Cloud music, impact on media music?

[Lex]

I was wondering, what does the audio faithful think that cloud music drives, and other portable digital music drives(sources) will do to hard medium music sales in the next 10 years? I seem to have noticed a reduction in the music available on CD in places like Best Buy already. I just wonder if it's going to come to a point digital copy for download will be all that is available?

I don't know about you guys, but I still like my CDs myself. To me, it's the optimum media for overall sound and convenience.

Are the hard copy CDs and albums going to die with our generation (that being people that are into them)? Or will CDs live on, into the next decade?

[Johnloudb]

Well, I hope that if CD's go that way, they are replaced with another format like a bluray music disc. But, who knows given how backwards the music industry is. I don't really know what cloud music is.

[Johnloudb]

Okay, cloud music lockers huh? I think physical music will still be around for a long time ... if not CD's we still got LP's.

[Martyn]

High Street CD and DVD stores are already an endangered species. In five years time, they'll be gone. You might still be able to buy discs from on-line retailers like Amazon, but you might have trouble finding somewhere that sells players!

The mass market for music is a generation that already sees CDs as obsolete, so the market for CDs will be the niche that isn't satisfied with mp3 quality. Of course, as bandwidth continues to increase, CD-quality (and better) downloads will become the norm, so even that niche will evaporate.

Perhaps we'll see SACDs make a come-back...

[impala454]

I agree with you Doug, I still like CDs a lot for the sound. I also like actually physically owning the media, where it sits on a shelf and I can touch it, I can insure it, etc.

But I can't argue with the convenience of cloud based music. I'm a big fan of spotify and pay the $10/mo for spotify premium. I make playlists, and can physically download the music to several devices and computers for offline play. All the devices music syncs and is usually of pretty good quality (paying for premium gets you the higher bit rate). The minor drawback is they still don't have some artists, but for the most part they have everything I listen to.

I hope CDs stay out there as an option though.

[wkhanna]

Physical media, like me, is becoming an archaic anachronism.

Those in their 20’s & 30’s who have grown up with iPod, iTunes & downloads are neither interested or have need for physical media. To them it is cumbersome & inconvenient. Not too many people carry a lapdtop so they can spin a SeeDee while out & about. And how many even have a dedicated CDp? As I glance at drivers around me, I don’t see SeeDee jewel cases strewn about the interior or those carry cases lashed to sun visors. What I do see are iPods plugged into dashboards. Even FM radio, once the mainstay of portable music, has become obsolete.

And when the younger generations of people are at home how do they listen to their music? They typically plug their ‘portable’ into a dock or via their playlist on their computer. I wonder how many even know their computer has drive that will play a SeeDee?

If you can have everything you want anytime you want, then those things lose value. They are no longer cherished or hold reverence. The ability to have your entire music library available for listing at a whim is the new normal. Fussing with physical media is ‘old fashion’. Yet the act of actually touching, selecting, storing, loading that media lost. And with it a significant portion of what gives it value. Part of the ritual that completes the experience is missing. No effort expended, no reward forthcoming.

When you used to have to make effort to listen, it was more rewarding. It was also a more communal event in most cases. Maybe it is just the view of this old curmudgeon, but I remember people being more focused on actually listening before. Now it seems music is just fill, background ambiance to the fast-pace, social media driven lifestyle of today. And that lifestyle has no place, room or time for physical media. It is no longer ‘mainstream’, now it is all about ‘Streaming’.

To me, the irony is that I now hear people beginning to wax longingly over the practice of physically handling their SeeDee collection. Many of these are the same folks who seemed to never understand how my affinity to vinyl made any sense.

[impala454]

I don't believe it's necessarily an age thing. I'm 33 and certainly did not grow up with the iPod. I grew up with records and cassette tapes. I got my first CD player when I was like 15. Portable music players didn't start coming out until I was in college, and even then they were horrible quality and could only hold like five songs. So things have come a long way.

But I don't think it's an age thing because I see plenty of older people with ipods and plenty of young people on these "audiophile" sites. Perhaps the audiophile stuff is more of an older person thing moreso because of the costs involved.

[mjb]

What are we bemoaning? Music appreciation, or audiophile obsession? If its the former, then yes, the cloud or media server has helped bring music to the masses. If its the later, we'll, that's why we're here on this forum :-)

[impala454]

I have to toss in there that regardless of quality/convenience/etc I still just like the idea of the touch of something, having a physical item. I'm that way with CDs, but also books. I have tried several times to read a book on a tablet and I just can't do it. I just like the feel of a book, and having a shelf of books in my home.

[madmac]

Physical media, like me, is becoming an archaic anachronism.

