Is Streaming Music Dangerous to the Environment? One Researcher Is Sounding the Alarm

https://www.rollingstone....ic-835220/

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But it feels right, don't it? I read an editorial the other day about the joys of listening to a CD, no sponsored content, no suggestions, no data tracking. Strange times we live in.

StrangeButTrue said:

I read an editorial the other day about the joys of listening to a CD, no sponsored content, no suggestions, no data tracking. Strange times we live in.

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

Cinny said:

StrangeButTrue said:

I read an editorial the other day about the joys of listening to a CD, no sponsored content, no suggestions, no data tracking. Strange times we live in.

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

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I tried scouring my search history to no avail, it was definitely on the side panel on Google News.

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This made me chuckle, especially the part about CDs.

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Cinny said:

StrangeButTrue said:

I read an editorial the other day about the joys of listening to a CD, no sponsored content, no suggestions, no data tracking. Strange times we live in.

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

I just got a really neat Sony CD shelf system the other week and now I'm back to spinning my CDs regularly instead of streaming my collection via Google Music. I had a boombox but it's not the same as having some decent sized speakers. Man! I didn't realize how much I missed playing my CDs. As far as vinyl is concerned, I'm not even remotely interested in it. I had TONS of vinyl from the 70s and 80s just taking up a ridiculous amount of space for so many years. I finally got rid of the last of it a few months ago. I'm so happy to have that space back. I have really never understood why vinyl lovers say it sounds better than CDs. Not to my ears.

Music lovers are going to have to consider themselves patrons of these artists, as opposed to simply consumers.

They need us to purchase their products, whether by CD, iTunes, Amazon or vinyl, in addition to supporting their live shows and tours.

namepeace said:

Music lovers are going to have to consider themselves patrons of these artists, as opposed to simply consumers.

They need us to purchase their products, whether by CD, iTunes, Amazon or vinyl, in addition to supporting their live shows and tours.

Exactly a lot of artists (MOST) are indie and doing things themselves, especially the ones that have been around. That is why you will see these packages at their shows, meet and greets, and I am not talking about the INSANE ones like Kiss and the Rolling Stones, basically charging a thousand bucks for two seconds of their time, I am more or less talking about the indie artists low key known but not charting or getting airplay, they will play small venues, and maybe charge 25-40 bucks a ticket and then if you want to do a meet and greet they sometimes build it into the ticket or have it seperate I have done these events gone to many of them and they are cool because at this point the way the industry is they are not going to be on the radio or in the spotlight, its all about the meets and shows and delivering albums to them personally. If you want these artists to survive go to the shows and buy the product there dont stream, basically they need two million streams of an album to make $1500 .

StrangeButTrue said:

Cinny said:

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

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I tried scouring my search history to no avail, it was definitely on the side panel on Google News.

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This made me chuckle, especially the part about CDs.

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Hilarious

I found that CD article!

Cinny said:

StrangeButTrue said:

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I tried scouring my search history to no avail, it was definitely on the side panel on Google News.

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This made me chuckle, especially the part about CDs.

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Hilarious

I found that CD article!

Why Play a Music CD? ‘No Ads, No Privacy Terrors, No Algorithms’

Streaming services have revolutionized the discovery of songs, but here’s why Ben Sisario, who covers the music industry, still likes to listen to compact discs.

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Ben Sisario, a reporter who covers the music industry, discussed the tech he’s using.

What are your most important tech tools for doing your reporting?
Probably 75 percent of my reporting is done by phone and email, and when I am writing I print out drafts and notes. So that part of it is about as current as 1995. But I also use Signal and ProtonMail for sources who require secure communication.
I constantly scan social media — Twitter, mostly — for news, and in breaking news situations I sometimes find sources to quote there. But I am wary of letting social media itself tell the story. You need to actually talk to people, check facts, find contrary viewpoints, weed out nonsense.
When it comes to organizing my work, I think cloud computing is the greatest thing since the manila folder. I have 15-plus years of notes instantly searchable through Dropbox and Google Docs. It’s amazing to type in five characters and find that phone number from an obit you wrote a decade ago.

