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Are streaming services sucking the life out of musical choices?

pauldrewry said:
With Spotify or Pandora (free version) I never encountered "new to me" music. Usually I can name the band/singer if not the song. I turn to Google searches or Facebook groups for stuff I've never heard.
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Then you're not using the interfaces correctly I suspect. No way you use them correctly and don't find new to you and just plain old new music.
 
I feel like with these things that there's sort of a paradox where on the one hand there's access to so much music in so many different styles that you could discover a lot... but so many folks use the algorithms which point them towards music that sounds like what they're already familiar with and that can have the effect of narrowing one's taste, rather than expanding it. Rather than putting on a whole LP and hearing a full range of what a band does, folks will hear the hit on that album and then end up with a list of songs that are all similar and likely derivative of the sound of the original song they chose. These days, it seems like there's a lot of really derivative music on the charts (more than there has been in the past) and the fact that the taste of the young musicians who make this stuff are shaped by these algorithms is probably not a coincidence...
 
I streamed the Wall in its entirety last night on AMHD, I even have my original vinyl's and a CD :)

I typically stream complete albums.
 
I’m in agreement about streaming service algorithms determining our listening. Pandora and the like are “party killers,” everything sounds the same, especially the surprise bits.
 
GChief said:
Which you can do in a service so your post as written is basically misinformation from a technical standpoint and I will always call those out. Why? Because people usually stumble on to AK looking for answers so we should strive to keep posts technically correct. Someone wondering about streaming will read your post and be like "damn I can pick my own music or make a play list".

Not busting your boys :thumbsup: just the misinformation

I could careless about someone's personal reasons if stated as a personal choice but many that poo poo services here do so with false information.
:beerchug:
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I did a poor job of clarifying my point....I did say in the post you referenced that streaming is a good way to make a playlist... .... to me a playlist is where I select the songs I want to go on the playlist vs one where the algorithm makes a playlist based on prior preferences or preferences it thinks I want to hear........am I picky on this, yes afraid so.....I just like having as much say so in what I hear as I can and a playlist where I picked the tunes gives me that........and I am not anti-streaming, I prefer other sources for my tunes.....and yes there are other ways to create playlists outside of streaming, options are good things to have.....hope I did better this time conveying my personal choice.....and it's all personal, right?
 
I don't do playlists. Neither one that I created myself or one that someone else created works for me. A playlist presumes you want to hear the same things over and over. I've never listened to music that way.

Even with only LPs as a source I rarely played the entire LP. With my entire CD collection ripped to FLAC the +20K selections allow me to cherry pick what I want to hear when I want to hear it. As for a playlist streamed from the internet, I use the internet mostly to discover new music, so those playlists are also a onetime affair.

Yes, like many I have certain selections that are my "go too's". However, I don't want to hear them every day.
 
GChief said:
I streamed the Wall in its entirety last night on AMHD, I even have my original vinyl's and a CD :)

I typically stream complete albums.
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Curious Chief....why did you choose to stream The Wall vs playing the vinyl or the cd you already owned?.....was the quality of sound better than either of the other two?......was it convenience?......based on prior posts from you, it would seem you are a cutting edge electronics sort of guy, so you lean in that direction .....again just curious and your answers might make a difference for me and others as well.
 
JoeESP9 said:
I don't do playlists. Neither one that I created myself or one that someone else created works for me. A playlist presumes you want to hear the same things over and over. I've never listened to music that way.

Even with only LPs as a source I rarely played the entire LP. With my entire CD collection ripped to FLAC the +20K selections allow me to cherry pick what I want to hear when I want to hear it. As for a playlist streamed from the internet, I use the internet mostly to discover new music, so those playlists are also a onetime affair.

Yes, like many I have certain selections that are my "go too's". However, I don't want to hear them every day.
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Depends on how many playlists you have......I have playlists with nothing but covers, gospel playlists, country playlists, soul playlists, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's playlists, singer songwriter playlists, Americana playlists, military marching band playlists, heck even one with college fight songs (no laughter please).......then I have compilations from all those playlists when I want diversity, oh and beach music playlists, instrumental only playlists, women only playlists, British only playlists.......no need to listen to the same ones daily.....and I am with you in that I don't listen to a cd or album in its entirety anymore.....no need to unless it's your choice to do so.
 
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allmanbros said:
Curious Chief....why did you choose to stream The Wall vs playing the vinyl or the cd you already owned?.....was the quality of sound better than either of the other two?......was it convenience?......based on prior posts from you, it would seem you are a cutting edge electronics sort of guy, so you lean in that direction .....again just curious and your answers might make a difference for me and others as well.
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All 3 of my fronts ends are fairly equal as far as SQ goes so all 3 versions sound good. Last night?? probably more of a convenience thing since we were already streaming back ground (shuffle from the library). I wouldn't say I am a cutting edge electronics guy as I still prefer spinning vinyls, I just take the few minutes it takes to figure out/learn it and I am also not afraid of it. Plus being a big music geek the positives of a paid services easily out weight the cost, which is cheap!!!

