Do you ever not buy a CD because you can listen to it on Spotify?

I've bought a lot of stuff obsessively because I found and listened to it on Spotify. E.g, Cellar Door Sessions, Best of Michael Henderson, Jackson 5, Spotify is just the gap between owning and not owning/discovering a CD/album for me. Well, except for the oop cd's.

 

I'm not sure I understand the point you're trying to make. Yes, many parts of our contemporary workforce have been affected adversely by modern "advancements." Things like outsourcing, or technological breakthroughs, or by computerization. And I guess, in theory, musicians shouldn't be exempt from those changes. But the thing is, I don't really want my music being made by children in Thailand, or by computers, or by robots. I'd like musicians to make it. So, maybe, just maybe, we'll want to come up with a system that helps keep them in business. At least that's how I feel.

 

Guilty here, but only for overpriced deluxe box sets of albums that I used to previously buy for the extras and then never listen to again, like the Quadrophenia demos. Now I just listen to them and move on. For other stuff, I use Spotify much like the listening booths at John Wade records of my youth in Cleveland, and often try and then buy if I like what I hear. Particularly with the demise of radio to break new product, labels and artists should embrace it.

 

Ditto (though I really like Pete's Tommy demos).

I listen to Beats Music. I've come to the conclusion that bonus tracks are sometimes fun listens but there's good reason why demos, early mixes and alternate takes are left in the can. And i can't even stay focused once around on tomes like The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions box set.

 

No need to change my comment. Its exactly what I wanted to say and I stand by it.
Recorded music is not a "service", its a product.
We've been down this road before on here, but I'll quickly reiterate my thoughts.
Musicians are not a special case, regardless of whether you or they think so. They are tradesmen. Their trade is selling a product...music.
They are currently paid the MARKET VALUE for music in 2014.
If its not enough money? Find another trade. Simple economics.
By the way, pretty much every other trade requires some kind of investment, time and money, as you put it.

 

No idea what Nevermind The Bullocks is.
Anyway. You seem to forget its 2014.
TODAY, bands don't have the luxury of making albums that may or may not "grow on you" at some later date.
The competition for the consumer wallet is through the roof.
Repeated listening was fine back in the dark old days when all of the entertainment you had was those vinyl records or CD's on your shelf.
Today, anything that doesn't grab immediately will disappear forever among the thousands of albums on that 5tb hard drive. Consumers have too many other things to entertain themselves with now.

 

I don't like what you are saying, but I have to admit your right.

 

Good luck coming up with a system.

Streaming companies like Spotify would go bust if they had to pay artists what some people are asking.
And who decides who gets paid more and how much more? Who dictates what Frank Stallones album is worth in relation to an artist you may like?

And what is the incentive for me to contribute financially into a system that helps musicians you like, but I may hate?

 

I thought the old system worked pretty well. Artists made money, quality albums were released and I bought those great albums and enjoy them to this day. Plus a great investment versus other things I may have purchased back then.

This "throw everything out there and see if anything sticks" mentality these days is inferior, imo. It's like wading through a landfill to find a single gem. No thanks.

 

"Investment"

 

Peuhleaaaaaaazzzze.....

 

I've never listened on Spotify, but have checked out tracks on YouTube. It's always with buying a CD in mind, though. I'd much rather have a physical product than a download, so it's more a 'try before you buy thing' with me. But I generally do buy...

 

yes everyday

 

There has always been plenty of competition for consumer's money. If you see music as a commodity or a form of mental potato chips then you are correct. If you see music as art and a form of self-expression that is also marketable then you are incorrect.

Music has an intangible element that makes it difficult to value, unlike a commodity or a widget. There will always be a market for catchy pop tunes and infectious beats but there will always be a market for more serious timeless music too. I don't see it as a mutually exclusive option, whereby physical media has to disappear for streaming media to survive. I do know that giving away your product at a loss is a recipe for failure.

Spotify is great if you want aural wall paper, but so far only 20% of the people listening to it are willing to pay for the pleasure. That means they are actually losing in the highly competitive war for the consumer's dollar.

They are also eroding the demand for physical media by giving away the content for free to 80% of the listeners. You do the math, it doesn't require a PHD in Economics.

 

They are actually going bust now. I believe they are losing into the hundreds of millions annually.

 

Without disagreeing with some of your other points, I wonder why you describe Spotify as aural wall paper? Is 320 kbps uniformly insufficient to provide you with a satisfying listening experience?

 

Well, I don't use Spotify. And I don't buy CDs. LOL But there are other streaming services and ways to sample music on the net before buying. And yes, it has worked both ways for me. Sometimes hearing it once is enough to know I don't need to buy it. And other times, like yesterday, one Youtube video of the new D'angelo and I was ready to purchase.

I still do blindly buy stuff. I do not sample everything. But it is really nice in this day and age to be able to do just that. It does help with the buy and play one time only albums...

 

Mostly I see people using it when they don't want to make an actual selection for concentrated listening but instead want a little background music. Similar to radio in that respect.

 

You should consider a subscription to Hotspot Shield. I used the app while in Russia and had full access to Netflix and Spotify, just to name a few.

 

To answer the OP of course, that's why I have the service. If I had to go out and buy EVERY album that I liked a lot I would be broke in a heartbeat. I love a lot of different kinds of music.
I use it as a supplemental service to what I have. If it's an album that I really like I'll buy it. If it's an album by an artist that is decent but not essential beyond a few good songs I'll use Spotify to hear it. I'm not a collector that needs to have everything.
Probably it's main use for me is exploring. Lately I've been putting togther different playlists gearded towards different magazines/sites top albums of the year and putting stuff I've never heard on there(plus stuff from the new music threads here). Later making playlists of stuff I would go out and buy.

 

Spotify is good for just sampling music, I have a good stereo system but the streming is not that great. The commercials are very load and annoying. I use it to listen to new groups mostly. I have spent lots of money over the years on bands that were hyped but i didn't like the whole album. Lots hype on Radiohead records that became dust collectors...Vampier Weekend anyone??...

 

There are too many different opportunities to bother with Spotify.

 

Which pretty much sums up why streaming services shouldn't exist. They current function as loss leaders and devalue music. That people find these services useful or whatever isn't relevant when they're not sustainable.

 

Wouldn't "concentrated listening" make it difficult to do anything else at the same time? Meaning you would pretty much HAVE to only be listening to music - sounds pretty unpalatable to me.

 

I use it for a listening both and I pay $9.oo and some change. So far I've bought about 50 to 60 cds after listening to them on spotify. If spotify closed down, I would use something else. In the old days I just used the stores 30 to 100 second listen options.