The Pros and Cons Of Streaming

I am a bit surprised digital "albums" have not matured into "apps". Imagine the possibilities.

 

I think for others it’s a really low cost way to stream Spotify to your hifi amplifier.

 

and I love the fact that there are cheaper and easier ways for people to hear new music. I am not against streaming

 

Streaming would come in handy if I ever get hospitalized for an extended time.

 

Spot on. I was talking on the subject with a friend just the other evening. I realize that artists both musical and graphic were ripped off before streaming but I would say not in such a massive fashion. I wonder how much they actually receive each month from these services. I bet it is a very small amount compared with someone at the top of the corporation involved who probably would not even know the name of the artist in question.

 

I’m curious as to why one would require a Bluetooth receiver. I would think that almost any modern receiver would use an app and connnect via wi-fi.

 

Wow! That is heavy duty collecting. I've never bought that many albums per month. Maybe 4 or 5 used ones, very cheaply but all my life, I have kept it to one (or occaisionally two) per month. So after many decades of collecting and selling, my collection is done and I'm in heaven. However streaming is brilliant for those who have it all yet to listen to and don't want to store CDs in every room in the house (like I have had to do). Paying to stream seems silly to me though, unless one likes to compile favourite lists and stuff I suppose.

 

Yes, those are downsides, but -- as has been discussed in other threads -- the biggest downside is that artists and songwriters are compensated VERY POORLY by the streaming model. Unless you are getting hundreds of thousands of streams, the artist's income is minuscule. Streaming eliminates two formerly substantial revenue streams (record sales and broadcast/PRO royalties) and replaces them with something much less robust. Unless things change, in the long run, streaming is bad for artists and will lead to much fewer artists being able to make music their full-time profession, meaning less music, less innovation, less inspiration.

Streaming also cuts record stores out of the equation...and we all know that record stores aren't just retail establishments: They are a cultural nexus where people convene, discoveries are made, and communities are nurtured. Another big strike against streaming.

The only ethical use of streaming is to sample music, then buy either a download or a physical copy -- or even better, go to a show and buy merch directly from the artist.

 

Yeah, well 10 years ago I had a CD collection into the thousands that was stolen and I was so depressed I hardly listened to music and never bought any until about a year ago when I came into enough money to take care of my meager needs and re-start my collecting. I'm just trying to reassemble my old collection,

 

Pros:
- convenient for shuffling my own library of music when working or doing something else like cleaning vinyl records and when I'm not in the mood for an album but want a bit of everything instead
-I can change a track when I'm on the toilet

Cons:
- It doesn't look as sexy as putting on a record or cd

$10 a month wasted on spotify will buy me about 5 cd's a month + 25 cd's from my library every month for free. 30 albums/month = 1560 albums/year.
So I have no need to discover new titles on Spotify, I get them at our local library or in one of my shops. If I would live in a desert, I probably would be very happy with the streaming thing.

 

But, and I know I'm not the first or only one to say this, if I hear a band on Spotify that I really like I go and buy their album(s). If not for being on Spotify they wouldn't have those sales because no one would have heard of them. Your point is a valid one though, the artists make virtually nothing on streaming and that should change.

 

“The only ethical use of streaming is to sample music”

What hot garbage.

 

Many good points in this thread. My biggest fear overall (which was mentioned in the OP) is that one day, only streaming services will remain and all other forms of media will be gone. Hopefully they will all be able to coexist.

 

You don't have to be connected to a label or record company to get your music on streaming services though. For a small one-time fee (25-ish bucks or so) there are services that gets your album on every streaming service under the sun and lets you keep all the income yourself. Providing that you are both the artist and songwriter - and own all the rights. The latter isn't the case for lots of older artists of course, and they end up with a very small piece of what the streaming services pay.

 

I've been using Spotify for eight years now. So I've paid nearly £1000 over that period to keep listening to music... wow!

I use it as a tool for exploration. Even in a record shop, I'll find an LP that intrigues me, so I'll have a quick listen on Spotify while I'm browsing to see if I want to buy it. You'd be surprised how few albums they don't have on the service. You can usually find one track from an obscure LP if nothing else. My section of new vinyl by current artists has blossomed massively since I discovered Spotify. Also Spotify has had a few reissues which haven't been worth buying, but a quick listen on the service saved me £££'s in the record shop from making a costly mistake.

