[17671]

Music: Probably bought 5 CDs during an average month. At $12 per CD (and it was a lot more than that when labels felt free to rip off the consumer) that's $60/month. Now it's $9.99/month. Looking at my listening stats for last month - 1,244 plays of 1,068 different tracks by 537 different artists

You owned all the music you bought on all those CD's where as spotify or other streaming services, you do NOT own any of the songs or rights to them, you just get to "listen" to it over and over when your connected to "the internet", they can remove songs any time they want from catelogues such as spotify, so your favourite song can disappear on you, bet you did not know that. owning vs listening to a song there is a big difference, learn about it, actually wait, nah forget it, the big media companies do not want you to own anything, they actually own you more than you owned them back in the day. your giving MORE money to artists now than you did back in the good old days of CD so your philosophy is flawed and incorrect. but i get your point, just you do not get mine and that is ok to admit that.

 

[flaminghomer]

If we're comparing old tech to new, how about the physical space involved? I've got a music collection of over 30k songs. Before I went digital, about two thirds of that was on CDs, which took up a whole wall of shelves in my basement. Now the whole collection sits on a hard drive on my desk, which is good because I moved into a condo a few years ago and don't have the room for all that anymore. Shelves and shelves of books? Two e-readers. I still have several shelves of Blu-rays and DVDs, but I don't remember the last time I actually bought one.

And as for quality, don't get me started on these people that think all digital music is artificial and only vinyl can reproduce true sound. Yes, true scratches, true distortion, and true degradation every time you play them. (I haven't had a turntable in years but I do have a record cabinet full of albums. I keep hoping I'll find out they're worth a few bucks someday. Plus it's a nice cabinet with a lamp and a bowl for my keys on it :smile)

 

[NeilN]

they can remove songs any time they want from catelogues such as spotify, so your favourite song can disappear on you, bet you did not know that. owning vs listening to a song there is a big difference, learn about it, actually wait, nah forget it, the big media companies do not want you to own anything, they actually own you more than you owned them back in the day. your giving MORE money to artists now than you did back in the good old days of CD so your philosophy is flawed and incorrect. but i get your point, just you do not get mine and that is ok to admit that.

How condescending, verging on pure silliness. I explicitly said "who cares" if I don't own the music. I've been using Spotify for seven years so I'm quite aware that tracks occasionally leave their catalog. Last year I listened to 12,831 unique tracks. Let's cut that to 5,000 unique tracks a year for 7 years - 35,000 unique tracks at 99 cents per track = ~$35,000.

Seven years of Spotify at $15/month (earlier years were more expensive) = $1,260. I currently have 232 "local songs" (i.e., songs not in Spotify's catalog that I cared enough to pay for after stopping buying CDs) So add $232. That's $1,492 vs $35,000 (or $5,040 for CDs with ~6,300 tracks).

Some common sense is required here.

 

[Tridus]

THere is absolutely nothing wrong with the current conventional Radio Am/fm model, it works well, its been around for years, the only problem is this new generation and their "GREED" for everything, they want it and want it "NOW" and they want to break up an industry that gives us stable and reliable jobs and careers for pure greed and selfishness of their own, not to mention we need to sit back and take it easy and take things much slower. Radio does not need to die, it serves a great purpose theres many people who already enjoy it, elt them and the next generation continue to enjoy it

The only real problem here is the previous generation and their relentless need to make themselves feel better about themselves by attacking people younger than them for the heinous crime of daring to have different preferences. Madness! Unlike when these people were kids and their parents thought the same about them, of course. That was totally different because reasons.

Do you happen to work in an industry that millennials killed, by chance? Because that's exactly what you sound like. The new models have clear superiority in a number of ways, which is why the market likes them. That's how a free market economy works.

the second point to mention, yeah a lot of people know they can download their songs offline but a lot of people FORGET to do it until they already cross the peace bridge and are already on us soil and are like damn, i want to play my spotify playlist but forgot to download it and now im roaming, go ahead, PAY exorbant roaming fees to get waht you want, yeah technologys suppost to make life easier? hope u are happy when you open your cell bill and happily pay for the roaming data rates. while i sit back and listen to conventional fm or my burned cd of music which i made with music I already own

See, my phone has this near magical thing on it called wifi...

 

[NeilN]

That's exactly what this is, given "we need to sit back and take it easy and take things much slower." "My paper ledgers, pencils, and trusty calculator are just fine - no need to use these newfangled spreadsheets. I own the paper my ledgers are written out on. Who knows what happens to these spreadsheet thingies when I turn the computer off? We need to sit back and take it easy and take things much slower."

