Don't forget the dinosaurs!

[cloughie]

I wonder if the CD will take as long to disappear as the cheque book. I can't remember how long ago it was that the disappearance of cheques as a means of payment was predicted, but one person who clearly wasn't convinced was the Secretary of the WI branch of which my wife is a member, as it was made perfectly clear that payment for the coming year's subscription was to be by cheque unless there was some compelling reason to employ any other method. The Office of the Public Guardian also insists on payment by cheque, at least where LPAs are concerned, and our solicitors also prefer them. So perhaps CDs will also be around for a good while yet.

Or FM Radio?

[Dave2002]

Approximately 41p a day. That's less than a third of what I pay for my Internet connection alone. Easily covered by my no longer buying a daily newspaper (that's newspaper, not red-top).

Yes - but this "less than a cup of coffee" a day kind of argument doesn't work for everyone. I was serious when I wrote that there are people in affluent areas who find even what many of us would call modest charges problematic.

OK - they are often women whose husbands or partners have died, and they have a house - can't afford to move - or haven't the energy to do so - or just don't want to move into a poky little developer designed "retirement home" (aka cubby hole or dog kennel!), or don't want to move away from their friends - so they have hardly any spare funds. Just because people live in a "rich" area doesn't mean that everyone is currently well off.

There are also people who regret the BBC's move towards abandoning the free TV licences - not sure what the latest status is on that - but many of us might not find that a problem, but some people have really been looking forward to the very slight benefit of getting older. TV licences are of course, terrific value, though many of the programmes available are of no interest to some of us.

[french frank]

There are also people who regret the BBC's move towards abandoning the free TV licences

Just to be clear again: the government's move to abandon free TV licences.

[vinteuil]

Just to be clear again: the government's move to abandon free TV licences.

... or to be clearer still, the messy agreement the BBC went along with where they wd shoulder some of the costs previously covered by central government (eg the World Service coming out of the FCO vote, and the central government funding of the over 75s... ) in order to get the funds they felt they could possibly obtain* ...

* "Free licences for over-75s were introduced in 2001 by the then Labour government. However, as part of the 2015 licence fee and charter negotiation, the BBC agreed to take responsibility for any future scheme and its funding from 2020."

.



.

[Richard Barrett]

At the moment all the economic pain is being felt by the “content providers “ (see the curation strand) or as they used to be known musicians. That’s the real moral objection - even though Qubuz pay better than most it’s still a pittance really.

This is true. That's why increasing numbers are moving to Bandcamp and similar platforms, where about two thirds of income from downloads goes to the CPs, and on the first Friday of every month all of it.

[Roslynmuse]

I sometimes feel that between the early/mid 2000s and maybe about five years ago, the various platforms were in such a state of flux that it seemed impossible to keep up (assuming one could afford to), and the line of least resistance was to stick to CDs. I explored minidiscs and recorders but they quickly became obsolete. Now, I realise that I have missed out on a whole world of 'new' hi-fi (is that a thing any more?) components and devices and although I often listen via my laptop to Sounds, YouTube, Naxos Music Library and (very occasionally) Spotify, I only do so over headphones, as the complexity (anticipated) of connecting to a fairly elderly amplifier and speakers fills me with dread. I have just spent a frustrating hour connecting the laptop to the TV in anticipation of a livestream I want to watch over the weekend and I'm starting to think that the ritual of cleaning LPs and blowing the fluff off the stylus/ sharpening the thorn etc is simpler (and not so much worse in sound quality).

One of the big drawbacks, by the way, of Naxos Music Library is the fact that you can't get gapless playback. That puts many opera recordings right out of the running for me, and even substantial single movement works like Sibelius 7 are unlistenable if they are split into several tracks. I emailed them a few weeks ago about this and at the moment there are no plans to introduce gapless playback. I access it through work but I'd be miffed if I was paying a not inconsiderable subscription and having to be selective about what I listen to.

[teamsaint]

I wonder if the CD will take as long to disappear as the cheque book. I can't remember how long ago it was that the disappearance of cheques as a means of payment was predicted, but one person who clearly wasn't convinced was the Secretary of the WI branch of which my wife is a member, as it was made perfectly clear that payment for the coming year's subscription was to be by cheque unless there was some compelling reason to employ any other method. The Office of the Public Guardian also insists on payment by cheque, at least where LPAs are concerned, and our solicitors also prefer them. So perhaps CDs will also be around for a good while yet.

Physical media are going to be a part of the musical commercial mix for some time yet, and for some very good reasons, not least of which is that the record companies need to sell both physical and non physical media to make money. EG artists can sign and sell CDs at concerts, which doesn’t work so well with a download.
Ebooks and physical books coexist very happily, in different proportions in differing markets, and I suspect music will continue in the same way for a good while yet.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Physical media are going to be a part of the musical commercial mix for some time yet, and for some very good reasons, not least of which is that the record companies need to sell both physical and non physical media to make money. EG artists can sign and sell CDs at concerts, which doesn’t work so well with a download.
Ebooks and physical books coexist very happily, in different proportions in differing markets, and I suspect music will continue in the same way for a good while yet.

