Which streaming service for 2015?

[Dave2002]

I have over the last few years subscribed to two streaming services - Spotify and Napster. Napster has the benefit of cheapness, though perhaps only adequate sound. There are some quite interesting performances on Napster which may not appear on other services. One problem seems to be that I appear only to be able to access Napster using a web browser. I think I must have a reasonable deal, as I think I'm only paying about £6 per month. That rate might not be possible for new subscribers.

Spotify is generally reasonably good, with slightly better sound - though not always, and sometimes the sound on Napster is surprisingly good. Spotify generally is pretty responsive, though I've become less enamoured of the software during the last year.

I note that others here are definitely recommending Qobuz.

Sony's Music Unlimited had some quite good music, and decent sound. I had a trial which did not cost me anything. That service has now been discontinued, and Sony have switched to Spotify.

There used to be a UK based download/streaming service - not sure if it still runs. I subscribed for a while. It was run and managed by a small group operating from an office in Parsons Green.

Tidal is a new contender - I don't know if it's any good.

I'm not necessarily rushing to change my current subscriptions, though I am wondering if I joined either Qobuz or Tidal - which might cost more - whether I would then feel able to cancel any other subscriptions I have. I gave up on download sites with a monthly subscription some while ago.

I don't really want to spend more than £15 per month in total - that could buy quite a lot of CDs over a year. I could even consider giving streaming up altogether, though that might present a challenge for listening to music new to me, or to particular performances.

There's a possibly useful review of some services here - http://www.sinfinimusic.com/uk/featu...-music-in-2015 - I didn't know about the DG service, for example.

[Radio64]

I see there's a new one called Composed, run by Decca and Cl*ss!c.Fm.

[Lento]

I tried one newish classics only one called ClassicsonlineHD but decided to stick with Spotify, as the former seemed a bit patchy in terms its library and the interface is still on the clunky side. It claims to have better sound.

[richardfinegold]

I tried to sample Tidal for the 30 day free trial but I couldn't seem to load the software from Chrome and gave up.
I use Spotify which I think sounds decent until to you compare it to the CD or SACD source. I mainly use it for pop music, for example if we are baby sitting our grandson and he is crabby I have found that he instantly cheers up with the Village People or KC and The Sunshine Band and our feeble dance steps--and I don't really care what it sounds like. For Classical I tend to want to buy CDs when I am reading a favorable review of a CD, and thus have accumulated thousands of rarely played CDs over the years. I now search for the album and satisfy my curiousity playing it once or twice. Ones that I really like I will go on to purchase.
One exception that I resisted purchasing was the Krivine Beethoven set, which was very expensive. I played it from Spotify for a few months but the playlist has dissapeared, and I read elsewhere on the Forum that the set has been deleted, which makes me wonder if Spotify tries to eliminate out of print material.

[antongould]

I remain happy with Deezer - fine for the wide musical tastes of Gould Towers and yet another BAL winner last week.....

[Cockney Sparrow]

I'm using Google Play Music All Access at £10/month - think a google email account is needed as that is where the monthly invoice is sent. Works fine on Android smart phone and in Chrome browser on the PC. I'm impressed by the range of recordings found there - including many of the recommendations made on the posts on this site.
Good for "try before you buy".
I also use naxos music library (NmL), courtesy of my local library service, and that mostly fills the gaps (including the Krivine set you mention. The android app works well, and i have set up playlists.
Google is 320kbs, and Naxos ML stated to be less, but I am impressed by the quality of the sound I get. I haven't got golden ears, nor lots of time to listen attentively so i find these sources very convenient and rewarding.
I am conscious that labels could be withdrawn, so where I would have regrets to lose access to valued recordings, I can wait to buy the CD or download when they can be found at a reasonable price (for example Semyon Bychkov's Mahler 3rd on Avie). Or I will buy the CD to have a lossless source to compare to the streamed sound.
If I were dissarisfied with Google PM then I would give Qobuz a try.

[Bryn]

I subscribed to Qobuz last June (€199 for a year's access to their 320kbps mp3, plus other short and long term benefits). I have in general been very happy with the service.

[DublinJimbo]

I'm with Qobuz. I pay €15 per month for the Classical Hi-Fi option which streams at CD quality (44/16).

It's an excellent service. I use it mainly on my iPad (the Qobuz app is excellent), and can access all the Classical content and all my own downloads, which gives me the best of all worlds while travelling.

[Stunsworth]

I subscribed to Qobuz. Just over 200 € a year for their Sublime package - which provides FLAC streaming of their entire catalogue.

Other subscription plans are available, and I believe there's a month's free trial available.

