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I'm cutting back on physical media and will definitely purchase The Haunting and Outbreak as lossless downloads.
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I'm happy to see this news. I really don't have the physical space for more CDs and would much prefer a lossless download.
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Also, question for downloaders. If you're buying digital files but not paying for streaming... that confuses me. Why not stream? Is it a country availability thing. Moral objection.
I somewhat belong into this category, so I will give an answer from my point of view (which of course is only one among many viewpoints).
I currently do stream, I got a Tidal (hifi) subscription (got about half a year for really cheap) that goes up to early next year, so it is not as if I am against the idea of streaming. Services like Tidal or Qobuz offer lots of music in terrific sound quality. Streaming is great for exploring new music and listening to a lot of stuff. If I were just starting out listening to music, I'd probably not really see much point in "buying" music.
But as it is right now, I much prefer downloading over streaming.
There are several drawbacks to streaming when compared to downloads, and they amplify if you have been a music collector for years. So first of all, I've been collecting music since the early 1980s and CDs from 1987 on. I'm picky and don't just buy everything, but still, over the years, I have compiled a sizable collection of (mostly) classical music and film scores, some jazz, rock, pop, etc. This collection is now converted to lossless files, and tagged.
Reason No 1: The music is mine, it cannot be taken away. I have it whenever I want it and wherever I want it.
Reason No. 2: I find tagging is very important when looking up and finding music, and most streaming stuff is TERRIBLY inconsistent when tagged, it is at times even useless. Composers are listed in artist tags, artists are sometimes "Ludwig van Beethoven" (huh? seriously?), "Berliner Philharmoniker", "Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra", or "Claudio Abbado" for ONE and the SAME recording (different movements of a symphony). WTF? I am not the most fanatic when it comes to keeping an oderly system, but COME ON! So the inconsistent tagging (and therefore the inconsistency in display of streaming apps and hardware) annoys me. My own tagging is consistent and always shows what I expect and how I expect it. The way classical music is tagged in streaming is just awful. Soundtracks often don't fare any better... source cue composers are the same as the film score composer, regardless of who ACTUALLY really wrote and performed the song, etc. The music is often tagged as if on one cared. Well, I DO care.
Reason No 3: The music is mine, it cannot be taken away. I have it whenever I want it and wherever I want it.
Reason No. 4: I (currently) use streaming to listen to a lot of stuff I don't own (yet), but I often find that I already have the recordings that I would pick when buying them. I scan different recordings of Brahms or Beethoven or Chopin, but then find that I already have the recordings I like to return to the most. So... why pay for something I already own?
Reason No 5: The music is mine, it cannot be taken away. I have it whenever I want it and wherever I want it. For example, I can make a copy (AAC, my car does not read ALAC) and put it in my car. No Internet or app is needed.
Reason No 6: Streaming would cost me a regular fee... every month... even though MOST of the music I listen to I already own. So I could put the money towards NEW recordings, which I then own, or continue to pay for streaming services. It's true that I currently do both, but I can see that long term, what the heck, I might just stop paying for streaming and still be happy. I mean, when you subscribe to Qobuz, a high-res download often costs only half of what a new CD would cost, and you don't even have to pay shipping, so why not add it to the collection just to be "safe", so no one can "take it away" again. If my streaming service suddenly gets broke or an album I love gets removed from the label... no big deal, I already have it anyway.
Reason No. 7: A LOT of the music I want to listen to just is NOT available on streaming. Far too many scores by Goldsmith, Williams, Morricone, Davis, Rosenman, etc.. are just NOT available on streaming, or only in reduced form. (Okay, they are not always available for download either, in fact they mostly are not... which is why I buy them on CD.)
Reason No 8: I use various devices and software to curate my music. I don't like to be tied to the app of my streaming provider. While my smartphone and my streamer support Qobuz/Tidal etc, there is no guarantee they always will, and still, I sometimes prefer other apps (even on my phone) for music listening. And as I said, on my home collection I want consistent, systematic tagging.
