A couple of months ago I decided to try out Last.fm. After the short trial period, I quickly decided to make my account permanent, and start the paying service at 3 EUR / month. So far I have been very happy and satisfied with Last.fm. If you do not find your choice in the categories, you have a problem, or very, very, very specific tastes.
And the more I use the service, it got me thinking on my future music consumption. With so many services around that stream music, there has to be enough out there to satisfy any music need(s). On top of Last.fm, I can think of Pandora, Spotify, Tunify and there are many more.
So, what if I never buy music anymore? No more CD’s, no more iTunes, Beatport, Stompy or Traxsource downloads? Can it be done?
Let’s look at the places and moments when I listen to music:
- Work: that is easy. I have a home office (iMac) and when I travel for Sun, I have my laptop with me at all times.
- Vacation: can be a bit more difficult. Most hotels will have internet available, but unfortunately not yet for free. And most of the time quite expensive.
- Travel: as with hotels, most airports will have wi-fi. And increasingly the same applies for airplanes. And even if not possible, I always will have my iPod with me, which has enough music for several long-haul flights. Just the battery will not last.
- Car: usually I listen to regular radio. But apparently the 4G-connected car is around the corner, so picking up my Last.fm stream will soon be possible whilst driving as well.
Conclusion? It seems possible to never purchase music anymore, but use one (or more than one) of the various streaming services available.
What do you think? How do you listen to music, and would it be possible for you to rely on streaming services?
November 9, 2009 at 8:11 pm |
I think – when you pay a monthly fee – you’re still “buying” music…
I do rely heavily on streaming services. (Last.FM, Spotify, Hypem) I use them to discover new (for me) music. They are just the next generation of what used to be the radio and the cd-shop-owner. These are places to discover music, based on tastes or examples you give it. They are not the new “cd” though.
November 9, 2009 at 8:15 pm |
That is true, maybe I should have stated it differently. With buying, I mean either having the CD, or having the download to your computer. Streaming is another version of buying music, you are absolutely right.
November 9, 2009 at 8:19 pm |
I was actually wrong myself. You’re not buying, ’cause you won’t own anything afterwards.
You’re just paying for it, like renting a movie.
The best thing imho is the recommendations…
November 9, 2009 at 9:47 pm |
I really dig Last.fm for its statistics (and like D.J. says, the recommendations), but I prefer a straight forward music player like iTunes to choose the specific songs I want to listen to at that specific moment, and to be able to listen to the whole album. It’s a real art in itself to make an album interesting from a to z, and to miss out on that experience would be a crime against the artists
And yes, I am aware that some streaming services also offer this option, but that brings me to another point:
Simply put, I will never spend a dime on downloading MP3 files.. ever. But I do like to spend my money on CDs: I rip all bought CDs in HQ to iTunes and am proud to say that 1/3th of the total file size of my library is “legal”.
With a headphone that costs more than my stereo you could think I’d let the artwork gather dust and that I let iTunes do all the work, but it quite often happens that I just put on a CD, and another one, and another one, and that I fill my evening just listening to the albums, with the artwork close at hand.
That whole experience is something I wouldn’t want to miss out on..
Returning to the buying vs. streaming: if I ever spend anything on digital music it would certainly be a (small) monthly fee to use a service.. But to say I would never buy music again. naaaah..
For TV shows and movies this is completely different; I would be glad to pay a monthly remuneration to stream or download episodes.. as long as the cost for 1 episode is waaay lower than the price of the boxset divided by the # of episodes, and as long as it’s easier to use than illegal download services. Unlike music, you (almost) never rewatch an episode or season..
November 9, 2009 at 10:30 pm |
Well, it was just a question. It is highly likely that I will buy music again, if the CD is just too good to pass up.
As for the TV shows, Apple is rumored to work on an iTunes TV subscription service for 30 USD a month. Maybe that is the future of TV as well?