Do you have to buy all the catelogue of an artist? I’ve found over the last few years that I need to complete my collection. Just recently I’ve bought all the albums that I didn’t have for McCartney, The Cure, The Flower Kings, Sprock’s Beard and PIL. I find any new band that I get into I have to get all theirs too - DC Fontaines just one example. 
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Suggest you stay away from Pearl Jam 
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Blimey don’t get me started 
Having said that I buy just the studio albums and don’t tend to get the extra lives albums unless it’s a band I really follow such as RUSH.
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For some artists I know the works and like I purchase all albums, other artists I only purchase the albums I like.
But there are artists I only like one or two albums, and then makes no sense to buy all, streaming has been a joy to discover the ones I really like and then I purchase them.
No.
It all depends how good the albums are - few artists remain consistently good throughout their careers. Over the years I have often ‘discovered’ an artist, and if they had a back-catalogue that generally led me to sample it, though starting with the most recent and working backwards as their artistic development could mean I only like a particular timeframe in their career, meanwhile I’d go for every new release, until they change to the point of disappointment.
And I can’t be bothered to buy every release of rejected out-takes, re-releases, re-masterings etc - I might listen to some, which occasionally may result in a purchase, but more often than not they are disappointments. But then I’m not a collector, I just buy music that I like, that I want to have to be able to play - I can understand buying all if you are a collector.
No.
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I’m trying to be more disciplined and use streaming to prevent my historical version of this issue.
If an artist who I didn’t know was recommended to me I would look online at their back catalogue and order the lot, all on the strength of an initial good tune or two.
This explains why one of the bands I have the most CDs for is Idaho and I can’t even remember one of their songs ….
I’m also prone to ordering “back up” copies of albums I really like for the “just in case” moments.
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Never crosses my mind. Artists make good albums and bad albums; albums I like and albums I don’t. The idea I would buy everything by one artist is, to me, nothing but odd.
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Yes… but often I end up secretly regretting it. i.e. after discovering I only really like one or two of their albums.
No. Unless they have only done a very limited number of albums, no-one IMO can sustain quality over their entire career. For example, I have no Bowie albums after Let’s Dance IIRC
No - unless I like everything they put out. But that is very rare, and I certainly don’t buy every version of each album or track that they produce. Often I only have one or two tracks of a band or artist.
Given the cost of albums that amounts to a lot of money
With some artists I do, others I don’t. Depends on how much I like the first and/or second album I buy.
Mostly… As long as I like them all…
But if I buy one I that I don’t like so much, that can stop me… 
I always buy one by one…
You sound like my conscience, I’ve bought a cheap tablet to dedicate to streaming interface to see if that can alleviate some of the expense and bring some of the tactile side from the physical medium, work in progress.
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Over the years I have been a great Joan Baez fan, but her output has sometimes been mixed , and albums I am never going to have her full output that goes from the early sixties to recently
But there is another obsession , first you buy it on vinyl, then CD and then hi-def downloads , so you may not get her full output but you do get all the options and indeed with the likes of Pink Floyd etc do you get things like the Guthrie revamps ?
Yup, guilty, the new new remaster, the lost tape, this is starting to feel like a confessional.
Took delivery of the 2022 remastered The Age Of Consent yesterday, will soon be getting a spin, the original pressing is pretty amazing so will be interesting.
Nothing to do with right and wrong, just a matter of prudence. Of course it all depends on one’s disposable income, and other desires for what to do with it.
True, but this forum probably isn’t the best playground for discussions on prudence given the huge amounts of disposable income that is expended on this hobby, albeit one that provides a huge amount of joy and happiness for many.
However, it also depends on what other hobbies or interests one has and how expensive they are, while not every one on this forum necessarily has huge amounts of disposable income. If having exquisite music replay is a key passion it is possible to build a pretty high level system by being prudent both with system purchasing (e.g. secondhand and minimising number of upgrade steps to get there) and with purchase of of things, including the music to play on it. If I had bought every release by every artist I started liking I wouldn’t have been able to upgrade much beyond my first system, nor partake of the many other things I have enjoyed!
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