Streaming ≠ End of Physical Media

This is something i figured I'd clear up here. We see many people here equating those of us who utilize streaming services with casual fans who don't buy any media at all. They also seem to think that if you/they utilize streaming media services, that means they aren't allowed to buy physical product.

This is simply an untrue characterization and ideal. No one is coming to take away your physical media. No one is trying to stop you from buying physical media. No one is trying to lock you into a particular ecosystem. (I've seen all these things claimed by various members)

Just like restaurants ≠ end of home cooking, just like libraries don't mean the end of book purchases, just like Netflix or cable TV movie channels don't mean the end of buying movies, just like Mexican food on the weekend does not mean the end of Italian food the rest of the week.

You can still use streaming and physical media together in one setting. Many people on the forum still buy vinyl and CDs and utilize services such as Spotify.

The industry would still like you to purchase physical media or digital albums (see: Taylor Swift) and that won't change for a long time long. Physical media isn't going away and you will have that choice to purchase it for years to come.

If you don't like streaming media, that's fine. But don't try to perpetuate the false notion that streaming = must stop physical media. It is what you make it - a supplement or a replacement. The choice is yours and no one is telling you otherwise.

 

When AM Radio was booming in the 20's and 30's, that did not spell the end of physical media, why would the age of streaming media be any different? If there's a problem in which the way the labels markets physical media, then that's another discussion.

 

Who's worried? For the stuff I generally listen to, I have the audiophile labels like AF and I don't think they are going away anytime soon.

 

Because you still needed the physical media to hear the songs you wanted, when you wanted to hear them? I'm not saying streaming does mean the end of physical media, but it's now an extremely viable alternative.

 

I tend to agree with your post as written, and would describe myself as someone who uses streaming as a "suppliment" rather than "replacement", but the reality is my disc spinners have been more dormant this year than ever before. For example, I have been playing around with iTunes radio, and have built up a sufficiently large collection of custom radio stations (which actually work pretty well - really enjoying the 13th Floor Elevators and Steven Wilson stations I created the other day) that I really don't need to access my digital files/playlists when casually listening (I still exclusively spin discs or play from uncompressed digital files for concentrated listening however).

I think it's still very premature to declare physical media "dead", but the writing's on the wall that it is being rapidly relegated to "niche" status. This is not really a bad thing in my mind as it has been repeatedly demonstrated that playback of losslessly-encoded digital files can sound even better than playback of the CDs they were ripped from. I'll always prefer to acquire new music via physical media due to having a guaranteed backup copy and the fact that I'll always prefer the option of having something tangible I can hold, look at, and even smell (weird I know, but that new CD smell is part of the experience for me), but I know this is not a position shared by the mainstream (brutal truth: the "industry" at large couldn't care less about catering to the "audiophile" community) and is almost certainly insufficient to keep widespread physical media production viable in the future. CDs are going to become a niche product, similar to what has happened with vinyl, but they are not going to be marginalized to the same extent as R2R, cassettes, or 8-tracks.

 

I buy a lot of cd's and records and I also stream a lot of music, but mainly just to decide if I want to buy it or not. I will still drive to a branch of my local library to check out a cd I'd like to hear rather than just stream it in cases where both options are available, but streaming definitely opens up nice options for finding music that is new to me.

In my opinion there is one huge downside to streaming and online digital music in general, and that is this: because it is now possible for new bands to release new music with digital only releases, this often results in many new releases that have no physical release. Sure, sometimes it is a case of a digital release vs. no release at all. But I am convinced that in many cases with new bands, if digital only was not an option, we would see more physical releases, and in my opinion this has a very negative effect on building a new fan base.

When I hear a new band that I am very excited about, it feels like a lot more of an emotional investment to go to the record store and by their record/cd or order a record/cd online, than to simply stream a song. I might stream a song I love one day, then forget about it the next day, and I've found that the same is true even if I pay for a digital download. It is not spending the money that attaches me to new music, but rather holding the physical release. It is real, it is there, and I even if I don't want to listen to it right then, I put it in a stack of new music and find it again soon. It is much easier to get lost in my iTunes library or Spotify playlist, and it just doesn't feel nearly as exciting as holding something real with artwork in my hand. Thus, I do not make as deep of an emotional connection with the new band.

I think new bands are not served well by when their indie label only releases their debut ep or single digitally, and unfortunately that happens all too often these days. Streaming makes this worse, so I do think there is a case to be made about why it is bad for music.

 

For those who want physical media, there is the "danger" of things being released only digiitally, as @friendofafriend mentions.

But there's also a benefit. Bands can release music that they may not be able to afford to release on disc/vinyl because they are new or because there's just not as much market for their music anymore. One example:




Would it be nice to have this one on CD, with lots of vintage photos and liner notes included? Of course! But it's nice just to have it released at all in a way where we can still support the band financially. (instead of getting the songs from youtube, torrents, or even tracking down expensive used vinyl)

Just like in the 40k songs thread, I think we have to learn to agree that there's benefit in both methods.

