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I think people assume that because the actual contents of the media are basically identical, that the physical and digital/streamed media are functionally equiv

I think people assume that because the actual contents of the media are basically identical, that the physical and digital/streamed media are functionally equivalent, but they offer very different experiences. You have a really awesome relationship with the physical media your dad left you. I imagine you play the vinyls on some kind of stereo and not in airpods or whatever? The medium asks you to use it to create an experience, an environment. Streaming doesn't care, so long as you're Consuming Content. With the enshittification of Spotify (really? Ads for AI generated bullshit on my PAID account???) I really want to retreat back into the domain of Local Copy. Sony BMG can't enshittify a CD you already own. Random House can't take back a book I bought in the 90s. I hope that we have a renaissance of physical media as people realize that streaming companies don't respect our desires about how we listen/watch/read things.

lilhenry 2y ago
You say that, but maybe you don’t remember the rootkits Sony BMG put on their cd’s in the 90’s ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_roo... ) Instead of playing you an ad, they disabled a function of your computer.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
waldothedog 2y ago
> The medium asks you to use it to create an experience, an environment. Streaming doesn't care, so long as you're Consuming Content. I think you’re being a bit too charitable with the record industry IMHO. Buying records is “Consuming Content”, the experience is of your own creation.
- shermantanktop 2y ago
  There is an artist on the other side. The fact that they can connect with you is the real experience, mediated by commerce and technology and all the other stuff that gets in the way.
- seba_dos1 2y ago
  Usually, you won't create anything of worth without consuming first.
Loughla 2y ago
There was a post on here that I responded to and can't find now. The purpose was a gentleman talking about how music today is generic crap because of streaming. I disagreed with everything he said (he claims music is bland now because of streaming and just sort of ignores that for all of history most art produced is terrible) except the attraction of physical media. When you had to go through a process to be able to listen to media and you were stuck with it once you bought it, it was a real experience. The art, the feel, the smell of the record shop, hell you had to talk to actual people if you wanted to find new music that you would like. Everything was part of the experience. And that is lost with streaming music.
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  Can't speak for the industry at large, but streaming ruined music for me. I think it has to do with how different brains are wired. Organization on song within album within artist within genre helped me remember and relate to it. I felt like I was in conversation with the artists. On the other hand, streaming is snippets without context, like a book composed of the most popular paragraphs from 1000s of authors. I guess for me, being able engage with my personal library or playlists was irreplaceable.
  - Loughla 2y ago
    >I felt like I was in conversation with the artists. I work with college kids. They don't understand the absolute obsession a lot of old people have with The Dark Side of the Moon. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why. It's like the perfect album. And that's what finally dawned on me. It's the perfect album. The songs are really good individually, but the album is a masterpiece when played how it was originally meant to be played. The pauses and the transitions and the background noise of the player all brilliantly factor into the album. And the 20 year olds I interact with mostly listen to individual songs instead of albums. It's such a subtle difference that most people don't even recognize it.
    - Larrikin 2y ago
      Personally I would argue a good DJ set is possibly a better version of albums of the past. The really good ones mostly play their own music, but aren't limited to their own output. Its a completely coherent experience with an intentional mood that completely flows together without any disjointed pauses. I don't think anyone actually misses skits or hidden songs, just that good albums sometimes had them. But I've given up on ever convincing people that think perfect was in the past. Usually I'm told there isn't any difference between an iPod on random or a Spotify playlist. I personally never want to say the best music was at some arbitrary moment in the past when I liked it and hope my taste continue to evolve even as I get further away from the source.
rendaw 2y ago
You're also lumping buying mp3s/aac/whatever in with streaming. Sony can't mess with the DRM free audio files you purchase from any marketplace...
- 0_____0 2y ago
  Yeah there's a distinction. I think physical media, Local Copy (as I put it), and streaming are three different things.
shermantanktop 2y ago
> You have a really awesome relationship with the physical media your dad left you. The relationship with the actual guy was significantly more complicated. CDs are a little easier to deal with than people.
scarface_74 2y ago
You can rip music to digital in lossless format. There is no way that I would want to keep that much physical media. Back in the day, I had a 200 disc CD changer

lilhenry 2y ago

You say that, but maybe you don’t remember the rootkits Sony BMG put on their cd’s in the 90’s ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_roo... ) Instead of playing you an ad, they disabled a function of your computer.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

waldothedog 2y ago

> The medium asks you to use it to create an experience, an environment. Streaming doesn't care, so long as you're Consuming Content. I think you’re being a bit too charitable with the record industry IMHO. Buying records is “Consuming Content”, the experience is of your own creation.

shermantanktop 2y ago
There is an artist on the other side. The fact that they can connect with you is the real experience, mediated by commerce and technology and all the other stuff that gets in the way.
seba_dos1 2y ago
Usually, you won't create anything of worth without consuming first.

Loughla 2y ago

There was a post on here that I responded to and can't find now. The purpose was a gentleman talking about how music today is generic crap because of streaming. I disagreed with everything he said (he claims music is bland now because of streaming and just sort of ignores that for all of history most art produced is terrible) except the attraction of physical media. When you had to go through a process to be able to listen to media and you were stuck with it once you bought it, it was a real experience. The art, the feel, the smell of the record shop, hell you had to talk to actual people if you wanted to find new music that you would like. Everything was part of the experience. And that is lost with streaming music.

s1artibartfast 2y ago
Can't speak for the industry at large, but streaming ruined music for me. I think it has to do with how different brains are wired. Organization on song within album within artist within genre helped me remember and relate to it. I felt like I was in conversation with the artists. On the other hand, streaming is snippets without context, like a book composed of the most popular paragraphs from 1000s of authors. I guess for me, being able engage with my personal library or playlists was irreplaceable.
- Loughla 2y ago
  >I felt like I was in conversation with the artists. I work with college kids. They don't understand the absolute obsession a lot of old people have with The Dark Side of the Moon. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why. It's like the perfect album. And that's what finally dawned on me. It's the perfect album. The songs are really good individually, but the album is a masterpiece when played how it was originally meant to be played. The pauses and the transitions and the background noise of the player all brilliantly factor into the album. And the 20 year olds I interact with mostly listen to individual songs instead of albums. It's such a subtle difference that most people don't even recognize it.
  - Larrikin 2y ago
    Personally I would argue a good DJ set is possibly a better version of albums of the past. The really good ones mostly play their own music, but aren't limited to their own output. Its a completely coherent experience with an intentional mood that completely flows together without any disjointed pauses. I don't think anyone actually misses skits or hidden songs, just that good albums sometimes had them. But I've given up on ever convincing people that think perfect was in the past. Usually I'm told there isn't any difference between an iPod on random or a Spotify playlist. I personally never want to say the best music was at some arbitrary moment in the past when I liked it and hope my taste continue to evolve even as I get further away from the source.

rendaw 2y ago

You're also lumping buying mp3s/aac/whatever in with streaming. Sony can't mess with the DRM free audio files you purchase from any marketplace...

0_____0 2y ago
Yeah there's a distinction. I think physical media, Local Copy (as I put it), and streaming are three different things.

shermantanktop 2y ago

> You have a really awesome relationship with the physical media your dad left you. The relationship with the actual guy was significantly more complicated. CDs are a little easier to deal with than people.

scarface_74 2y ago

You can rip music to digital in lossless format. There is no way that I would want to keep that much physical media. Back in the day, I had a 200 disc CD changer