This is a red herring argument.
A cd generally costs between 5 and 15 euros here now.
I would assume that streaming customers will be many more than CD customers of the same music. Streaming services bring music to a wider audience and therefore this comparison is apples and pears. It’s quite possible that over time streaming could generate MORE money for an artist than CD or Vinyl sales.
It’s not a red herring. I have had artists tell me that they really don’t know how or if to record another CD in this market.
The situation will only get worse as cars often don’t have CD players any more and so that’s another barrier to buying.
If we want vital new music to grow and thrive, we have to support them buy buying stuff. Streaming is here to stay but un checked, it could kill the industry at its roots.
Brexit (There I said it) will also place many extra burdens on UK artists touring and thereby making a living.
Interestingly, 1GB USB memory sticks (which will play in most ICE systems) are down to around £2 a pop… I wonder how much artists are being charged for low run CD production (if they don’t do it themselves)?
From the Rolling Stone article …
As streaming gives the music industry its biggest profits in a decade, the CD business continues to plunge. CD sales have fallen 80 percent in the past decade, from roughly 450 million to 89 million.
@Chrislayeruk It would seem that someone is making a lot of money from streaming and I suspect it is not the streaming companies (most have operating losses.)
I had a great memory stick from larry Grano which had MP3, Wav and album art but it’s not a thing of beauty to own and not easy for an artist to sign.
I was in Asda not long before an Eve Selis gig buying reduced price memory sticks so she could transfer music to them for something to sell. Needs must on the day and something is better than nothing
My fear (based on a few musicians I know) is that they will stop striving to publish albums as a work of musical art. Oh, they’ll still write and perform music and likely issue singles frequently or perhaps EPs. But the loss of a an album - particularly those written and compiled as a themed musical work seems to be somewhat of a dying art. IMHO, that’s a huge loss. I understand that people have stopped buying CDs (in part due to far fewer places that sell them) but for the life of me, I don’t understand why given that the only thing that has replaced it (other than vinyl) has been streaming or downloads. Do most music lovers that used to buy vinyl or CDs, now stream or download? Hard to believe but I truly don’t know. Selling an album on a USB dongle would seem to make sense (assuming it is no more expensive than doing so on a CD), but yet that’s not happening either. Downloads would be fine, but I’m not willing to buy MP3 versions nor am I interested in streaming lossy music.
Anyone have a crystal ball to look at the music industry in 5 years? Surely something has to change.
I think those that used to buy CDs are now a minority. Younger generations have grown up on digital in whatever form they’ve been fed and they’ve grown up being fed singles and playlists rather than albums. The manner in which music is consumed has changed, so I’m afraid your probably right.
2003
For as long as artists tour, they’ll peddle song collections with the rest of the merch …
2019
Writing songs is in [musicians] DNA, and if said songs are any good at all, recording them for posterity soon becomes irresistible.
Robert Thomas Christgau
Or sit in front of the TV watching a “golden oldies” music channel on their cable subscription. Which is technically streaming.
I grow more disappointed with the Amazon HD service. The app is not as good as Tidal or Qobuz with little metadata. Also, while the search function is fast the artist results won’t “bundle” all albums under the main artist name (e.g., Jimmy Smith Trio separate from Jimmy Smith).
This would be tolerable if the selection was better than others but today I couldn’t find high res versions of Jimmy Smith’s “Back at the Chicken Shack” and “Midnight Special” which are available on Qobuz and as MQA on Tidal.
Have you read Billy Corgan’s recent comments on the future of music? He basically said concentrate on your online presence, on streaming live performances, building your fanbase that way. I sometimes buy CDs but now more often than not buy digital files in higher than cd quality (even if i am never sure if i can really here a difference). I am not really interested in the CD cover or art…i just want the music!
Regarding Amazon HD music, i am also not that happy with it yet. It claims better than cd quality but i have yet to see that. I have the N15D steamer from cocktail audio and have managed to log on to the service via the app for that device but when i play ultra hd tracks they show up via coax input from the streamer only as 44.1.
I also find the Amazon app cumbersome but the experience with that is better than the cocktail audio app which is really poor unfortunately. I can use Chromecast from the Amazon app on my phone and probably would do that over using the cocktail audio app but it’s all less than satisfying at this point. Amazon integration with Roon would be really great but like others I can’t see it happening.
It looks like the honeymoon period is well and truly over…
And just as we write it off along comes an update to the Android app which seems to be for hi Res improvement reasons only! I will update and test later…
Maybe to you, but I have a very critical ear, and I hear so much distortion in MQA, and a pronounced softening of transient response. Music via MQA sounds very smeared to me. But if you love it, go for it. Your ear/brain system isn’t the same as mine. May all systems, be it MQA, DSD, FLAC, or whatever not only survive, but prosper. Not one of us hears the same as another, so there is no right of wrong. May each of us have a path that maximizes our individual enjoyment of music. THAT is all that matters.
After three days on the free trial, I cancelled Amazon HD. Yes, it had some music than other services didn’t have (example, it’s Link Wray offering). But, it does not currently integrate with Roon, and has a 100,000 track library limit. It does sound very good, and IF in the future it integrates with Roon and allows ver large libraries, I would definitely subscribe (as long as it doesn’t go MQA). But until then, I’ll just enjoy all that the Roon/Qobuz marriage gives me.
I have the Cocktail X45 Pro, and via the Amazon Music app, it sounds great. But, as it does not integrate with Roon, and caps your library at 100,000 tracks, I cancelled after three days of trial. PS, if the N15 is similar to the X45 Pro, I suggest using the USB input, if you can.
Thanks Neil. I am actually trying not to use the usb input though in favour of streaming only. I have my n15d hooked up to the network via LAN so was hoping for a good, stable streaming experience… So much depends on the providers though it seems. Amazon was interesting from a price point of view but I tend to agree that at the minute it’s not good enough.
It numerous reasons. Amazon HD is cheaper than the others. It has a better selection of music in certain areas. But, it has limitations. It does not integrate with Roon, it’s editing capabilities are very poor compared to Roon (imho), and it only allows a 100,000 track library (my Roon/Qobuz library is 940,-00 and quickly expanding). For some, it may be the ideal solution. To others, it may be quite lacking. But, since they currently offer a 90 day free trial, give it a try, and see how it works for YOU. After all, that is all that matters.