CDs and Vinyl outselling digital downloads

Of course. "You can't roll a joint on a digital download" (Erykah Badu)

 

Well, we are all in that boat. If streaming went away, then what? I'm older & have so much physical product that I barely buy CDs anymore. Streaming is a very inexpensive alternative for many; less than the price of 2 CDs a month. Skip Starbucks & you've more than paid for your monthly steaming service.

 

Way too any ppl taking my "nobody" comment literally, first of all.

So let's recap. Physical media counts for 17% of sales, that leaves 83%. Of that 83% (which is the piece of the pie I was referring to), only 15% is digital sales. That leaves 68% for streaming/other. That's a huge difference already, then you have to consider that's not accounting for the HUGE amount of music that's illegally downloaded and doesn't even get considered in these stats. When put in proper context, not many people are buying digitally.

 

I don't think there's any possibility of physical media sales growing into anything other than a niche market. Having said that, I do think there is plenty of potential for a large and healthy niche.

 

You have to remember that each streaming play is like the song playing on the radio one time, for one person. That was fractions of pennies, too.

 

I appreciate your thoughts,
@audiomixer. I don't want streaming
to go away - I think it's great for
a lot of people, though I don't use it
myself. I was just addressing the point
mentioned by @Solitaire1 on one of
the advantages of physical media.
Just to clarify my position, I am all for
variety of choice - I just would not want
to see the choice of physical media go
away, since that is what I happen to
prefer. As I mentioned earlier, I don't
think CDs and LPs are going away just
yet; it's still a 1.5 billion dollar per year
industry and that's just in the U.S. alone, according to the RIAA 2017 report. So, while I am not against streaming subscriptions, I would like to see folks continuing to support physical media sales, for the sake of its own advantages to society at large; e.g. cultural preservation, saving jobs, etc.

 

Nope, but you can listen to/resell what you did actually buy.

Unless, of course, you pay for streaming...

That was the point.

 

I was thinking it could happen if you make your payments manually, or something happens to your credit card (such as you are issued a new card with a different number and forget to update it with your streaming service).

 

There's a big difference between the two that causes a major flaw in what you've said. With streaming, YOU get to pick whatever song you want to hear at any given time. Just like popping in a CD, or downloading the song. Radio plays what they want and when they want, yet they pay more per year in blanket licensing fees to the Performing Rights Organizations than any of the streaming services.
Streaming is an on demand delivery of music. Radio is not. Therefore, streaming should be treated just like a physical format as far as what songwriters are paid.
I worked in performing rights for 12 years, and am now in publishing (over 5 years). I know how this works, and how lopsided things are at this point.

 

"You Can't Wrap Your Arms Around An mp3 (So Don't Try)" - Johnny & the Heartbreakers

 

Not many people buying digitally + lower costs for the consumer = less money spread out per artist

Streaming really does the artist a disservice.

 

Plus, if you're the creative type, having that digital file to copy, manipulate, sample, remix ... is kinda nice.

 

Plus, back in the day if someone liked your song, they bought your record.

Nowadays, if they like your song, they can just "like" it and get the whole record streamed to em at no additional cost. If they care enough to even find out who the artist is...

 

I rip all my (and my friend's) vinyl to 24/96PCM WAV

 

There have been threads the last 3 years which have noted the very steep declines in Digital Downloads exceeding the declines in CD sales, so it is not surprising that the two lines crossed now.

Yes the near future looks to be divided by streaming and physical media. Myguess is that CDs and vinyl will level off at about the same point and evenly divide the media segment. But vinyl is more profitable so it may exceed CDs in terms of revenue. It already is about 35% of the media revenue pie.

 

G0od for you, but most consider the ripping process a PITA and very, very time consuming. That's even if they know how to.

 

Yeah I agree with that. As long as it doesn't completely go away I'm totally fine with that.

 

Many people here do. But I still buy more physical.

 

Not always. Pandora doesn't work like that.

 

You're right, and they should be treated as a top tier radio station that plays all genres, which would be a HUGE blanket licensing fee to each of the 3 performing rights organizations because they reach further than any radio station does. As it is, radio stations that broadcast online through a website have to pay extra on top of their normal license. Pandora should too.

 

That is how I view its future if the labels are willing to support the physical market. I'm just not sure corporate music labels have much interest in continuing physical media. It's going to take smaller labels licensing the music to see a healthy market for physical media.

 

There's nothing to apologize for because there's nothing wrong with streaming. I don't stream very often but I'd be a fool to not recognize how its invaluable for some. I just don't want it to take over completely.

Thankfully there are enough out there that feel the same way. The audiophiles, the vinyl enthusiasts, the CD crowd, those darn "hipsters" with their Crosleys, the wacky but lovable 'cassettes rule" crowd, and everyone else of all ages and backgrounds who just want to own a tangible copy of their music. I love all of them because regardless of their motives, they keep physical media chugging along. So we still have choice in the market and enjoy our passion in any way we see fit. If that way of enjoying music is streaming, more power to ya.

 

ROFL it's as easy as pressing "record" -

Get one of these :

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...lIAXf_OjU4wHkTF_Kp4zxqi7W8PZrDakaAgOJEALw_wcB

And send a recording signal via RCA>1/8", make sure your peak level is around -6/-8db, press "record"...enjoy the music as it digitizes.

You can either use the Tascam to playback your files (ON THE GO or AT HOME)...

OR you can just load the 24b WAVS into your PC and track/tag the individual tracks, AND/OR :

You know...the post I was referring to, the post I quoted.

So :
1 - try and find a new way to be a wiseguy, because I'm waaaay better at it than you.

And

2 - Ripping vinyl records is only as hard as you think it is.

*drops mic*

 

Nothing wrong with streaming at all, I use it as an accompaniment to buying physical media, I don't think I will ever stop buying new CD's as long as they are making them.

After reading about the band Spirit in Record Collector magazine (who I knew nothing about), I have been listening to them a lot on Apple Music, and am going to go and buy their box set at the weekend as I've been so impressed with what I've heard, fantastic music.

 

I think having a new card with a new expiry date is the most likely explanation for missing payments. But what are the penalties? Do they delete your account? Playlists? Or do you simply move onto a service with ads? As far as I know, there is no exclusive content for regular subscription payers.