4 ms·

It doesn't even need to be physical media. I switched from buying CDs and ripping them to MP3, to just buying MP3, once I realised that the bit that I value mos

It doesn't even need to be physical media. I switched from buying CDs and ripping them to MP3, to just buying MP3, once I realised that the bit that I value most is simply having a finite music collection that I know well. I take my music collection with me by running a Plex server on a Raspberry Pi at home - some of it isn't available on streaming services. (A couple of albums aren't even available to buy any more, in any format.) I wouldn't say I know every single album in it like the back of my hand - but I'm at least familiar with them all, and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. I do still use streaming services occasionally when I want something my library doesn't cover - say I'm really in the mood to explore UK grime music one day, or 90s dubstep the next. But I find it a very different experience to listening to old familiar songs.

cableshaft 5y ago
I could buy an album on MP3 for $10+ now, oooor I could go to the local Good Will regularly and pick up any CDs that look interesting for $1 apiece and rip those, then return them to Good Will when I don't want to hang on to them anymore. This doesn't really work if you want new releases or something specific of course, but I've rediscovered some great music from late 80s to early 2000s artists by browsing it periodically. And for $1 a CD, it's much easier to justify taking a risk on something.
- camtarn 5y ago
  Heh, yeah, that's actually what used to motivate me to buy things on CD. Nowadays, I'm very fortunate to have a decent bit more disposable income than I used to, so I'm happy to put some directly towards the artist. I prefer to buy from Bandcamp where I can, which seems to have the largest artist share (up to 100% on promo days!)
  - cableshaft 5y ago
    I still buy digital albums as well, and I've bought a decent number of albums on Bandcamp over the years. But I also enjoy getting older albums cheap when I can.
01100011 5y ago
I was just discussing this with my wife. I switched to streaming services out of convenience but I find that the collection of my 'liked music' is easily 1/10th of my old MP3 collection(160GB?). Since switching to streaming the number of artists I regularly listen to has dropped dramatically. I played a song the other day for my wife and she said she had no idea I liked that kind of music. Well, I never specifically 'liked' it on my streaming service so it never got played(in over 5 years). One thing I can say is that YouTube(pre-YT music) was instrumental in helping me discover a lot of new music. The suggestion algorithm they were using worked really well. Unfortunately I can't say the same for Spotify, which seems to trap you in a cave of your previous likes. If I can find the time, I'm going to switch back to my MP3 collection. It will take some work, but I need to undo the damage done by streaming.

cableshaft 5y ago

I could buy an album on MP3 for $10+ now, oooor I could go to the local Good Will regularly and pick up any CDs that look interesting for $1 apiece and rip those, then return them to Good Will when I don't want to hang on to them anymore. This doesn't really work if you want new releases or something specific of course, but I've rediscovered some great music from late 80s to early 2000s artists by browsing it periodically. And for $1 a CD, it's much easier to justify taking a risk on something.

camtarn 5y ago
Heh, yeah, that's actually what used to motivate me to buy things on CD. Nowadays, I'm very fortunate to have a decent bit more disposable income than I used to, so I'm happy to put some directly towards the artist. I prefer to buy from Bandcamp where I can, which seems to have the largest artist share (up to 100% on promo days!)
- cableshaft 5y ago
  I still buy digital albums as well, and I've bought a decent number of albums on Bandcamp over the years. But I also enjoy getting older albums cheap when I can.

01100011 5y ago

I was just discussing this with my wife. I switched to streaming services out of convenience but I find that the collection of my 'liked music' is easily 1/10th of my old MP3 collection(160GB?). Since switching to streaming the number of artists I regularly listen to has dropped dramatically. I played a song the other day for my wife and she said she had no idea I liked that kind of music. Well, I never specifically 'liked' it on my streaming service so it never got played(in over 5 years). One thing I can say is that YouTube(pre-YT music) was instrumental in helping me discover a lot of new music. The suggestion algorithm they were using worked really well. Unfortunately I can't say the same for Spotify, which seems to trap you in a cave of your previous likes. If I can find the time, I'm going to switch back to my MP3 collection. It will take some work, but I need to undo the damage done by streaming.