[Bryn]

Perhaps I was just unlucky but I found dynamic compression on the one month free FLAC trial that came with the 320kbps option. The mp3 were not thus affected.

[Dave2002]

One exception that I resisted purchasing was the Krivine Beethoven set, which was very expensive. I played it from Spotify for a few months but the playlist has dissapeared, and I read elsewhere on the Forum that the set has been deleted, which makes me wonder if Spotify tries to eliminate out of print material.

I am in the anomalous position of having ordered the Krivine set from amazon. It has not been supplied and the order appears to be active, but not actually going anywhere. It looks as though I have access to the mp3s, which AFAIK I have not paid for. I don't want to be put into the position of eventually having to pay for the mp3s as I did really want the CDs. As you noted, it was available on Spotify and at the time I ordered the CDs I definitely did not need any mp3s as I could have used Spotify.

There is a Beethoven 9 on napster - I've not checked back with Spotify to see if Krivine's Beethoven has gone in the UK.

I found this on the Qobuz site which is relevant to streaming sites not keeping music up for ever:

The tracks and albums making up the Site's music catalogue that are available to QOBUZ streaming subscribers for listening are subject to contracts between QOBUZ and the rights holders and are therefore are liable to change.

As such, QOBUZ cannot under any circumstances guarantee the presence of a track or album by any artists or performers in the catalogue that it offers to its Customers and cannot under any circumstances be held responsible for any deletion of tracks, albums or the catalogue of any artist or performer on its Site.

[Bryn]

Qobuz are offering the Krivine Beethoven, lossless CD rate with downloadable booklet, for €19.99

[Stunsworth]

Perhaps I was just unlucky but I found dynamic compression on the one month free FLAC trial that came with the 320kbps option. The mp3 were not thus affected.

I can't say I've noticed any compression problems.

[Dave2002]

Qobuz are offering the Krivine Beethoven, lossless CD rate with downloadable booklet, for €19.99

Maybe I'll cancel my amazon order, and try that instead then. Would it be too optimistic to hope that the CDs might eventually reappear?

Are the Krivine performances actually on the Qobuz site, or are they only offering the download version?

I've not checked the Spotify situation again, but I am now looking into Qobuz. I am actually wondering if the cheapest Qobuz offering, which would at least give access to the catalogue, is all I need at present - and that's only about a fiver a month, or I could upgrade to another package later. If I frequently use only my laptop, linked to my sound system with one or other cable, then why do I need to pay more for the opportunity to use up to three different computers or portable devices?

Seems to me there are about seven *** basic issues with streaming services: [*** started out as about 3 or 4. Remember the Spanish Inquisition!]

1. Audio quality - is it good enough? That will depend on expectations and use. If the service is mainly used for sampling, or trying out before perhaps buying CDs or other downloads, then even a moderate audio quality might suffice.

2. Size and range of catalogue. I have previously mentioned napster - and on occasions I have found some quite obscure performances on napster which are perhaps not available on other services. For example, some performances by conductors such as Celibidache, and even Barbirolli. Some around here may also want access to non classical music - pop, rock, jazz - that might influence choice of streaming service.

3. The user interface. This includes how easy it is to search for items, and also how responsive the system is. Some services are a real pain to search - napster's not great, but with ingenuity it can be made to work. Some services are slow - and some are pretty snappy. Napster is on the slow side, whereas Spotify is pretty quick.

4. Mobile use and whether there are any apps which work. At present I can only get napster to work via a web browser, though there have been applications in the past.
Having a dedicated application program, or app means that one can use other tools, browsers etc. while the music plays.

5. Number of devices allowed. For users who simply use one computer, possibly feeding the audio into an audio or AV system, there is not a lot of point in paying for additional devices which puts the costs up. However, the use on more than one device is often linked to mobile use, and some users clearly use mobile mode quite a lot, so for them the additional cost might be worthwhile.

6. Off-line use. Some services, such as Spotify, can cache tracks for offline use. This can be useful for mobile operation, and also for critical situations where the internet connection might fail. An example of the latter might be a private dinner party where one has playlists ready to go, but the internet connection goes down during the evening. Caching the tracks before hand can mitigate against that.

7. Gapless playback. Some CDs get divided up into a large number of tracks. Some streaming services will totally mangle pieces with a lot of separate tracks - for example Blacher Variations.

There are doubtless other issues, such as the ability to order downloads (that was a feature of Spotify which one of my friends used, and she regrets that it is no longer available), and the ability to create, store and swap playlists, and to engage in social media activity. I gave up at seven - no strong need to extend Monty Python further.

[Stunsworth]

Are the Krivine performances actually on the Qobuz site, or are they only offering the download version?

They're available for download - £15.99 from the UK site.