Losing My Music: Why Streaming Doesn't Work For Me
Once upon a time, I’d read the yearly lists of “best albums” from folks like Rick Webb or Marc Ruxin and immediately head over to the iTunes Store for a music-buying binge. Afterward, I’d listen happily to my new music for days on end, forging new connections between the bands my pals had suggested and my own life experiences. It usually took three-to-four full album plays to appreciate the new band and set its meanings inside my head, but once there, I could call those bands up in context and apply them to the right mood or circumstance. Over years of this, I built a web of musical taste that’s pretty intricate, if difficult to outwardly describe.
About two years ago, I started paying for Spotify. Because I’d paid for “all you can eat” music, I never had to pay for a particular band’s work. Ever since, my musical experience has become … far less satisfying.
The other night, for example, I had a small gathering at my house, and I wanted to curate a playlist for the evening. My house is set up with a Sonos system, which is connected to my iTunes Library, as well as Spotify and various other apps. Before I stopped buying music on iTunes (or ripping CDs into iTunes), it was super easy to set a Sonos playlist: I’d just review my iTunes Library on Sonos and toss the tunes into a queue to be played. I’d usually chose recent music to play?—?curating a playlist is a chance to demonstrate your musical taste, after all, and that changes over time.
But now that I use Spotify, I realized something rather distressing: I can’t remember the names of most of the bands I’ve listened to over the past couple of years. That made creating a new playlist near impossible?—?my guests had to endure a musical set that would have felt fresh had the year been 2013.
I know Spotify has robust playlist creation tools, and I know I’m supposed to adapt to them and learn how to create value on the Spotify platform. But the ugly truth is I lean on Spotify’s “Discover” feature and its attendant algorithms to suggest all manner of new music for me. I listen to it, but I’ve lost the recall signal which allows me to create a good playlist.
For me the most important signal of value is an exchange. ?I pay the band for their music; the band gives me rights to own and play that music. Streaming has abolished that signal and I’m feeling rather lost as a result.
Perhaps I’ll go back to simply buying music on iTunes, but that feels like going backwards. Streaming is here to stay. However, I’m guessing plenty of folks have run into this issue and might have a suggestion for how best to address it. So LazyWeb, I ask you: How do you ingest music and give it meaning in a streaming world?
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Infrastructure/Technology Project Management Consultant & Artisan Baker, Japan & Switzerland
8 年The only time I purchased digital music was when I simply couldn't find something I was looking for on CD. Even then I stuck to DRM free tracks. Japan has a network of extremely well stocked second hand CD stores. Very affordable, and the selection is incredible. In Europe it is a little more difficult to find such stores, but then you can also buy second hand CDs online. Having all music on CD means you can't easily lose it and you have the physical product as proof of your license. If I am in the mood for listening to something I don't know, I turn to internet radio. Doesn't cost anything and they display the names of artists and tracks in the player. Many stations are organised by genre. If you like something, you can use an old fashioned pencil and even more old fashioned piece of paper and take notes for your next trip to the second hand CD store or your next online CD shopping session. If it is too new to be available second hand, wait a year or two and it will be.
Systems Developer III at Henrico County
9 年The problem with Spotify and other streaming services is that it pays the artists ALMOST NOTHING in royalties! It's like getting paid pennies per paycheck for working 40+ hours per week on your job. I agree that a change needs to happen; but it needs to be one that is in favor of the artist; NOT the record company or the streaming service.
Software Engineer
9 年I don't know, I love Spotify. I have plenty of playlists and I have no trouble spinning up new ones. I also use the Discover feature, Track/Album/Artist Radio feature, and I share my playlists and activity with my friends via social media. I love the experiment that which is Spotify, and it keeps me listening legit. In terms of being able to add music that Spotify is missing, if you use any of the full applications (PC, Mac, or Linux) you can add music in a few audio file formats and then push these tracks out to devices or simply add them to a playlist and have the devices save the playlists. Like magic, Spotify will push the music to your devices. That's not the only magic they've devised. Remote control of other devices using Spotify. I use the Bluetooth function on my phone to stream Spotify to my car's Kenwood stereo, and the quality of the sound is unmatched by anything I've used before or since. I absolutely love Spotify. In my opinion, if the Spotify model continues to improve over time, I would expect nothing short of a musical renaissance to emerge.
Digital Marketing Manager
9 年Something in me found Spotify unsettling, so I switched to Apple Music (lured in by a 3 month free trial) and I haven't looked back. I like adding albums to "cloud" area, whatever it might be called, and saving them for when I'm writing or working. No need to worry about the laptop breaking and losing my coveted library! I can digest it easily on my phone too, which is really handy, I hate to sound like a walking Apple ad, but I think it's genius!
Operations Assistant
9 年My trick for remembering my bands is, I research what they are about get some lore (flavor) and try to see them in concert if I really like them.