Streaming is just the latest attempt by the industry to achieve their holy grail- a monthly subscription service like cable tv. The problem is that the corporations don't always take care of the artists and once they have you locked into a subscription model, the next step is to start raising prices. Physical medium is simply more rewarding for the listener by offering a complete package of music, artwork, and lyrics to present a total concept to the consumer. Sure, streaming is a convenient way to sample artists, but it will never achieve the satisfaction of a tangible source. I am old enough to have gone through several cycles of this having given 8 "Peaches" crates worth of albums to a friend before I packed up and moved to New York. Then I started replacing my favorite albums in cd format because it supposedly had a better sound and was more convenient for storage. Now the industry wants me to replace my favorite cds by downloading them to a server spending money for the same product once again. I remember the first time I opened the Allman Bros. "Eat a Peach" album and admired the gatefold artwork which became the preferred platform for doobie rolling back in the day. Can't do that with a streaming service. I own an Oppo 205D and was disappointed to hear of Oppo discontinuing their product line because the product quality was a huge bang for your buck. There are simply too many cds in circulation to go away completely. I buy 4 or 5 a month paying $3 to $6 on average. I do burn them to a server in a secondary system mainly for decluttering/wife happiness purposes. However, on my main system, I am the geek that wants to see the art, read the lyrics, see who plays what, and who wrote the music.
