Physical Music Product is Dead.....Streaming is The Future....Discuss!

[drezz]

Like it says in the title...........

CDs, Vinyl, Downloads, DVDs, etc = Obsolete.

Streaming from the "Cloud" = The only way for the industry to survive ultimately.......

Opinions please...........

[Nolet]

Can I have both? I'm not in "the industry" but streaming has its purposes and it beats downloading MP3's. So maybe streaming will kill the MP3?

Still I like to have CD's with artwork and stuff for the bands I truly support. Especially if they come with stickers. I'll buy anything with stickers.

[who?]

I hope to see a resurgence in vinyl. You are just way cool if you are playing an album on vinyl. Plus the artwork alone is worth it. Now if only someone can get the masses to latch onto this idea.

[character]

I don't know. "Streaming" has really been around as long as radio. When radio was commercialized in the 1920s, the fear among musicians was that it would kill most of the demand for live bands. I guess records were part of that at the time, because you had to have a record to play on radio or jukeboxes (the exception being live radio shows). But at any rate, one format seemed to cross-promote the others. Radio was free, but it drove record sales. Bands got popular on the radio, and got better gigs.

What does any of that have to do with the present time? If I want to preview a band (for my own listening, or for business), I can usually look them up online and find a stream or sample of their music on their website or social media site. I can very quickly decide if it's something I'm not interested in. I'm saving time by not having to download or drive to a store (and spend money on a CD or a legit paid download). So I have more time to keep looking and find a band I do like - and then I can focus more time (and money) on that band. I believe it helps consumers (and industry people) make decisions faster. With all the social media sites, there is a larger volume of bands to sift through, but you can do so very quickly. Once you find a band that's actually good and worth listening to, it's not hard to remain loyal as a fan. When I find a band like that, I'm more likely to buy a physical product.

I just remember how much money I wasted years ago on impulsive music purchases - and most people are probably the same way. Sure, the music industry was in better shape at that time financially, but it was at our expense because we were buying junk nine times out of ten. Even if you tried to research a band ahead of time, it was hard before internet (and even in the early days of internet). Even downloading didn't become practical until the early 00s with high speed internet. Streaming wasn't too great back then either. The playing field is simply more level now, as fans can make more informed choices about what they buy. The downside is that sales are down, and I guess many fans are so used to getting free music that they may not turn around and buy music from bands they like. But a lot of people will support a band - especially at the merch table at a live show. I work with bands who sell a ton of CDs (and hats/shirts) at shows. But there's no label support, nothing from the industry to back them up or reinforce their independent efforts. Again, I don't know. There's pros and cons either way.

Interestingly, one thing that many people ask for at the merch table is a printed schedule of upcoming shows. If the band doesn't have any, they tell people to look on the website, and at least half the people that ask say they don't really get on the computer to check out bands...

[mellow]

Count me out.

[spectacular g]

More like brick and mortar shops are really sick and almost dead.
Just finished a record and the 1'st order from the dupe house is 10,000 unit's...
On the road again, tee shirt's and CD's = more hotel room's.

G

[character]

Originally Posted by spectacular g

More like brick and mortar shops are really sick and almost dead.

My question is... is there a reason for this (beyond the obvious fact that physical sales have been cut down by downloading and streaming)? I don't really have any experience in distribution prior to the digital era, but it seems like in recent years, distributors have been very hard to work with - inconsistent and unreliable. If that has always been the case, then the business model that was used to get music into brick and mortar shops seems like it must have been significantly inefficient. I can't help but wonder if that also played a role in the downfall of many record shops. Downloading was simply a convenient alternative to a previous problem.

[subby33]

I dont see streaming taking over Mp3, and I dont see it helping the industry either. ::Shrug::

[initialsBB]

Yep, I think the concept of music "ownership" is going to die quickly. People will still of course press and collect vinyl for a very long time, and CDs for a little while too probably. But for the most part physical media will be dead in the next decade. The idea of digital file ownership might take a little longer to die due to industry foot dragging but it's getting there.

[uncle duncan]

Originally Posted by character

I don't know. "Streaming" has really been around as long as radio. When radio was commercialized in the 1920s, the fear among musicians was that it would kill most of the demand for live bands. I guess records were part of that at the time, because you had to have a record to play on radio or jukeboxes (the exception being live radio shows). But at any rate, one format seemed to cross-promote the others. Radio was free, but it drove record sales. Bands got popular on the radio, and got better gigs....

At the local level, radio did put musicians out of business. In the pre-radio days, restaurants had live music - string quartets, that kind of thing. My grandmother used to do those gigs before radio came along.

On the issue of media versus streaming, I think it's going to take a while - perhaps a generation - before media is seen as cumbersome. Right now, I don't think the bandwidth is available for mass streaming. Try using your iPhone in NYC. Again, at the local level, CD sales are a big part of fan support for artists. I always bring cash with me to a concert, in case I get inspired to buy CD's at the merch table.

