I am not into streaming tbh, also I am much of a cheapskate to get Spotify or other streaming music services. So yeah I am still one of the folks here who still downloads their music to their phone or DAP and listen to those songs, because it just works for me and I don’t see the point of me having a streaming service. Though for convenience, that I can understand, I just don’t prefer to.
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This is only tangentially related but there is a free version of spotify. It plays like an ad every ten songs so it’s like radio in a way.
Yeah more reason for me not to go for those even it is free, it’s because I hate ads and I don’t like ads being shoved right to my face or even my ears.
Around how many albums or songs do you buy a year?
hmmm well nowadays is not so much, since my dad most of the time got the albums that I want from the artists that I actually listen to. Also I have to admit that I am doing the gray area on getting music that I want, meaning I am not fully legally downloading music, I am more like doing both the legit way and the not so legit way.
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Oh okay i get what you mean, i also dont get alot of new music all the time so it’s not inconvenient for me to pay full price for an album. And yeah i get most of my music legally by purchasing it but sometimes i just download it. Really depends on my money and the artist. If it’s just s catchy song i want i just download it
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I have CDs and vinyl and Spotify Premium. Oh and an unraid server running plex with a library of mp3 320 and FLAC. The library is decades old and I have spent a lot of time replacing old lossy albums with lossless or at least 320 mp3.
Here is the elephant in the room PIRACY
Yeah I said it. I just want to point out that lossless albums from most retail sites are $20 or more. I scour bargain bins mining for gold. SACDs can generally be had new for less than HDtracks charges for an album.
Bottom line. Streaming helps me find good stuff and it’s a good tool for bookmarking things other people tell me about on the spot before I forget. If I really like it I will be obtaining a physical copy one way or another.
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this. There so much different and good music in the world so streaming services is easy door way to get it. Since your country’s data cost is cheap and fast, why not and actual CD’s actually cost. Too much for my taste.
Would need to set decent secure backup drive setup if all the digital media would be on local drives as downloaded or purchased that they wont be loss in case of disaster… thats not cheap and gear needs to be updated time to time.
Plus the streaming works on with phones, computers and various other devices, even amps. Good music with decent and good quality is just few clicks away.
You are not also stuck with genres you mainly like, play a little and pick totally different music genre. Might like what you will find.
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I see, maybe it depends on the music too? Because from my experience flac albums cos the SAME as mp3s. Thats the reason ive been able to afford it, only one niche rare album has been 18 dollars. My kpop flacs are also cheap, altho have to be downloaded through korean friends and yeah the illegal downloading is definitely an elephant in the room as not all my library is completely bought. But I generally do so thinking better spending on this than probably some junk food, burger or beer
Yeah the variety of music and choice is a big theme in streaming. Not to mention discovering new music, altho storage is actually not a big deal at all for me as a non streamer. I have multiple sources where its stores, phone, tablet, external drive, pc and could even store it on google drive for free
I’m actually a student, for one. I just happen to have been offered a job at a company that does telemed because I’ve done freelance work for them multiple times before, and they know my work ethic.
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I stream 99.9% of the time. I don’t really have a good place to have a big audio setup, so I use my laptop. I have been using Tidal for quite a while, but I have recently switched over to Amazon’s new HD Music service. My CD’s are in storage, and I don’t have a record player (but I could get into it).
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It’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. Nowadays I mainly stream or share albums with friends, and it’s mostly import music from Japan (Comiket and Reitaisai are the bane of me). I used to buy loads and loads of CD’s from CDJapan. So much so that my customs probably put me on a shitlist, because every package I import, no matter the value, gets stuck and fined. It really has gone to the point where I wonder if it’s even worth buying an album because I end up paying double or triple after taxes and fees. I mostly just import the ones I really really want now because of this.
My private importing enterprise has given me a collection of some several hundred CD’s (probably not more than 1000) spread out around the house, a couple of hundred of LPs and a few DVD’s or BD’s with concerts on. The LP’s are mostly my old mans, I rarely buy more right now because I don’t have a working LP player or a decent place for it near my stereo.
I used to have Spotify for some time, but after having it for so long and using it less and less, I just terminated the subscription and started looking elsewhere. It wasn’t my main source for finding the type of music that I listen to mostly anyway. That’s when I started using Tidal. Oddly enough it actually has quite a few of the Japanese artists that I like, mainly in the electronic genres. Not to mention it’s fun to try out MQA and actually finding so many well recorded albums. It really tickles the right places for me.
My digital collection mostly consists of Japanese imports and doujin music. A vast amount of it is self-ripped, with a good chunk as of late coming from places like bandcamp or wherever I can find or buy it in lossless. Historically speaking I’ve gotten a good amount through plain piracy, up until I got myself a solid income at least, but that got me to know so many interesting artists that in some cases I’ve ended up buying their whole discographies. YUI and Shikata Akiko being two of them that are particularly close to my heart. I have a whole shelf just dedicated to them more or less.
Normally though, I often come across a new artist looking at their crossfade demos put up on bandcamp, youtube or such. Alternatively I find artists through various anime opening and ending songs. The latter used to be my main source for finding new artists as I watched something each season. Then I buy an album or two from those that I particularly like, or just the specific single from the show I happened to watch.
Nowadays my majority of the physical purchases I do are at local music markets that are arranged once or twice a year. It’s a good source for finding rare CD’s and LP’s, even though the hauls aren’t that huge most of the time. But it’s good fun to go to them and meet people that might like the same artists or share stories and tips.
Now I better stop rambling before this gets any longer lol
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Thanks for sharing your story! I found it very interesting to read, and its a shame that due to how many cds you bought from Japan they started really kicking up the tariffs. BTW I’m a big fan too but my brother and sister in particular are HUGE Yui fans! All of her discography and were sad when she stopped making solo music. If you haven’t already you might be interested in checking out the Japanese group Scandal, Larc en Ciel. Two other groups they are massive fans us, the taste for music might collide
I stream or download off the streaming service because I don’t have the cash to spend on albums to rip. I used to pirate but it’s just not as convenient. I do have my favorite albums on flac when I want to listen to them
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Pirating albums, sounds like the early 2010s xD I still do those but no so much since it has been difficult lately.
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Ive heard this alot, riceguru also mentioned it but damn lol it hasnt felt any harder for me. It feels like if it exists its easy to find. Although recently to due ethical reasons i try to buy every single song i like, plus it is easier to appreciate it if you pay for it. Sites like bandcamp, 7digital and onkyomusic have been the best. Although certain genres like kpop can only be found in flac within korea so I outsource those to a friend in Korea lol
I didn’t know you could download off streaming services! Except qobuz i did hear something of the kind. When it comes to downloading now I would say that illegally downloading flacs is usually easier than mp3s. I assume since theres a bigger demand for mp3s its more fought against
I don’t stream as I like to own copies of my music. And I buy new music almost every week.
My collection is almost six and a half thousand songs. I started off by ripping my CD collection (and discarding all the crap music that was I forced to buy in the CD era) and then just started buying music from iTunes. I just buy what I like, be it one song or the whole album.
I don’t want to pay the data to stream and the artists are paid next to nothing.
Shane D
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I mostly stream. I have a small vinyl collection that I’ve been building up over the last 3 years or so, but it’s just so convenient being able to pull up Spotify on the go. I look for new music all the time too and I’ve found that Spotify does a pretty great job of helping with that, so that’s why I use it.
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