The CD vs. Streaming

[LHC]

My shelves are nearly full, although I will be freeing up space by dumping a number of Gergiev CDs.

According to Lebrecht’s website, the Mayor of Munich has told Gergiev that unless he condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine by 28th of this month, his contract as Chief Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic will be terminated. NB Munich is twinned with Kyiv, so this is an important point for them.

Gergiev and Denis Matsuev (another Putin supporter) have been removed from the Vienna Philharmonic’s forthcoming concerts in the US.

[Lordgeous]

Excellent. I still wonder why Russia Today TV is still allowed to broadcast in the UK? And sanctions will have little effect - they never have - especially the puny ones announced so far! Desperate times. Well done FIFA and the F1 guys

[visualnickmos]

"Gergiev and Denis Matsuev (another Putin supporter) have been removed from the Vienna Philharmonic’s forthcoming concerts in the US."

Good

[visualnickmos]

My shelves are nearly full, although I will be freeing up space by dumping a number of Gergiev CDs.

Excellent. So will I, albeit I own less than 5 of them.

[Ein Heldenleben]

The last two Gergiev concerts I went to were dreadful so no great loss . As well as shunning those who back Putin we must support those many Russian artists who will no doubt be speaking out. Under the Soviet regime it took a very brave person to do so - giants like Rostropovich spring to mind. These days the risk is less though not negligible. All those great artists who came from Odessa and Kiev - their enormous cultural legacy . It’s too much for the mind to process really.

[Bryn]

Excellent. So will I, albeit I own less than 5 of them.

I don't see much point in dumping the few Gergiev recordings I have. I will, however, continue not to purchase such in future.

[MickyD]

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.

I can honestly say that the only time this has happened to me is if the disc is faulty in the first place, in which case I send it back. Maybe I've just been extremely lucky.

[mikealdren]

All those great artists who came from Odessa and Kiev - their enormous cultural legacy.

And Lvov: Bronislaw Gimpel, Yuri Bashmet, Emanuel Ax, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Moriz Rosenthal and Aleksander Zarzycki for starters. Of course it wasn't always in Ukraine.

[Ein Heldenleben]

And Lvov: Bronislaw Gimpel, Yuri Bashmet, Emanuel Ax, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Moriz Rosenthal and Aleksander Zarzycki for starters. Of course it wasn't always in Ukraine.

What did Isaac Stern say about US / Russian cultural exchange during the Cold War
“Cultural exchange ? It’s simple - we send them our Jews from Odessa and they send us their Jews from Odessa” ok not a time for jokes but the cultural contribution has been immense and should be remembered .

[Bryn]

I can honestly say that the only time this has happened to me is if the disc is faulty in the first place, in which case I send it back. Maybe I've just been extremely lucky.

I have only had very few but, so far, I have not had a streaming or download service go to the wall, though QOBUZ very nearly did, in its early days. Of course, one can always rip and burn backups of CDs. My point was that CDs are no more guaranteed to last forever than downloads of imported streams are.

[richardfinegold]

"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.

Surely “Spotify “ is a metaphor for all streaming platforms.

[richardfinegold]

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.

What do you do with your CDs? Bathe them in sulfuric acid? I have probably 5000 CDs in my time. Perhaps one stopped playing.
I’ve related here how I was carrying one to the car 20 years ago in a Chicago winter and one fell out of the jewel box and was buried by a foot of snow and slush. I must have driven over it a dozen times before I discovered it. Plain soap and water, drying in a common dish towel, and it has played perfectly ever since. AFAIK they are indestructible.
Having said that, it’s been downloads and streaming for me the past few weeks, as my downloads now seem to sound slightly better than CDs

[Bryn]

What do you do with your CDs? Bathe them in sulfuric acid? I have probably 5000 CDs in my time. Perhaps one stopped playing.
I’ve related here how I was carrying one to the car 20 years ago in a Chicago winter and one fell out of the jewel box and was buried by a foot of snow and slush. I must have driven over it a dozen times before I discovered it. Plain soap and water, drying in a common dish towel, and it has played perfectly ever since. AFAIK they are indestructible.
Having said that, it’s been downloads and streaming for me the past few weeks, as my downloads now seem to sound slightly better than CDs

My mention of Hyperion and bronzing was to raise the honourable exception. Hyperion was by no means the only label to use PDO during their lacquer debacle. A good many other record companies used PDO for their CD production. IN many cases non-bronzing replacements from the manufacturer are not available.

[Dave2002]

AFAIK they are indestructible.

Not quite. Take a pair of garden secateurs to them and cut them into small pieces - that's possible.

I think putting one on a pair of bricks, so that the centre is between the bricks with a gap of say a couple of inches, then hitting the centre with a hammer also works.
They shatter into many pieces with that approach.

[Bryn]

I refer the blasé to the link in #15. CDs are generally very reliable but by no means as tough as was touted in their early days.