iPod Why do I want to stream?

[Pharmscott]

I must be missing the advantage(s) of streaming music. Why would I want this when I have my music stored locally on the device? Also, since I bought the music, I have it and can play/keep it forever. If I discontinue the streaming service, it's like the music is gone.

I know streaming is popular so I'm wondering if I'm missing out somehow.

 

[AppleDApp]

I must be missing the advantage(s) of streaming music. Why would I want this when I have my music stored locally on the device? Also, since I bought the music, I have it and can play/keep it forever. If I discontinue the streaming service, it's like the music is gone.

I know streaming is popular so I'm wondering if I'm missing out somehow.

You're missing the pleasure of paying about 10$ a month for every streaming service. I'm with you. All about local.

you do miss out on the curation aspect.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I feel the same way, and I have tried all of them throughout the years. And for ME, the experience of having local music in iTunes and iOS have gotten better. Genius Shuffle, being able to make playlists based on songs, genre based playlists, and the cool music related Today widgets coming out now.

Curation. Yeah, more like a paid advertisement.

 

[sracer]

I must be missing the advantage(s) of streaming music. Why would I want this when I have my music stored locally on the device? Also, since I bought the music, I have it and can play/keep it forever. If I discontinue the streaming service, it's like the music is gone.

I know streaming is popular so I'm wondering if I'm missing out somehow.

One aspect... It's similar to the car leasing mentality. Get into a more expensive car than you could afford to purchase. Streaming services advertise "access to millions of tracks". That is far more music than one could purchase outright.

Another aspect... disposable music. No need to purchase music that will not be listened to again after 3 months. Few if any will be listening to some esoteric tracks from an indie band 2 years from now that are "in" today.

It may sound corny and cliche, but my music collection is the soundtrack of my life. Certain songs are strongly connected with certain times of my life. I have carefully crafted playlists for those times, like those songs playing on AM radio during those Summers spent upstate in the late 60's, another playlist of those 8-Track tapes we'd play at our New Year's Eve parties, another playlist for those marathon study sessions in college, etc.

I'm not a fan of streaming services. I'm not a fan of digital purchases unless it is the only option available. I buy CDs and LPs and rip them. That makes me a technological cro-magnon but I don't care.

 

[Rawkfist]

I have 30K plus songs in my iTunes. I don't use any cloud services nor do I use match. I have purchased vinyl and of course now CDs since the late "a long time ago". But I also subscribe to Beats to preview music I am considering adding to the collection. Best use for streaming I can come up with.

 

[MeeMac]

Limited Content Selection/Control = No Stream

However I do supplement my CDs/Album RIPs with digital purchases from iTunes. I use Apple products so I use iTunes. Therefore I buy iTunes content from Apple.

 

[zhenya]

I think the mistake you are making is assuming that it must be either/or. Streaming makes an excellent supplement to any music lover's repertoire. Even an extremely large music collection will typically have a few 10's of thousands of tracks. That might seem like a lot, but if you spent some time exploring the streaming libraries, you might realize how stale even a collection that large may come over time. The benefit of a good streaming service is that it constantly exposes you to new music based on the music you already like. For an extremely small amount of money compared to the cost of amassing those large collections you get a window into all of the influences of your favorite musicians, are free to explore their less-known works, or works of the supporting members of the band, with no risk other than the time it takes to click and listen. I have a library of similar size to those mentioned here - cd/digital and vinyl, and yet I still find new albums I LOVE nearly every week through the streaming services I subscribe to.

To think that it must completely replace your local collection is to miss the point.

 

[Natzoo]

I have 30K plus songs in my iTunes. I don't use any cloud services nor do I use match. I have purchased vinyl and of course now CDs since the late "a long time ago". But I also subscribe to Beats to preview music I am considering adding to the collection. Best use for streaming I can come up with.

I have 2k songs, and they are all downloaded from youtube.

 

[DJLC]

I have several days worth of music in iTunes and playlists dating back to iTunes 1.0.

But day-to-day, I just use Spotify. Aside from not having enough space on all my devices, the streaming subscription allows me to discover more music that I wouldn't have necessarily purchased on iTunes.

If ever I choose to discontinue my subscription, I'll probably end up buying a couple albums on iTunes. But until then I just don't see the point in loading all my devices to capacity with music when I can just stream anything my heart desires on demand.

