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Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

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Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#31

Post by errantspark »

runarberg wrote: post #21
systemvoltage wrote: post #4

I can't remember the last time I sat down and spent dedicated time just listening to music. It is the same restlessness that I have when I try to medidate. Songs are just boring and I need to have an excuse to listen to music - like driving so I can optimize the time. "I am driving, might as well take advantage of some music". The internet has ruined peace, fun, and everything that I remember growing up. :-(

My advice, go for a walk. Download VLC on your phone (or any alternative that is ad-free), upload a CD or two you like to it, find some headphones (any headphones will do), start your CD and walk out the door. Walk as long as you feel like, stop for a soda pop if you feel like it and pause your CD while you are disturbed. If you arrive back before the CD finishes, that’s fine, try again for a longer walk (or a shorte…

I second this. I've got an old iPod and I go on walks daily listening to albums, playlists, sometimes just queuing stuff up on the fly as the mood strikes me. Never skipping a song that starts playing.

Tetris and Quake 3 vs bots also work very well to calm my mind so that I can zone into the music itself. YMMV

P.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jScy-kdCY4M <- this song is beautiful and I hope it makes some of y'all feels some emotions like it does for me : )

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#32

Post by ricc »

randycupertino wrote: post #12

I think less people commuting during the pandemic and sheltering in place probably corresponded to less hours streaming music. My biggest use of spotify was when I commuted and now that I wfh I rarely even open the app. I've been finding audiobooks more relaxing lately than music, not entirely sure why.

This is what I wanted to say. Since I started working remotely even before the pandemic, my music-listening sessions has been close to nil. The only times I play music is when I workout but I don’t really feel like actually “listening” during this activity.

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#33

Post by tayo42 »

randycupertino wrote: post #12

I think less people commuting during the pandemic and sheltering in place probably corresponded to less hours streaming music. My biggest use of spotify was when I commuted and now that I wfh I rarely even open the app. I've been finding audiobooks more relaxing lately than music, not entirely sure why.

Don't need to stream music to drown out office noise either now

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#34

Post by lamp_book »

Lammy wrote: post #30
lamp_book wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the sort of comment that I don't think belongs on HN. You can't trash something you don't understand and claim it a curious and contrarian view.

I’d be willing to believe there’s a kernel of truth in there despite the harsh wording. Maybe the songs that become hits today do sound different than songs that became hits in past eras due to the different ways people tend to listen to music in those eras, like what sounds catchy through an iPhone versus what sounded nice on FM on an old Hi-Fi?

I don't doubt that but I think it's in the non-hits is where you'll find the difference. Streaming services incentives short ear worms but also allows any John or Jane to put it's music in front of an audience it otherwise never would have. The music people listen to most won't change but the variety people listen to collectively is truly massive.

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#35

Post by tayo42 »

dvlsg wrote: post #15
wolco2 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try listening to older music. It's less boring and tries to bring out an emotion. A lot of the newer music has proshopped out any real emotion.

I can't say I agree with that. There is a lot of really good new music, just like there is a lot of bad old music. The difference is the bad old music has already been forgotten, but the bad new music is recent enough to still be somewhat memorable. For now.

Good music depends on what you like. Rock is a dead genre now, if you don't like edm or trap/hip hop then what new music are you listening to?

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#36

Post by Semaphor »

oceanswave wrote: post #16

I wonder if there is a link between DCMA crackdowns and the decline of the music industry. Posit: with consumers watching more community produced content and that content prohibited from including traditionsl music sources that consumers may then seek out, then a result might be a decline in the traditional music sources. This might also apply to commercially produced content that doesn’t include music for fear of fa…

I follow the RSS feed of a metal piracy site. Not to download anything there, but to get updates on interesting albums I might want to buy. It used to be, that I got that information on twitch via song requests from people, but that’s not allowed.

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#37

Post by will_pseudonym »

denimnerd42 wrote: post #5
shadowofneptune wrote: post #3

Simple answer might just be that there's only so much that can differentiate one streaming service from another. If we're making comparisons to the traditional music industry, the streaming services might not be the labels -- they could be the recording formats. Just as with buying a CD player vs buying a Minidisc player, very few people with go through the cost or effort to use many different forms of media.

I still think automated playlist creation has a ways to go. That would be the differentiator to me. I hate spending time creating playlists because I have horrible memory of bands and song names. For some reason there isn't enough feedback on the app I use though. For example there's no "I love this song, but you've played this song too much for me lately"

YMMV, but I got 4 months of Tidal for $1 as a Black Friday deal, and I really felt like its "radio" feature was better than other services. It's one reason I miss Tidal over Spotify.

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#38

Post by systemvoltage »

mym1990 wrote: post #26
systemvoltage wrote: post #4

I can't remember the last time I sat down and spent dedicated time just listening to music. It is the same restlessness that I have when I try to medidate. Songs are just boring and I need to have an excuse to listen to music - like driving so I can optimize the time. "I am driving, might as well take advantage of some music". The internet has ruined peace, fun, and everything that I remember growing up. :-(

The internet has ruined none of those things, you've just let yourself believe that it has. Just because you are unable to sit down and focus for 5 minutes does not mean something other than yourself is at fault.

Upon further introspection, you are right. It’s natural to blame it on the internet / social media. Ultimately, it’s my fault to consume it and get addicted to it. These things are notoriously designed for addiction and constantly attention seeking behavior, even if I am self aware of it.

I’ve turned off all notifications on my phone. Made a habit of leaving the phone docked on the charger and not checking it every now and then.

Still suffer from HN addiction :-) though!

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#39

Post by runarberg »

tayo42 wrote: post #35
dvlsg wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say I agree with that. There is a lot of really good new music, just like there is a lot of bad old music. The difference is the bad old music has already been forgotten, but the bad new music is recent enough to still be somewhat memorable. For now.

Good music depends on what you like. Rock is a dead genre now, if you don't like edm or trap/hip hop then what new music are you listening to?

Rock is by no means dead. There are dozens of new releases on bandcamp and its still quite popular as far as I know. Sure I believe the genre has suffered during the pandemic, as many artists rely on live performance, but that would only mean that rock would be hyphenating. But its not. Artists still find ways to release new rock music as evident on their preferred platform.

Re: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?

#40

Post by devilcius »

tayo42 wrote: post #35
dvlsg wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say I agree with that. There is a lot of really good new music, just like there is a lot of bad old music. The difference is the bad old music has already been forgotten, but the bad new music is recent enough to still be somewhat memorable. For now.

Good music depends on what you like. Rock is a dead genre now, if you don't like edm or trap/hip hop then what new music are you listening to?

https://bandcamp.com/tag/rock
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