I'm 27 and regularly atttlend concerts in the 80s goth/postpunk/arkwave/synthpop scene. Every band has a CD and I always get one, though if they have MCs, which they sometimes have, I preffer those. As a profesional poser, listening to MCs on a walkman just has this unique feel CDs can't replicate, while also helping with my attnention span since I can't just easily skip songs midway and stick to the few ones I like, instead forcing me to enjoy the whole album which eventually grows on me.

However, I'm probably not a good reference, since I also regularly host parties, DJ and help the local scene promoter with events, so music is pretty big part of my life.

Also, I don't really listen to them much. I have my own NAS with music, and instead of paying for spotify I download what I need from a private torrent tracker (which I need mostly for DJing, which I never get paid for and always volunteer, just like we do the events with free entry, yo no income from that). That's why I make sure to buy the CDs, while also having a budget that's in the same range as I'd spend on Spotify, that I make sure to use every month to buy an album I liked on Bandcamp, slowly replacing everything I've pirated with either CDs or bought digital albums. I feel like that way a lot more of my money end up at the hands of the artists, than if I just payed for a streaming service I don't want to support, while also not limiting me just to the few albums I can afford (and also giving me offline backup if they ever pull the songs from spotify). Pirating is not ideal and I generaly don't endorse it, but I feel like my approach is kind of morally ok-ish in the long run. Still not excusable, but I'd say better than just paying for Spotify.

Younger person in my 20s. Most of my friends use Spotify. I grew up buying music on iTunes and will continue to do that. I also have little interest in discovering new music and a preference for straight-up owning instead of streaming something I do not own. (Yes, I am aware I should probably go reread the TOS to see if I actually own or if Apple can remotely take my "ownership" away and back up the files like mad.) But I know my approach is uncommon amongst my social group.

I do not have CDs and will not buy one. I know of their use for backing things up. I keep external hard drives but otherwise do not really like physical media and want to keep the count of physical things I have down. Another thing to collect dust, to have to try to keep nice because I like things to look nice, and to be heartbroken about when I inevitably spill something on it/scratch it/otherwise break or damage it, whether in a "it will lose functionality" way or just a superficial way. I'll avoid the pain and just go digital.

I am also just not much of a merch person. I might donate money to support musicians but please don't give me a T-shirt I'll never want to wear (they are not my style, I might buy clothing if it actually fits my style but merch clothing almost always doesn't) or a poster I'll never hang up. If I like your music I might buy sheet music to play it myself. Better be accurate though, not a simplification, or I'll turn up my nose and transcribe it myself. Can't guarantee I'll have perfect results, but I will be closer to the original than the simplified piano/vocal/maybe guitar scores that are often put out.

I also don't know what skibidi toilet is, besides a meme that really belongs to people a decade younger than me. I don't care to find out but I am happy to let them have their fun.

I think most are inclined to buy something like a t-shirt, but my girlfriend does collect CDs in the same way I collect records

I don't usually go to concerts but if i did, I'd rather buy a cd then use spotify or whatever digital thing there is where you don't own anything and get your content randomly taken away.

The last time I bought a CD, I got excited to listen to it at home, then realized I didn't have a disc drive anywhere lol. I guess sweatshirts is the way to go. I'd buy a flashdrive with the lossless music for the same price though.

Edit: oh crap I'm not younger

The last couple of concerts I went to were more EDM and aside from T-shirts, hats, pins, and patches, etc they had vinyl records.

No, definitely not. I buy music off of bandcamp occasionally, to support the artist and get the cool swag that comes with the album, but I don't physically have a way to play cds.

They sell vinyl pretty often. CDs are a dead end tech though. They might be romanticized in the future like laserdisc and cassette but not nearly as much as vinyl.

Some bands I see sell cassette tapes and vinyl records at their shows. These tend to be heavy metal bands. There's a niche interest in physical media in music, and it's mostly for analog mediums.

My zoomer sis and her bf are big time concert goers and collecting vinyl is huge. No cds.

Nope. I wouldn't have a use for it, even if I was a super fan. I listen to my music with my jellyfin server, or stream from the commercial platforms. I think I still have some CDs somewhere, and could play then if I really wanted, but it's just a pretty dead format for me.

As far as I know, the money is from selling additional stuff, like merchandise. Some people like vinyl, but I personally don't care.

Skibidi toilet is a animated series with actually pretty good quality where people with cctv cams for heads are at war with people who's bodies are toilets. Haven't watched a lot of it but I can kinda see why the kids like it, hits similar as star wars the clone wars but without a mega Corp behind it.

I have a teenager and they seem to track with their parents.

My son is into digital, but he thinks vinyl is cool to collect as art.

One of his friends is into the sound of vinyl, her parents are vinyl people.

I still go to tons of concerts and I’m seeing cassettes and vinyl being sold, I don’t see cds as much but I’m sure they’re selling them.

Usually t-shirts and hoodies, vinyls, armbands and autographed drum skins are the essentials, I feel like. And then every band has some assorted rotation of merch on top of this, but that's not universal for every band: beanies, mugs, CDs, keyrings, baseball caps, posters, ashtrays, weed pipes and bongs... These fall into the two categories of merch that caters to the target audience, and merch that is bought in bulk from www.weprintyourcrap.com.

For what it is worth, CDs are definitely pretty rare, because it's just an obsolete media. The CD was convenient before phones became even more convenient. Vinyls, on the other hand, are very popular and often occur because they're decorative and playing them is considered an experience.

For reference, I mainly go to pop punk/rock/indie/metal shows

I'm not even a younger person, but when I got a new computer case a couple of years ago I moved my blu-ray drive from the old one and ended up using a dodgy sata cable or something because it doesn't show up

I told myself I'd fix it when I needed to read a disk.

That day has not yet come

The artists I like don't put out CDs with their music so no.

High School teachers I know comment on the number of portable CD players they see these days... So, maybe?

Yeah, every concert I go to I try to get at least a CD, maybe a vinyl or T-shirt if they were sold out.

I would prefer a record tbh.

Naah, maybe a bakelit disc tho.

I don't intend wasting space with a CD player

I‘m not young but at almost all shows that I go to, the artists sell vinyl, some sell tapes and CDs as well. I like to buy vinyl directly from the artists so that I know where the money goes. There are also younger folks who buy vinyl but it’s mostly older people who buy CDs