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

tomlinmgt said:
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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If you're talking about the loss of streaming services I couldn't care less. Most of my listening is college radio. Streamed.
 
There have been a few "discoveries" for me made by way of streaming, but I would not miss it if it was not available.
I listen mostly to a collection built over 50 years (vinyl and cd) and am quite happy with that.
 
Most def. 90% of what I listen to is new. I find new music every day since streaming. I'm not a person enthralled with the past. I enjoyed it, but choose to live in the present and always explore. I can't name that many new bands off the too of my head tho. I hear a good song and stick it in a playlist. I need to often look at the artist to recall who it is but that doesnt mean its not food. I would certainly miss that aspect.
 
It would be missed, I just spent the hot few hrs of the day listening to new stuff on Amazon. Now it's time to get back outside, its down to 90 and where I am working is in the shade now :)
 
I've been in this hobby for nearly 60 years, have around 3000 LPs, 4TB of uncompressed files with my HTPC, around a 1000 CDs I could play on a Philips CD-80 hooked up to a Chord Qute, 200 or so R2R, a few hundred cassettes, and most of what I listen to is my Squeezebox streaming to my Gustard...in fact I'm listening to Czech Radio Jazz as I sit here and type this.

I have tuners from Magnum-Dynalab, Sansui, JVC, Yamaha, HK, even a McIntosh MR-68, but with one classical and one jazz station to listen to here, well I guess it's been over 6 years since I've had one in any system playing...even have an outdoor Yagi, there is just not the wealth of "stations" on the Web...

My system is in my den, 14' W X 12' D, speakers and gear along with a 55" TV on long wall hooked up to the HTPC and wireless keyboard/touchpad which I use way more than any of my other 4 computers unless I am off working somewhere else...I control the Squeezebox through this computer and the Gustard allows remote volume control...my couch has a permanent impression from my ass...

For me, were streaming to end I would consider that one of the suckiest things that could happen, right up there with my congestive heart failure & triple bypass.

It would kind of be like the fact that I have been a SWL for the same six decades, but after all the international broadcasters started going off the air, well, I haven't turned on any of my Collins, Hallicrafters, National, Hammarlund, or Drake receivers in years...I will occasionally scan through the SW bands with my Yaesu FT-990, but compared to what was out there in the '80's and '90's, meh.

.
 
tomlinmgt said:
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....

View attachment 2623523

...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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Unless of course you bought that exact record on vinyl. That’s a series from Riding Easy Records, I think the brown acid series is up to 14 or so? Also available in a box set now.
 
BamaBilly said:
Unless of course you bought that exact record on vinyl. That’s a series from Riding Easy Records, I think the brown acid series is up to 14 or so? Also available in a box set now.
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The chances of me running across that on vinyl are pretty slim, I'd wager.

But I had no idea it was a running series. I'll certainly be seeking out the others now, so thanks for the info!
 
tomlinmgt said:
The chances of me running across that on vinyl are pretty slim, I'd wager.

But I had no idea it was a running series. I'll certainly be seeking out the others now, so thanks for the info!
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They’re brand new, not hard to find at all. I have 3 or 4 of them and I love all the ones I have. Riding Easy has great deals on their website too.
 
i seldom stream, but i would miss it. when i'm busy, i like to type a word or two into spotify and see what comes up.
terms like swamp rock, dark blues, physc., terrifying,

just a word or two just for fun

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tomlinmgt said:
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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You are not like I am. I love music and have always and would always find it. HIFI is a big part of that.
 
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