1. easier to preview tracks online rather than drive to the store and wait for an open listening station
2. running out of storage space for all the CDs I bought just for 1 or 2 tracks each
3. I never know what the store has in stock and what they don't and it's a pain to try and find specific CDs in some of these places where their alphabetical tabs have all been moved around out of order
4. expensive ~ I pay less $ for each track online, and don't have to pay for the tracks I don't want. I'm tired of spending over $20 bucks for a 10-12 song disc with maybe 2 or 3 tracks that I actually like.
5. It just saves time and it's so much easier. Plain and simple.
6. Car listening. Whether you're using a 1 disc player or a 10-disc CD changer in the car, you know what I mean when I say that it's far better to have compilation discs loaded in with songs you like on them. Having a car filled with CDs that you have to change over frequently is a hassle (and sometimes a hazard)

So, I’ve finally come to the point of concluding that I’d rather do my music shopping online than to physically go to the store. I'm curious to know how many other people are following this trend now, and what service has been the best for you. I don't have any interest in the file-sharing services, primarily because they're illegal and artists get cheated out of their rightful share. Just subscription-based ones like the following;
BEST BUY's Digital Music Service ~ www.bestbuy.com/rhapsody
Press Play ~ http://www.pressplay.com/
i-Tunes ~ http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Buymusic.com ~ http://www.buymusic.com/

I have one big fat reason: IT'S FREE!!!

#3 pretty much sums it up for me... i recently moved to a major city and while i can find just about any rock album i might want (if only 95% of all rock albums weren't rehashes of sabbath's paranoid... the stone's exile on main st... or led zep IV)

i still can't find ANY of the electronic jazz i'm looking for in stores... and it's not like ninja tune is a freakishly obscure label or anything either... i don't have an issue with paying for an album if i can actually find it for sale...

i still go to the store. but it's kinda a mom and pop joint, not a megastore. remarkably the mega store that probably has twice the inventory has half the good music. I like the store because sometimes I find things I wasn't planing on getting.

What I'm talking about isn't. If you read my post in it's entirety, you'll find that I'm talking about subscription-based digital music services, not free file-sharing.

i buy CDs because they're a great thing to have. plus, if thae artist's are going to go to the trouble of creating music that i love, then i'm going to pay them for it. sorta like thanks.

i preview music via filesharing, and if i like it i will download more, then go and buy a disc from the artist.

plus having CDs is sorta like a status symbol.

I download most of my music but still like buying CDs and supporting the artists i love the most, all my purchases from the past 2 years have been from http://www.cdwow.com

I also download most of my music, but I buy CDs when I can. I really enjoy buying new cds and more often than not I have to try and resist the urge or I'll go broke.

My only real problem with the way stores sell CDs is they somehow think it's fair to overprice good CDs. You pay the same price for a movie whether it's good or bad, CDs should be the same.

well, you don't pay the same price to buy it on DVD. That's the more relevant comparison.

And the movie Industry doesn't set the prices, the threatres do. The same movie cost $9 in boston and $5 in Atlanta.

I guess that's true. I still don't like the idea that because a band made a good product the stores feel they need to screw you for a few extra bucks.