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Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

nytimes.com

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Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#111

Post by archi42 »

Nextgrid wrote: post #8
munmaek wrote: post #2

I buy CDs occasionally and rip them, but it's 2019, there's no real need to amass a CD collection (unless you want to). For most of my needs, spotify works out. I don't mind paying $10/mo since I use the offline listening so much. I only buy and rip CDs for my own collection if I -really- like that album or a song on it, and a web download isn't available. Occasionally spotify doesn't have a very specific version of…

Just wondering how you manage Spotify + your own music collection. Is there an app that can play both Spotify and imported files and present them in a single UI? At the moment I can’t enjoy anything that’s not on Spotify simply because I wouldn’t be able to listen to them really. I have hours of music on Spotify playlists and I would only need maybe a dozen of songs that aren’t on there, so manually switching apps fo…

I think clementine (based on/inspired by Amarok 1.4) supports spotify - at least they say so on their website. However, I (used to) use it only for my local music and switching to spotify for, well, spotify.

https://www.clementine-player.org/ Hm, but the last version is from 2016.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#112

Post by aoeusnth1 »

nickjj wrote: post #57

Instead or privacy terrors you have other terrors like wondering if the CD will even play, especially if you've listened to it a lot over 5+ years, even with good care. I'm surprised the article doesn't cover a more relevant approach like just playing local mp3s from your computer. You get the same no ads, no privacy issues, no algorithms but you have the added benefit of not having to lug around a binder of CDs to p…

Lastly you’ll probably want cloud backups to make sure you don’t lose your ripped copies.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#113

Post by everdrive »

A couple years ago I took all my music back out of google music and restored from physical backups where necessary. Now, my audio player is an old laptop running linux, hooked up to some very nice speakers. (it can play podcasts too!)

The laptop just uses Rhythmbox, but you could obviously use whatever player you like. It's the best setup I've ever had. No terrible UI, no syncing, no garbage. I control what music is on there and where it's backed up. And most importantly, it has separated my music from general computer use. Yes it's technically playing on a computer it's the old linux laptop that's hooked up to the speakers. It barely uses any power and the keyboard is in an awkward position to type on. It's not convenient to watch videos or browse the internet on. It's not convenient to type on. It's really only good for listening to music. You can set it on and read, or do chores, or exercise, and never feel the urge to jump on HN, read the news, etc. If it weren't for the podcasts, it'd never even connect to the internet. And therefore it wouldn't matter if it were even updated or password protected.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#115

Post by everdrive »

asmendes wrote: post #40

How does the algorithm actually negatively affect your experience? I use mostly Spotify, and in their case, their suggested playlists and discover weekly actually put me on to a lot of great musicians I wouldn't have known otherwise.

A lot of people feel this way, and a lot of people feel the other way. I'm not sure how to quantify or measure this, except to say these algorithms have never worked out well for me.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#116

Post by archi42 »

satokema wrote: post #86
asmendes wrote: post #40

How does the algorithm actually negatively affect your experience? I use mostly Spotify, and in their case, their suggested playlists and discover weekly actually put me on to a lot of great musicians I wouldn't have known otherwise.

But who picks the pickers? The suits plan ahead and begin with the algorithm. Part of the solo hobby of listening for me is discovering stuff and getting into a favorite artist's discog in depth. Having an algorithm just recommend stuff to you ruins the fun. Plus, my taste is weird enough that my experience with streaming services is they either slowly nudge me towards either the mainstream where the algorithm can ac…

I feel the same, but fondly remember the old last.fm recommendations. Those were pretty good (I hope that's not just nostalgia speaking). Plus browsing scrobbles [=playback history] of people with similar tastes was a good way to find more great music; or explore new genres.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#117

Post by swgdo »

nickjj wrote: post #76
avra wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious why a CD would not work anymore after listening to it a lot? Is the laser powerful enough to damage it or is it the heat from the device itself which is degrading the material in the long term?

> I'm curious why a CD would not work anymore after listening to it a lot? Is the laser powerful enough to damage it or is it the heat from the device itself which is degrading the material in the long term? If you handled everything with white gloves and carefully moved the CD around it would probably last forever under a realistic scenario (you left it in a closet, didn't move it around much, etc.). I have a bunch…

I remember later discmans had internal audio buffers so the music wouldn't stop if you shook them, but I guess on a run the buffer would end up going dry and music would stop anyway.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#118

Post by ryukafalz »

Nextgrid wrote: post #8
munmaek wrote: post #2

I buy CDs occasionally and rip them, but it's 2019, there's no real need to amass a CD collection (unless you want to). For most of my needs, spotify works out. I don't mind paying $10/mo since I use the offline listening so much. I only buy and rip CDs for my own collection if I -really- like that album or a song on it, and a web download isn't available. Occasionally spotify doesn't have a very specific version of…

Just wondering how you manage Spotify + your own music collection. Is there an app that can play both Spotify and imported files and present them in a single UI? At the moment I can’t enjoy anything that’s not on Spotify simply because I wouldn’t be able to listen to them really. I have hours of music on Spotify playlists and I would only need maybe a dozen of songs that aren’t on there, so manually switching apps fo…

Mopidy can do this, that's what I use: https://www.mopidy.com/

...but it's a background service with a web UI, so how easy you'll find it to set up depends on your technical expertise.

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#119

Post by Nodzi »

tadzik_ wrote: post #73
Nodzi wrote: post #31

I honestly prefer Spotify. The reality is that I have 1014 songs on my playlist at the time of writing, and it sets me back the equivalent of about $5 PM (Converted from ZAR), and I get to be picky about what I listen to frequently. In an album from someone, odds are that I might like 2 of the songs at most, so buying a CD for only 2 songs is a pointless activity for me. This means that to collect 1000 songs that I l…

> even if you listen to CDs on your computer the media player is still collecting your data and behaviour I'm not sure what OS or media player you use(d), but implying that it's somehow inherent to playing music on your computer in general is an overstatement, to put it mildly. As a counterpoint to your argument: I tried Spotify and went back to offline music. I don't use CDs of course, it's all ripped to MP3 and sit…

I run Spotify premium like I mentioned in the original post. This means that all songs I add to my libraries are automatically downloaded. Whenever my internet is down or my phone is away from WIFI I can continue listening to my music in the same way that you do, which is why I have no reason to use CDs for offline music

Re: Why play a music CD? No ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms

#120

Post by chupasaurus »

ubercow13 wrote: post #70
coldtea wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody "considered" them, it was what the music industry demanded at the time. In fact, as far as major services (e.g. major distributor and not some niche music market with "indie" artists only) iTunes was the one that spearheaded the un-DRM of music (with Steve Jobs' call to end music DRM: https://betanews.com/2007/02/06/apple-s-steve-jobs-calls-for... ).

The music industry considered them, then

Let's throw away marketing/PR part from what labels try to act and we'll see a simple fact: these parasites should be dead like 10 years ago. Almost all of the profits for musicians in digital era are made by concerts and merchandise, individuals could make some through direct sells and Patreon. Major labels charge 70-90% of the income and exclusive copyright for masters, which is a bit overpriced service.
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