Those in their 20’s & 30’s who have grown up with iPod, iTunes & downloads are neither interested or have need for physical media. To them it is cumbersome & inconvenient. Not too many people carry a lapdtop so they can spin a SeeDee while out & about. And how many even have a dedicated CDp? As I glance at drivers around me, I don’t see SeeDee jewel cases strewn about the interior or those carry cases lashed to sun visors. What I do see are iPods plugged into dashboards. Even FM radio, once the mainstay of portable music, has become obsolete.

And when the younger generations of people are at home how do they listen to their music? They typically plug their ‘portable’ into a dock or via their playlist on their computer. I wonder how many even know their computer has drive that will play a SeeDee?

If you can have everything you want anytime you want, then those things lose value. They are no longer cherished or hold reverence. The ability to have your entire music library available for listing at a whim is the new normal. Fussing with physical media is ‘old fashion’. Yet the act of actually touching, selecting, storing, loading that media lost. And with it a significant portion of what gives it value. Part of the ritual that completes the experience is missing. No effort expended, no reward forthcoming.

When you used to have to make effort to listen, it was more rewarding. It was also a more communal event in most cases. Maybe it is just the view of this old curmudgeon, but I remember people being more focused on actually listening before. Now it seems music is just fill, background ambiance to the fast-pace, social media driven lifestyle of today. And that lifestyle has no place, room or time for physical media. It is no longer ‘mainstream’, now it is all about ‘Streaming’.

To me, the irony is that I now hear people beginning to wax longingly over the practice of physically handling their SeeDee collection. Many of these are the same folks who seemed to never understand how my affinity to vinyl made any sense.

Bill....you made me sad today :cry: I will never be one of the people you are describing above when it comes to music. However, I do believe you are correct as to where music is going sadly....... :cry:

[Blindamood]

I have to toss in there that regardless of quality/convenience/etc I still just like the idea of the touch of something, having a physical item.

Thus my love for my Squeezebox Touch...? The best of both worlds.

[wkhanna]

I don't believe it's necessarily an age thing.

It is not so much the 'age' thing as it is exposure. Many young people are drawn to the act physically becoming involved in the appreciation of music once they have the opportunity to experience it.

[Johnloudb]

Thus my love for my Squeezebox Touch...? The best of both worlds.

Do you use that via music streaming. I read that it can't negotiate a large hard drive like 1-2 TB containing just music files. Is that wrong?

John

[Blindamood]

Do you use that via music streaming. I read that it can't negotiate a large hard drive like 1-2 TB containing just music files. Is that wrong?

John

I would say that is wrong. My NAS is 1TB (mirrored). Streaming is what the Squeezebox is all about...too bad Logitech doesn't see it that way, as they are no longer making them.

The only physical media I use anymore are SACD and DVD-Audio discs. I still buy CDs, but rip them immediately and store them in binders, just in case.

[Ovation]

I have CDs, SACDs, DVD-As, MiniDiscs, cassettes, VHS tapes, DVDs and Blu-rays for music. I also have an iPhone and have set up my house so I can stream from my phone or my laptop's iTunes library to either system (HT and living room stereo). I still have some vinyl though no turntable at the moment (will eventually get one as I want to archive my parents fragile but vast 78 collection).

As you can see, I "formatuously" promiscuous. I'm also "locationally" promiscuous. I listen to music in my HT (which is as close to a dedicated room as I can get) in MCH, in my living room in 2CH (on a modest but respectable setup), with my iPhone on my trusty B&W P5s, in my car (either cassette, CD or iPhone), on plane or train rides, working in the yard, at work when marking papers…

The effect of non-physical media has been to make my non-serious listening more convenient. I would not say it has de-valued the listening experience, however. I often discover music initially in "portable" settings, only to pay serious attention to it later in my home. As to why I like to take it with me? Music makes mundane tasks appear to go by more quickly. To me, that alone is justification enough for having a large portable library.

But I still enjoy the active listening that a dedicated sound system makes possible in a way that no portable presentation can replicate. Best of both worlds, in my view.

[Manning]

I don't think the "physical media" of CD's are totally going to die out. Their numbers might be phased down but I don't think they'll ever totally disappear.

[Chris D]

I agree with most people here, that the future is digital media, and that younger generations expect it. But I think what we need to show them is the importance of QUALITY sound. It needs to have high resolution, no compression, and be free of sound artifacts. When you can get that in digital media and transportable equipment, great.

Me, I find that digital media still is not up to high quality standards. When I can buy a high def BD instead of downloading a video version that's a quarter of the resolution and full of periodic artifacts, I pick the physical BD disc. I still buy all my media, including CD's, on physical media, and then rip the CD's for portable iPod use. But downloads and rips can only sound words than the physical disc, not better, so when doing critical listening, I pull out the disc every time. For me, this will not change until digital media is more reliable and high quality at least as much as CD's are.

[Hdale85]

Younger generations are starting to realize the importance of quality. I've been pleasantly surprised but many younger people that do complain about the quality out there these days. So I think quality is slowly moving to the forefront of digital music.