Are people getting sick of streaming services...

[Waxx]

I'm not using any streaming app (but youtube, but the free version and very rarely), but i see many in my envirroment closing their spotify or even tidal account and going back to owning music. They are sick of the algoritmes that determine what music they should listen to, and want to go back to active choosing and owning their music. I notice it because many ask how i do that and want advice to set up a system like mine (NAS server with media feeding computers connected to hifi systems arround my house over wifi or lan).

In the press, local and international i see also editorals telling the same story...

Why I Finally Quit Spotify

The platform interface has gradually made it harder to find the music I want to listen to. With the latest app updates, I’d had enough.

www.newyorker.com

I see the same on social media (and left it largely for that), AI wants to push things so hard it becomes a dealbreaker for the media. It's also one of the reason i think what drive youngsters to owning physica media (like vinyl). What are your experiences on that?

 

[SSS]

For music I really enjoy for me local stored files are mandtory, either CD or downloaded. Reason is that I will be sure to have it and am not dependent on a streaming service which may exist or not exist in the future. Different is when I want to detect new music for me. Then I use amazon-music for trying out and if I like it can buy it somewhere. Other streaming services I don't us because some of them do not deliver the music I like. Youtube is perfect when I want to see gone live events from performers I like the music.

 

[Mort]

I'm 100% dependent on streaming services and sometimes I like the suggested music but I don't rely on it.

I'm surprised this gets anyone riled up.

 

[goat76]

They are sick of the algoritmes that determine what music they should listen to, and want to go back to active choosing and owning their music.

I don't get this particular thing. I listen to the music library I have stored on my NAS and use Tidal as well, but I have always actively chosen what I listen to myself and there have never been in the hands of any algorithm making the choices. I don't see any difference between listening to my stored music or the music from Tidal, it's the same way of choosing what to listen to, it just happens to be a larger library at Tidal.

 

[Chr1]

Just had my Internet connection down for over a week. Very glad not to be reliant on streaming. Had to take a few smart plugs/switches out of the various systems and had to get up and go over to the PC to change the tunes, but the music kept playing. All good.

 

[ZolaIII]

There's no AI algorithm. There is but it's at good vogue recommendation level at best. So it's good old digging and where it leads you for better and worse with source checking and comparing. We are not constants and our interests change with a mood, memory... It's nice to have so much at platter especially as people find less and less time to dig in. Even couple of good old radio stations with a like to your taste or current emotional state do a better job for the time being than any algorithm. Thing is real discovering (induction when its brought to your attention) you have to do on your own and to your own introspection of it.

 

[Waxx]

I'm 100% dependent on streaming services and sometimes I like the suggested music but I don't rely in it.

I'm surprised this gets anyone riled up.

It seems that certainly on spotify it's hard to avoid those, as they even interupt your own made playlists with suggested music. That is the biggest complain i hear arround me. Tidal does not do that, but their suggestion are also not good for most. This is all second hand info, i don't use eighter of them.

 

[Soniclife]

They are sick of the algoritmes that determine what music they should listen to

This isn't a thing.

 

[Rednaxela]

Spotify as it is now is perfectly fine for me. I have no plans of ditching it.

Of course there is an algorithm, but so far it has stayed in the passenger's seat more than well enough. Sometimes it takes the wheel but only when I want it to.

I have been recommended amazing works of classical composers I would never have known about.

 

[MCH]

. It's also one of the reason i think what drive youngsters to owning physica media (like vinyl). What are your experiences on that?

I think paid for streaming services make more sense the older you are, for various reasons.

 

[olieb]

They are sick of the algoritmes that determine what music they should listen to, and want to go back to active choosing and owning their music.

I have several hundreds CDs (classical) from former times, but I get those out rarely nowadays.
I use Apple Music as a huge storage of the whole catalogue. I check the new releases from time to time and mainly I search for work/composer/performer when interested in something. But I choose what I want to hear myself and let the streaming do only the technicalities. I never let Apple tell me what to hear, I do not even ask for advice. I do not use playlists either.
I sometimes do get annoyed by the ranking/choice of the search results though.

