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.
It Looks Like Streaming May Be The Future
According to the RIAA streaming revenues were almost 4X the dollar value of all physical product (cd, vinyl and dvd) shipped in 2017. $5.7 billion vs $1.5 billion.
Digital Download revenues and CD units shipped declined while Vinyl squeaked out a 5% increase in units shipped. Here’s a link:
http://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/RIAA-Year-End-2017-News-and-Notes.pdf
Digital Download revenues and CD units shipped declined while Vinyl squeaked out a 5% increase in units shipped. Here’s a link:
http://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/RIAA-Year-End-2017-News-and-Notes.pdf
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- 21 posts total
- 21 posts total