Whilst I can't speak for performers (in particular those "up and coming") I get the sense that its a stage along their career exposure to have had a CD - or CDs - made; a physical product, even if it doesn't remain available for very long and then becomes a download.

The availability of booklets is a significant issue for me. Quite a lot of the time, for a recording leaving the catalogue before downloads were marketed, a download mostly doesn't come with a booklet. The differential between a lossless (FLAC) download and a used CD, with booklet, often isn't that large. (We need a repository for us users to contribute PDFs they make for those older recordings, which download sellers/buyers can then incorporate........(With a licence/copyright exemption))

[Richard Barrett]

EG artists can sign and sell CDs at concerts

Not at the moment they can't!

[Richard Barrett]

(We need a repository for us users to contribute PDFs they make for those older recordings, which download sellers/buyers can then incorporate........(With a licence/copyright exemption))

Seconded!

[Ein Heldenleben]

I sometimes feel that between the early/mid 2000s and maybe about five years ago, the various platforms were in such a state of flux that it seemed impossible to keep up (assuming one could afford to), and the line of least resistance was to stick to CDs. I explored minidiscs and recorders but they quickly became obsolete. Now, I realise that I have missed out on a whole world of 'new' hi-fi (is that a thing any more?) components and devices and although I often listen via my laptop to Sounds, YouTube, Naxos Music Library and (very occasionally) Spotify, I only do so over headphones, as the complexity (anticipated) of connecting to a fairly elderly amplifier and speakers fills me with dread. I have just spent a frustrating hour connecting the laptop to the TV in anticipation of a livestream I want to watch over the weekend and I'm starting to think that the ritual of cleaning LPs and blowing the fluff off the stylus/ sharpening the thorn etc is simpler (and not so much worse in sound quality).

One of the big drawbacks, by the way, of Naxos Music Library is the fact that you can't get gapless playback. That puts many opera recordings right out of the running for me, and even substantial single movement works like Sibelius 7 are unlistenable if they are split into several tracks. I emailed them a few weeks ago about this and at the moment there are no plans to introduce gapless playback. I access it through work but I'd be miffed if I was paying a not inconsiderable subscription and having to be selective about what I listen to.

There are many ways of connecting a laptop to an elderly amp. I connect my MacBook Air to my 50 year old tuner amp with a headphone (mini jack) to phono cable using one of the aux inputs on the amp. It could not be simpler . You can get a 10metre cable for £15. Just wondering If you’ve got an iPad you can get gapless playback on Naxos? - I have a similar problem on the Qubuz web page but the app on the iPad is fine ...

[kernelbogey]

Physical media are going to be a part of the musical commercial mix for some time yet, and for some very good reasons, not least of which is that the record companies need to sell both physical and non physical media to make money. EG artists can sign and sell CDs at concerts, which doesn’t work so well with a download.
Ebooks and physical books coexist very happily, in different proportions in differing markets, and I suspect music will continue in the same way for a good while yet.

It occurred to me, reading this, that the production and marketing of classical music CDs may be sustained by the needs of the pop and rock markets for CDs for the reasons given by TS: this would help sustain production facilities, marketing streams and so forth.

[richardfinegold]

When I got broken into 30 years ago the robbers had put all my opera boxed sets into a carrier bag and then left them. Perhaps they realised the local market for knocked off copies of Solti’s Ring was not that buoyant...

When I was 13 our house was burgled. I had not yet collected Classical Music and my album collection probably numbered 15 and was kept on a shelf in the living room. The burglars must have picked the ones they wanted (I remember the greatest loss being Black Sabbath ‘Paranoid’) and flung the unwanted about the room. They left a Neal Diamond Greatest Hits collection. A few years ago my wife went into a Neal Diamond obsession, playing a Spotify playlist relentlessly, and I would tell her that story.

[cloughie]

When I was 13 our house was burgled. I had not yet collected Classical Music and my album collection probably numbered 15 and was kept on a shelf in the living room. The burglars must have picked the ones they wanted (I remember the greatest loss being Black Sabbath ‘Paranoid’) and flung the unwanted about the room. They left a Neal Diamond Greatest Hits collection. A few years ago my wife went into a Neal Diamond obsession, playing a Spotify playlist relentlessly, and I would tell her that story.

Good voice - would be a good choir baritone!

[Roslynmuse]

There are many ways of connecting a laptop to an elderly amp. I connect my MacBook Air to my 50 year old tuner amp with a headphone (mini jack) to phono cable using one of the aux inputs on the amp. It could not be simpler . You can get a 10metre cable for £15. Just wondering If you’ve got an iPad you can get gapless playback on Naxos? - I have a similar problem on the Qubuz web page but the app on the iPad is fine ...

Just tried Naxos on the iPad - still gaps on playback.

I'll see if I have a suitable cable somewhere. I read on here of all sorts of elaborate devices that people are using and feel distinctly underprepared for 21st century listening - I googled DAC a while back and am still not sure whether one would be any use to me.