That's exactly right. Consider your previous comment that you had already found an artist that you like that you didn't know about. In this case, the record companies are likely to sell *more* CDs because you wouldn't have known about them otherwise.

I agree with you. Downloaded stuff is good for "taste testing" new artists, but nothing I keep around. Nearly all of it is encoded at very low rates. Tagging, file naming, and encoding rate inconsistencies make it more trouble than its worth for a "permanent" collection. Even with mp3tag studio, dealing with a bunch of downloaded stuff is a PITA.

That's what is so cool about this project. I can use database recommended files to expand my musical interests. As for printing a list and just going out and buying a bunch of CDs of artists you may not have heard, will anyone really do this? Not often, I would guess. Temporarily using a downloaded file or two to test out new artists and CDs before buying them makes even more sense when you are not familiar with the artist already.

My whole collection is 256 FBR with consistent file names and tags. That's worth something to me, and the only way you can do that is to rip & encode yourself. That means you need to have the CD in your custody.

Jim