Music - Physical Media DOA?

[turnitup]

Ok, through my lifetime I’ve owned the following physical media versions of music;

-78 records (were actually my Moms)
-45 records
-33 1/3 records
-8-tracks
-Cassettes
-RTRs
-Compact disc
-File-based (iPod, etc) mp3, and CDs (listed above), etc.
-Streamed (which I really don’t own)
-And I know that there are other (mostly obscure) formats out there as well.

Question - Do you think that we will ever have another (consumer based) physical music medium again, or have we evolved to a “virtual” 100% file/streaming format structure? Is there a “next wave” anywhere on the horizon that would drive the adoption of a new format?

Just curious what the thoughts are on this one...

 

[wasclywabbit]

Not sure what that would look like. I grew up listening to my dad's 78s and LPs. Then my LPs and cassettes. I never thought I'd see CDs. That was a great leap forward. Or so almost everyone thought. But now we're back to vinyl again. So it's not exactly a linear progression. As good as streaming has become, I'll always want something I can hold in my hand.

 

[johnebravo]

No new format will succeed unless young people adopt it enthusiastically. None of the younger people I know -- OK, not that many, because it's basically limited to my kids and my wife's kids and their friends -- would dream of spending money on hard media for music or movies. As far as I can tell, even all video games are now downloaded. Apparently, the Blu-ray format is already on its way out.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-end-of-blu-ray/

 

[peerson]

With Holographic concerts featuring dead artists becoming more commonplace, I wonder if we will be able to view a "Live" concert in our living rooms soon? I would love to see the Rolling Stones performing on my coffee table.

 

[Mystic]

With Holographic concerts featuring dead artists becoming more commonplace, I wonder if we will be able to view a "Live" concert in our living rooms soon? I would love to see the Rolling Stones performing on my coffee table.

Thus fulfilling a prediction that -- no **** -- Peter Gabriel uttered in an interview I read in one of the "music" and/or "arts & culture" magazines circa late 1970s or early 1980s. Not kidding: This is precisely the future of musical performance Gabriel envisioned more than (@ least) 35 years ago.

 

[Mystic]

As for "what's next", oh man, I ain' even gonna hazard a guess other than agree that Gabriel's vision might prove accurate. My only hope is that, in addition to material being (foever) available via the World Wide Thing via "streaming", it'd be nice if I can continue "playing" selections from my vast (multiple terrabytes) FLAC library @ least until I pass from this earthly realm. But who knows?