The Pros and Cons Of Streaming

Subtitle: Why I continue to purchase 10-15 CDs a month

First I'll talk about what I believe are the benefits of streaming:
-Literally decades of music at your fingertips anytime you get a peckish for something different
-Easier ability to discover new music that speaks to you
-Convenience. I just took a tablet I never used, installed the Spotify app, & plugged it into my stereo. Works and sounds great. True, I'm not blessed with an audiophile's ears but I know what sounds good to me. Plus if the app is on your phone you can carry that vault of millions of songs with you wherever you go.

And now for the downsides:
-Stuff disappears sometimes. Usually it's back up in a couple days after the lawyers and suits iron out a new deal for that artist or label. But there's always the chance it won't come back.
-$10-20 a month for the service. I guess I feel the same way about this as adults in the 80s felt about cable tv. Why should we have to pay for things we were getting for free before? Or we bought an album once and the store never called you up later, telling you the price went up and they need you to bring them $5 more dollars for it.
-The biggest concern I have, and I'm sure others do too, is that the record companies are going to try to make all music only available on streaming which would mean they could jack up the prices and/or start making certain titles unavailable. Then we'd be in a fine kettle of fish.

However, I have hope that it won't happen, at least for awhile. But, as long as there's a chance it will go south I'll keep buying as many CDs as my budget can afford. I'll also stream fairly often too. One great thing about Spotify is that whatever algorithm they use always recommends new artists I really like and would have otherwise been ignorant of. OK, sorry for the long post, just my thoughts on the whole "to stream or not to stream" debate.

TL;DR Streaming has its good points and bad points but I wouldn't get rid of your physical media quite yet.

 

I agree with all of the things you mentioned. Another big downside for me which I'd add to the list is the complete lack of artwork. Studying the credits, reading the liner notes or just looking at the cover is big fun. Browsing the internet to find the information elsewhere is not, in my opinion.

 

Spotify has hugely increased the volume of physical media I now buy, CDs and vinyl. But so has the low price of CDs, and the majority of vinyl I buy is 60s and 70s collectible however. It's not a one or the other thing for me, but a combined experience which is the best it's ever been in my lifetime.

 

That's exactly how I feel. It's never been easier to discover new music and never been cheaper to buy used CDs.

 

I saw the thread title and thought Roger Waters had a new album out ;-)

 

Funny. I actually saw Roger Waters on the Pros & Cons of Hitchiking tour. Great show. Then three weeks later I saw David Gilmour at the same arena. Another great show too.

 

I've found no bad points, nothings ever disappeared.
Been streaming Tidal for about 6 months now, it's great, no down falls that I've found.
Cheap, unlimited music and great sound quality, my only regret is not doing it sooner.

Oh, and also great art work.

 

Some advice, I've had a standard Bluetooth receiver for a few years now streaming Spotify at the highest audio quality setting. I just upgraded for the price of a vinyl record to a new Bluetooth receiver running Qualcomm's aptX (ADPCM) with the latest transceiver/CODEC chipset CSR8675, and the quality improvement is very noticeable. The old Bluetooth standard was bottlenecking what was being transmitted.
CSR8675 | Qualcomm

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

I wonder why streams and digital downloads don’t include information and photos. While some physical media is lacking there, most isn’t. So then why can’t that stuff be included in streams and downloads? It makes no sense to me. It’s a missed opportunity.

I have an Apple Music subscription, and often find the sound quality to be poor in vintage pop and rock. I listened to God Bless Tiny Tim via streaming and couldn’t make it through the album due to its lousy SQ. I got out my complete Reprise recordings CD set and played the album that way, which exhibits clean and clear fidelity.

 

Same with downloads, I just don't get it. Since the digital files to print the physical artwork are already available, why not share it with the fans as well? It shouldn't take up a lot of harddisk space compared to the music itself, so there really isn't a good reason not to do so.

 

It has always surprised me (since buying digital became a thing) that an 'album' file format haven't been released. One large file including all songs + artwork + lyrics + maybe some multimedia). A standard format that would work in all players would surely make buying digital music a fuller experience.

 

Steaming services normally just use the latest/newest mastering of any given album.Which is not always the best mastering.

 

spotify sounds pretty bad to me, Tidal however is excellent, But I don't have either nor will I ever have them, my record collection is enough for nearly all my needs and when I want something (pretty rare now) I source the vinyl.

 

the benefits of owning an iPod/iPhone/tablet/iTunes
-Literally decades of music at your fingertips anytime you get a peckish for something different
-Convenience. I just took a tablet I never used, plugged it into my stereo. Works and sounds great. True, I'm not blessed with an audiophile's ears but I know what sounds good to me.
-no internet required.

And now for the downsides:
- sometimes you have to charge the battery (although you can still play music while charging).
-that is all.......

 

The biggest issue with streaming is that the record companies & streaming services that are making all the money are screwing the artists harder than ever.
The artists & graphic artists working in the cover art side of things must also be hurting.

CD's in Australia have never been & continue not to be cheap.

 

The biggest downside is that the streaming services mostly have only remastered editions of albums.

 

I like using youtube for discovering new stuff .... I like having the Amazon music thing for using at work.
Streaming could never take the place of physical media for me, because I like to have what it is that I want to listen to.
Just in the last three weeks I had internet connection issues that left me with four days of no connection, that is of no use to me. I want to hear my music, when I want to hear it.

 

What's the reason for high prices on CD's? Shipping costs? Availability?

 

True. That's another con about streaming which is why I still collect plenty of CDs even though I could easily access them on Spotify. I just think streaming is just another way to get music I want to hear right away.

 

I think several factors
Tax, the Australian Dollar and importing costs.
I'm sure Kingsley can correct me if I'm wrong though

 

Also my computer isn't linked to my hi fi and the computer speakers are far from satisfying .... and I am not buying another special set of speakers and amps to go with it lol

 

You can Bluetooth from your PC to a Bluetooth receiver with a stereo line out to your amp. You don’t need one of those expensive streaming boxes.

 

I don't need to, I have thousands and thousands of albums, vinyl, cd's, sacd's, dvd-a's, blurays etc etc ... I don't need to buy anything else to get what i need
It would just be consumerism for the sake of keeping up with the Jones' and that holds no interest for me

Edit: but I do appreciate the suggestion

 

BTW I use an ASUS tablet which is Bluetooth aptX capable on the transmit side (you can check device compatibility on the Qualcomm site) and an aptX capable receiver (£20) into my amp. It has a 24bit 192kHz capable stereo CODEC.