Very interesting article and debate in The Guardian this morning:
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"What if Spotify ever goes down, or goes under?"
The article talks as if Spotify were the only way possible to stream recorded music, which it isn't. If it disappeared tomorrow the people actually creating the music would be wishing it good riddance, and so should everyone else. The idea that the choice is between Spotify and CDs is nonsense. -
I have about 5000 CDs and my shelves are full. I only now buy CDs occasionally, eg a rarity maybe not otherwise available, or if I specifically want to own something as an album, eg the latest Dylan to go with all the others, or Richard Barrett Nacht und Träume. I also still sometimes prefer to buy song recitals as a CD.
I have a very good streamer/tuner linked to my amp and the only stream source it links me to is Spotify, so I'm afraid that is what I use, and it has transformed my listening. I enjoy good sound but am not a hi-fi wiz and am aware that my septuagenarian ears are not what they used to be.Comment
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Love the juxtaposition of Dylan and Richard Barrett! Does RB also release an endless stream of bootleg recordings and cover versions...?!?Originally posted by gurnemanz View PostComment
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My shelves are nearly full, although I will be freeing up space by dumping a number of Gergiev CDs.Comment
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Every time I'm involved in a CD release I think "ok, that really is the last one this time", but there's still a sense that releasing a "physical product" has something that digital ones don't, particularly as concerns gaining publicity through reviews - it still seems that journalists or the outlets they work for take more seriously a recording that arrives in a padded envelope as opposed to one that comes in the form of a download code in an email. Despite the fact that the magazine or journal itself may exist only in online form! But this will change I think. And maybe my next CD really will be the last one. If Spotify disappeared, its place would rapidly be taken by something else. As concerns less commercial music being produced now, the best deal for everyone is to be had on Bandcamp. If someone downloads an album on my label there and pays 8 euros, less than 20% of that is retained by Bandcamp, alongside the subscription costs; this means that listeners are much more directly supporting the artists whose work they want to hear, creating in turn a more direct relationship between artist and audience than is generally the case now that so much of our life is lived online, certainly much more direct than is the case with Spotify and similar platforms. Of course most people aren't particularly concerned with having a more direct relationship with the artists whose work they listen to, and that's up to them.Comment
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A CD collection is an investment. A streaming service requires you to pay up until you die, and to hope the internet doesn’t fail, and that the providers don’t go under.Comment
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Originally posted by EnemyoftheStoat View Post
Mario
(PS never liked him much anyway, giving me the shakes every time I watch him...)
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True where streaming-only services are concerned but not when it comes to services like Bandcamp where one pays for a download and gets steaming of the same content as a bonus. Come to that, with Bandcamp, there is usually also an option to purchase a CD, too, at a higher price (plus p&p). In the latter case, I think the onus is on the content owner to send the physical disc. In addition, I think Babdcomp is still operating its "Bandcamp Friday", every first Friday of a month, when it foregoes its cut and passes all surplus, beyond immediate operating costs, to the content owner. Again, with QOBUZ, one can choose to "import" a stream to a protected area of one's principal storage (C: ) drive. While it is not possible to transfer that imported material to another location but it can be played back offline, if and when QOBUZ ceases trading those imports would remain available to listen to. That said, from many vendors of downloads, the higher resolution options tend to cost rather more than the CD alternative, much as DVD-A and Blu-ray alternatives command higher prices.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostLast edited by Bryn; 25-02-22, 11:34. Reason: Space added after C: to avoid it being misinterprested as an emoticon by the forum software)Comment
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If a CD gets damaged and starts to skip or get stuck, tough luck (bronzing excepted in some instances such as Hyperion). If a download or QOBUZ import has or develops faults you just download or import it again.Originally posted by MickyD View PostComment
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I for one hope not! If only because I have yet to figure out how to play whatever it is I download continuously i.e. without having to click on the track to play it rather than it automatically playing the next track of the album. I guess the best thing for this would be to sell the CD + download from Bandcamp. And NMC don't delete their CDs, as far as I know, so that's good...Originally posted by RichardB View PostComment
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I really must stop using my CDs as beermats or to prop up that dodgy table leg!Originally posted by Bryn View PostComment
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