CDs, downloads, streaming

[doversoul1]

I suppose I should give up all hopes of this thread ever getting back to Purcell or Cecilia by now.

Dear Host, how about moving this part into where there is a larger audience for this subject/topic?

[Don Petter]

I suppose I should give up all hopes of this thread ever getting back to Purcell or Cecilia by now.

Dear Host, how about moving this part into where there is a larger audience for this subject/topic?

Ah! But the i-Phone, 'Tis Natures's Voice ...
To court the Ear or strike the Heart:
At once the Passions to express and move;
We hear, and straight we grieve or hate, rejoice or love.'

[ardcarp]

Ay, sung before the sapphire coloured phone
To him that sits thereon
With saintly shout...damn I've bent it...

[Flosshilde]

[COLOR="#0000FF"]Yes - had a guest staying last night who is a big consumer of music,

I am not a 'consumer' of music, anymore than I am a 'customer' on a train.

but current format availability is a labile thing.

Lippy?

[richardfinegold]

The reason why streaming will become the dominant format is because it is the business model that will make the most sense for the record companies. Consumers pay a monthly fee for the service. People who perhaps buy a CD or download twice a year will be forking money over monthly because it will be automatically billed to their credit cards. Google, Amazon, Apple, and all the big players are fighting for this market because they know what a cash cow it will be. Any benefit to the Consumer will be strictly a secondary consideration.
Additional advantages to the music companies will be inventory control and reduced shipping costs.

[teamsaint]

The reason why streaming will become the dominant format is because it is the business model that will make the most sense for the record companies. Consumers pay a monthly fee for the service. People who perhaps buy a CD or download twice a year will be forking money over monthly because it will be automatically billed to their credit cards. Google, Amazon, Apple, and all the big players are fighting for this market because they know what a cash cow it will be. Any benefit to the Consumer will be strictly a secondary consideration.
Additional advantages to the music companies will be inventory control and reduced shipping costs.

I would like to add some thoughts to this, but shall we ask for it to be moved to a new thread?

[Don Petter]

I would like to add some thoughts to this, but shall we ask for it to be moved to a new thread?

We await your stream!

[amateur51]

I'm not sure physical media will bow out, and there are good reasons not to let them.


physical books aren't in danger of disappearing, even if sales are static at best.

Coming as it does from an industry insider, you have no idea how this observation has caused my old heart to swell with relief and joy, ts

[Stunsworth]

Excuse my ignorance of modern mobile services (all mine can do is phone and text, which suits me fine), but don't you have to pay a second time, to the phone provider for data access?

Most steaming services (well Qobuz and Spotify at least) allow you to download music to your device (phone or tablet) before you leave home, so there's no data connection needed to listen to the music. Obviously you're still able to stream while on the move if that's what you want.

I'd guess that I now download 90% of the music I buy. That's usually lossless from the likes of Qobuz (who sell downloads as well as stream) and Hyperion. Qobuz recently had an offer on Blue Note recordings, so I bought a couple of high resolution downloads for 8 Euros an album.

In my particular case I play the music on a Mac Mini that's attached to my DAC, and from there to the hifi. Personally, and I realise we are all different, I prefer this to playing CDs - and I find it much easier to find music on the computer than I ever did when I had my CDs on a shelf.

I also subscribe to the Qobuz lossless streaming service. This costs 20 Euros a month, but gives me access to a huge library of music. Again, I realise this isn't for everyone.

[umslopogaas]

I suspect CDs will be with us for a long time yet. As evidence, consider the LP. When CDs were first introduced, everyone thought the LP would soon vanish because the CD was clearly superior. Now, thirty or so years on, my local hifi shop has three different types of LP and at least five different makes of deck to play them. Firstly, he has a selection of secondhand LPs from the sixties and seventies. Secondly, he has replicas, made in Germany, of the classic pop and classical issues: these cost twenty five quid each, whereas the originals cost several hundred, if you can find them. Thirdly, he has current rock and pop albums that the groups like to put out on LP, as well as other formats. He wouldnt stock this stuff if it didnt sell. I collect classical LPs and would certainly buy the second hand ones if he ever got any that I havent already got (which is not often).

I am also a steady purchaser of CDs, as recommended every month by Gramophone and also as played on Radio 3.

The German replicas worry me, because they are almost indistinguishable from the originals: even a dealer might not notice the difference, so for example I might end up paying a couple of hundred quid for SXL 2012 (Grieg, Peer Gynt) only to find I'd bought a twenty five quid replica.

It is amazing how cheap music has become, back in the sixties a full price LP was most of a week's wages. I've heard it said that the big problem for retailers now is that younger people pretty much expect music to be free. Even so, as long as I and CDs are around, I shall continue to buy them, even though they can be far from cheap: I just paid nearly a hundred quid for a 4 CD set of Rossini's William Tell. On the other hand, there are some outstanding bargains out there: the complete RCA Toscanini recordings, and the complete Maria Callas, both work out at about two quid a disc and the sound quality is fine, if perhaps not quite up to modern standards.

[Nick Armstrong]

I am not a 'consumer' of music

Nor I, neither.

[richardfinegold]

I don't think CDs will go away. I have read that sales worldwide are about 35% of 10 years ago but have stabilized in the past 2 years. It is still a popular format that many people (and we are aging) prefer. What concerns me more is continued availability of music, particularly Classical Music, on CD. Yes, we are reaping a windfall now as companies are dumping their back catalogs at fire sale prices. One wonders if 5 years from now they will conclude that streaming is the only revenue source that makes sense for them.

[umslopogaas]

Richard, I agree. In five years time I hope still to be around and driving my car with its CD player. I'd much rather buy a CD than go to all the trouble of getting someone to burn a download or stream onto a CD for me (I've no idea how to do this myself, and dont have the equipment). And if enough people like me think the same, there's a market for the companies to fill.

As I mentioned, when CDs first came out everyone said LPs would disappear, but they didnt. I reckon the same will be the case with CDs, they will continue to exist along side streamed sources.

These fire sale issues, are, as you say, back catalogue: the Toscanini and Callas boxes I mentioned have been out at least twice before, once as the original LPs and once as CDs: I'd already got some of the earlier Callas CDs which were very expensive, but the new box is so cheap I couldnt resist despite some duplication. It seems from perusing Gramophone that the new releases they review are on CD, I havent spotted any suggestion that the future is only downloads, only that it is increasingly going to be an alternative option.

[Ferretfancy]

I once owned an Edison phonograph, and it worked surprisingly well. After wax cylinders came 78s, LPs, stereo LPs and CDs. The point is that any future manufacturer could, if necessary, reconstruct the equipment needed to play them. Will the current formats for streaming or downloads from the internet still be available in some years time? I doubt it. Bits of digital information are all ephemera unless stored in some retrievable form, otherwise music will just become a process akin to turning on a tap and allowing it to drain away.

There is a news item in today's paper concerning the discovery of a Shakespeare First Folio with hand written production notes for Henry IV parts 1 & 2 dating back to one of the earlier performances. Would we be able to re-discover this if it was not in a solid form ?

[Stunsworth]

Will the current formats for streaming or downloads from the internet still be available in some years time? I doubt it.

It shouldn't matter if current formats are available or not (I tend to think they will be due to the number of downloads that have been made). There is already software available to convert between the various PCM formats - FLAC, ALAC etc., and software to convert between wildly different formats - PCM and MP3, PCM and DSD. I don't see why that shouldn't continue with new formats.