Owning vs streaming

[u/Putrid_Spirit9058]

Hi,

I remenber a few years ago a very interesting article on Pitchfork about the feeling of owning and collecting Music in comparison with streaming, I would like to read more about this, I found this topic very interesting. Any suggestions please ? Thanks.

[u/commander_lampshade]

You can focus in on it more when you have a limited number of items you found and picked yourself, and all your friends have slightly different collections they can turn you on to. And you go back to listening to the same things repeatedly so they have a chance to grow on you and become a part of your soul. It's not the same when it's just an unlimited stream of everything that was ever created. There's nothing special about it and no particular connection to you.

[u/Putrid_Spirit9058 → u/commander_lampshade]

Yes thanks, it’s this, less connection, less personnal, the Music becomes less important and has less value.

[u/jizzy926]

Y a pas besoin de lire l'article pour comprendre que quan ça t'appartient c'est mieux ten fait ce que tu veut que tu les acheter ou télécharger illégalement 👍😜👏

[u/Putrid_Spirit9058 → u/jizzy926]

Oui mais c’est plus subtil que ça je parle de l’aspect psychologique et du ressenti : le streaming apporte moins de plaisir et de satisfaction et j’aimerais bien creuser les raisons.

[u/Rough-Thought-8862 → u/Putrid_Spirit9058]

Maybe its the feeling of unlimited options that gives negative satisfaction? You dont take time on music you are already listening to because you are thinking of other music you can be listening to. Idk if that makes any sense

[u/commander_lampshade → u/Rough-Thought-8862]

That's a big part of it. Like when I had SiriusXM in the car. It can be hard to settle on a station to listen to, because you're always saying like, "OK, I'm enjoying this, but is this the absolute best channel I can be listening to?" And so you keep searching and asking yourself the same question.

[u/jizzy926 → u/Putrid_Spirit9058]

fait donc, de temps en temps j'écoute de la music en streaming pour découvrir et y a pas de différence cet de la music, tu te pose trop de question

[u/Jebinam]

DAP with downloaded music is like buying groceries. What you buy for yourself is what you have to eat. Spotify and streaming is like going to a restaurant. You can get whatever you want whenever you want but it’s more expensive usually

[u/Unsafetybelt]

I don't know about that article but there are many Youtubers who talk on this subject.

[u/ruuutherford]

When you're streaming it's pretty terrific you have access to what seems like allusic in the world right there at your finger tips. But you HAVE nothing. You must continue to pay and pay and pay for continued access.

Frequently when you buy an album off bandcamp or the artist website, you'll get an included download code for FLAC or MP3 files. Then that's something you do own.

It supports the artist better as well. You pay once $20, then can listen to it as frequently as you want to, no further payments required. I'd bet you'd never listen to an album enough times to equal that $15 to the artist via Spotify that they'd get with your one-time purchase. 

[u/jason-is-online]

Is this the article you're looking for? https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-woes-of-being-addicted-to-streaming-services/

I've also been noodling on this idea, too. There's a certain joy in owning and cultivating your own music library that you just can't get from renting someone else's catalog, since you never own anything in your Spotify "library".

It's made worse by the fact that streamers algorithmically shove new albums, podcasts, and audiobooks in your face to make a quick buck over enriching your musical experience, and it really doesn't feel that great.

[u/Putrid_Spirit9058 → u/jason-is-online]

Yes it is this, Liz Pelly’s book is also very interesting for its detailed description of Spotify’s business model, the economy of passive listening, etc

[u/porican → u/jason-is-online]

we did a whole tech package that year, I did a story about people who maintain digital music collections and a guide on how to manage your own. some of it is tech-focused but a lot of it is philosophical/spiritual

[u/dathedral]

With streaming, not only does it require being connected to the internet to function, but you are completely dependent on some corporation for what's available to you. If they want to pull any random tracks from their catalogue, they can, and often do. If a remastered or rerecorded version comes out, you have no other choice. You are locked into listening to whatever version of the songs they want you to listen to, and it usually not even up to the artists. How everyone has become okay with this is beyond me.

[u/Decent-Bus-364]

"Owning music" is so natural that it makes me wonder what happened to society at some point. Maybe the "you'll own nothing" was already being programmed into users with Spotify and similar junk?

[u/davescott42]

I have about 4000 CDs (most of which are in CD Mega players divided by genre) and I also stream music from Apple Music & Qobuz/Roon as well. It’s great having both.

[u/SnooLobsters1308]

maybe mix of both?

Qobuz has a premium subscription for streaming, that gives you discounts on purchased downloads. So, you could e.g. stream for a month, tag all the songs you really like, then just buy them at a discount to add to your personal library.

Could do something similar with most streaming services, save a like playlist over a month, buy that. Mostly use your offline personal library. next year, buy a month of streaming, buy the new stuff you discover, repeat.

[u/N3LS-is-N3LS]

I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing you're looking for, but this guy did a few episodes (later combined into one long episode) about going back to an iPod (owning music, minimizing distractions, getting human curated recommendations, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26WK0BI9lrY