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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?

#61

Streaming music sucks. It might seem weird but I don't like it. The first music I ever 'owned' myself personally were songs I taped off the radio. After that I started pirating music the same way I would collect songs on the radio, after that I started buying CD's, today I buy songs and albums from artists and producers directly. Building playlists on a streaming service is not the same as building a music collection…

I feel the same way about books. I much preferred scrolls.

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

#62

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"

I make a new playlist each year. I seed it with some stuff, and it’s locked in place at the end of the year. Same Spotify handle as HN. Add a song here and there, perfect the flow, make sure it shuffles.

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

#63

Streaming music sucks. It might seem weird but I don't like it. The first music I ever 'owned' myself personally were songs I taped off the radio. After that I started pirating music the same way I would collect songs on the radio, after that I started buying CD's, today I buy songs and albums from artists and producers directly. Building playlists on a streaming service is not the same as building a music collection…

Just sounds like a whole load of "these kids are ruining what used to be the good old times". Of course, I also think music from back in the day was better, but I am also aware that its just a matter of taste and our tastes are molded by prevailing business-social pressures as ours was back in the day.

If music appreciation sucks today it can be blamed more on the music industry and their idol manufacturing pipeline than streaming. This rot started well before any of these internet era breakthroughs anyway.

The only difference I see in the Spotify era is that if I want to listen to the Beatles or the beach boys, I can. I might not be able to find the exact bootleg recording of Dylan from some concert but whatever, the internet probably has a forum where you can find it if that's what tickles you. Don't blame streaming for what is fundamentally a music industry problem.

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

#64
post #51

An aspect here is that a lot more people are primarily on social media services like YouTube and twitch. The people they follow cannot play popular music because of DMCA take downs. The result is that a natural avenue for discovery music is cut off. Consumers will not associate the experience of the thing they're enjoying with the music as has traditionally been the case with TV, movies, and bars. The setting has a l…

They absolutely can play popular music. They just don't want to pay for it. All popular YouTubers and streamers are businesses which is a part that is often forgotten. They are all acting like they are friends with their viewers but in reality they are businesses just like a car wash, restaurant, plumber, etc.

That is true, to. very large extent. However, paying royalties for music is a chore that even big companies struggle with.

Do you know who to pay royalties to for a piece of music if it's broadcast in the US? In Europe? In Japan? It's not uncommon for a piece of music to be co-owned by multiple companies with weird things like "in the US the rights belong to Warner, in Europe it 27.5% Warner, 13% Sony, 1% the original production company that still exists and the rest goes to UMG"

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

#65

Streaming music sucks. It might seem weird but I don't like it. The first music I ever 'owned' myself personally were songs I taped off the radio. After that I started pirating music the same way I would collect songs on the radio, after that I started buying CD's, today I buy songs and albums from artists and producers directly. Building playlists on a streaming service is not the same as building a music collection…

Agree with all of that except the last paragraph - streaming album/LP's suck, and I've had spotify and apple accounts for years. As an alternative, I'd kindly recommend (to anyone) finding a few independent radio stations in genres you like or are new to. I feel that a good DJ and/or announcer is a godsend in an environment where the music alternatives feel endless and the social environment is complex. I just don't think that 'AI' or any SQL implemented 'playlist generator' will match a good DJ set with commentary.

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

#66

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.

> If we're making comparisons to the traditional music industry, the streaming services might not be the labels -- they could be the recording formats.

The streaming services are more like a hybrid of radio stations and music retail stores; they are where people go to listen to and/or buy recordings.

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

#67
post #54
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They absolutely can play popular music. They just don't want to pay for it. All popular YouTubers and streamers are businesses which is a part that is often forgotten. They are all acting like they are friends with their viewers but in reality they are businesses just like a car wash, restaurant, plumber, etc.

Let's say you're a youtuber or streamer who listens to a variety of different music, are you really going to pay to license every one of your favorite songs for business use? No. Instead they go to No Copyright Sounds or Kevin McLeod and grab their stuff instead because why are you going to sacrifice that money to license the music when you're small and starting out?

When streamers are streaming, they are working. If you want to listen to your favorite music, you can do that in your own private time. In a business context, other rules apply.

> why are you going to sacrifice that money to license the music when you're small and starting out

Does this also apply to utility bills?

Just use non-copyrighted music. If that isn't enough, you need to pay or just live with it.

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

#68

An aspect here is that a lot more people are primarily on social media services like YouTube and twitch. The people they follow cannot play popular music because of DMCA take downs. The result is that a natural avenue for discovery music is cut off. Consumers will not associate the experience of the thing they're enjoying with the music as has traditionally been the case with TV, movies, and bars. The setting has a l…

How would artists be compensated if all art was public domain?

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

#69

Streaming music sucks. It might seem weird but I don't like it. The first music I ever 'owned' myself personally were songs I taped off the radio. After that I started pirating music the same way I would collect songs on the radio, after that I started buying CD's, today I buy songs and albums from artists and producers directly. Building playlists on a streaming service is not the same as building a music collection…

I completely agree with your poignant "getting to know an album" statement, but I fundamentally disagree with your general point of your issues with streaming; I think it's a boon to have such a wide selection of music at your fingertips. An asymptotically infinite, for practical purposes, amount of music.

That being said, I really appreciate your perspective, and everything you said about physical media, the radio, torrent services, and ultimately limitations to music selection, is all absolutely true and completely resonates, even if I prefer the modern "more music than you could care about" availability.

It somewhat saddens me that anyone under the age of 25 (this is arbitrary, maybe a few years younger) never experienced the sensation of really getting to know every song of an album by an artist who's album you purchased, _even the songs you didn't like_. This really can't be emphasized enough. The younger generation has no concept of listening to a song you "don't like" 50 times, simply because you listened to the album you purchased 100 times.

It's like actually getting to know a friend extremely well that you've spent countless days with, vs. an acquaintance whom you always have a blast with but only meet at parties once every couple months.

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

#70
post #60

Streaming music sucks. It might seem weird but I don't like it. The first music I ever 'owned' myself personally were songs I taped off the radio. After that I started pirating music the same way I would collect songs on the radio, after that I started buying CD's, today I buy songs and albums from artists and producers directly. Building playlists on a streaming service is not the same as building a music collection…

I hear what you’re saying, but Spotify solves a problem I never managed to solve with CDs: it solves discovery. I used to go to music shops and browse albums, and I had no idea which CD would be worth my money because I couldn’t listen to them and find out! Even from a band I like I would often buy their other albums then get home and be disappointed because they didn’t work for me. In comparison, spotify will find a…

Soundcloud solves discovery for me. Every week I look through their search for words i filter on and sample all the songs (40-100 songs, maybe takes 1-2 hours at most) and download them if I like them (some weeks none, some weeks more than others), follow the artist if I like more than a couple (and what they are liking and re-posting), and occasionally pay the artist directly for files even if I already downloaded it.

I stream from my computer to my phone when I'm at home over the local network in the browser and thru a cheap vpn from my computer when I'm not (and/or just copy a random sample to my phone when I don't wanna pay for the bandwidth) if I know long enough a head of time.

Deff wont show up in billboards stats… nor have to deal with the misalignment of incentives when listening to music on the soundcloud trying to push a song from their algos an artist/agency paid them to do (or ads).

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