Computer Audio Is Dead.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Jem666

It sure will be an experience when servers go dark...or content is removed or censored for whatever reason.

There is a perverse irony at play here. “Millennials don’t own stuff but are themselves owned by a handful of tech companies”...George Orwell couldn’t have imagined this...

If the servers go dark, I suppose music will be the least of Millenialls worries. Imagine spending a day without Facebook or heaven's forbid Instagram or Twitter! Total psychological breakdown within the first 24 hrs....

[radio times]

What a bunch of twits.

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by PHC1

If the servers go dark, I suppose music will be the least of Millenialls worries. Imagine spending a day without Facebook or heaven's forbid Instagram or Twitter! Total psychological breakdown within the first 24 hrs....

So true!

[Still-One]

I am an old guy but you guys sound like a bunch of "get off my lawn" old farts we dealt with when growing up. If the internet goes dark for a short period music and facebook is the least of our worries. Try banking or selling stocks or ordering your clothes or pick whatever.

[Still-One]

The bottom line is physical media and downloads may not be dead but they will soon become a quaint reminders of phases in this hobby. Just who do you think is going to stock and sell physical media? It is easy to look back at CD titles previously sold by Amazon that are now only available as downloads. Do you really think that records labels will continue to maintain manufacturing capacity when CD sales dropped under $1 billion for the first time since 1986. It is much cheaper for these companies to provide data for streaming. Per the RIAA: “Revenues from streaming music platforms grew 30% year-over-year to reach $7.4 billion, contributing 75% of total revenues for 2018, and accounting for virtually all the revenue growth for the year.”

In the near future CD's will take its place along side vinyl was as a niche market for those willing (or enjoying) all of the associated issues with that media for whatever perceived sonic benefits they seek. I am sure there are those that cannot find replacements for the 78 shellacs.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Still-One

The bottom line is physical media and downloads may not be dead but they will soon become a quaint reminders of phases in this hobby. Just who do you think is going to stock and sell physical media? It is easy to look back at CD titles previously sold by Amazon that are now only available as downloads. Do you really think that records labels will continue to maintain manufacturing capacity when CD sales dropped under $1 billion for the first time since 1986. It is much cheaper for these companies to provide data for streaming. Per the RIAA: “Revenues from streaming music platforms grew 30% year-over-year to reach $7.4 billion, contributing 75% of total revenues for 2018, and accounting for virtually all the revenue growth for the year.”

In the near future CD's will take its place along side vinyl was as a niche market for those willing (or enjoying) all of the associated issues with that media for whatever perceived sonic benefits they seek. I am sure there are those that cannot find replacements for the 78 shellacs.

Sad but true

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Still-One

I am an old guy but you guys sound like a bunch of "get off my lawn" old farts we dealt with when growing up. If the internet goes dark for a short period music and facebook is the least of our worries. Try banking or selling stocks or ordering your clothes or pick whatever.

Ha, I walked into a Wawa (convenience store) today and evidently their credit card machines were down for whatever reason. First thing they asked us “do you have cash”? I just happened to have it but many others did not and walked out empty handed or got in line of the ATM machine. Now imagine the power grid going down from a solar flair or some other cataclysmic event that will prevent people from accessing their funds and eventually we will be a “cashless” society. Talk about getting caught with your pants down.

[IM3CPO]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Technically speaking YES. From all other aspects NO. A flat fee a month that opens up ALL of the available music on whatever subscription service database to the listener is far and beyond paying for each individual download whatever the price may be for such. From financial point of view a subscription service offers FAR more value. For what would amount to less than a dozen paid downloads a month, one would have access to the same content and a MILLION others to boot. That's what Millennials want.

Again, let me reiterate. The issue is subscription services vs. ownership.

However, I would actually argue the real motive behind subscription services is actually not demand side. I'll give you an example.

I am an engineer and worked at Microsoft for 10 years (I left in 2018). One of the areas my org leadership was obsessed with was piracy. Or, more succinctly, the impact piracy caused on Microsoft's ability or inability to make money. Piracy is an extremely broad and complex issue, but at a very high level, the crux of the issue is people dont actually own software (or music for that matter) even if they purchased it. If you actually read the terms of use, you are granted a perpetual license to *use* the digital good within the bounds of the license agreement. Everything digital falls under these same types of license agreements. You have a right to use the bits, but you dont own them.

Several years back (at least 9 from what I can recall) there was internal debate about how to change the mindset of people thinking they owned their own software (even though they paid for it). The comparison was made to your cell phone provider or cable company in that users dont ever feel they "own" those services; even though to Microsoft, they had the same type of license agreement with their users as those companies. Coincidentally, this same type of thought is what lead to "the cloud" (which everyone called software as a service at the time).

There is a ton of group think in the tech industry and they all follow each other like cattle. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, etc., all do the same crap and follow what each other does. They also lobby governments and pull all sorts of crap at those levels too.

Streaming services like Tidal do offer value, but it is much more expensive than it actually appears due to how much control you surrender in the deal. Having said this, there is no way to stop turning things into services as even if people refused to use them, its already been decided that there wont be any other distribution mechanisms. So while Millennials may in fact actually like this form of distribution, they are not the driving factor. The tech companies have chosen this route as its the only way for them to make sure they perpetually monetize you.

[cleeds]

Originally Posted by PHC1

... From financial point of view a subscription service offers FAR more value ...

The concept of "value" is very much subjective, and not everyone agrees with your opinion that you state as fact.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by cleeds

The concept of "value" is very much subjective, and not everyone agrees with your opinion that you state as fact.

It is not my "opinion", it is indeed a fact. The music industry did not wake up one morning and decided to sell less CDs. We as audiophiles may not agree or like it but the masses found "value" in other methods of accessing the music and the CD is headed for the status of a "niche" product much like vinyl. One can clearly see where the masses found "value" and it is not physical media or even downloads of albums. It is subscription based services.