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U.S. Music Fans Continue Shift to Streaming Services as Apple Readies Beats Revamp

$9.99/month is a small fee to play for unlimited access to what is a very decent catalog of music; back in the day, who in their right mind wouldn't have paid Tower/Blockbuster/HMV (etc.) a $10/month membership fee to be able to go into their local store and open every single CD/record on the racks to take home and listen to as they pleased instead of having to pay the same amount for a single album?

That's essentially what paid, streaming, on-demand services provide; I would have bought at least one CD a month so why the angst about not "owning" your music?
 
So many people with opinions on services they've obviously never used and clearly don't understand. Subscription music services, such as Beats, are great! For $10/month, you get direct access to a massive catalog of music, and you get great curation services for discovering new music. Its like having your own personal DJ that constantly fine tunes his selection to match your moods and evolving tastes in music.
And, for those go-to albums that you really love, just by the damn disc! For me, I only have a small handful of CDs and everything else I get from Rdio. I tried Rhapsody, Beats, and Spotify, mostly interested in the service that had customizable stations that best fit my tastes in music. I was very impressed with Beats, but they lack a family plan, and aren't covered by T-Mobile's music freedom plan.
And that's another thing: check with your mobile provider. T-Mobile has their "music freedom" service, where most music subscription services do NOT count towards your monthly data allowance. Unfortunately, Beats is not one of those services, but Rdio is (and is almost as good as Beats).
For $10/month, I can listen to what ever the hell I want, and that's a good thing. I discover new music that I never would have if I stuck to buying CDs or even relying on iTunes.
 
Apple has only itself to blame for the failure of iRadio, but not making it available in major markets like Canada & Western Europe.
 
It's beyond me why would anyone EVER pay $1.29 for an individual song or $11.99 for an album thats rendered in a muddy & mediocre 256kbps mp3/a4....


The same songs and albums are in 320kbps on Spotify and can be downloaded to any device. By literally listening to ONE album a month on Spotify you're already saving yourself money.

I personally use Tidal cause it offers 1411kpbs streaming and offline listening, and I wouldn't be caught dead torturing my ears with crappy iTunes mastering and low bit rate samples.


Streaming is the future and I sincerely hope Apple introduces a Hi Fi streaming option as that's the natural next step after everyone drops "buying" (cough cough... licensing) things in digital download stores. If they do that I'm onboard immediately as I'm a huge fan of the :apple: ecosystem.
 
Not many people are willing to pay thousands of dollars to own their music. Most people would rather pay a monthly fee and have access to all the music they can consume. If you listen to an album frequently, buy the album, you have that choice.

For those that may listen to an album once, it doesn't make sense to own it. Streaming services also allow you to explore a wide range of music at a low cost. Music piracy has been declining, so the music industry is doing something right. It's easier to stream or buy, than to pirate it.
 
unobtainium said:
Are you referring to Spotify? Because that's not what it is. You can download and save any album to your devices. Their music catalogue has almost everything. The monthly fee is less than the cost of *one* album per month. What's not to like? Spotify is incredible.
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Plenty not to like - from a users perspective if you stop paying that one album per month, all of that content gies away. From an artists perspective it's very difficult to make money. From a music perspective it kind of furthers the commoditisation of music.
 
I'm okay with streaming services gaining popularity as long as the ability to purchase a track legitimately to own forever doesn't go away.

Most music I don't mind listening to on Spotify. However, sometimes a song comes along that really speaks to me, that I love. It's a song I'd rate 4 or more stars in iTunes. I want to OWN a copy of that song, forever. Because it might not always be available.

Remember when Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify? I'm not a huge Taylor Swift fan, but I see the significance of this. Some music I enjoy on Spotify today might be gone tomorrow, even though I'm still paying my fee. Being able to own music you love, DRM-free forever, is important.

Stream all you want; just don't take that away from me. I don't want to be forced to go back to pirating music; supporting the artists is important.
 
lk400 said:
Plenty not to like - from a users perspective if you stop paying that one album per month, all of that content gies away.
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This is kind of a silly argument to me. If a user stops paying it just mean's they either can either no longer afford it or no longer see the value in the service and don't want the content anyway. It doesn't change the value they gained from using the service previously.

lk400 said:
From an artists perspective it's very difficult to make money.
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Artist's choose to be on the service so they can decide what is best for them and the ability to have your music available for other's to discover is worth something. For other's they can offer their music as a one time purchase.
 
jeffe said:
This is kind of a silly argument to me. If a user stops paying it just mean's they either can either no longer afford it or no longer see the value in the service and don't want the content anyway. It doesn't change the value they gained from using the service previously.
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Exactly.

