Streaming ≠ End of Physical Media

Exactly. I can't control what the youngsters are doing...much as I'd like to! But if I live long enough, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a backlash of some kind. Spotify goes out of business and other companies replace them with whatever the latest fad is. But....all that music the then-teens-but-now-forty-somethings liked are gone because the records companies aren't marketing for them anymore. I bet you'd see a CD resurgence not unlike how vinyl is being treated today!

 

Yeah, I am too. But there's no reason to misrepresent what streaming technology is capable of.

Also another reminder that keeping one's CDs and records and listening to cloud music services aren't mutually exclusive. Spotify trucks don't roll up outside your front yard and demand your discs.

 

I should make it clear that I have don't have anything at all against streaming music services being available, but I just don't want them pushed in to my face, meaning I would like a choice on how I access my music.

Also, like I said before, if you've got a simple headphone lead with a male plug at both ends you can record streamed music (or any form of streamed audio) to your PC. This then makes them your stolen files. The quality isn't quite as good as MP3, but that may not bother some people, such as the youth of today.

 

Absolutely corect. But I'm not the one who is condemning other people's choices. You are. Me, I like physical product. It works for me. All I'm saying is that for more and more people, it doesn't work for them. But I'm certainly not going to whine about how the world would be better if everybody made the same choices/had the same preferences as I do.

 

That's really good, since it would be really annoying if you did. Going to listen to another CD, in the meantime.

 

The browser version would work, maybe?

https://play.spotify.com/browse

 

The youth of today know the correct way to pirate music and would laugh at the suggestion they plug their phones into their computers and record it like dubbing a VHS tape, so no worries there.

 

I would NEVER throw out all my CDs, Records, Tapes, etc and just stream. I love having a physical copy. A copy that you can go back to if needed. A copy for reference. A copy for, you know, copying!

Streaming also doesn't guarantee full fidelity of what you're listening to. I believe YouTube downgrades music videos to 128kbps MP3 or MP3-equivalent codec when streaming. That sucks! At least when I have a physical CD or record, fidelity is MUCH closer to that of the masters. Plus, what do you do when you don't have access to the internet and you have no physical media? You basically have no music at all.

I really only ever stream when listening to stuff I haven't heard before, then I go out and the buy the record or CD.

 

Works pretty well at zombifying the world, and having everyone withdrawn into their own universe, excluded from family and friends, no longer talking to each other, and ignoring each other while eating together at restaurants (for one example). Oh, and of course, they have to be glued to them 24/7, including driving their cars while scrolling or texting. Gee, thanks, Steve Jobs.

 

to be clear, I still have all my actual CDs that I ripped to FLAC (the law technically requires that and I like having them anyhow!) Heck, I also have lots of vinyl and maybe 100 cassettes. And the copies that I speak of making above are *backup* copies (not music pirating). Once someone goes to the trouble of ripping all one's CDs, getting the tags and artwork exactly how one wants, etc. it is critical to keep a few backups (preferably at least 3, stored in unconnected media stored in separate physical locations--i.e., avoiding the theft/fire problem if all in one place).

 

Read 'The Circle' by Dave Eggers. That's the future coming right atcha.

 

Streaming will never take over completely for two reasons...

No ownership and therefore no certainties (those poor Taylor Swift fans on Spotify).

No control over sound quality (call me when I can stream the DCC version of Al Green's Greatest Hits on Spotify).

 

I'll bet Paul and Ringo have smartphones.

 

I don't know about the end of physical media. We have a music store that actually sells cd's and LP's reopening in Vancouver and that's good news.

 

It's inevitable but I'm not giving up hard media until they can stream surround and at least 44.1/16

 

Ehm, Who cares about streaming! No more physical formats? Well, I have music in my home for ages of listening sessions. Finally I could save something...Their fault...I think that nothing can happen. That people know where their money's coming from.

 

There seems to be a need to repost a snippet of the OP:

"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."

Say it with me folks: Streaming and owning media isn't mutually exclusive.

 

It's called 3D printing.It's been available for furniture for a while.

http://3dprint.com/6853/drawn-3d-printed-furniture/
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/printed-furniture.html





3D printed food is next.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/will-3d-printed-food-remove-humans-kitchen/

 

Doesn't everybody's??

 

I can't help but have the feeling that the music industry wants us to go to streaming and the downloading of albums because they believe - foolishly - that somewhere in the technology is something that will help them maintain their rights (aka: to claw back some rights from the consumer). I'm pretty tired of the industry attacking its customer - which goes way back to Taping is Killer Music. Shut the hell up already - I've been lectured too since the 70's about how this and that is killing music, and ironically, in the end it was the labels holding the gun up to their own heads and pretending digital this and that could never work. So they handed over the keys to their kingdom to a manufacturer of computers. You couldn't make it up. In the mean time I've been spending like a mad man.

Here's a question - as a consumer, just how much do I have to spend to put a smile on the face of an executive at a record label? Do they ever smile? Or is the whole business full of dour old gits with a permanent angry expression and a "The End is Nigh" tattoo down their forearm?

But then I also don't understand why people are flocking back to Vinyl - but that's a discussion for another thread (where I can repeat what I've written previously - along with everyone else - and argue the same old dull points ad infinitum).

As long as we have a choice, it's all good. Today we have people becoming entrenched in media types for goodness sakes. Vinyl fans look down on CD buyers. CD buyers look down on streaming. Streamers look down on both Vinyl and CD buyers. Let the battle commence....... We're all music lovers, so can't we all just get along.

