Purchasing music

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When it comes to buying music, do you prefer buying just one song or do you prefer buying the whole album?

I personally always buy the whole album if I find a song I'm looking for on it. That way I'll discover more hidden treasures inside the album and enjoy it as a whole.

I've done both but I think it's better to buy the album. Some songs have to grow on you but then they can become favorites.

The only time I buy single tracks is if they are just that, singles and there isn't an album out yet. Otherwise I always buy the album.

That's what I do.

*Insert Mr. Tweek's epic speech music from South Park*

What do albums mean to me?
Albums to me are more than just a simple collection of songs released at one time. Albums to me do not specifically mean a collection of songs that are acquired on a physical format.
In the world of music, an album is the perfect way to define art. Albums tell a story more so than the lyrics, they don't have to belong in the genre of prog. An album defines a period in the career of its maker, it goes along with the "album cycle" in combination with the touring that promotes it. I recently read an article about Weezer deciding to become an "all singles-band." What is the point?
The recording aspect of a career can be just as fun as the live performance aspect. The production of an album is a journey, from the lyric writing and musical arrangements to the final mixing and deciding on its packaging artwork (digital albums usually still include the front cover image).
The official term many people like to label an album is the term, "LP." What is an "LP?" What does "LP" stand for? It stands for "Long Playing." The reason 33 1/3 rpm LPs gained popularity is that people could place the large vinyl disc onto their turntables and sit back while letting the music play (you could even pay up the azz for an expensive machine that would flip the disc over like the 45 rpm machines would do).
While most recorded music you would buy today is not performed live, but rather recorded one instrument track at a time (and sometimes one line or verse/chorus at a time), the long playing aspect of an album is more fun than a single song because when played beginning to end, it can be like a live concert. Imagine (pun unintended) today paying 200 bucks a ticket to see The Beatles on stage playing a half hour concert like they did in the first half of their run. That somewhat like a single converted to live format (or EP if you wanna nitpick). If every band were like The Beatles: In a day where most songs are not just over 2 minutes long, I could go and see a band play what, 4 or 5 songs? What is the point?
The album concept is the main reason that I don't like go on Amazon to buy CDs to be shipped to my apartment. Yeah, I buy from the individual sellers on the Amazon site and sometimes pay 2 bucks for a CD, but even though the lower prices are nice, where's the fun?
I used to have a personal tradition of jumping on my bike and riding to my local Best Buy (no proper record stores in my area) to go CD shopping and then across the street from there to eat at my favorite pizza parlor or Buffalo Wild Wings to have dinner by myself (not that I had to, but some peace is nice on a scheduled time once a week). I had fun walking up and down the isles in the decently sized music section and just browsing. I usually didn't go CD shopping with any particular album in mind. Now I can't do this, because the CD section in my Best Buy has shrunk twice in the past year and a half. Now it is 1/4 its size.

"I could go on and on but... let's move on, shall we?"
---Corey Taylor in Stone Sour's "Omega"

Album, of course. I will form my own opinion of which tracks are good (and that changes over time anyway!) I like having the physical medium, too.

I've occasionally bought singles when they have other tracks on them that don't make it to an album.

I usually purchase the entire album when I already enjoy the artist, but I do not purchase an entire album just because I happen to like a particular song.

Same here, but now that you mention it there are a few exceptions.

This happens every now and then: I hear a song by an artist I hadn't yet heard before and then go out and buy the album. Usually I end up a big fan of the artist.

It doesn't matter to me. I will buy either as long as it is not produced by a label who is a member of the R.I.A.A. If it is produced by a R.I.A.A. label or signed artist, I will not give a single cent for it.

I buy the album.

If I am going to pay for something, I prefer to have the physical CD... yet I only take them out of the case once to rip to my PC & mp3 player.

Same here. I keep the album as I pay for what I like. I like it, I buy it. I don't like it, I don't buy it, etc.

This method means you can get access to your music again if your computer goes on the fritz and you have no internet connection for some bizarre reason

what's buying music?

I only do that because I am a habitual Last.fm user.

Later on I did discover how nice it is not to use CDs. Everything electronic these days are manufactured with such low quality and are unreliable. My ex-girlfriend gave me a Rolling Stones live album once, and it is to this day the most scratched CD I had ever seen in my life. It played on my first stereo system flawlessly.

Nowadays CDs do almost nothing but skip. A new CD in a new stereo.
But that same new CD played in the 30 year old stereo system I bought at a thrift store. (It's actually just as modern as everything else I see brand new in a store. The stereo skips now only because I left the disk tray open one day and it needs to be cleaned inside.

A different question, but one I sometimes wonder about. I will buy while an artist is still alive, but after that, I seldom pay for stuff I can easily "capture" online.

A moral standpoint somewhat similar to "enlightened self-interest" or "rational selfishness."

If you're a fan of the X-Factor, Bolivian Idol or Mongolia's Got Talent I highly recommend that you never buy any music, ever.

Album usually, but occasionally just a song.