However, I've noticed a few downsides:

Firstly, things really do disappear. Over the last eight years, I've made a playlist of my favourite songs of all time. These are very particular - some live versions, some demos, some obscure... As time has gone on, I've now got around 300 songs on this playlist. I've lost around 10% of them, due to them just disappearing, or Spotify substitutes it for another version if the one I saved got pulled. A particular favourite LP of mine has disappeared from the service forever, and hasn't been replaced since it disappeared about four years ago. I listened to it every week on Spotify until that point.

Secondly, there are a few surprising omissions from Spotify. Famously, the Beatles held back for many years. At the moment, there's a petition to get Slade's back catalogue on there, because there's literally nothing. Procol Harum were another big band that were missing from Spotify, which I think their early material is still missing. And sometimes you find that artists only allow a basic stripped back version of their catalogue on the streaming service, which I actually do agree with. Recently, I plumped £95 on the Kinks Village Green Preservation Society... only for all five discs to appear on Spotify. That is very annoying to me, as I've effectively paid £95 for a book and three LPs. Another favourite artist of mine, The Move, puts their basic album catalogue on the service with an exclusive 'Spotify LP' of non-album singles and B-sides. This is fine, I've got the CD versions which are generally 2-3 discs of content with stereo remixes, unreleased mixes and BBC live tracks. So it was worth me buying the physical media. I think that dynamic is perfect of keeping the basics on streaming and saving the goodies for a physical release.

Thirdly, it's not a particularly organised or easy to categorise service to use. Sometimes albums are listed for the year of their re-release, rather than initial release, which can make things confusing. You end up with dozens of rubbish compilations of the same material filling up space too. And for some artists, it's just a mess. My favourite band, The Hollies, have 'expanded' versions of their albums on Spotify which are just an absolute abomination. For a group that generally released two LPs per year, lumping 1967 singles with a 1969 LP is unforgivable. As is an error like substituting an album track from 1967 for a single A-side from 1970! No one seems bothered to sort this out, as it's been like this for years.

Above all else though, Spotify for me is a convenience. I listen to it in the car, and very occasionally at home. Mostly at home, it's LPs played with the volume turned UP! And I will never get over my obsession with physically owning music, being able to organise it how I want, give it to who I want and play it to whoever I want. Pouring over artwork and sleeve notes will always be attractive to me - most of my musical knowledge has been gleaned from liner notes, especially with CDs. It's a shame that streaming doesn't include that.

 

Yeah. What he said!

 

I have the free version of Spotify. That way I get all of the benefits without the cost involved. Instead I spend that money on buying CDs of the stuff that I really want (which I would already have sampled on Spotify). That way, I keep control of my collection and also support the artists that I like.

The only downside is having to listen to the occasional advert. A small price to pay for access to all that music...

 

Biggest issue with streaming is weight gain.
To play the record I do not have to stand up, find a record, take it from cover, inspect, wash/clean if necessary, walk to my record player, put in a plate, turn it on, carefully lower tonerarm and listen for 18 minutes before getting up and turning it. Then carefully put it back into inner, inner into cover, cover into outer sleeve and store back on a shelf in dedicated spot.
Now it is simply pressing couple of buttons on my tablet. Not a single calorie spent.

Other issues are all about audio quality ))).

But in a car spotify is blessing )).

 

Spoken like someone who has never gotten a royalty check from a streaming service.

 

Another downside of streaming: most artists get screwed on royalties.

 

TBH, it's never been hard to sample music since the advent of the internet.

 

Yes...I think until the model is reconfigured to pay artists more, this is the best way to utilize streaming services while supporting the artists that you love. I think if people are aware of just how poorly artists are compensated, they may be more inclined to temper their use of streaming services. There's certainly a place for the technology, but we need to use it responsibly.

 

You would be incorrect. In fact, my band’s albums were recently all pulled from Spotify due to our label folding. We are working out retaining all rights. I don’t care about those sort of things since only the top tier of acts can make a living from music royalties. I do this strictly for fun.

 

And that you are constantly renting/paying for them

 

Right, just as an example: in the last year or so thanks to Spotify I found 3 of my new favorite bands; The Mountain Goats (I have bought 5 of their CDs), Dawes (I purchased 3 of their CDs) and Air Traffic Controller (bought 2 of their CDs). All thanks to playlists on Spotify. It's a win/win.