And then there are sites like WhoSampled and Discogs, incredible repositories of information that are deeply addictive for music nerds like me. My time there often starts with legitimate research — say, checking the original writing credit on an old single — but then an hour later I’ve spent $50 on vinyl and reminded myself of the slide whistle sample on “Groove Is in the Heart.”

What does your music setup look like, and how has it evolved over time?

I try to keep an eye on all the major platforms out there, which means regularly poking around on about a dozen apps. My go-to sources are Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp and Mixcloud, which has excellent D.J.-style mixes and to me feels more human than most.
At home I have a Sonos Play:5 speaker, which plays streaming music and podcasts, and is a piece of cake to use. I also have Google Chromecast Audio, a little plug-in device (now discontinued) that allows me to send high-fidelity streams to my stereo. It sounds better that way, but it’s not nearly as easy to use as the Sonos.
To be honest, my preferred way to listen to music is on CD, as unfashionable as that might be. You push a button, the music plays, and then it’s over — no ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms!

What are the pros and cons of the streaming model for musicians big and small?

The big positive is the vast potential exposure. Streaming eliminated the cost barrier to sampling new music, and playlists constantly put new songs in front of people. Theoretically, at least, there are more chances than ever for a song to be a hit.
But, as they say, you can die of exposure. Megahits still generate millions of dollars in royalties, and Spotify’s official mission statement is “giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art.” Yet for artists beneath the megahit level — and that is the vast majority of them — the jury is still out. I’ve seen royalty statements for well-known indie acts that suggest they can earn a decent middle-class living from their streams. I’ve also talked to very successful songwriters who say their income has been decimated by streaming and by the new model for pop songwriting, in which five or six — or 30— people divvy up the same sliver of royalties. In general, though, I’m optimistic about streaming and its potential. It has reinvigorated the music industry and made listening a lot easier, more fun and more dynamic.

Apple and Spotify have been fighting publicly over antitrust issues. Where is this fight going, and what impact might it have on streaming music?

I tend to think of this as mostly a matter of corporate warfare. These companies are in a race for market dominance around the world, and the gloves are off. For Spotify, anything that hinders Apple, even a little, can provide an advantage. On the other hand, Apple’s gigantic size means it will always be on the defensive against regulation.

I don’t see these issues having a big effect on streaming music. Competition in this market has benefited consumers, and as much as Spotify accuses Apple of anticompetitive practices, it has still signed up far more users — both free and paid — than Apple Music.


What emerging tech trends might change the way people listen to music?
A great deal of attention is being paid to smart speakers like Amazon’s Alexa. This is something that genuinely feels futuristic: walking into a room and saying, “Play relaxation playlist” or “Play NPR news,” and it just happens. I think we’re still in the early stages of this. Video sharing apps like TikTok are also having a palpable effect on music, and I think that will only grow. TikTok makes it easy to generate video memes using music, and these are fast moving and viral by nature. The best example is Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road,”which was a TikTok sensation well before it hit the pop charts.

Outside of work, what tech product are you currently obsessed with?

Not to be too much of a grouch, but for me it is more about an opposite kind of phenomenon: What formerly hyped, supposedly essential technology has since been exposed for gross privacy violations, or for how easily it has become a tool for predatory disinformation?
Way too many of them, of course, but the really dispiriting thing is realizing that it is nearly impossible to disengage. We have become only more conscious of the risks and dangers surrounding us at all times. That said, in my house we are really happy with our Instant Pot Duo, a beeping digital pressure cooker that makes perfect biriyani or chicken soup in like five minutes. I really hope it is not collecting any private data.

It truly has become the age of "Big Brother..."

jaawwnn said:

Just turn off everything on the Internet bar Google Maps, Reuters and, uh, the Org and we'd do fine.