And sorry about miss understanding your point!! :thumbsup: I am a big dummy most of the time.
 
Some algorithms are better than others. I create my own playlists and they are diverse from alt/indie, classic rock, blues/R&B, rap/hiphop, foreign,etc. Algorithms serve up new suggestions in the form of weekly playlists from all those genres. If I hear something I like, I plunk it in one of my playlists. I also "like" songs and there are a few thousand of those.
 
GChief said:
All 3 of my fronts ends are fairly equal as far as SQ goes so all 3 versions sound good. Last night?? probably more of a convenience thing since we were already streaming back ground (shuffle from the library). I wouldn't say I am a cutting edge electronics guy as I still prefer spinning vinyls, I just take the few minutes it takes to figure out/learn it and I am also not afraid of it. Plus being a big music geek the positives of a paid services easily out weight the cost, which is cheap!!!

And sorry about miss understanding your point!! :thumbsup: I am a big dummy most of the time.
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After reading my initial post I didn't understand it either, no apology warranted.......the course of this thread to me reveals there is no wrong way to do what we do.......there are several ways (both old and new) to skin the musical cat and that is a good thing.......pleasure conversing with you....
 
allmanbros said:
After reading my initial post I didn't understand it either, no apology warranted.......the course of this thread to me reveals there is no wrong way to do what we do.......there are several ways (both old and new) to skin the musical cat and that is a good thing.......pleasure conversing with you....
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I agree 100%, many ways, do it how you want. I only push back when the negative Nancy's post misinformation as fact to support their opinions on any subject.
 
kyle said:
There's an interesting article in The Guardian about people stepping away from Spotify and other streamers so they can explore different music and create their own taste and preferences instead of having an algorithm chose for them. Many of them say that streaming turns music into a background thing instead of the focal point it was for them previously.
It's always been that way for me, mainly because I don't have one main style of music that I listen to. I could be listening to '50s jazz then some pop tune then some metal then etc. Streaming doesn't jump around enough for me.
It's a good read and fairly short.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...-quitting-spotify-to-save-their-love-of-music
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It has become that for many I think. Ut there are others, like me that use streaming services as one tool to find new music. I jump around to various artist's stations mostly, and write down music I like that I've heard. Then look it up, listen to more by an artist and decide if I want to buy an album.
I do use streaming services for background music a lot to though.
It can work both ways.
 
allmanbros said:
Depends on how many playlists you have......I have playlists with nothing but covers, gospel playlists, country playlists, soul playlists, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's playlists, singer songwriter playlists, Americana playlists, military marching band playlists, heck even one with college fight songs (no laughter please).......then I have compilations from all those playlists when I want diversity, oh and beach music playlists, instrumental only playlists, women only playlists, British only playlists.......no need to listen to the same ones daily.....and I am with you in that I don't listen to a cd or album in its entirety anymore.....no need to unless it's your choice to do so.
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All those playlists are way too much work for me. For any semi-serious listening or more I just fire up my music server PC (running MusicBee) and click on what I want to hear. My music server laptop is right next to "the chair", so there is easy access. There are +20K FLAC files in my rock/pop/jazz local library. I have a separate library of classical and opera that uses a different player application (AIMP). When I'm in a classical mode I'm far more apt to play the entire CD.

I still rely on streaming to learn about and hear new music.

A special thanks to AK members in general. You are a constant source of music that's new to me. I check out quite a bit of what you folks mention.
 
AC50 said:
I’m in agreement about streaming service algorithms determining our listening. Pandora and the like are “party killers,” everything sounds the same, especially the surprise bits.
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They don't determine your listening if you actively make your own choices; just like when you play your media.

I view streaming as literally giving me a key to an amazing library of music and saying have at it. Really. It's a killer bargain for less then the price of 1 new LP monthly, and most of us can take it everywhere we go. What an amazing service to have!!

Now if you want to be passive and let others make your choices, I'm not sure that the streaming algorithms are any worse than the choices of some internet DJ or corporate programmer as far as your tastes; actually I'd expect them to be better as at least they have your listening history while the others have zero, yes zero, idea of what your tastes are.

What an amazing time we live in!!
 
I have never used Pandora; sounds to me like a radio station.
I’ve used Spotify for many years and found it a great way to audition new releases, cited test records, and suggestions. I rarely use playlists. I may have made 2 and have listened to other’s on occasion.
 
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