Albums disappearing from TIDAL - beginning of its end?

Thanks a bunch for that. I'll check it out. I'm assuming Arctic Fox works on Spotify without downloading their app?

How ironic, the site github that hosts the download of Arctic Fox warns it no longer supports my version of Firefox.

 

Just found your YouTube video on the subject.

Chocolate CD?! Bravo! LOL!

 

Spotify outranks all the other competitors when it comes to the size of the catalogue and the interface. I am afraid, however, that as for now it is not going to introduce Hi-Res quality. They conquered the lion share of all of the streaming providers users' hearts, not by introducing the super high quality of the albums, but by appealing to what a average consumer needs,e.g. competitive price, intuitive interface, 3333 offline library collection limit, massive online library (excluding Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Metallica or the Beatles), smooth inter-device connectivity. I do not think Spotify even aims to appeal to the most orthodox audiophiles. Moreover, it would be hard for it to compete with long established Hi-Fi brands like Tidal, Quobuz or Deezer.

 

Yup, Spotify is the market leader for a reason, thought Apple, via it's deal with Verizon, has leapfrogged it in the States. But Tidal, Qobuzz and Deezer are insignificant players in terms of market share. It would be effortless for Spotify to compete with them (they're also not long-established brands in the US, Qobuzz just launched here, and I don't know anyone who uses Deezer). But obviously there's been no need for Spotify to add higher resolution streaming. The market really hasn't demanded it. We'll see what happens when and if Amazon launches a higher resolution service and then, of course, what happens with 5G networks arrive. But I wish it would. I'd jettison the search for higher res streaming and cut all the cords to other players if Spotify just streaming in 16/44.1

 

Doesn't the 2010 Mac Mini support Sierra? Unless you're using Rosetta or have some other legacy application that requires SL, Sierra might at least get you up to a version where iTunes would likely get a newer rev + Firefox as well.

I actually tried this on a SL VM I still keep around and I couldn't get Spotify to work. At least not the latest app version.

 

I tried out Arctic Fox and it works but I haven't tried it out on Spotify. I like having options so I'm going to keep Arctic Fox as a standby browser if Firefox 48 doesn't work on other sites.

I stopped upgrading Mac OS on hardware that is old like my 2010 MacMini. As long as everything works, I don't add more complexity by upgrading the OS.

When I want a faster Mac I'll just buy a newer one with the OS that comes with it which of course will be newer. I really don't like having Gigs of data downloading and installing for hours that rearranges the directory of my Mac through my 12mbs internet connection. I'll do incremental updates with separate components of Mac like iTunes and JavaScript, but not an entire OS upgrade. Also OS upgrades take up even more hard drive space than the previous versions.

 

I have a Tidal subscription for the HI FI tier for my Two Channel and Headphone rig. I also have a Spotify subscription for the wife as she has her Google Home speakers scattered about upstairs. If Spotify would come out with a Hi Fi Tier, I would also drop Tidal. I guess I will have to continue paying for both streaming services until that happens the wife likes the Spotify interface better.

 

Spotify isn’t going to bother with anything more than 320kbps anytime soon. For the vast majority of users it wouldn’t make any difference anyway. It isn’t like the masses are going to switch to Amazon for hi-res either. Spotify has done an excellent job of entrenching their customer base with their user experience. My kids, 19 and 21, will pay for Spotify themselves rather than use a Tidal family sub for free.

 

I wouldn't switch to Amazon if they came out with Hi-Res, I would stick with Tidal. I only would drop Tidal, if Spotify would give us a Hi-Res choice.

 

I’m not so concerned with albums coming and going; I understand streaming is a service and not the same as owning an album. But I noticed something today that really bothers me. Undisclosed album edits!

Check out Dylan’s bootleg vol. 4 on Tidal. Probably one of the most famous moments in live concert history follows Ballad of a Thin Man where someone in the crowd screams Judas! Dylan responds and then launches into Like a Rolling Stone. Not there on Tidal! I had to go back to my CD to make sure I wasn’t confused. I was not. WTF?

 

this thread is fear mongering at its best

 

I forgot about that 6-month free deal. So I signed up. Now, I don't find the Spotify interface all that great, but at least it's available on the web and works pretty well. Spotify still annoys me - for example, there's no way if you bail out of a playist to listen to a single track to go back to the playlist and resume where you left off - needs a back button or some kind of history, like a browser history. Also, playback settings like the EQ are buried in the wrong place - they should be accessible right from the current track you're playing.

By contrast though, Apple's Music app is a dumpster fire. And the integration between the app and iTunes is hopelessly broken. With Spotify, I can call up their web app on my computer at work, then use it to control Spotify on my iPhone, which is great since my computer at the office doesn't have Bluetooth. So the iPhone happily plays back the song over Bluetooth to my Sennheiser wireless buds, but I can control everything from the more-convienent computer screen. No luck getting anything like that to work with iTunes on my work PC and the Music app on the iPhone.

So much for, "It just works." Spotify just works. Apple is just a dumpster fire.

 

What exactly are the customers getting out of the Apple - Verizon deal? What does the 6-month trial period include?

 

To the OP’s question, I am seeing certain items disappear simultaneously from both Tidal and Apple, with three examples including Super Deluxe editions of the Moody Blues Time Traveller, Allman Brothers Brothers & Sisters, and Elton’s GBYBR, all of which I was too slow to acquire before they went out of print. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that these are all UMG titles, perhaps not.

 

YouTube has existed for 14 years. You could've explored via that platform. At least, that's what I've been doing this whole time.

 

"Yo, yo, yo, wassup Holy Diver"

 

Tidal Wave

 

This is still on TIDAL. I'm listening to it now!

 

YouTube's UI sucks for queuing up music. And the quality of the rips is all over the place. Some are fine, some absolutely atrocious. It's an awful platform for exploring music - like using a hammer as a screwdriver.

 

I don't use it to listen to music but more to get an idea. Quality doesn't matter much to me as I just buy the best pressing of whatever I like.

 

I like to sample whole albums I've always been curious about in the background. Spotify is much better for that. And I don't have to worry about stumbling across appallingly awful rips. It also plays very well with my iPhone, computer and receiver.

 

There's a free three month Apple Music trial; and for Verizon subscribers to the highest data levels of service, I think and Apple Music subscription is included, not a trial, full subscription.

 

all right, I have never been an Apple Music enthusiast given my background heavily embedded in PC, but now, I may consider trying it out for at least 3 months.

 

Not to worry . . . scads of copies at the thrifts.

It's not a binary choice.

 

IF they take care of the devices through which they stream.