 

[ExDilbert]

The only real problem here is the previous generation and their relentless need to make themselves feel better about themselves by attacking people younger than them for the heinous crime of daring to have different preferences.

Except that this statement represents bigotry against previous generations, the exact thing you are accusing them of. Speak to the individual, don't stigmatize entire groups. I know where the demise of AM/FM radio lies and it's largely due to my generation, as well as others. It was caused by consumers flocking to big box stores and destroying the small businesses that comprised the bulk of advertising revenue for local radio and TV stations. That started when most Millennials were in public school, though I suspect their parents played a large role. Broadcasters themselves played a big role by refusing to adapt to business trends and new technologies in constructive ways and destroying much of the value of their own product.

 

[Inglewood]

The middle aged guy said:

100 years ago...

"who needs this new fangled radio stuff when we have the phonograph"


70 years ago...

"who needs this television stuff when we have perfectly good radio"


50 years ago...

"who needs this colour TV stuff when we have perfectly good B&W TV"


40 years ago...

"who needs cable when I can get everything with my antenna"



The world moves on...and luddites will exist in every generation harking for the "good old days". You only live once - do what you like, and let others do what they like. I like my AM/FM radio myself, but if my neighbour wants a satellite radio, Spotify, or doesn't even listen to music at all, so be it - I'm doing what I enjoy.

 

[Gentleman]

Except that this statement represents bigotry against previous generations, the exact thing you are accusing them of.

Very well put.

At the end of the day, each of us has different preferences for our entertainment enjoyment.

The greatest challenge I have with availability of music today is finding digital copies of rare Canadian artist compilations from the 70's. Yes I have many of those on vinyl, however as another poster has noted, unless handled impeccably, vinyl becomes noisy with use and age.

If anyone has a plentiful source of digital songs from Canadian artists from the 70's, for example, I'd like to know.

 

[ticky]

Based on OPs rant, I'm shocked someone of his advanced age is capable of finding this forum, signing up for it, and making this long-winded post.

"I still like the radio and all of you other people are idiots" — OP

 

[BGY11]

The greatest challenge I have with availability of music today is finding digital copies of rare Canadian artist compilations from the 70's.

Good point!

Heck, even some of the old records we had from Cape Breton would have been nice to have on CD or digital of some kind. The Rise & Follies of Cape Breton Island is one in particular I remember fondly as a kid.

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

 

[eljay]

When I was young, I stuck 45s in a "record-eater" (very much like this one), watched black-and-white TV (maybe 3 channels?) and listened to AM radio. It was a pure and simple life.

And then the world got crazy with newfangled things like console stereos, colour TVs and FM radio.



I very much enjoy having the Internet, a decent smartphone, access to services like iTunes, Netflix and Spotify and the ability to load my entire library of music (ripped CDs and tracks purchased on-line) into one compact device that I can take and use pretty much anywhere.

YMMV.

 

[Inglewood]

One thing I always wonder about, even with my personal choices, is how "rounded" people these days are with entertainment choices or being exposed to new things.

Two areas in my own lifetime that I'm very narrow about are music videos and sports.

Back when MuchMusic was the only source for music videos, I would watch horrible junk like Much West or Life on Venus Ave - but at the same time, I was being exposed to different music/cultures/etc that if I had a choice, I wouldn't bother watching with today's choices. But since it was the only thing on, and was the "best available thing" to watch, I would still watch it. Now, if I want to watch videos, I choose what I want to see and don't get exposed to anything new or different.

Sports is another area - I use to watch all kinds of sports, and all different teams because only 1 or 2 sporting events were on at a time, and it may not be the team you follow. Now, you can get every game from every team, or every sporting event. It's impossible for me to even follow all the sports I use to watch, so I've narrowed it down significantly to CFL, NFL, and F1 - however, for each of them there is endless content now - it's impossible to watch every minute of what is available.


I think back to all the hours I spent watching "junk" in the 70's 80's and 90's that I wouldn't bother to watch today. It shows the power that the big networks use to have, and how choice of content and choice of video sources is democratizing entertainment.

I use to come into school/work in the 70's through 90's (even in the early 2000's with shows like Survivor) and almost everybody watched the same show, talked about it, and it was a bonding/conversation exercise. Now everyone watches completely different programs, at different times, and it takes a bit away from the commonality that we use to have. Now, only the Super Bowl, Academy Awards, and a few other events has the same chit-chat watercooler conversations that use to occur almost daily.