The only real downside: when I'm driving and go into a dead zone, my stereo goes silent. But that doesn't happen often anyway.

 

[poematik13]

I don't get it either. It limits your freedom and control and turns you into a pay slave. A lot of the music I listen to is not on those services anyway.

 

[sracer]

I think the mistake you are making is assuming that it must be either/or. Streaming makes an excellent supplement to any music lover's repertoire. Even an extremely large music collection will typically have a few 10's of thousands of tracks. That might seem like a lot, but if you spent some time exploring the streaming libraries, you might realize how stale even a collection that large may come over time. The benefit of a good streaming service is that it constantly exposes you to new music based on the music you already like. For an extremely small amount of money compared to the cost of amassing those large collections you get a window into all of the influences of your favorite musicians, are free to explore their less-known works, or works of the supporting members of the band, with no risk other than the time it takes to click and listen.I have a library of similar size to those mentioned here - cd/digital and vinyl, and yet I still find new albums I LOVE nearly every week through the streaming services I subscribe to.

To think that it must completely replace your local collection is to miss the point.

What I bolded is what I previously referred to as the "car leasing" rationale. It's not that I miss the point, it's that the point makes no sense.

To have a music library that consists of 10,000's tracks of music and still find the need to stream music not in the collection makes very little sense to me... in particular, why continue to add to the collection?

 

[zhenya]

What I bolded is what I previously referred to as the "car leasing" rationale. It's not that I miss the point, it's that the point makes no sense.

To have a music library that consists of 10,000's tracks of music and still find the need to stream music not in the collection makes very little sense to me... in particular, why continue to add to the collection?

I suppose then that we have a different point of view as to what constitutes a diverse music collection. A few thousand albums is really not that large and it would be obviously full of omissions to me; both albums I'm currently aware of and those that I have not yet discovered.

But then I suppose there is a reason that most people never seem to move beyond the same small selection of albums they listened to in their teens and 20's...

I suppose if your entire music budget for the year were $120, then maybe I could see spending it on the physical albums these days, but frankly, even then, I think someone with such a restricted budget would be far better served by the vast catalogue of streaming music available to them for that amount as opposed to the tiny physical collection they could create with that budget.

 

[sracer]

I suppose then that we have a different point of view as to what constitutes a diverse music collection. A few thousand albums is really not that large and it would be obviously full of omissions to me; both albums I'm currently aware of and those that I have not yet discovered.

If one listens to their entire collection, then a few thousand albums IS large. Every collection, every streaming service is "full of omissions" because they do not contain every track of music that has been produced.

How long would it take you to listen to 30,000 tracks? Really listen to, not just as background noise.

I suppose if your entire music budget for the year were $120, then maybe I could see spending it on the physical albums these days, but frankly, even then, I think someone with such a restricted budget would be far better served by the vast catalogue of streaming music available to them for that amount as opposed to the tiny physical collection they could create with that budget.

Again, it is the "car leasing" scenario. If one is on a limited budget, streaming services give one access to more music than they would be able to outright purchase. Streaming is best for those with small budgets.

My budget is perhaps higher than many. Couple that with thrift shopping for tunes, I'm able to purchase quite a bit of music... oftentimes more than I would be able to listen to.

Streaming services, even those with millions of tracks, have significant "omissions" for my tastes in music since much of the music that I seek out wasn't produced on CD, or isn't part of some package licensing deal.

So for me, those claims of "exploring new music" are not really applicable because either the genre of music, or specific artists are poorly represented (if not completely absent) from streaming services.

And for all of the "exploring new music" opportunity that exists, there is a lot of junk out there. That's time I can't get back.

 

[yly3]

The truth is somewhere in between.

I like to see it as a "Streaming Services" are more like an "enhanced" Radio for the mainstream music listeners or those people who listen to just top40 music etc.

I will agree that Spotify for example gives you enough exposure to artists even underground but in my opinion not quite there to really satisfy the "demands" of regular music collectors, not neceserally the hardcore "hipsters".

As an iPod Classic owner solely the advantage of having the music in my pocket ALL the time regardless of my cell network defeats all the other advantages of the streaming.
Besides, like someone else said, they don't cover all the music I like especially the older one.

