The other day I was browsing my Twitter timeline when I saw Airwave ask this rather interesting question:
"Do you prefer to #stream music or do you #download music?"
[https://twitter.com/airwavemusic/status/780354743243644928]
Well Laurent, that's actually a great topic for a blogpost! So thanks for the idea. Here's my thoughts on the matter:
Downloading Is Life
It feels like the whole world has come to embrace the likes of Spotify but it just doesn't push the right buttons with me. I simply do not buy into this "streaming revolution". For me, a music purchase equals "ownership" in the sense that the music is made available to me on a platform I have access to whenever I want. In return, I give money. Streaming follows a certain "rental" logic, you pay a fixed amount of money for a fixed amount of time and it gives you access to libraries and backcatalogs of endless music. It's easy. It's fast. It's so "now". And it also completely RUINS the atmosphere of being a music collecting fanatic. I don't want to "rent music", I want to BUY music so I can own it and play with it, manipulate it to fit my own hedonistic music desires.
There Is A History Behind It
In 2005 I bought my first mp3 player. In retrospect, this might have been the most vital moment in the history of me becoming addicted to music. It gave me control over building the ultimate playlists over time as I discovered more and more music. I allowed me to pick purchased albums and compilations apart as I pieced together my OWN compilations featuring my favorite tracks from said sources. Think about it... Unlike the walkman or discman, which forced you to carry with you the entire content of its music-carier (even when there were songs you disliked), the mp3 player liberated you from "wasting time/disc space" for "bad music". I am not going to start the debate about past albums being pieced together more carefully, thus the quality being more consistent because pressing on vinyl/CD was more expensive thus it had to be the right investment, yadayadayada... My point here is, the mp3 format and in extension, the mp3 player, allowed for this amazing, liberating, DIY way of experiencing and living music. It took you from being a mere consumer, and turned you into the writer of your own music journey. Physical CDs, mp3 downloads, set rips: their contents served one purpose: to form maps of my musical journeys throughout time. Portals to memories. Time machines.
Now consider I don't even mix my own sets. I only produce my own tracks (which at default will make me reliant on the mp3 format for a looooooooong time to come). But despite that I have the need to own the music I love in either a physical or digital form (sometimes both). It allows me to play with tracks, place them in one context as I remove them from another. I have some tracklists saved as Word documents which I plan to turn into mixed sets one day. Another batch of playlists like that dwell on my Winamp. Ever more maps of this journey to be written...
By contrast, I feel that streaming is mere consumption. Press play, listen, press stop, unplug. It's... Sterile. Just because it's easy and fast, doesn't mean it is better for someone like me. And yes, I know there are plenty of people that combine the best of both worlds. It's not like I feel streaming and downloads are or should be mutually exclusive. For me however, streaming only matters in terms of internet radio/DJ sets.
It took me a looooooong time to get a smartphone. One of the great upsides about it is the ease with which I've been able to stream sets from established DJs and friends alike. Do I feel like listening to DI.fm? Open the app and get connected. It's amazing really, not being confined to a desk anymore to get access to "that realm". At the same time, both internet radio and DJ sets work as streams because they are supposed to bring me in touch with new music, tunes I have yet to hear and embrace. In that sense, streaming these things is like "not owning them yet" which makes sense. Because I will own them once they become available/I like them and want to buy them. I might be too stuck up about this but the logic feels different here then if we are to discuss streaming singles/albums.
Another problem I have with not owning my music collection is my fear of technological failure. Imagine your connection is dead... Or you didn't manage to pay your phone bill on time. Or worse -heaven forbid- YOUR PHONE DIES/GETS STOLEN/OTHER DRAMA. All this unlimited music you were supposed to have is suddenly locked away, far from your reach. I just don't like it.
For those that combine both or prefer the other: fair enough. But for me the download will remain an essential way to experience music. Contrary to what this article states: [], the mp3 HAS emotional value for me. It takes me back to the days we used rip the A State Of Trance radioshow through our recorders into cheap quality mp3s. Bback in their time and place, those recordings carried with them the promise of a great quality, unmixed mp3 to take its place once the track in question was released at last. There is so much more to the value of the mp3 if you cast it in the experience of a dance music fanatic. I can't speak for another fanatic than myself though. So back to the initial question...
#Streaming or #Downloading?
