I am so fucking glad I never stopped buying my music on CDs and ripping the tracks like a caveman. Why is it considered reasonable to rely on services and companies that we know we're going to outlive?
In the last few days, I've seen a lot of people getting angry at Spotify and (now) at Google Music. What I am surprised at is so few folks are talking about going back to physical media. Music CDs will take up physical space and might be more expensive upfront (though I doubt they'll be so in the long run). However, the upsides are huge. One, you own the content forever - even if you switch countries or want to pass…
I can buy downloadable MP3s from Amazon, if I wanted to own the music.
Thing is, I don't. I want a streaming service that has all the music ever produced, that I can hook into the player of my choice, and one that works on my phone when I am driving, and at my computer at work when I am working and at my home computer when I am at home.
CDs wouldn't do any of that and they are a pain to rip and I don't want the music on different devices.
I can't hear the difference between a 256+ MP3 and neither can most people. I won't argue that nobody can, but most people who have thousands of dollars in audio equipment probably weren't streaming to begin with.