I was a Premiere/After Effects user while freelancing and paid the monthly Adobe Cloud subscription fee. I stopped using it because I no longer needed it. The programs went away, but I don't have to give back all the money I made with it.

There was value while I used the service, and that didn't go away because I stopped.
 
unobtainium said:
Are you referring to Spotify? Because that's not what it is. You can download and save any album to your devices. Their music catalogue has almost everything. The monthly fee is less than the cost of *one* album per month. What's not to like? Spotify is incredible.
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Spotify is incredible, unless you're Taylor Swift.:D
 
kds1 said:
Until you stop paying the monthly-for-the-rest-of-your-life fee, that is....
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And then you can still do pretty much the same thing, except you get ads and you have to be online. (I have Internet access pretty much everywhere that I want music--work, home, gym, and even the bus, though even if I take it my commute is too short for me to care--so this isn't really a big deal for me. And of course if you have an large cellular data plan, you're even better off. Of course, how much this matters to you will depend on your usage.)
 
matamoris said:
How else would they be downloaded? I'm wondering why downloadable movies, games, and music are being referred to as "digital" downloads as opposed to just "downloads" or something more sensible and less redundant.
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My guess would be just to spell it out. Once 3D printing tech advances you may be able to download a physical item ;D
 
Solomani said:
And they will be paying on a regular basis, like month-to-month, year after year, forever/indefinitely, or until they stop paying for the service, whichever comes first…

… at which point the music becomes silent.
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Kind of like Netflix,and we all know what a disaster THAT was!
 
HyperliteG4 said:
I hope the roll Beats into the iTunes Radio and/or replace iTunes Radio with Beats. I really liked the mixes that Beats had being that they were all hand selected. I feel these mixes had a much better flow than some computer's algorithm, which is why I don't necessarily like Spotify or Pandora. Rdio was good but since I have so much invested in the iTunes experience with my iTunes Match, etc, I don't want to spend money with another service.
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You mean, with the 80s playlist, I don't have to listen to Tears for Fears incessantly (don't they monitor when I switch the station or skip song, and have an algorithm that says, "oh my gosh, he's skipped the song, "Shout," the last 872 times we've played it... I'm starting to see a trend here...") and the song I've never heard anywhere but iTunes Radio, "S*x Dwarf," anymore?

One time through, I get it, like the radio. Every time I play a particular channel or music type? Too much, even for songs I actually like.

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OneMike said:
My guess would be just to spell it out. Once 3D printing tech advances you may be able to download a physical item ;D
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Digitally, of course... ;)
 
jeffe said:
Honestly I see them as two different things. What people ignore when it comes to subscription services is the value of being able to trial and discover new music on demand that they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. Your personal music library can just be so much more flexible and dynamic using these services.

Most everyone I know who subscribes to a music subscription service talks about this as there favorite thing about it.
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Yes, that's true, but you don't need to pay ten bucks a month for that. I can discover new music before buying it by using the free ad supported version.

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avanpelt said:
If it's a track I really love, I buy it on iTunes. It makes no sense to spend $10 a month to listen to the same songs over and over again on Spotify. For music discovery and for granular control of the music I'm listening to, services like Spotify and Rdio fill that need quite well, I find.

No one knows what the music landscape will look like in five years. That said, I'm not going to base my listening habits today on what could happen in the future. If I cancel my Spotify subscription tomorrow, I will have listened to music that would've cost me hundreds of dollars if the tracks were purchased on iTunes just in the last 30 days alone. To me, that's a good deal. Sure, I don't own any of that music; but I've broadened my musical horizons by listening to music on Spotify that I likely never would've purchased on iTunes anyway.

If I then go to a concert that I never would've gone to had I not been exposed to the artist on Spotify, the artist is then happy because that's how artists make the vast majority of their money -- concert ticket sales and merchandise sold at concerts.
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Why do you need to pay 10 bucks a month for Spotify to do what you've been doing? You can do it with the free ad supported version.

