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Is streaming technology saving the music industry?


A Lark Ascending

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It is worth remembering that most people who listen to music are not worried about having the highest quality sound. I think of myself as a musical obsessive and even I'm content with 'good' quality sound (no criticism meant of those for whom sound quality is of professional interest/important or for whom it is a hobby in itself). Spotify causes me no discomfort.

Impossible to quantify but I wonder if streaming encourages listening experimentation? In my experience, most listeners who buy just a few recordings every now and them want to be sure they'll like them before they buy. But with something like Spotify, once the monthly premium is paid there is nothing to limit you like that. Those of us who have long been mad risk takers when buying recordings will probably relish the opportunity to hear a range of things without commiting to a purchase. But I wonder if the more occasional listener goes further now. Given the many ways recordings are linked to others you might enjoy, I'd like to think so.'

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Scott: I need to go out digitally from my MAC and into a digital input - what you are suggesting with the USB is only a means of outputting the digital signal, BUT THEN changing the signal to analog in the next immediate stage, for playback purposes; I need to KEEP IT in the DIGITAL DOMAIN in order to work on it as well as listen - and to keep the DAC stage for that part which is AFTER THIS MASTERING STAGE (in other words, coming out of my CDR, which is recording digitally, but which can be used to output the sound in an analog way).

this cannot done with a MAC unless one uses a USB interface that accepts the USB digital signal and then outputs it DIGITALLY as well. I DO NOT want to spend $300 for such a thing.

please tell me othewise - how to go out digitally from my MAC, directly into a another Digital output, without the interface. (and if you can I will send you a free copy of Mulatto Radio).

and Shawn gets it - I need something like a MAC with an HDMI, but what I have is an older MacBook pro; there is an optical output possibility, but it requires an adapter which does not work on my machine (I have tried it); plus, optical is not reliable enough for me.

Edited by AllenLowe
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yes, exactly. And there is an interface that has USB in, SPDIF out - but, for now, I just do not want to invest in it. I am set up to do transfers/remastering, but it's a fairly involved setup; but it works.

I have tried the USB to HDMI adapter; it doesn't work on my machine. Macs are a real pain in this way, they lack uniformity (the adapter DOES work on my IPAD).

Edited by AllenLowe
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I thought I'd throw this article into the mix:

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/20/its_not_just_david_byrne_and_radiohead_spotify_pandora_and_how_streaming_music_kills_jazz_and_classical/

Basically, the article asserts that jazz and classical artists are being cheated and/or beggared by streaming services, and that their income, already mostly minimal, is further eroded by these services. Also argued that the labels benefit from the arrangements, but the financial angles of these deals are opaque, with the result that artists get screwed. I find the example of Pi Records, which is the label for Threadgill, Lehman and others, withdrew from streaming services and found its revenue increased.

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Always the taskmaster Leeway. I suppose this had gotten off topic quite a bit.

Sorry, I looked through the posts and didn't see the article. Not sure what you mean by "taskmaster." I just think it's useful to keep in mind the human costs as well as the technology costs. Anyway carry on.

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The Raiders Station experiment continues, and the results, although pleasant, have been discouraging. I've had to start disliking songs that I really like just because they don't go fit what I'm looking for. This things seems to think, ok, this user doesn't like THIS song, let's send him another one just like it. I mean, a thumbs up to "Great Airplane Strike" and the next tune is "Monday Monday"? Thumbdown that one, and up comes "Love Potion #9" by the freakin'; SEARCHERS????

C'mon Musical Genome, either you are bad science or stupid science, which is ultimately the same thing, really. Or, most likely, just old marketing ideas (i.e. - hopes) applied to newer technology.

The Art Ensemble station, though, is showing prose. Last night it threw me Cecil's Live In Bologna as one (nearly) 70 minute "song" , and I not only thumbupped it, but listen to it all. Wanted to see if the logic took the hint and came back with something else equally pleasantly surprising. Well, no. It gave me back a Willaim Parker cut for the 4th time this week, and an AEC cut for the 3rd.

Pandora seriously needs a way for the user to set their profile to "get deep cuts" or "don't play the same song more than X times in Y time frame" and "play less p[popular artists first", something like that. Because it looks like it's currently set up to be an online "mainstream" record store - plenty of familiar variety for most people, but if you want anything else, look for your nearest specialty shop, and take your complaints there, please, we're doing ok as we are, thank you. Oh, by the way, are there any Beatles records you'd like to add to your collection? No sense leaving empty-handed, is there, don't want the trip to be a total waste of time now, do we?

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Always the taskmaster Leeway. I suppose this had gotten off topic quite a bit.

Sorry, I looked through the posts and didn't see the article. Not sure what you mean by "taskmaster." I just think it's useful to keep in mind the human costs as well as the technology costs. Anyway carry on.

Just a joke.

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It would take me years to rip all my CDs. I'm sure I have better things to do. I've kind of accepted that some CDs will have limited lifespan. I'll have around 3000 and apart from CDRs only one (Madame Butterfly on Deutsche Grammaphon) has actually failed so far through deterioration. A few others have suffered from trauma.

am i too late to make a riff about scottish summers, much less winters, potentially being the cause of the trauma...?

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