Do you mainly stream music or own it?

[eddantes]

I use Spotify Premium and I set-up the quality to "very high" which I understand has 320 kbs. In addition, I've bought EQualify which is a great parametric equalizer for Spotify.

I'd love to find an Android app like that, as I initiate and control all my streaming from the phone.

 

[ebslo]

Mainly Spotify, but when I find things I really like I buy them. From Bandcamp if they have it and just download the FLAC's, otherwise order the CD and rip to FLAC. All my old CD's are also ripped to FLAC, and I occasionally listen to them when I'm feeling nostalgic. I also transcode all the FLAC's to MP3's which I put on my phone; great for road trips out of network coverage.

 

[JJB70]

I still buy CDs, though I immediately rip them to FLAC and it is the ripped copies I usually listen to. I do listen to streamed music but not as much as the music I buy.

 

[escksu]

Both.. i do listen to stream but i prefer to keep downloads and once in a while listen to CDs. But i prefer to rip cds to uncompressed wav files. Good thing about this is that i can use the wav files to convert them to other formats. I store my music files and other stuffs in a 2TB NAS running raid 1. Now planning to store on cloud....

 

[Gravebeard]

100% streaming and have been for years. It's been so long since I purchased a CD or digital music that it would be costly to catch up on the missing albums.

 

[Katji]

Self confessed liner notes nerd here. So CDs for me.

One of the things I dislike about CDs. It's like they shrank the record cover. When I ripped my CDs, I needed a magnifier, so I could sort out the ID3 tags because the online db search didn't always get the right CD.

 

[oivavoi]

I only stream at the moment, but I'm really not comfortable doing so. I hate having to be so dependent on my screens/phone/ipad, even for music. I also detest knowing that musicians can't make a living out of my listening habits. I have friends who have worked for years on album projects, and even though they do well on spotify it's not even close to covering their costs. And of course they can't make any money off it. It's not sustainable.

I have for a long time thought of going back to CDs (no low-fidelity vinyl will ever set foot in my house). This plan goes hand in hand with my plan about "de-screening" my house, and getting back physical/analog everything, and recover my ability to focus on things which don't happen on the internet. But we'll see if I actually get around to it or not.

 

[Jimbob54]

I shuffle my whole library, the vast majority of which is now on amazon streaming. But the pc app allows you to merge in local files so my ripped FLAC library is in there too.

Tidal for mobile use through uapp on android (car, walking and IEMs in home office)

 

[threni]

Ripped. I never buy..sorry, rent, music. One day all these services will go away and you'll be left with nothing; also, you can't sell, or bequeath rented music. Plus I listen on Raspberry Pis, including battery powered ones with only wifi connectivity, or on my phone abroad/on a plane/underground where I have no data. Even at home, occasionally there'll be the odd, rare, problem with an ISP, or streaming service. It's just another thing to diagnose/work around/put up with. As a developer I get enough of that sort of thing in my day job. Don't mind if someone's paying me; not so much if I'm the one paying! With files, it's easy - just copy them between devices. Some months I don't buy anything new and can re-listen to previously bought music.

 

[Eggs Ackley]

One day all these services will go away

?

 

[Deleted member 39414]

Stream except when I want to listen to something they don’t carry on Apple Music or Spotify. I have a bunch of CDs/SACDs that aren’t available on either that I like. Also, my 18 month old learned how to find a cd she likes and play it so that’s fun to watch.

 

[Gorgonzola]

I listen mostly to Classical music and I find streaming service that I've briefly tried, such as Tidal, to be deficient in a couple of respects.

First & foremost they don't really have a adequate Classical selection. I own a couple of thousand Classical albums, ripped or downloaded and that collection comprises 95% of all the greatest Classical works according to the experts. Accordingly I have little reason to resort to the streaming services which, in any case, are unlikely to include the residual 5% that I don't happen to own.

Secondly, they don't have search engines that properly tuned to Classical listeners requirements. So for example, search by composer is critical to us whereas Tidal, (last I checked), only provided search by 'Artist' which doesn't substitute.

The only streaming I do is from CBC Music Playlists that offer many pre-programmed streams of numerous genres including Classical. I highly recommend these, BTW, despite that you can's select exactly what you want to hear in the moment. If I'm listening casually I find a program there that is suitable for background music.