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RMo said:
And then you can still do pretty much the same thing, except you get ads and you have to be online. (I have Internet access pretty much everywhere that I want music--work, home, gym, and even the bus, though even if I take it my commute is too short for me to care--so this isn't really a big deal for me. And of course if you have an large cellular data plan, you're even better off. Of course, how much this matters to you will depend on your usage.)
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I'm not saying using Spotify is bad. I'm just arguing that paying 10 bucks a month for the rest of your life to use it is stupid.
 
ssgbryan said:
Why vinyl? Seriously. Have you added 8-track?

The sound quality for vinyl is horrendous, always has been.
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Sorry you are wrong. I've gotten back into vinyl lately and recently had the chance to play some high quality reissues on my rather modest system for friends. They were astonished. Boston's first album,Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Beatles recent Mono Box,Creedence Clearwater Revival all blew them away and gave them goosebumps. Top quality records are expensive,and I only buy music on vinyl I'm going to sit down and listen to seriously,not background noise while doing the dishes. Other than that I pretty much stick to CDs,SACDs or the new bluray audio discs. You can make a pretty good sounding CD or a horrible LP,that's what reviews and forums are for.

I'd urge you to check out a nice audio shop and listen to some vinyl,hopefully something familiar,You'd be surprised how superior it is today compared to the old mass market LPs...and downloads.
 
lk400 said:
Plenty not to like - from a users perspective if you stop paying that one album per month, all of that content gies away. From an artists perspective it's very difficult to make money. From a music perspective it kind of furthers the commoditisation of music.
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But it doesn't "go away" .. If you stop paying It would just switch to the ad supported model. Your favourites and album "collection" remain intact.

So you can switch between paid and free at will and still keep everything.
 
jwdsail said:
i guess i'm old, or just don't get it...

I'll never understand "renting" music. I can't begin to see the appeal, i don't see any value.

If i want a semi-random stream of audio that i may or may not like, or be in the mood to listen to at any given moment, i already have that, it's called a radio... It's not dependent on an internet connection, and it's free.

I'll gladly pay to have the songs i actually like, stored on my devices, organized in playlists i can choose based on my mood, and not have to pay a monthly fee, and not be at the mercy of an internet connection and it's reliability (or lack of).

I can't begin to understand where anyone sees the value in the music rental business. Seems like flushing cash down the toilet to me.

Of course, i completely understand companies like apple rushing to take money from suckers that are willing, hell eager even, to rent music.

Shrug.

Oh yeah..

And git off my lawn!
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this!!!
 
KdParker said:
What is all this talk about vinyl making a come back?

I know absolutely nobody that is reverting back to vinyl.
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It's still tiny but growing at an explosive rate.The first new record presses in decades will be going online this year. It will never be huge but many folks have discovered better sound and a different experience that they like. Obviously not for everyone.

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kds1 said:
Exactly, which is why a paid download will always be better.



No. Paid Individual downloads is a better value for non-disposable music you truly care for.





Until you stop paying...
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you are getting repetitive.We get it really.(I don't subscribe either by the way)
 
Google Play All Access has a massive catalog of music. Download and save all you want, unlimited skips and all the features one could want.

I continue to use all the others as well being a voracious consumer of many genres. Slowly I'm reducing the number of services I use.

Google is at the top of the list thus far due to play quality on my obscenely expensive system being superior to the other streaming service's I've used for quite some time.

If sound quality isn't your top priority, use anything out there. The differences are minimal on all but the most expensive well balanced systems.
 
It's quite worrying how misinformed people are about Spotify in this thread. As an investor I hope Apple itself isn't quite so ignorant.

You pay a small fee per month and can listen to any song at any time, ad-free, on multiple devices. You can also download songs to your device for no additional cost, for offline listening.

With services like Spotify you essentially have an "unlimited" music library available at any time (imagine if your iTunes library contained any song you could think of, within reason) This is the future. The iTunes Store model of buying music is dying and Apple is worryingly late on doing something about it.
 
Zxxv said:
Its amazing how parents have failed to educate their children in regards paying for what amounts to a glorified radio station.
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Name one radio station in the Atlanta area that plays a rich mix of techno/trance/dubstep without commercials.

Didn't think so. And yes, I think paying a modest fee to eliminate ads is a wider use of money: both to ensure I'm the customer & not the product, and because I don't want my head filled with cruddy ad content.
 
My music is all from spotify and sound cloud


Haven't bought a cd in years and anything from iTunes is 1.5 years
 
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