[character]

Originally Posted by uncle duncan

At the local level, radio did put musicians out of business. In the pre-radio days, restaurants had live music - string quartets, that kind of thing.

That's a very good point. I'm always glad to hear when restaurants today still have live music, and can make enough money to continue doing so and paying the bands fairly. I don't recall many restaurants playing a radio recently, other than some fast food joints. I don't know, I probably need to get out more.

[drezz]

Well, personally, i dont really care for CDs, never have really. Vinyl to me is the superior artefact for a physical product on all levels, but then again being a producer and an audiophile i'm not really representative of the masses. It seems to me that mp3s days are numbered now we have entered into the iphone/android phone/spotify scenario: the fact that you can just find pretty much anything you want in decent enough quality to make it listenable (and that will only get better) and have it right here right now pretty much anywhere is revolutionary really, and this is from someone who's 40 this year and remembers vinyl, cd, primitive internet dial up, the onset of mp3 and downloading, and so on into what we have now..........
The current generation are into their phones in a big way and it seems no one is too keen to pay if you can get it for free (or at least for a subscription fee)........
It's hard to know what will happen, everythings moving so fast, but personally i wish vinyl survives...........

[rack gear]

Why Subscription Services Can't and Won't Work...

[Porter]

Originally Posted by character

That's a very good point. I'm always glad to hear when restaurants today still have live music, and can make enough money to continue doing so and paying the bands fairly. I don't recall many restaurants playing a radio recently, other than some fast food joints. I don't know, I probably need to get out more.

speaking of this, my keyboard player recently was shopping his cd to restaurants to get little dinner gigs (jazz standards), and they had the odacity to ask him how many people he could bring!!! That's f'n L.A. for you.

Porter

[character]

Originally Posted by Porter

speaking of this, my keyboard player recently was shopping his cd to restaurants to get little dinner gigs (jazz standards), and they had the odacity to ask him how many people he could bring!!! That's f'n L.A. for you.

Porter

That actually happens a lot around the DC/Northern Virginia area. Maybe not a lot, but it's certainly not uncommon. It's hard to answer if you're an out-of-town band and the idea is to reach new fans in new areas. And to what degree is the promoter/venue responsible for advertising and promoting their own show? You would think it was in their best interest to hire new bands from other places to keep the music fresh - and then advertise that!

[Porter]

Originally Posted by character

That actually happens a lot around the DC/Northern Virginia area. Maybe not a lot, but it's certainly not uncommon. It's hard to answer if you're an out-of-town band and the idea is to reach new fans in new areas. And to what degree is the promoter/venue responsible for advertising and promoting their own show? You would think it was in their best interest to hire new bands from other places to keep the music fresh - and then advertise that!

Totally different thing. I understand completely (although still don't agree with) the idea of an original band having to bring people to the club they want to play at. But for a restaurant piano player doing jazz standards to be asked how many people can you brings is f-ing insane. NO fan base follows a restaurant piano player to his different eateries to hear him play.

[character]

I see what you mean now. That does sound kinda funny when you put it like that.

[vfr]

Originally Posted by Porter

speaking of this, my keyboard player recently was shopping his cd to restaurants to get little dinner gigs (jazz standards), and they had the odacity to ask him how many people he could bring!!! That's f'n L.A. for you.

That isn't too unusual, in my experience. My band gets that response frequently from most types of venues.

However, we have enough recognition (in our region at least), that people hiring us know we have enough of a following to at least break even after paying us.

I know of bands that play free, just to get exposure. The following emoticon sums up my reaction to that: dfegad

I also know of world-class award winning musicans who take menial sub $100 gigs, and will even travel for hours for those... That sucks!

[vfr]

Getting back to the topic of this thread...

I can't see streaming media displacing physical merchandise any time soon. I do see it as an alternative, or a specific sector of the market though.

What is annoying to me is the prevalence of crappy sounding music of poor (sub 16/44) quality.
iTunes is a prime target here. Why can't they use their own loss-less ALAC format?!

For me, if it is less than CD quality, it doesn't work. Even quite high bit-rate MP3s sound bad to me. I know the lack of support for wave metatags is a problem for downloads also...

I lament the support for SACD and DVD-A. Those formats sound great to me, and I wish more artists will release material in those formats. Especially multichannel SACD. They are (often) also compatible with traditional CD playback devices also (hybrid SACDs)

I have heard some great sounding concert DVDs and blurays though.

If Imogen Heap can release her live improvisational recordings in (up to) 24 bit 48 KHz (as downloads in loss-less) Flac, what is stopping others? tutt

[claend]

Well, IMO there will be a marginal market for phisical format for a very long time.. But it's a revolution, ideed.