I also think we should differentiate a little. I think some people are using Streaming as interchangeable with a habit of buying downloads. As I've said before, I can't see me buying digital downloads. On the other hand, streaming music at home I can see me doing - it has obvious advantages over other mediums - such as the ability to have your music follow you around the house, or having my collection on tap over the net to a portable device. It's just that for me I'll start with physical.

I've given more thought to the likes of Spotify - and my conclusions aren't great. I think the line between Spotify and out and out piracy is a grey one. Sure, if I illegally download a song the artist ultimately loses .0006 cents But, you know, that's nowhere near a latte. The debate about how much goes to the artists is, ultimately, a very foreign one to me. For all the decades I've been buying music, it's only now that I as a buyer of music have ever concerned myself with how much the artist is going to get. I have no clue how much Richard and Linda Thompson got for me buying and rebuying their catalog..... yet today people are up-in-arms about percentages as though this has been a common topic in the past and we're all suddenly privy to the contracts artists have signed.

I think the music industry is winning. Instead of talking about releases, box sets, value for money, quality - we're talking about cash and taking the role of doomsayers with a prophecy that reads like Dantes' Inferno (at which point all the vinyl melts, CD's sizzle, and hard discs comes to a grinding halt).

How's about this. Want to release a new album? Release it on Vinyl. Release it on a CD/SACD combo. Release it on Digital Download. The leap between the three isn't that great. Let's not get sucked into believing it is.

 

Exactly. Buying downloads, streaming music, buying vinyl, and buying CDs are not mutually exclusive.

 

I have been a Rhapsody subscriber for five years and have never viewed it (or any similar service) as a replacement for physical media. If anything, it has been an invaluable supplement to it. I discover a lot of new music on the service which helps me prioritize which physical copies of albums to buy next.

 

If I wanted to justify pirating music to myself, this is about how I'd go about it. I'd convince myself that record companies are full of mean rich people, and artists don't get any money anyway, so what harm can it do?

 

You know, I don't think there's any reason to justify piracy. We all know what it is, and why people do it. It's simple.

It's also unstoppable. If anyone thinks a conscience will drive people to stop pirating content, then I reckon they need to go out into the desert with a six pack of beer and some cigarettes until they've gotten their senses back.

The bigger issue is one of value. We know that Spotify "pays an average of $0.007 per play". If I pirate a track, and play it ten times, then the artist would have gotten 0.07c. A hundred times and it's 7c. I wonder how many times a pirated song is really played? My gut instinct - which could be completely wrong - is that it's far less than a 100 times. I guess what I'm saying is - the line between piracy of a song and something like Spotify seems to be awfully thin. In fact, it's so thin as to not be worth worrying about, imo.

Of course, if 100 people download a track, and play it once, then I guess that's 7c. I wish the type of material that interests me had that many listeners.

But as a personal contribution to the artist, an individuals payment is just going to be virtually nothing. Which lends itself to the argument that Spotify has devalued music to the point that it's not marginally different from illegal downloads - at least on a personal level.

We read a lot about young folk, and how they don't want physical media etc. But we d0n't hear much from people like myself, to whom physical media is everything. If there's no physical media, then I'm not paying money for it. Even if that means going without something. In fact, I had an example of just that - one that made my mind up for me. There's an album I love by Nick Jameson called "Already Free". I looked for a CD version, but it's never been released on that format. But it did come out as an MP3 download from Amazon.com. I'm in the UK. So I went to buy the MP3's, and guess what? I couldn't. I'm in the wrong country, apparently. Obviously digital rights didn't cross borders. Ridiculous. Just another example where copyright is wielded like a blunt axe.

Of course there are artists I love, and of course I want them to get money from my purchases in order to put food on the table. On the other hand, I buy a fair amount of secondhand CD's - for which they get nothing.

I know there are converts, people who have accepted that streaming on Spotify, or the purchasing of lossy files, is their poison of choice. I don't happen to be one. For me it's got to be physical. Buying an album has never only been about the music for me. It's the covert art, the booklet text, the label designs, the case design, the choice of fonts, the attention to detail etc. Digital can replace some of these things with PDF files, JPG's, and the like. But really - must I be online every time I play an album? Or am I to accept that local storage must be consumed by all this stuff?

Music has always been tactile in my life. You can feel the weight of the music when you pick something off the shelf (not literally of course). All the associative memories of playing it at this time, that time, the beer stain on the back cover where you had a few too many and had a sing-song early oner morning, etc.

As usual, the music industry was so far behind the 8-ball, by the time they arrived their approach was once again outdated. People had been copying CD's to MP3's for years already, scanning cover art, and sites like AllMusic are (sometimes) excellent for background information. That was all out there by the time the labels arrived - and we all know how simple this stuff is, and we all know how transient data is. How about backup's of digital files? Clouds can dissipate, terms of use can change, domains change hands, limits can be applied when and however the provider decides etc. It doesn't make me feel safe, so I guess I must doube up on all my storage at home. Oh joy.

So I'm not justifying piracy. Not at all. But I have to be honest too. Paying for Spotify, and knowing that for my one listen (because for me it'd only be to try something out, if I like it it's the physical product for me or nothing) will equate to .07c for a ten track album. This doesn't give me the warm fuzzy "I helped out the artist" feeling. Nor does it assuage the feeling that I've been party to cheating an artist out of their just desserts.

I am no doubt wrong on all counts.

 

Good point, Peter. One major consideration is the possibility of a cyber attack in the future, which would cripple streaming and downloading services. The damaging consequences of such an attack would not be easy to repair, although I believe it would motivate consumers to purchase more physical product.