Why don't they record in ‘surround stereo’?


Surround sound can sound wonderful on your home theater system if the recording is done well. Unfortunately, a quality home theater movie soundtrack recording streamed at home is not so good due to bandwidth problems and not a top priority from movie creators unfortunately

And maybe for stereo listening connoisseurs, via records or streaming, it may be nice to hear Music delivered to rear speakers in  the room rather than just from the two main speakers. And yes main speakers can do an excellent job spreading pressure amplitudes evenly throughout the room with good amplification and room acoustics but maybe it could get better.

Possibly might it be more interesting if current stereo recordings could be recorded in surround stereo. Not sure how taboo or how awful this would be if done well. Stereo is a relic of the past it may be worth upgrading a bit, and maybe rethinking how music is recorded and delivered in current Times might be worth exploring. 

emergingsoul

Because it’s more expensive to produce I’m sure and to be honest probably not enough people care to make it viable for profit IMO. 

Most people, myself included, don't see a need for it for music listening. Home theatre is a different story of course.

Quadrophonic was introduced back in the early seventies. It failed tremendously!

Surround sound is for spatial effects.  I’m not aware of any musical events in which the listener is seated amongst the musicians.