However, there are now online communities for every obscure thing, and maybe that has replaced the face to face conversations...

 

[JamesK]

I've pretty much given up on radio for music, because it's so bad these days. I'm old enough to remember when CHUM FM switched from classical music to album rock. There was a lot of excellent music back in those days, through the 70's, 80's and into the 90's. Then music quality took a severe turn for the worst, with very few good musicians getting air time

 

[ExDilbert]

A really good free form DJ can expose listeners to a lot of new and interesting music. We had several free form FM stations on cable in the early 1970s. The other great thing about them was that they were commercial free. Once FM became popular and audiences large enough, they were flipped to top 40 with commercials. Free form stations continued in various forms but became more difficult to find with time. The last one I listened to was WDET, a public supported PBS station from Detroit. In the early 2000s it was changed to a full PBS affiliate and the music programming discontinued.

 

[NeilN]

One thing I always wonder about, even with my personal choices, is how "rounded" people these days are with entertainment choices or being exposed to new things.

Back when MuchMusic was the only source for music videos, I would watch horrible junk like Much West or Life on Venus Ave - but at the same time, I was being exposed to different music/cultures/etc that if I had a choice, I wouldn't bother watching with today's choices. But since it was the only thing on, and was the "best available thing" to watch, I would still watch it. Now, if I want to watch videos, I choose what I want to see and don't get exposed to anything new or different.

I think this is entirely dependent on how a consumer chooses to use the recommendation services that accompany most media services. Someone can choose to exactly what they see or hear or they can explore further using recommendation services. For example, Spotify produces a "Discover" playlists for me every week consisting of unheard tracks based on my listening history. A lot of these songs are "meh" or worse but there's the occasional gem, which leads me to explore a new artist or sub-genre.

The phenomenally inexpensive and on-demand nature of these services also encourage exploration. For example, I'm currently reading a novel partially set in an alt-reality Africa. It'd be pretty cool to listen to some African music while reading it. I'm certainly not going to get that on AM/FM radio and I'm very unlikely to spend $12 on a whim to buy a CD for a genre I know little about. But with Spotify, thirty seconds later I was listening to Afrobeat folk and then some Nigerian music at no additional cost.

Not to mention there's tonnes of music blogs and columns out that cover new music as well as re-issues. Before, you had to think about shelling out $$ if a review caught your eye. Now, it's a no-brainer.

 

[ExDilbert]

Services like Spotify (and social media) can be used both ways. Some people use the features to explore new music and viewpoints. Others use them to stick to narrow interests and block out all others. It's like working in an office with 10 water coolers. Some will stick to the water cooler that has only people like themselves. Others will switch coolers occasionally to hear different points of view. Today's internet is like an office with millions of water coolers.

 

[rob_t]

I love the "surprise" factor of radio, of being delighted to hear something great that someone else curated. I never quite get that from Spotify or shuffle in my personal library; closer with Pandora. What I am doing is to use a program called streamWriter on Windows to record specific genre shows I like from internet radio streams, and then with some scripts and some Internet storage, I turn them into a personal podcast. I time-shift those shows, and can listen to them as I wish. Life is good

 

[classicsat]

I am fairly lucky in my part of Mid-western Ontario, where I can receive a few stations that are not that bad for Classic Rock, if you listen to them in moderation (too much, and the automation repetition shows through). One small town station is very independent, and has a programmed schedule, which includes a classic rock programme, which plays a lot of deep tracks.

I also have an FTA satellite music service, and the Canada Radio app (while mostly commercial radio still, it is sometimes a hoot to listen to random stations from other regions). I have not been listening to my recorded music/files much.

 

[Bpke]

What I do not get is people in the same generation as me (30's to 40's) who complain they have "NO MONEY" who are struggling to keep a steady job, and complaining they can not buy a house because the price is out of reach for them, yet they spend their money in a heartbeat on expensive cellphone plans, and add money on top of that for music streaming services like spotify, google music, youtube audio, tidal, or satellite radio such as sirius xm.

Uhh yeah, nobody's missing out on buying a home because they're paying for a Spotify subscription.

 

[ExDilbert]

Spotify is cheap compared to buying CDs or even individual songs separately. A CD and song collection that would compare to the selection on Spotify would cost 100s of thousands of dollars. A 1000 disc CD collection at 1990's prices cost about $10,000 in 1990's dollars. At $10/mo for Spotify, it will take 90 years to reach $10,000. It's no wonder everyone in the music industry is crying the blues. They've lost the power to become instant millionaires by selling a few hit singles on price fixed discs.