when I have only a few downloads left, and I'm looking for something that costs a certain number of downloads. For Classical music, I have sometimes done extensive comparisons, so that I can get the best performances. I have previously used my Naxos membership for this, and now I'm using my Napster membership.

Billyjoebob

I have an SFL but haven't deleted anything off any of my accounts in ages.
So, I just kind of wander around shotgun download if it looks like I might like it. Or if someone else says it's good.
Which bites me sometimes like with Lais Lenski that someone said something about at the other place. It sounds good I guess.
But not really my cup of tea.
Anyway, if I like something I will generally grab everything they did such as the mountain goats.
Like to see how someone's music changes.

choiceweb0pen0

Like some of you I use my SFL to bookmark albums on eMusic and elsewhere that I want to check out. Especially before the price hike (and until my old plan is in place until next March) I wanted to get as much as much music as possible from eM if I could. Still when my downloads refresh it's a combination of skimming my SFL's with whatever just came out/ getting a lot of buzz. It depends on the artist, but for many an album or two might be enough. Yet thhre are a few I can imagine owning all of their music someday, like Dylan.

BigD-Bluez

As to the impact of recent changes on downloading habits I was thinking my Kinks project is a good illustration. Basically, love the Kinks and would think any song is worth a spin as a potential good one, so I've been collecting all the available songs (from their later career which is on eMu) I didn't have already sound unheard so to speak - taking the chance I'm going to at least not hate it, probably like it, maybe love it. Without the benefit of the previous price structure, again more in terms of number of downloads rather than cents, or BB download cards, operating solely within the parameters of the current plan I would have to be a lot more cautious, and would have to at least try to listen to samples. This is with a band I know and usually really like, so the effect of all this on bands I don't know I think is pretty self-evident.

Compulsive

I SFL albums that are 1) recommended or 2) already sampled and found to be intriguing. Then I grab the tracks that strike my fancy after a few listens through the samples. Only occasionally will I download a whole album. I'll only do that if samples are really strikingly good, or if it's a band I am passionate about (i.e. The Raveonettes).

I rarely finish my downloads until a few days before they refresh.

jonahpwll

I had a spreadsheet that worked out the math on which albums best combined for the best use of my monthly allotment. I'd download most right off the refresh date, but save about ten in case some rec came up for an album I absolutely had to have right then. I download albums, not songs; I feel very strongly about that (as a personal choice). I almost exclusively pick albums that have a flow to them from song to song, and a cohesiveness that relates them all together in some way. Occasionally I will cherry pick songs off an album, but that'll usually be from something like a b-sides album of a favorite musician or specific tracks off an EP or singles album (Neil Halstead's "Two Stones in My Pocket" is a good example of that; several worthless radio edits of a song I had from the original edits, but I grabbed a couple remixes of songs that sounded interesting). My SFL was pretty loaded with stuff, but it didn't provide enough info to make a spreadsheet unuseful.

eythian

Once every few months I spend a few hours and top up my SFL with interesting stuff. The moment I realise my downloads have refreshed, I go through the SFL and use up my DLs in about an hour. I'll often get distracted by other things I see, so probably about 2/3rds of the downloads are actually from the SFL.

On that note, today is refresh day, and I have 80 to use.

kargatron

I don't really work that hard on it. I have a largish SFL, which I go to and pop off a bunch of stuff that appeals to me at the moment (within the first week or so). My dominant running goal is to download an eclectic (genre-wise) bunch per month. I usually use up the bulk of my 90 pretty soon, and then let the remaining "ripen" while I muse on what I've grabbed. I don't work at all on trying to hit the right full-album count - I have no problem with partial album grabs, and often just use up the remaining handful with longish ethnic music or classical tracks, or finishing off previous partial-albums. (That's one minor problem I have - I don't track partial grabs, so have to browse my lib to remind myself what to look at.)