 

I hadn't heard about that Bangles disc, looks like a rarities comp, cool!

 

Yeah, I am quite thrilled. Their 1984 debut album is fantastic power pop, before the industry got ahold of them and schmaltzed it all up for the next two records (though I like them, too). So I expect their earlier stuff to be along the same vein.

Plus, I am always happy to have more Susannah Hoffs singing to me.

 

I am not certain you understood my comment, I was saying that AM Radio did not put an end to physical media, and streaming media also does NOT mean the end of physical media.

 

You asked how streaming media was any different from AM radio, and I suggested an important difference which makes it a much truer substitute for physical media.

 

Streaming advises and directs me on what physical product to buy next!

 

I respect you for taking a safe position and being very diplomatic on the issue, but I sure as heck am not paying money for what I consider an intangible good. Not having this new Bangles release available on CD is very frustrating to someone who owns all of their respective releases on vinyl and CD. Dedicated fans are being punished by greed and a globalist push for everything to go "digital." The powers that be might decide to stamp a barcode on our foreheads or inject a microchips into our arms to serve as bank cards, but I refuse to download ANY music legally or illegally.

 

I don't think physical media is going away anytime soon, but sales will keep dropping. Eventually, I think it will be more of a niche market, much like vinyl is now.

Most of the young'uns will not buy music if they don't have too. A lot of them think it's much easier to find what they want to listen to on YouTube or Spotify, then to find the CD and play it. So the concept of physical media is thought of as 'old school' by a lot of people under the age of 20-25. There are always exceptions.
A guy I worked with, he was in his early 20's, he could never understand why I bought music. He streamed or stole everything he listened too. He was proud that he didn't own a single CD.
But just when I think that media will disappear, my teenage daughter's boyfriend went with me to the music store, and bought a couple of CDs.

I like having something tangible. I like owning my music, even if I listen to the digital files 99% of the time.

 

How are CD sales doin?

 

I have been hearing that "streaming will replace physical media" for several years now. I'm not concerned in the least because it will never, ever completely happen -- and even if it does, it won't affect me. I am a big fan of physical media: Records, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, Books ... these things will never completely disappear, and even if they got less and less popular and became more "niche", I can always enjoy them. Consider:

Today you can still own and play 45 records in an old jukebox; there will always be repairmen and parts.
Today you can still collect 16mm films on reels, and play them on old movie projectors, and there are still bulbs being made.
You can still find ways to play cassettes or 8-Tracks, and get them fixed - if you so desire.
Turntables and needles are still being made, and you can always have them fixed.

Considering that I'm in my 50s, I only have 30 or so years left, at best -- and in that time I can entertain myself with all this exciting and soulful physical media. I can even buy two or three spare DVD/Blu-ray players or HDTV's and cables, and put them in storage -- and thus, I'll always have the ability to enjoy physical media for the remainder of my years.

I think it's also a myth when people say "young people today do not want to be burdened with clutter and a lot of physical stuff hanging around their homes". While that is certainly true for most of today's youth, I think that the reason there has been a sudden resurgence in vinyl over the past few years is because many youngsters are into Vinyl Records today is because they're actually discovering that they LIKE the personal interaction with tangible, physical media, and the pleasures of the hunt, and collecting. People will always enjoy browsing shops, holding items in their hands. Physical Media will never die.

 

Right now, poor. Ask again in 10 or more years. They may be on the up-swing again, like Vinyl is. Who ever expected RECORDS to come back? Certainly I never would have bet on that in 1990.

 

Has no one had their computer tie up when streaming? I stream at work. Anytime my computer locks up and needs a reboot (about the times a week), I appreciate my cd playing stereo system, at home, even more.

 

Exactly. I have a few record stores where I live, and I cannot tell you how many times I have hung out there and seen young teens really looking thrilled and excited in discovering records. They look so happy buying physical media, and sometimes they'll have their mom or dad there with them, who ask how much certain used turntables are, so they can buy one for them. Parents always buy gift certificates for their kids' birthdays, so they can later come into the store and go wild. I see the expressions and excitement on these kids' faces - it's like they have really discovered something wonderful that they never knew existed, and never could have imagined was there for them. There are teens and twenty-somethings who love breaking the barrier of convention today, and are happy to have something tangible.

 

I feel that streaming truly is robbing sales from physical media, maybe not with SH forum members, but remember - we are the minority! I brought a needle drop CD to a bud at work, a guy in his early 20's stated "cool, old school". I did not mention my vinyl addiction as he would have not known what I was speaking of.

 

Exactly. A large percentage of listeners these days have their collection entirely on YouTube. They don't want the physical media to lug around.

 

I wonder if the album would have been made at all if the band had been "forced" to do a CD as well. May have lost money on that side of the project making the project itself unviable. Just a thought, but I could be totally wrong on this.