I guess that at the end of the day it all boils down to passion and effort as actually collecting and discovering music as a music lover. People who actually made an "effort" in downloading/searching/reading blogs/magazines/buying CDs-12" and going to gigs were perfectly fine with their iPods well before the streaming era.

I tried Spotify these holidays with their 1$ for 3 months sale. Never opened it more than a few times, in fact I haven't opened it since December.

There is also this streaming "user interface" I really dislike as in social comments, ads and overall UI layout. It feels clunky and buggy for me.
The simplicity of simply hitting play, sitting back and enjoying the music is a lot more intimate and satisfying for me.


I do check SoundCloud every now and then solely because that is where most of my favorite artists release new stuff and I feel like I have a direct connection with them. But I mostly check it for news, not using it as a music player.

 

[boast]

It is great for non-elitist non-hipsters to listen to a bunch of random music whenever you think of it. Helps fulfill quick impulse listening.

I think it might not be great for music snobs

 

[Trey M]

I used to be a big fan of locally stored music via iTunes, but in the last couple of years I've really started to use Spotify 90% of the time for my listening needs. I like to legally obtain music, but I have no physical collection at all just about 1500 songs acquired on iTunes through the years. Spotify allows me to pay a small fee per month ($5 student) to legally obtain 95% of the music I want, allowing me to store the files locally for use regardless of cell service, and it allows me to import other local music I have into my Spotify playlists.

I think streaming is fantastic, but not for everyone. Audiophiles likely won't enjoy the quality, and it is disappointing they don't have certain songs, artists (underground, etc.). For me, however, I now highly prefer streaming rather than digital purchases in iTunes.

 

[sracer]

The truth is somewhere in between.

I fail to see how this has anything to do with "truth". It is about opinions and preferences.

 

[musika]

Buy vinyl. The physical experience is priceless.

 

[Fzang]

Buy vinyl. The physical experience is priceless.

I use Djay on my iPad with Spotify so I can marvel at how far we've come, while trying to keep it hipster like it's hip

 

[Traverse]

Streaming services, even those with millions of tracks, have significant "omissions" for my tastes in music since much of the music that I seek out wasn't produced on CD, or isn't part of some package licensing deal.

So for me, those claims of "exploring new music" are not really applicable because either the genre of music, or specific artists are poorly represented (if not completely absent) from streaming services.

And for all of the "exploring new music" opportunity that exists, there is a lot of junk out there. That's time I can't get back.

I agree with all of this. I have used iTunes Radio and Spotify occasionally and have indeed found some artists I like, but for the most part, my kind of music isn't on there.

Also, they mainly push mainstream music even if it doesn't fit my library. I have Switchfoot and Hammock in Spotify and they still recommend Niki Minja, little Wanye, and Kanye West.

Really? Switchfoot is soft rock I suppose and Hammock is acoustic.

 

[zhenya]

In my experience, Spotify does a terrible job of suggesting new music that is relevant to my tastes. Beats was a lot better in this regards, and Apple has brought that part of their service over to Apple Music. Doesn't help if their library is missing what interests you, but for me, it works.

 

[Trius]

Music discovery. #1 reason I like streaming.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Recommendations are not very easy when a lot of artists appeal to different demographics. That's why Apple is going the album/song route of figuring things out.

 

[Dimwhit]

I have about 10k tracks in iTunes. But there is plenty of music I like that I don't own. Now I can listen to all that. Discovering new bands is another plus.

And a lot of the curated playlists in the For You section that I've found are fantastic, again with a lot of music I enjoy but wouldn't buy. Totally worth the money to me.

 

[sracer]

Recommendations are not very easy when a lot of artists appeal to different demographics. That's why Apple is going the album/song route of figuring things out.

It's easy when it is done right. I was part of the group that was involved with Jaboom back on 2000-2001. They were developing a database and knowledge system for categorizing and connecting music for intelligent recommendations. Very comprehensive. It wasn't a simple connection of music by genre or demographics, but a deeper analysis of the music tracks themselves (based on human feedback) in order to predict what music might be appealing to a person.

Microsoft's Zune Marketplace had one of the most sophisticated recommendation systems that I've seen. I have reason to believe that they were using some Jaboom technology.

Music discovery. #1 reason I like streaming.

That's a good reason... provided that it is done with "integrity" and not having certain artists/albums pushed because the label has paid to be "preferred" recommendations.