 

[JeremyFife]

I'd hate to lose streaming services (Amazon, in my case). Still listen to downloaded and ripped files, and the occasional record, but streaming is pretty brilliant

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Another vote for the streaming services. The only downside, because Qobuz, (in my case), has "everthing", I sometimes struggle to decide what to listen to.

 

[alvigg]

I'm 70 and I really wish there was streaming services while I was younger. The thought that I can get most any song ever is stunning to me. I love making large playlists and using those as radio stations. A little tedious at the beginning but great when set up.

 

[Waxx]

Don't get me wrong, i'm not against the existence of streaming media (altough i don't use it). It could be a great way to spread and find music for cheap. But the actual execution lacks a lot i think, and I notice i'm not alone. Those who are unhappy with how it goes grows fast is my impression. Even youtube became only bearable if you block a whole leap of things they push in your face.

Some things that need to be better:

Artists could get paid better (there is budget, see the excessive profit they make).
Leave sugestions and so optional, an option you need to activate. If you want to suggest, look at the history and make logic suggestions. I know classical musicians, that only listen to classical music who always are pointed to top30 artist they don't give a f**k about.
Keep different versions of a song in the database, many care a lot about a specific version of a song.
High res should be mandatory (some do, not all).

And mainly, don't mess with playlists that people make, don't push things into people's face if the not choose for it. That is a very hard undisputable condition for many i know who now leave spotify. Suggestions can be good (like many of you say), but don't push it hardcore. Many don't care and just want to hear their favorite music, without interuptions by suggestions.

Sometimes i also wonder, should i try it still, but then those stories come and that curiosity is gone instantly... It's not that I lack music, I got a vinyl collection of thousands and a NAS server with terrabites of (high res) digital music.

 

[SIY]

Streaming was transformative in my audio life. When listening at home, I choose nearly 100% of the music; I'm not sure where the complaint is about being "pushed" to listen to other things.

I use Amazon's suggested channels when I'm in my car on road trips and I have been surprised at how good it is. If something comes on that I don't want to hear (e.g., in my superannuated hippie music stream, the sound of Neil Young is nails on a blackboard to me), I can skip with the touch of a button ("Ahh, Pink Floyd! Much better!").

I am an unabashed fan of this technology.

 

[Leporello]

I'm not using any streaming app (but youtube, but the free version and very rarely), but i see many in my envirroment closing their spotify or even tidal account and going back to owning music. They are sick of the algoritmes that determine what music they should listen to, and want to go back to active choosing and owning their music. I notice it because many ask how i do that and want advice to set up a system like mine (NAS server with media feeding computers connected to hifi systems arround my house over wifi or lan).

In the press, local and international i see also editorals telling the same story...

Why I Finally Quit Spotify

The platform interface has gradually made it harder to find the music I want to listen to. With the latest app updates, I’d had enough.

www.newyorker.com

I see the same on social media (and left it largely for that), AI wants to push things so hard it becomes a dealbreaker for the media. It's also one of the reason i think what drive youngsters to owning physica media (like vinyl). What are your experiences on that?

Generally speaking people are not sick of streaming services. This is why the editorial you linked is newsworthy and catches your attention (it is meant to do that). It's the same as with vinyl: countless stories across the Internet reporting vinyl's comeback are actually an indication that vinyl has not come back.

 

[Waxx]

Generally speaking people are not sick of streaming services. This is why the editorial you linked is newsworthy and catches your attention (it is meant to do that). It's the same as with vinyl: countless stories across the Internet reporting vinyl's comeback are actually an indication that vinyl has not come back.

Vinyl is certainly back down here, but it's not mainstream. It's a huge minority of music listeners that listen to vinyl. Some say it's a fad that will pass, but they say that already 20 years and that fad is still growing... with young and also older people. You can discuss the disadvantages of vinyl, but not the popularity. The RIAA said that in 2022 1.2 billion vinyl records were sold, that is about 2.5x the sales of physical cd's (official sales, not counting bootleg and underground releases that never reach RIAA stats).

Streaming is now mainstream, but the second most popular medium for music listening is now vinyl, not cd it seems. You may not like it, but those are official numbers from RIAA.

 

[TSB]

The only thing I don't like about streaming is that I have too many options.

 

[Ktacos]

I could never trust my library to someone else, so streaming services never caught on for me. I do however have my own Emby server at home so I am kind of my own spotify.