Andy, I agree with you. I really think streaming is a disaster, but it is the future. I would love to see micro streaming options where the industry is not run by a handful of services and we can stream using microtransactions and pay artists directly from their websites, where companies like tidal and such are simply being paid a small % for centralising the process. Ie reverse the strategy completely. Personally I think, as consumers, we are paying far too little for so much choice. Either reduce the choice and pay for different genres for example, or pay more overall. Itās patently gone from one extreme to another. The whole business model was crap from the start and now the industryās in a mess with no one benefitting it seems apart from the consumer.
I developed and run a website networking solution to allowing brokers in my industry to advertise othersā commodities on their own websites and gain out of the sales as a result. I wonder if this could be applied to the music industry. Ie to provide streaming on a band-band peer network of streaming websitesā¦ Food for thought.
My daughter advocates Bandcamp. Ill have to check it out.
Itās such a strange situation. Itās like a reverse cartel, where the emphasis seems to be on whoās the least unprofitable, and everyone trying to undercut everyone else to gain market share at the expense of all business sense, it seems. Qobuz maybe stands the best chance to become profitable over all the others with itās no-free, no-lossy streaming, combined with attractive download/ownership options and more quirky content perhaps? It really is going for the niche-high-end market.
Personally, I think the cost of owning the FLACs is too high, however. Why are FLAC albums pennies off the price of the CD with all the inherent overheads of CD production, packaging, distribution and retail?
If FLAC downloads were, say, 3-5 USD per album, Iād snaffle them up, but at around 20-30 usd or CHF as they are here in Switzerland, ill stick with streaming thanks! Iād happily pay my 25-30chf a month i spend on streaming on 8 or 10 legitimately purchased albums in Flac or hi res form, which I could cherish. And why are HD albums more expensive than MP3? Thereās no real cost to store either, and all are mastered at the highest rates? Itās all screwed. And the industry still wonders why people pirate?
I do both. I subscribe to Tidal and Spotify and have used others off and on for years, yet I have always still bought music, whetther its cd, vinyl or digital. I love the way streaming has opened up different types of music to wider audiences. When I was younger finding the music I wanted was not easy, you had to know where to lool. Now its as simple as a few clicks and I can find pretty much anything and I can find material that I just cant find in any shop or retailer from my own collection that is now a little bit too worn. They are also essential to finding new music that I want to listen to, if I like it then I will buy it.