Theo, as long as the recipients also take up CD-giving, even if you give someone something they already have or secretly despise, they can simply give the same one away when they go somewhere.
CW, I personally think it is a great idea - I have but two local friends who have decent taste in wine, and discovering new music is cool.
In my local music stores, I can get some great samplers for cheap (you know, the ones where the music is off-copyright). I have listened to a lot of music I might have overlooked this way so I might do that. For a friend who loves a lot of music, I might do the 10-disc sets of great Blues artists, or a set of Dino Lupati recordings; for someone where I don't know their taste, I admit I'd spend longer thinking about it - depending on their age and general demeanor, perhaps a 60s jazz sampler, or something like LAGQ. If I truly had no idea but I knew the person had a sense of humor/discovery, I might try a sampler of 70s funk. So few people own any funk music but so many people get a kick out of listening to it. That said, if the partyholder is a control-freak, funk might be one of the more annoying things one could bring... :^)
CW, I personally think it is a great idea - I have but two local friends who have decent taste in wine, and discovering new music is cool.
In my local music stores, I can get some great samplers for cheap (you know, the ones where the music is off-copyright). I have listened to a lot of music I might have overlooked this way so I might do that. For a friend who loves a lot of music, I might do the 10-disc sets of great Blues artists, or a set of Dino Lupati recordings; for someone where I don't know their taste, I admit I'd spend longer thinking about it - depending on their age and general demeanor, perhaps a 60s jazz sampler, or something like LAGQ. If I truly had no idea but I knew the person had a sense of humor/discovery, I might try a sampler of 70s funk. So few people own any funk music but so many people get a kick out of listening to it. That said, if the partyholder is a control-freak, funk might be one of the more annoying things one could bring... :^)