 

[holbob]

Stream everything, have done for years now. Lost my flac backup some time ago, and I'm not doing all that again. CD's in storage in the garage.

I'm currently trying free trials of CD quality streaming services after using Spotify connect for years. Tidal has failed on wife's orders, she didn't like it. Currently trying the 3 months free trial of Amazon Music. It's not going well - had to dig out an old unused Chromecast 2 and buy a hdmi extractor just to be able to stream in lossless - even though Amazon's own help pages contradicts itself whether it will be in HD or not. Qobuz next, and then inevitably go back to lossy Spotify. It's causing too many headaches (and earache!).

 

[RHO]

I think about 60/40 streaming online/owned.

 

[FrantzM]

HI

I am making a conscious effort to use the Apple Music, and Roon subscriptions I am paying for ... Such efforts have not produced great results...I am sorry to realize that for the past 2 years, I have only streamed 99.00%, from Spotify.
I ripped a few years ago, more than 2000 CDs. I used to be very proud of my library. It now resides on a NAS and a lone portable SSD USB disc... as backup. I had to force myself to turn on the NAS and connect the HDD to spin them ... and play something from this collection I was so proud of. I haven't played anything from it for quite a while ... I also have a sizable Vinyl collection and a TT, I keep these for sentimental reasons... I have not played an LP for perhaps 5 years, I acquired a phono stage which is likely gathering dust somewhere in my house...

It is unfathomable for me, that all music services would just cease to function simultaneously and the consumers , at large, be left without any music. What could go away if a given service tanks are your playlist, listening history and the recommendations , many of us have come to rely on. The argument of depending too much on the Internet is valid, but it has become a utility, albeit one you can't produce for yourself ( You can generate your own electricity, use rain water and perhaps use letters or smoke signals for your communications .. The Internet on which we entirely now depends is ... well different ... So, yes! we depend on it . There exist services that "translate" playlists between music services. I use SongShift for that purpose. I have shifted a few playlists but ...continue to use Spotify, finding the process of getting the playlist from Spotify then using Apple Music to play them, cumbersome and not being able to hear any difference...

Happy New Year!
Peace

 

[sergeauckland]

For the past 15 years, I've ripped all my CDs and played them off the network on my Squeezebox Touch. I also play a fair few LPs, and have no desire to digitise those, as really being too much of a faff. However, in the last year, since the LMS server has included Spotify integration, I've taken a Spotify subscription, and have virtually stopped buying CDs as I can now mix my local files with Spotify albums. I still prefer to listen to whole albums rather than their 'curated' tracks. I do have concerns about Spotify going away, or any of the albums being dropped, so any Spotify albums that I would be really upset if they went away, I buy and rip. Downloading Spotify albums to a local drive isn't an option either, as these can only be played through Spotify's software, so if they dropped an album presumably the ability to play the local copy would go away.

I'm less bothered by Spotify's lossy delivery as 320kbps is comfortably enough for me, but as a mostly classical and jazz listener, their choices in both genres is limited, and their classical search function very frustrating.
S.

 

[gsp1971]

I don't use streaming.

Have ripped most of my CDs to flac and I play them off an external HDD into my Oppo BDP-105 using USB.

I have also created compilations in subfolders, so if I want to listen to jazz (for instance) I select my jazz folder and use shuffle play.

Happy 2022 to all !

 

[Esskay]

I do have concerns about Spotify going away, or any of the albums being dropped, so any Spotify albums that I would be really upset if they went away, I buy and rip.

Yes! My rule is that streaming (in my case Qobuz) is great for exploring, but I buy anything I really love. There's no guarantee that a streaming album or a streaming service will remain available.

My current listening is about 50/50. I use Roon to access Qobuz and all my CDs and SACDs, which I've ripped to FLAC and DSF files. I still have some LPs that I feel obligated to keep, but rarely listen to.

 

[Kuma]

100% streaming for me.

 

[antennaguru]

80% listening to owned music with all of my CDs ripped to a music server, and with my LPs, Tapes, SACDs, and DVD-As all handled manually. The remaining 20% is listening to Internet Radio Stations which I consider as streaming, and I do send periodic voluntary donations to two of the Internet Radio Stations to help them out. The Internet Radio Stations introduce me to new music like FM used to before it became too homogenous sounding and heavily advertisment laden.