They are looking at a two year plan to move to streaming only, thereby erasing the only "fair" price todays artists have access to. Not that I was making big bucks or anything but each time I sold an mp3 of my music there I earned more than 3 or 4 months of streaming on all of my songs combined. I'm just putting the finishing touches on another album and have to wonder if I'll even finish it, let alone make more. I love making music but it does cost money and time, a lot of time, and I have to be able to recoup something. I gave up trying to rely on music and got a day job a long time ago, but this is depressing news that's probably going to even hit the Taylor Swifts and Justin Biebers of the world.
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
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Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
I get what you're saying but I'm moving over to the view that paying £10/month for access to all music and never having to "buy" a download isn't such a bad deal. No more "do I own it? do I want to own? which version should I buy? where is it in my catalogue? I know it's here somewhere....."
One of my questions though is around travel. No wifi on London underground trains so streaming is tricky.....
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
Call me paranoid, but I always worry that albums* only available via streaming will suddenly disappear one day and I'll never be able to hear them again. It makes me uncomfortable.
(* yes I still listen to whole albums)
Yep. The fact that Netflix and Amazon are producing their own programmes (others will likely follow suit if it makes money) means that you may well find yourself wanting to subscribe to more than one streaming TV service.
Also, I read somewhere recently that apparently lots of the big content providers for services like Netflix are realizing that they could be making the money that Netflix makes from streaming their content and are considering withdrawing material from Netflix to stock their own streaming services. The more fragmented this sort of thing becomes in order to watch everything you want, the less it seems worth the bother- or the expense- of subscribing to all the different services, none of which will individually get any cheaper.
And I'll stop buying and ripping CDs when they bulldoze every last CD in existence in to a massive pit and burn the lot. Not before.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
My process nowadays is:
1. Listen to album on Spotify for a few weeks. Or months.
2. If I really like it, eventually buy the CD.
3. Leave CD in wrapper.
4. Carry on listening on Spotify (or Amazon Music if it's an Autorip)
http://www.recode.net/2016/5/11/11660982/apple-itunes-music-downloads-not-true
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
Apple don't often issue responses to rumours/stories but I would suspect they've certainly considered a scenario where they don't offer downloads anymore but I think that would be some way off still.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself