Audio content delivery

[amirm]

BTW, my solution to something not existing on Tidal is to listen to the other 20 million tracks that do.

 

[RayDunzl]

And that physical copy is bound to not exist at some point.

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

 

[svart-hvitt]

BTW, my solution to something not existing on Tidal is to listen to the other 20 million tracks that do.

On the dilemma of choice...always liked these ones from Little Britain.

 

[RayDunzl]

BTW, my solution to something not existing on Tidal is to listen to the other 20 million tracks that do.

If I can't find what I want at the store, I don't fill my cart with whatever is handy.

 

[Wombat]

Here is streaming quality comparison from a guy that has some knowledge in this filed. He tests different versions of the track vs original that he mixed.

I found the conclusion noting that Spotify low and high quality sounded much the same interesting.

 

[andreasmaaan]

I found the conclusion noting that Spotify low and high quality sounded much the same interesting.

160 vs 320 Kbps shouldn’t be a huge difference generally. For most ppl it would take a pretty decent system and some practice to reliably discern.

 

[Thomas savage]

Well we can always go back to gathering in small groups and making our own music, far more fun.

 

[tmtomh]

BTW, my solution to something not existing on Tidal is to listen to the other 20 million tracks that do.

I agree 100% with your earlier comment that "once the decline [in physical media and downloads] starts it will go fast" - I think folks are underestimating just how nonlinear/exponential that decline will be once it reaches critical mass.

But this more recent comment of yours I've quoted just above, just makes me sad. I'm glad you listen to a lot of new music - and I too am always seeking out new stuff - but I want to listen to the music I am desiring to hear, and the version/mastering I prefer. The notion that one just bounces along, listening to whatever's available and not listening to what's not available even if one would like to hear that - that's what the record labels and streaming companies want, and it's not a good fit for a lot of us. I'm glad it's a good fit for you, but IMHO it's not a good model for cultivating a culture of music-loving. And I think the challenges the music industry has faced in the last couple of decades show that it's not just technology changes that threaten the industry's viability - it's also excessive short-term thinking and and over-reliance on ephemera. I fear that the record labels and streaming services are pushing us down a path that not only is against my personal preferences, but more importantly threatens to undermine the longer-term health of their own industry - a self-destructive pattern the record labels/RIAA seem to have perfected for many years now.

 

[JJB70]

I kept my CDs, safely archived, I find it rather comforting to know that if I go off the web or the record labels/streaming services really pee me off I don't need a streaming service or even access to buy downloads as all the music I really love I have on disc.

 

[Snarfie]

It is criminal.

In Holland it is aloud that i can borrow a original CD from you/libary etc an copy it for my own use (i'm not aloud to redistribute the copy).
So laws in different counties are not the same.

 

[andymok]

160 vs 320 Kbps shouldn’t be a huge difference generally. For most ppl it would take a pretty decent system and some practice to reliably discern.

if music is complex enough like classical, Spotify's low is really low to my ears. So low I thought my DAC dongle was broken.

 

[Old Listener]

I started acquiring the music that I wanted years ago since I was concerned that it might not be available later. Mostly used CDs through Amazon. More recently, Flac downloads when they were available and cost effective.

I got almost everything that I really wanted and some things of marginal interest. I've been tapering off for a couple of years. I'm happy that I got the buying done because the supply of used CDs on Amazon for the music that I want is becoming more limited. I may never feel the need to sign up for a streaming music service.

If I just want to explore something of mild interest, Youtube is a good way to try out music.

However, I cut the cord on cable TV and rely completely on streaming video services. Some problems:

- Services can go away without warning. Dramafever shut down with zero notice taking away my list of things I was watching and my list of things I wanted to watch. Some exclusives are still locked up.

- Even if a service doesn't go away, content that you want to watch or watch again may disappear.

- Android and Roku apps for a service are mostly immature and buggy. Netflix has the best apps I have seen. No app that I've used has synced between client and server adequately.

- Tracking down where to find a TV show or movie can be a slow and frustrating process.

- Some content on a service isn't licensed for my country.

I can accept that streaming services are using DRM. I don't expect that I can store copies of streamed content. Netflix and viki seem like good deals to me.

 

[amirm]

If I can't find what I want at the store, I don't fill my cart with whatever is handy.

Even in a chocolate store???

 

[amirm]

But this more recent comment of yours I've quoted just above, just makes me sad. I'm glad you listen to a lot of new music - and I too am always seeking out new stuff - but I want to listen to the music I am desiring to hear, and the version/mastering I prefer. The notion that one just bounces along, listening to whatever's available and not listening to what's not available even if one would like to hear that - that's what the record labels and streaming companies want, and it's not a good fit for a lot of us. I'm glad it's a good fit for you, but IMHO it's not a good model for cultivating a culture of music-loving. And I think the challenges the music industry has faced in the last couple of decades show that it's not just technology changes that threaten the industry's viability - it's also excessive short-term thinking and and over-reliance on ephemera. I fear that the record labels and streaming services are pushing us down a path that not only is against my personal preferences, but more importantly threatens to undermine the longer-term health of their own industry - a self-destructive pattern the record labels/RIAA seem to have perfected for many years now.

I like so many genre and types of music/bands that it is never a hindrance to go listen to something else. Today I have been letting Youtube just play blues music track one of the other and enjoying most of it. I am not the one to listen to Eagles all the time and my interest in classical music is not deep so don't look for specifics there.

What I can't find by the way is usually some new music that only appears as singles on itunes/Amazon by the way. They are skipping the CD release altogether and because they are very small bands, don't always make it to Tidal. This happens once out of 50 albums I search for.

With millions of tracks on Tidal, I don't know how a case can be made that something is missing so bad as to affect me culturally. Music needs to lift your soul and there are so many that do that for me. Do I need to have access to all of it for that to happen? I don't think so.

 

[andreasmaaan]

if music is complex enough like classical, Spotify's low is really low to my ears. So low I thought my DAC dongle was broken.

Could you recommend a track that shows up the difference?

 

[Bluespower]

Downloads and even CDs of new music is sometimes difficult to find. Once the decline starts, it will go fast. I personally listen to far more new music than old. That future is quite bleak to me without streaming.

The good thing is that you can buy used cd very cheap

 

[amirm]

The good thing is that you can buy used cd very cheap

I bought a bunch of them from Amazon. Some came in conditions though where I had to wear gloves to handle.

 

[Thomas savage]

Downloads and even CDs of new music is sometimes difficult to find. Once the decline starts, it will go fast. I personally listen to far more new music than old. The future is quite bleak to me without Thomas.

Fify

 

[tmtomh]

I bought a bunch of them from Amazon. Some came in conditions though where I had to wear gloves to handle.

A good number of used CDs purchased online will indeed come in somewhat beat-up condition. But as you well know, CDs with even a lot of surface scratches usually play and rip just fine; cracked jewel cases can be replaced easily; and dirty CDs and dirty jewel cases can be cleaned very easily with some rubbing alcohol or just lukewarm water.

If you don't want to mess with that, that's fine of course - more inexpensive used CDs for the rest of us.

Also, it's worth noting that not only are the majority of CD albums out there available very cheaply used, but in many cases a used CD is actually going to be cheaper than buying the album as a digital download from iTunes or Amazon. What's even crazier is that I've purchased some brand-new CDs direct from Amazon (not used, not third-party Marketplace sellers) that were cheaper than Amazon's own price for buying the mp3 version of the album - and the CD came with Amazon's free AutoRip feature, meaning I also got the mp3s anyway. In other words, if I only wanted the mp3 and not the physical CD, I would've had to pay Amazon a few bucks extra for that.

 

[sergeauckland]

A good number of used CDs purchased online will indeed come in somewhat beat-up condition. But as you well know, CDs with even a lot of surface scratches usually play and rip just fine; cracked jewel cases can be replaced easily; and dirty CDs and dirty jewel cases can be cleaned very easily with some rubbing alcohol or just lukewarm water.

If you don't want to mess with that, that's fine of course - more inexpensive used CDs for the rest of us.

Indeed. I buy pretty much all my CDs used, as all I do with them is rip them as soon as I get them, so the condition is pretty much immaterial as long as they're not so badly damaged that they won't even rip. Out of the 2000 or so CDs in my collection, I've only ever had three that wouldn't rip. One was brand new and wouldn't even play, so was replaced with another that did exactly the same, so got refunded, and the other two wouldn't rip but would play fine, so I just copied from the CD player's S-PDIF output to Audition in real time. Bit of a faff, but it's only ever happened twice.

One other observation, is that by buying used, one can often get the original CD, not the later (and usually worse) remaster. That's something of a lottery, but I'm pleasantly surprised when it happens.

Incidentally, I also buy all LPs used, from Charity shops or more rarely on-line, firstly because if they're quadraphonic LPs, those have never been reissued, and secondly because I buy LPs for the musical content not the audio quality. Unless badly mangled, most LPs play fine once they have been through the vacuum Record Cleaning Machine, and if they don't, well it's only a few pounds lost

S.