Spotify vs. Apple Music vs. Physical Copies YOU DECIDE!!!
- Thread starter Collin
- Start date
Add Google Play Music as an option.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
And Amazon Music
And Deezer
And Deezer
Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
YouTube is where I listen to most stuff for the first time, if I like it enough I then buy a physical copy (or an MP3 download, if physical isn't avaliable) then put it on my computer, then onto my MP3 player. I didn't get on with Spotify, never tried Apple music.
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
2 years ago I would have went physical all the way but not so much these days. Since I have had Spotify, I have listened to so much more music, new and old, metal or otherwise. Discover Weekly on Spotify has introduced me to several bands who I have then went to see live so I like to think I give back something more than my monthly subscription.
I buy bits and pieces of vinyl and it is definitely a more enjoyable experience than streaming but streaming is much more valuable to me, day to day. The Book of Souls was the last cd I bought. Don't even have a cd player in the house anymore.
I buy bits and pieces of vinyl and it is definitely a more enjoyable experience than streaming but streaming is much more valuable to me, day to day. The Book of Souls was the last cd I bought. Don't even have a cd player in the house anymore.
Fixed
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Same. I use Spotify day to day but I also occasionally go on vinyl shopping sprees.
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
How is productivity?
Spotify and my own MP3 collection mostly, plus some YouTube. I'm currently a nomad, so I don't have a stereo system set up anywhere, and my CD and vinyl collection is in a storage compartment. I occasionally buy a CD to support artists I like, but then rip them to my laptop. I know they're getting nothing from my Spotify subscription, and if I have a home base with all my stuff in it again I'm going to return to physical, or so is the plan.
Ariana
Black-and-white leopard
I'm blessed with an easy job and zero supervision.
I probably jinxed it now, of course.
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
I had a moral issue with this initially which is why I took so long to get Spotify but I wasn't buying much music and was in a total rut in terms of new bands and older stuff I had not heard.
I wonder now if I would have bought more physical music without Spotify. The previous couple of years suggests not. I was not making music a priority for a while before I had Spotify; I rarely took time to sit down and put an album on. Every couple of months I would buy 4 or 5 cds and most turned out shit or at least didn't get repeated listens. Now I listen to a lot of music in work, not possible without streaming. It's certainly better for me but at what cost...at what cost?
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
I'm in the same boat as @Perun. The last couple of years I haven't had much money so I had to trim back on the CD purchasing and Spotify is much more cost effective than buying CDs. I currently don't have space in my tiny studio flat for a CD player or for a CD collection - some of my CDs are in a storage unit but most are in my old bedroom at my mother's house. Once I have a longer term job then I can move into a more spacious flat and get a CD player, reunite myself with my CDs and start buying them again.
The last couple of CDs I've bought have been at gigs when I've had the chance to meet the band and get it signed. I also know that the band get more money from it that way. These CDs are now sitting in a drawer in my office at work and I haven't actually listened to them, just ripped the MP3s off them and stored them in my digital music library. I listen to them on Spotify instead. The rest of my CDs are all stored digitally as well and I can listen to them on my laptop, but I keep that at work so I listen to the radio at home.
I was in the same situation @Niall Kielt. If I hadn't started using Spotify a few years ago then my music taste would not have changed much over the last few years. Without streaming I wouldn't be listening to Scorpions, KISS or Boston. I probably wouldn't have bothered trying out Delain, Nightwish or Epica. I doubt I'd have become a fan of Cellar Darling, Purest of Pain or Vuur. Spotify also helps me keep up with new releases as many of the new Metal songs appear in my Release Radar playlist.
Ultimately I do prefer the traditional physical music collection with the CDs, the booklet and the artwork. When my circumstances permit, I will buy CDs of my favourite bands and use Spotify for exploring new and different bands. I rarely listen to Iron Maiden on Spotify as I already own almost everything they've done.
Maybe in the future I'll use Spotify as a "try before you buy" service. If I like an album then I'll buy the CD, which is what I've done with Epica l, Alter Bridge and Delain. Hopefully the music industry can work things out with streaming services so that the artists get more money, but this is the way that things are going and artists will have to adapt to it. The music industry never really recovered from the filesharing boom at the turn of the century or whenever it was. I hope that physical music doesn't die completely though and that it can co-exist with streaming services.
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
street?
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Don't stream any music exclusively. Explore most music nowadays on Bandcamp; seems to have one of the best models for supporting artists. If I really like I buy their stuff on DL; sometimes their whole catalogue. For everything else that's old I pick up CDs on eBay for cheaper than current DL prices. For one-off listens I use YouTube. All CDs I rip & listen to digitally (& transfer to phone); file the CD & sleeve in a huge archive CD case thing (jewel cases go in bin). Only time I physically play CDs is in the car.
