Yesterday I happened to be in one of the remaining HMV shops, and saw a few interesting CDs on offer. Two were of some interest - Colin Davis and the LSO playing Nielsen symphonies (LSO Live - £6) and the other was Harnoncourt conducting Haydn's Nelson Mass (£5).
I didn't buy them - preferring to buy a couple of others instead. However when I got home I thought I'd check to see if I could listen to the performances on Spotify. The Nielsen symphonies are on Spotify, and there is a recording by Harnoncourt of the Nelson Mass - though I'm not absolutely sure if it's the same one.
Most of us know, or would at least expect that, the sound quality on Spotify is lower than a CD. Despite that, the SQ is arguably acceptable for most people, for most purposes, and in the future we could expect that the SQ from streamed or downloaded sources would be at least as good, or even better. This is already the case for some providers (e.g Linn) - though at a price.
My monthly premium for Spotify is slightly less than the amount I paid for 2 CDs which were on offer yesterday. I also subscribe to Rhapsody/Napster, though listen to it less, but it has a lower subscription cost. It is useful for exploring performances which are not on Spotify - and there are quite a few of those.
Re the CDs I didn't buy, I may still go back and buy them anyway, though I wonder whether this really doesn't make sense. In the case of Davis/Nielsen the performances are decent, but if I can listen on Spotify, why would I need the CDs? Re the Harnoncourt, I found quite quickly that I wasn't immediately attracted to the performance, though it's probably decent enough. This raises another question - "should I buy it anyway, and see if in time I get to like it?".
Do others sometimes buy CDs which are different from what they're used to, just to see if in the longer term they find something worthwhile to take away?
I didn't buy them - preferring to buy a couple of others instead. However when I got home I thought I'd check to see if I could listen to the performances on Spotify. The Nielsen symphonies are on Spotify, and there is a recording by Harnoncourt of the Nelson Mass - though I'm not absolutely sure if it's the same one.
Most of us know, or would at least expect that, the sound quality on Spotify is lower than a CD. Despite that, the SQ is arguably acceptable for most people, for most purposes, and in the future we could expect that the SQ from streamed or downloaded sources would be at least as good, or even better. This is already the case for some providers (e.g Linn) - though at a price.
My monthly premium for Spotify is slightly less than the amount I paid for 2 CDs which were on offer yesterday. I also subscribe to Rhapsody/Napster, though listen to it less, but it has a lower subscription cost. It is useful for exploring performances which are not on Spotify - and there are quite a few of those.
Re the CDs I didn't buy, I may still go back and buy them anyway, though I wonder whether this really doesn't make sense. In the case of Davis/Nielsen the performances are decent, but if I can listen on Spotify, why would I need the CDs? Re the Harnoncourt, I found quite quickly that I wasn't immediately attracted to the performance, though it's probably decent enough. This raises another question - "should I buy it anyway, and see if in time I get to like it?".
Do others sometimes buy CDs which are different from what they're used to, just to see if in the longer term they find something worthwhile to take away?
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