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Would you be as enthusiastic about the audio hobby if streaming disappeared?

tomlinmgt

tomlinmgt

Lunatic Member
I know that for me, music streaming was a major game changer. Not just because I've never been into vinyl (and am not sure I'll ever go down that rabbit hole), and not because cd's (with a better than decent digital front end) didn't bring me plenty of listening pleasure (I do kinda miss rooting through used cd bins...but I can always go out and do that if the urge to hunt and gather physical media ever hits me), but mostly because it's made it possible for me to perpetually unearth hidden gems and open new doors to musical genres and artists I NEVER would've been able to discover at the rate and quantity that streaming enables. The real truth about that fact is it's kept me enthusiastic about the hifi hobby. I don't think I'd be as immersed in and excited about it if I were limited to finding new music via hard media only. I mean, when I first got into vintage hifi back a dozen or so years ago (which morphed into using modern gear, as well), I didn't have a very big collection of cd's or vinyl...and certainly more of the former than the latter...and discovering the hifi hobby while simultaneously adding to my music collection for pennies on the dollar for all of it was a big thrill.

But, eventually, I found I had most of the music on hard media I really wanted...stuff I knew I'd like. Taking a chance on something I'd never heard got less and less appealing as my "listened to it once or twice" pile got bigger and bigger. Streaming put an end to that, and opened up a treasure trove of music that I'll never finish exploring. That means my rig, whatever or wherever it may be, will always be getting a work out as I enthusiastically explore and mine for new music. Take that streaming capability away, and I can guarantee you my enthusiasm for hifi noses over. Just how much I can't say for sure, but chances are slim to none that hard media brings it back to it's prior trajectory.

At one point that reality was a little unsettling. When Mog was my primary choice as a streaming service got bought out by Beats, it was a big disappointment to have the platform I knew and loved disemboweled...and the other start ups like Radhio just didn't deliver. Not until Tidal came along did I find a service that got me back in the game, and things have only gotten better since. I think streaming is here to stay...it's simply the way entertainment media is now delivered across multiple industries and has matured nicely (and continues to improve), so I don't have any real concerns about it going away. But still, I wonder how I'd feel about my hifi hobby if it did.
 
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I don't do to much streaming other than using YouTube. The other day I was on YouTube listening to line array system (pa sound system RCF)and they were testing a few tracks and one of I really like. For me getting to know new music do not come often but when it does it usually hear from another system.
 
I don't use it, not because I'm somehow opposed to it, just not something I ever got in to. I probably ought to, there are plenty of times that I'd like to listen to music but don't know what I want to hear, or just don't feel like going and pulling records to carry down the stairs.
 
The closest to streaming I get. Is when listening to a music channel off Uverse/tv.
One lucky person with good local FM stations thousand plus CD’s even more LP’s.

Just not there yet. Know many who use and enjoy streaming. Someday maybe just not today I will go down that road.
 
I guaran-damn-tee that for those who have never tried it, streaming will introduce you to music you've never heard and will like. Most all the services have very good curation and make recommendations based on your listening habits, so they'll throw some obscure **** at you that may be extraordinarily difficult to find on hard media....and even if you did, you might not be able to find a good copy or be willing to pony up for a good copy. Even if one doesn't use streaming as their primary method for music delivery, it's an enormously useful tool for finding music you like that you didn't even know existed (or did and just couldn't find it on hard media).

Case in point; I wanted to hear some very early Zebra, so I did a search on Spotify and this compilation album popped up....

Screenshot_20220708-192522.png

...which served up a dozen or so bands I'd never heard of, but wound up liking quite a lot. There's likely no way I would've discovered a single one of those bands on that compilation had I been harvesting all my music from hard media. Just no damn way.
 
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Streaming opened up a giant new window on the music world for me, and I say that as a former working musician as well as an owner of thousands of LPs and CDs. There is just no way to discover all that's going on out there without streaming, and you certainly can't "own it" all.

I love it and would not want to see it go away ...

Jblnut
 
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I use streaming off Qobuz, Radio paradise and a few campus stations.
The fees are very reasonable for having an extended music source in fine fidelity.
But - I had an audio hobby long before streaming appeared, and will long afterwards.
Have a lot of music locally sourced (CDs, Cassettes, music on my servers) I can and do still play.
 
It would disappoint me somewhat. Napster got me hooked onto music in a huge way. Then playlists (on iPod, WinAmp, or whatever) was a second huge difference maker for me. Then survivable playlists started to matter (having to rebuild after a platform change was painful. I now use WinAmp on iPods and my computers. I haven't gone the route of streaming yet; my son is all over Spotify. I feel that about 95% (or more) of my music would be available on a good streaming service, but that 5% or 1% would still tick me off. I'd like to experiment with it, so I'd be disappointed if it went away, but it wouldn't stop me...
 
I was good before streaming and would be fine if it disappeared. I have Amazon Music and for $80 a year it's quite a bargain. I've had it since the beginning of the year and love it. I'm going back and listening to albums from the 70's that I didn't have the money to buy. I must admit I missed some good music. I had heard that Tommy Bolin was worth checking out. Never did and what a mistake.
 
HB3 said:
I was good before streaming and would be fine if it disappeared. I have Amazon Music and for $80 a year it's quite a bargain. I've had it since the beginning of the year and love it. I'm going back and listening to albums from the 70's that I didn't have the money to buy. I must admit I missed some good music. I had heard that Tommy Bolin was worth checking out. Never did and what a mistake.
Click to expand...

So you admit that you missed some good music before streaming, and also that streaming enabled you to check out music you always wanted to but never did (for whatever reason) and wound up liking it enough to say it was a mistake to not check it out earlier, yet you preclude all of those admissions saying you wouldn't miss streaming if it went away. Lol
 
With so much physical media available it wouldn't be a huge problem lem for me. I use streaming mostly for background music and finding new artists and music I haven't heard, then I go out and buy the album. Loosing streaming would just make it a little harder to find new music.
 
I really like streaming (Tidal premium mostly)
It's just unbelievably convenient!. Quality and variety
( face it even some with vast collections don't have that kind of in home availability)
I'd clearly miss it. I'm fine with sources on hand. I'd have to collect more.
Honestly FM by me is pretty lame ( I'm talking Quality of content not signal strength).
Besides being able to stream out of area fm, I'd miss the ability to stream in car more. Satellite has options but loops like regular fm . The same 20 songs get old fast.
I think it'd be tragic in the car. They don't have cd players anymore.
 
I would miss the exploring for new music, or albums by Artists not in my collection. I have actually dubbed some Ultra HD streams onto R2R tape, including a Ron Carter LP that I never could find a good copy of. (I now have 3 bad pressings) So yes I would miss it.
Regards,
Jim
 
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