To kennymacc’s wish: other than a small % of people under about 35 now who think that owning a turntable & a few “vinyls” as many of that age group call them, or tapes & CD’s, most couldn’t be bothered & probably never will be.
I’m our crazy, sped up world, many people’s attention spans are dwindling & thus the huge popularity of Tik Tok & Instagram. It’s 10 seconds & on the next thing. Streaming is the only way most listen to music & quite honestly, I listen streaming about 75% of the time now albeit on high end stuff mostly because I’m getting lazy but also really enjoying a lot of great re -mastered recordings that sound much better than the originals.
Forgetting about the quality & intent of the actual recording quality, a lot of the new music coming out today isn’t great & is mostly forgotten within a year w/ very few good follow up songs after the initial but quickly fleeting fame it conjures. With that in mind, why would many want to buy the album or CD version if it even exists. Of course there are exceptions to this in every musical genre but fewer & fewer.