#Downloading. By a long shot.
"Do you prefer to #stream music or do you #download music?"
[https://twitter.com/airwavemusic/status/780354743243644928]
Well Laurent, that's actually a great topic for a blogpost! So thanks for the idea. Here's my thoughts on the matter:
Downloading Is Life
It feels like the whole world has come to embrace the likes of Spotify but it just doesn't push the right buttons with me. I simply do not buy into this "streaming revolution". For me, a music purchase equals "ownership" in the sense that the music is made available to me on a platform I have access to whenever I want. In return, I give money. Streaming follows a certain "rental" logic, you pay a fixed amount of money for a fixed amount of time and it gives you access to libraries and backcatalogs of endless music. It's easy. It's fast. It's so "now". And it also completely RUINS the atmosphere of being a music collecting fanatic. I don't want to "rent music", I want to BUY music so I can own it and play with it, manipulate it to fit my own hedonistic music desires.
There Is A History Behind It
In 2005 I bought my first mp3 player. In retrospect, this might have been the most vital moment in the history of me becoming addicted to music. It gave me control over building the ultimate playlists over time as I discovered more and more music. I allowed me to pick purchased albums and compilations apart as I pieced together my OWN compilations featuring my favorite tracks from said sources. Think about it... Unlike the walkman or discman, which forced you to carry with you the entire content of its music-carier (even when there were songs you disliked), the mp3 player liberated you from "wasting time/disc space" for "bad music". I am not going to start the debate about past albums being pieced together more carefully, thus the quality being more consistent because pressing on vinyl/CD was more expensive thus it had to be the right investment, yadayadayada... My point here is, the mp3 format and in extension, the mp3 player, allowed for this amazing, liberating, DIY way of experiencing and living music. It took you from being a mere consumer, and turned you into the writer of your own music journey. Physical CDs, mp3 downloads, set rips: their contents served one purpose: to form maps of my musical journeys throughout time. Portals to memories. Time machines.
Now consider I don't even mix my own sets. I only produce my own tracks (which at default will make me reliant on the mp3 format for a looooooooong time to come). But despite that I have the need to own the music I love in either a physical or digital form (sometimes both). It allows me to play with tracks, place them in one context as I remove them from another. I have some tracklists saved as Word documents which I plan to turn into mixed sets one day. Another batch of playlists like that dwell on my Winamp. Ever more maps of this journey to be written...
By contrast, I feel that streaming is mere consumption. Press play, listen, press stop, unplug. It's... Sterile. Just because it's easy and fast, doesn't mean it is better for someone like me. And yes, I know there are plenty of people that combine the best of both worlds. It's not like I feel streaming and downloads are or should be mutually exclusive. For me however, streaming only matters in terms of internet radio/DJ sets.
It took me a looooooong time to get a smartphone. One of the great upsides about it is the ease with which I've been able to stream sets from established DJs and friends alike. Do I feel like listening to DI.fm? Open the app and get connected. It's amazing really, not being confined to a desk anymore to get access to "that realm". At the same time, both internet radio and DJ sets work as streams because they are supposed to bring me in touch with new music, tunes I have yet to hear and embrace. In that sense, streaming these things is like "not owning them yet" which makes sense. Because I will own them once they become available/I like them and want to buy them. I might be too stuck up about this but the logic feels different here then if we are to discuss streaming singles/albums.
Another problem I have with not owning my music collection is my fear of technological failure. Imagine your connection is dead... Or you didn't manage to pay your phone bill on time. Or worse -heaven forbid- YOUR PHONE DIES/GETS STOLEN/OTHER DRAMA. All this unlimited music you were supposed to have is suddenly locked away, far from your reach. I just don't like it.
For those that combine both or prefer the other: fair enough. But for me the download will remain an essential way to experience music. Contrary to what this article states: [], the mp3 HAS emotional value for me. It takes me back to the days we used rip the A State Of Trance radioshow through our recorders into cheap quality mp3s. Bback in their time and place, those recordings carried with them the promise of a great quality, unmixed mp3 to take its place once the track in question was released at last. There is so much more to the value of the mp3 if you cast it in the experience of a dance music fanatic. I can't speak for another fanatic than myself though. So back to the initial question...
#Streaming or #Downloading?
#Downloading. By a long shot.
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