Thinking about selling my CD collection = MP3

Nsgarch, it is complicated and can be very frustrating. It is illegal to copy copywritten material for financial gain or to deprive the owner of the material of financial gain, thus incurring damage. The person who buys your used CD does not reimburse the owner of the copy written material, you continue to have access to the music even though you no longer have the copy written material and have incurred reimbursment from your original purchase. I do think that it is not a big deal and the record labels pursue it to much in most cases, but can you imagine if even 10% of the music listening community downloaded thier millions of CD's and put the used ones on the market, the kind of financial damage that would cause the music industry. It used to be very insignificant but now when people are getting rid of entire collections it can be big big money. i.e. 1500 cd's at $15 each is $22,500.00, and just one collection.

Besides, I listen mostly to LP's and everyone knows that everytime an LP is downloaded a Fairy dies in Neverland.

Will you someday down the road be able to sit and listen again, and if you can will you regret your selling of your collection? It is already spent money and CD's will keep forever, why not hold onto them?
As far as a question of not being able to keep music on file that you sold seems really silly...you payed for it, so what happens when you buy a used CD from a second hand music store, since you only payed a fraction of original cost does that mean you should only be able to rip a fraction of its content?

>most of mine are glad they're gone<

Most of us wish the same about you.

I really don't think I will miss them when / if I sell them, as long as I have a secure way of digitally storing them. External hard drives are an option.

External hard drives are an option.
Gretsch6120 (Threads | Answers)

Make certain you have at least two separate back up hard drives, as each can fail. Also, it'd be good to know whatever interface connection they provide will be around in two years when you'll have to transfer your files to the next generation of storage drives. Remember the scuzzy? Wasn't that long ago...

I recall buying a Syquest drive many years ago after doing a lot of research. It was the most reliable and popular external drive at the time. I backed up my files diligently. Two years later, the interface was outdated, my Syquest drive became a doorstop and the storage media became coasters.

Computer audio brings it's own set of unique problems to the hobby.