No way, streaming is SO 2010....... the future is chip / ear and brain implants, tuned or songs selected on demand by just thinking about the song title, station ,etc......... no need to stream it as the chips will obviously have the entire library of music history loaded onto it........ .........bunch of dinosaurs around here......
Convenience can't even convert me...…. I admit I am shocked and stunned at the vinyl resurgence of the past 5 years or so....for everyone supposedly going "physical media free", it is the most archaic form of music delivery that makes a comeback....shocking!
I buy a fair number of CDs - often they're second hand, and at little cost. I rip them and put them in a box. It's less expensive than paying for downloads, and I don't have a CD player hooked up to the stereo. With new material I'll try and purchase lossless files direct from artist, or whichever site they have set up for distribution. The manufacture of physical media is in decline, and one day will cease.
As others have noted, streaming is already the dominant part of the recorded music business in the US representing 80% of industry revenue and driving growth in the industry in each of the last four years after 15 years of declines. For me it's also become my go-to source for new music, now that redbook and higher res lossless streaming via Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer and even Amazon is pretty much ubiquitous. I only buy hardcopy now when I have to because a title is not streaming in a lossless 16/44.1 or better format. I still listen to CDs and LPs that I own, but when it comes to new and new-to-me music, it's streaming first and only unless I have no choice. I don't keep a dedicated streaming device. For serious listening I just connect my phone or PC to my DAC via USB. For casual listening I stream via wifi to a Riva speaker system, or via Bluetooth in my car.
Because it's cool! A 1980's Yamaha turntable that weighs 60lbs and looks like furniture is just plain cool, a conversation piece, something you feel pride in loading the next LP! What's cool about Spotify, who wants to talk about that? Sounds like a name for a pet.......
Purely in numbers, vinyl sales are still insignificant compared to CD. The recent fire in a lacquer manufacturing plant could potentially be a clang on the death knell of vinyl record production. There's only one plant in the world now, and they struggle to keep up with demand.
The audio quality of streaming services is already equal to or better than CD -- if you're a Tidal Hifi, Qobuz Studio, Amazon HD or Deezer subscriber. With all of them offering free trials of anywhere from 30 to 90 days, you may want to check them out and not just stick with Apple and its 256 kpbs lossy files. Worth a flier on a free trial basis, anyway.
It all depends on your perspective.......... to me variety is what makes the world go around, there is no "right or wrong" way to do it. What IS on all audio forums is folks getting attached to what they do as the RIGHT thing to do, and everyone else is clueless. That's the real sad part
I agree and it makes me sad. But I am 66 and I think there will be enough physical media for me to enjoy in my lifetime.
My take on things is whatever gets you through the night it's alright. If physical media is your thing go for it.
But lets force people to go to streaming...….lolololol Music fans of the world unite to build a second plant since the vinyl resurgence is here to stay!
See, there it is --- isn't OK to do both? Why does it have to be one or the other? In my house, I do media, my wife and kids are digital / streaming etc. I was the guy that built the computers, HT / 2 channel systems so they could stream -- and pay for it! I just happen to like the physical media as a preference, mainly because I bought my first LP in 1973 But I live with both, it doesn't have to be one or the other (the root of all disconnects on forums). I am not emotionally attached to either.
For people who don't care about the very last word in sound quality, and who don't care about listening to particular masterings (which is probably about 99% of he population), streaming is definitely the way of both the present, and of the future. It is also quickly becoming the only source for many new releases. But this new streaming paradigm seems to have inadvertently resulted in the death of the album, which is something that I am not happy about. I use streaming for exploring new music, for listening at work, and for background music at home. But for serious listening, I still find physical media to be the most satisfying experience overall. And the fact that streaming is resulting in the death of spinning media is not something which I celebrate. Although I must admit that the more that I do explore new music through streaming, the pickier that I am becoming about deciding which newly discovered albums that I feel that I must own. And this is saving me money by limiting the number of duds which I would otherwise be adding to my collection.
Nobody is being forced to do anything. Expect the price of records to increase considerably, even if someone does build another plant.
I haven't at any point said that it has to be one thing or the other. I have a rather large record collection myself, and from time to time I'll play some of them. The last record I bought was from the merchandise stand at a Bros. Landreth gig, late last year. The digital side is used more often than not.
I sort of get the feeling a great many here feel that Streaming could ever become a fully satisfying listening experience. Now I’ve never done much looking into digital streaming front ends but what I’ve heard from the lower end of the price scale excites my future expectations.
Which made me think of a clever quip......gsm "Streaming is just another excuse for an entire generation of zombies to walk and drive around staring at their phones / mobile devices......". Seriously, I actually have two HD radios in my setup, and two analog tuners. I listen to them, in fact KJZZ is playing right now on my Sony HDR....... EDIT: Besides, I used to carry a mobile phone when they were about 40 lbs and you needed to hitch a trailer to carry them --- I've spent 35 years in high tech, part of that time instrumental in producing the semiconductors that drive todays mobile phones. Don't mistake my personal preference for media to mean in any way, shape or form that I am not technically inclined, nor up to speed on technology. For instance, I have never played a video game in my life - but I can build you a high powered gaming platform, and talk circles around most who play the games on the platform, architecture, hardware required in today's high powered gaming platforms. I just got done building a latest and greatest i7, 2080 Super, Gigagbyte AORUS platform for my son that absolutely rocks. Off rant. I hate pigeonhole mentality.
FM radio has been slowly dying for a couple of decades. And the content which is being streamed today is about a thousand times more diverse than what plays on the FM dial, even in the very best cities for FM. And the majority of the content on FM today has devolved to just the lowest common denominator of popular crap, or the same oldies which one became sick of hearing 30 years ago, much less today. Furthermore having to resort to recording new songs off the radio (if you should ever even encounter these), just like I did when I was a kid, would represent a giant step backwards IMO. So you are correct that nobody is being forced at gunpoint to stream anything. But if you care about hearing the latest music (especially when this is not just popular crap), there is often no other choice today. One can remain blissfully ignorant of this trend by resisting streaming. But once you dip your toe into the streaming water, and you start looking to buy many new releases which you hear via various streaming services on amazon, it can be quite disappointing to discover that no physical media is being produced for many of these releases anymore.
