Music Streaming - good or bad?

[WalshFan88]

Exactly.

I like some of his early work with Crazy Horse and CSNY, but to me he was a bit full of himself by saying all of his music is too good.

Another blog post just came out which highlights what you just said.

http://gizmodo.com/neil-young-contin...cre-1718069001

[AlreadyGone95]

Exactly.

I like some of his early work with Crazy Horse and CSNY, but to me he was a bit full of himself by saying all of his music is too good.

Another blog post just came out which highlights what you just said.

http://gizmodo.com/neil-young-contin...cre-1718069001

Imo, most of his great work can be found on one album, Decade. (It's a triple greatest hits album (at least on viny) that showcases his work.)

Neil can be great, but his overbearing views that seep into his music can affect his greatness.

That blog is definitely on the money!

[WalshFan88]

I'd read that blog, Austin!

Thanks so much, AG95!

I think if I were to do this it'd be on the Tumblr platform as I really don't think I'll get enough traffic to make it worth paying for my own .com domain.

It would be a subjective controversial blog from the get go, and full of my opinions, takes on things, and sometimes controversial topics. I would basically just write like I do here, but on everything related to music, maybe some guitar tidbits here and there but not a guitar blog. I'd also bring social media into the mix and talk about it's affects on the music industry, and the effects of streaming and it's benefits vs downsides.

It would be basically a brain dump of all of the opinions I tend to have, idea/opinion based and not necessarily all statistical facts info you'd get from a traditional music critic. Not an objective journalism thing. But rather just a place to share my thoughts on new and old music and everything surrounding it in 2015.

I need to do some thinking if I want to do this and commit the time, but if I do I'll post something about it in the music off topic section we're in right now. I'd also add a link to my sig. I'll have a lot of recoup time after my surgery and will be doing a lot of internet stuff so I might have the time but I don't want to start it if I don't think I can handle it or committing to posting to it and the upkeep.

I just like to write and have a place to dump all of my thoughts on everything and have open commenting so basically people can have a voice as well, and I'll just let the chips fall where they may.

[AlreadyGone95]

Ok, I'd have to figure out how to use Tumblr. (Have no clue about it). I also would be lost on the guitar aspect. (I'd love to play guitar, but I physically can't). Other than that, I'm sure that I would enjoy reading and probably commenting on it. . As a person of this current generation, I'll definitely be interested in the social media aspect of it.

Again, good luck with the surgery! Hope it goes well!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

There is definitely a difference in sound between MP3s and streaming and the 'real' thing. I've said it before, the only analogy I can come up with is that it's similar to the difference between looking at pictures in low resolution and high resolution. Or watching a movie in DVD as opposed to BVD. Even with these crappy speakers on my laptop, I can hear the difference between a CD I've uploaded and the MP3 I've purchased of the same song. The size of the file is a big clue as well. The streams use MP3-like versions for bandwidth purposes. I do realize that not everyone can hear the difference, and also, there are those that just do not care. All I can say is that for me, when listening through high quality speakers, it sounds like part of the song is missing, and it lacks depth.

All that being said, fans should be able to make the choice. I will say there are plenty of people who will listen to an MP3-like version and think that it sounds a little flat and blame the artist and not the recording type. He's probably gotten feedback like that and used it to solidify his argument. In other words, he had an agenda already, and that type of feedback was used as support.

What I've found with the people I work with, one reason why moving your mindset from MP3s to streaming is bad is because most larger companies are blocking sites that do streaming. People who want to listen to music during the day need their iPods and MP3 players, and the music that goes on them. The sites are blocked for two reasons. Bandwidth is one, of course, and also, there are usually security issues with the ads. Whatever the reason, to listen to music, you need to rely on non-streaming music. The phone signal isn't good enough where I work to support streaming on it, even if one did have a data plan that could support it.

[WalshFan88]

Absolutely.

I use streaming for convenience, and physical media for serious listening be it CDs and Vinyl on the stereo, or CDs in iTunes. The only thing I don't do is digital downloads. But for on the go or just casual listening Spotify's quality is ok with me, and I'm a vinyl diehard.

As far as on the go, I'm lucky I'm rarely ever without wifi be it at home, family, doctors offices, hospitals, hotels, etc. It seems every place has a free wifi hotspot/access point nowadays. The download speed varies but Spotify is pretty easy on the bandwidth and speed unlike Netflix or Hulu or YouTube. The accumulation over time adds up though but Spotify can work well without hiccups on pretty slow wifi I've found unlike the other services I've mentioned which get really flaky with bad wifi like at hotels and such.

I don't use Spotify much when I'm on cellular data, that's where the CDs I've put into iTunes come into play. Once I buy a CD, I put it in iTunes and then sync it to my iPhone and iPad. I use to have an iPod touch but with an iPhone there's no need so I gave it to my grandma.

I'm seriously considering a Spotify Premium account so I have more choices on my phone and no ads. I really, really like their service - royalties aside. I've read a LOT of news articles lately and it seems most people are disappointed with Apple's new service. I know I am, and I'm a big Apple fan.

[AlreadyGone95]

80% of the time I listen to music, I use earphones because I don't want to disturb others, mostly my mom. I've tried listening with the speakers that are hooked up to my tv( cyber acoustics brand). I didn't get the volume up to 5 before I was told to "turn it down", so yeah, it's earphones or nothing for me.

Because I use earphones, I really don't notice much difference between listening to music through Spotify vs. my own cd collection. Maybe it's the earphones( I'm currently using Sony earphones that I got from Walmart for $15). Maybe it's my ears. There have been a few times that I've had a cd playing and I think "hmm don't remember that in the song before".

Now,with vinyl, it's a whole 'nother world. The first time I heard an album on vinyl(Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes), my jaw dropped in amazement. I couldn't believe how much more richer the sound quality was. My record player is the only device for music that I try my darnedest to not use earphones on. Luckily, where it's positioned in my bedroom, I don't have to.

I rarely have access to wifi, except when at a fast food place or a grocery store. (In rural Georgia, there's little place or need for it. The wildlife certainly wouldn't be using it!). I have a preset amount of data to use between the computer and my phone. Usually, I have no problems staying under that amount.

I have Spotify premium, and it's part of how I stay under my data limit. (youtube(my other option) has both audio and video which uses up more data). $10 a month for Spotify or $15 a gig going over the data limit. The solution s a no brainer for me. Because of Spotify, I have no need for Itunes or an mp3 player.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

An article about the future of streaming services, paid vs. free-with-ads.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/f...ys-new-report/

[VAisForEagleLovers]

A related article about major labels removing their music from You Tube.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/m...-from-youtube/

[WalshFan88]

For every major label removing, there are those creating channels specifically to let people listen (like we've seen for Don lately), such as the #artistname channels or VEVO or channels by the artists themselves. I find myself when I'm at the computer using YouTube for music when I'm wanting to listen to something quickly.

I also made the decision to go to Spotify Premium and will be signing up sometime this week. I think it'll be worth the money and then some.