Or we can all just "live off the grid." lol There are a lot of people who are upset that Linux has now teamed up with Microsoft!

kitbradley said:

Cinny said:

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

I just got a really neat Sony CD shelf system the other week and now I'm back to spinning my CDs regularly instead of streaming my collection via Google Music. I had a boombox but it's not the same as having some decent sized speakers. Man! I didn't realize how much I missed playing my CDs. As far as vinyl is concerned, I'm not even remotely interested in it. I had TONS of vinyl from the 70s and 80s just taking up a ridiculous amount of space for so many years. I finally got rid of the last of it a few months ago. I'm so happy to have that space back. I have really never understood why vinyl lovers say it sounds better than CDs. Not to my ears.

It depends. Many 80s CDs need to be remastered and until they are, the vinyl counterparts will sound better. The general consensus here is that this is certainly the case with Prince's early albums.

StrangeButTrue said:

Cinny said:

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

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I tried scouring my search history to no avail, it was definitely on the side panel on Google News.

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This made me chuckle, especially the part about CDs.

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Haha, this is pretty close to how I feel. I haven't gone to an outdoor festival since Lollapalooza 1995 and have no desire to for most of the above reasons. And while Billy Joel is not my thing, I will be seeing Regina Spektor play piano music for around two hours in an assigned seating venue with comfy chairs and be home in bed by midnight and that sounds like the perfect evening to me.

sexton said:

StrangeButTrue said:

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I tried scouring my search history to no avail, it was definitely on the side panel on Google News.

.

This made me chuckle, especially the part about CDs.

.

Haha, this is pretty close to how I feel. I haven't gone to an outdoor festival since Lollapalooza 1995 and have no desire to for most of the above reasons. And while Billy Joel is not my thing, I will be seeing Regina Spektor play piano music for around two hours in an assigned seating venue with comfy chairs and be home in bed by midnight and that sounds like the perfect evening to me.

I still go to a FREE local music festival every year (unless it's raining). Always have a great time and discover new artists that way--no VIP treatment, sit on the ground, BYOB, great time every year without fail.

sexton said:

kitbradley said:

I just got a really neat Sony CD shelf system the other week and now I'm back to spinning my CDs regularly instead of streaming my collection via Google Music. I had a boombox but it's not the same as having some decent sized speakers. Man! I didn't realize how much I missed playing my CDs. As far as vinyl is concerned, I'm not even remotely interested in it. I had TONS of vinyl from the 70s and 80s just taking up a ridiculous amount of space for so many years. I finally got rid of the last of it a few months ago. I'm so happy to have that space back. I have really never understood why vinyl lovers say it sounds better than CDs. Not to my ears.

It depends. Many 80s CDs need to be remastered and until they are, the vinyl counterparts will sound better. The general consensus here is that this is certainly the case with Prince's early albums.

kitbradley said:

Cinny said:

I'd love to read that. CDs are great too. I love my vinyl but the love for vinyl goes into overkill these days.

I just got a really neat Sony CD shelf system the other week and now I'm back to spinning my CDs regularly instead of streaming my collection via Google Music. I had a boombox but it's not the same as having some decent sized speakers. Man! I didn't realize how much I missed playing my CDs. As far as vinyl is concerned, I'm not even remotely interested in it. I had TONS of vinyl from the 70s and 80s just taking up a ridiculous amount of space for so many years. I finally got rid of the last of it a few months ago. I'm so happy to have that space back. I have really never understood why vinyl lovers say it sounds better than CDs. Not to my ears.

I recently got a BOSE CD sound system and I gotta admit,I now enjoy listening to all my CDs again.I'm glad I didn't get rid of them but I still love my vinyl too.I don't think I could even get rid of them.You are right,though,they do take up alot of space.I got about 10 milk crates full of old vinyl records!

Cinny I am very impressed you found that article!

StrangeButTrue said:

Cinny I am very impressed you found that article!

like 2 think the article found me.

Cinny said:

I found that CD article!

Why Play a Music CD? ‘No Ads, No Privacy Terrors, No Algorithms’

All that stuff about music and tech, and he didn't mention Blockchain...??!! Which, btw, I posted about, here, some time ago.... Though I don't know shit about it, blockchain is supposed to GET RID OF THE MIDDLEMAN (ie. the music company!), I'd be greatly curious to know whether it's doing so or not.....

Anyway, those sites again, for anyone who's interested:

peertracks.live

ujomusic.com