Physical, downloads, or streaming music for you?

[IronWing]

I was reading this article about Apple possibly abandoning downloads in favor of streaming. Note: Apple has denied the accuracy of the article.

Do you see streaming as the future of how you will listen to music?

For me, CDs > hi-fi downloads > low-fi downloads. I haven't gotten to streaming yet. The main reason I prefer CDs over hi-fi downloads is that so few artists/labels provide the liner notes with their downloads.

 

[hatuko]

Def. streaming

 

[pete6032]

Streaming. Amazon prime music. If I find something I like, then I buy it and throw it onto my mp3 player.

 

[madoka]

I like owning CDs first and foremost.

Otherwise I will download.

I don't like streaming because I like to have my music available without an internet connection.

 

[Anubis]

I buy CDs or download FLAC (this is rare)

I then rip my CDs (FLAC) and upload, to stream back to myself through google music

 

[cbrunny]

Streaming. Google Play Music has the option to customize the size of the cache. It barely uses any data - only when I play something I've never listened to before. Don't think this is possible on PC though - only Android Devices.

 

[vi edit]

The only CD I've bought in the last 10 years was from a small upstart band that was selling them after a concert I saw.

I think the *IMPORTANT* question is...buy or rent your music?
Buy would be paying for individual songs or whole albums that you keep indefinitely.
Rent would be paying for a streaming subscription that allows you to stream without commercials/unlimited skips/specific tracks and also allow the option of offline caching. But once you stop paying your music is dead. (Or you can stream with commercials).

I haven't *bought* a normal commercial album in years either. I pay for subscription services that let me browse libraries and play on demand. I then can build playlists and cache them to my phone and play them in my car without using cellular data.

When at home I stream. When in the car I stream...from a download.

 

[Ns1]

streaming is just so damn easy and cheap

 

[jumpncrash]

Download, I don't like having to stream things all the time, why download it 50 times when i can just download it once

 

[Ruptga]

I like the idea of owning a big library, but I don't want to buy one and can't be bothered to manage one either, so I stream.

 

[lxskllr]

Download. I already have too much stuff laying around, and like the convenience and portability of bits. My preference is flac download that I transcode to Q8 vorbis(~256k), then delete the original. That sounds good on all my gear, and it's reasonable to load it directly on a music player or phone. If I have some need of small files, it still sounds good enough with another transcode, especially considering if I need especially small files, I'm playing them on junk.

 

[NutBucket]

I pay for Pandora although it's mostly used by family. I also have Prime but the music wasn't the main motivation. Should I want to buy music I'll always go physical, either CD or vinyl.

 

[Rakehellion]

Download.

 

[nakedfrog]

I buy vinyl records, I buy CDs, I buy downloads (mostly from Amazon or Band Camp) and I stream. Streaming is probably the lowest percentage, maybe 10-15% of my listening.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I buy CDs (rip to FLAC) and MP3 albums, but also listen to Pandora.

I dislike streaming my own collection from the cloud since every so often there will be a glitch in the middle of a song.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Download - I've had music from Amazon Prime removed from Streaming availability (it was on a playlist and just no longer plays). This wasn't particularly new or popular music, so I guess like the streaming video library for Amazon & Netflix its constantly changing. So - download for me!

 

[biostud]

If I can buy FLAC I do this otherwise CD rip to FLAC.

 

[gorcorps]

All

I have google play which gives me streaming access to everything as it's released. Then if I find something I really want, I'll buy a copy of it and rip it myself... or if Amazon has Autorip I'll buy it from them and get the mp3 version automatically. Streaming is not high quality enough for me to rely on it.

 

[Broheim]

streaming, it's waaaaaay cheaper for me since I listen to a lot of different music.

 

[Humpy]

Streaming only.

Owning a collection of various tone patterns and sounds seems odd.

 

[ControlD]

Depends on where I am listening.

In the car I generally listen to CDs.

If I am on WiFi I am streaming.

On a plane I am listening to downloaded music from my streaming source or rips of my CDs.

For bands that I like, I still buy the physical disk even if I will end up streaming it later.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Paying money for access only? What part of that sounds like a good idea? Just take my money, hand over the goods, and go away. I will not subscribe to you. You are not a service.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Google Music streaming. Although I want to get a vynl player for the novelty.

 

[dawp]

Streaming. Google Play Music has the option to customize the size of the cache. It barely uses any data - only when I play something I've never listened to before. Don't think this is possible on PC though - only Android Devices.

I like google play for the radio option, I discover a lot of bands that way.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

DL, my AK240 doesn't even do streaming.