I guess what if comes down to for me: even right now, when I have ALL of TIDAL at my disposal, the music I listen to the most is still the music on my own collection (on my own NAS), which is my musical "home base". So if I find something I like enough, I want to add it to the "home base", buy it, tag it if necessary, and "add" it to my own personal music collection. That is the reason I buy and have bought downloads even if I can just as easily still stream them. I don't buy all the music I like, but I do buy all the music I love.
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Posted: |
Dec 5, 2020 - 6:48 PM
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By: |
JGouse0498
(Member)
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I strongly agree with Nicolai's repeated point of purchasing/downloading ensures that studios, providers, labels, etc. can't just decide one day to take it away from me.
The best example I have from personal experience isn't even film score related. Through Google's recommended artists, I discovered a young country singer who was never publicly known, but I absolutely loved her albums. She had more talent than most. Well, fast forward a few years...she sues her label for sexual harassment, and the label retaliates by removing her albums from every music service. If I hadn't bought and downloaded her albums, they'd be gone for good.
Buying and downloading ensures that the files aren't tied to any service, and I make sure I keep my entire MP3 library in multiple locations: Google Drive, my PC, my phone's microSD card, and a flash drive. Overkill? Perhaps. But I also don't have to worry about a mechanical failure wiping out everything permanently.
I'm also very particular about tagging as well as using my own custom cover art, and it's much easier to manage those with downloaded tracks.
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Also, question for downloaders. If you're buying digital files but not paying for streaming... that confuses me. Why not stream? Is it a country availability thing. Moral objection.
For starters:
1. Things can be taken down from streaming platforms at any time.
2. Streaming requires a monthly subscription and uses data.
3. A stream cannot be burned onto a CD for playback on a decent hi-fi.
4. Every streaming service I've tried glitches during playback, even when titles are downloaded.
Bravo! Exactly why one should always prefer downloads.
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I'm a physical media guy myself, but we're going to have to embrace that the market is going digital.
It does have it's plus points: speed of delivery and the ability to go above CD bitrates.
You just need to make sure you have a good backup regimen for your digital library.
Cheers
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Posted: |
Dec 6, 2020 - 2:58 AM
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By: |
Ian J.
(Member)
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+1 for Nicolai's response.
I don't even use streaming, as in the past I have found that not only are the tags inconsistent, so is the quality of the compression. If I have a CD, I can control the compression quality when I make a file in Winamp Pro. I can do FLAC, and best quality MP3. I have yet to find a steaming service that matches this, though maybe Tidal could. But then the problem of availability rears its head, and I really don't want to be paying a subscription for not having the soundtracks I like to listen to.
So for me it's either disc or high resolution digital download as my primary source. I'll accept less on a temporary basis if there's no other way to get the music (so a CD quality download if possible, and if not then MP3). Otherwise, I'll just do without.
The other thing with steaming services is the sheer accumulation of cost. Unrelated, but I occasionally think about subscribing to the likes of Amazon Prime and/or Disney+, to get shows like The Expanse (season 4 onwards not available on disc) or The Mandalorian. However, I hate the idea that I'm having to pay the subscription in order to watch the show, even if it's just one month (more if a season is released say one episode a week), and then I lose the ability to watch the show when the subscription runs out and would have to pay it again if I wanted to watch the show again (presuming it's still available). Also, compression quality rears its head again, and on disc (Bluray) I can get a likely better quality and watch repeatedly without additional cost ( and don't have to put up with adverts over the credits!)
Streaming just isn't a palatable way for me to 'consume' media.
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3. A stream cannot be burned onto a CD for playback on a decent hi-fi.
This is of course true and one way (though not the only way) to play downloaded files on a decent hi-fi system that does not (yet) have streaming capabilities, but I just want to point out that it's not as if streaming or downloads mean that you have to listen on subpar equipment. There is no reason not to directly listen to streams or downloads over a decent hi-fi system.
4. Every streaming service I've tried glitches during playback, even when titles are downloaded.
Okay, that would be a real bummer. I have had only positive experiences with Qobuz and Tidal, never had any glitches, even 24bit-192khz high-res streams from Qobuz play flawlessly on my system. Never had any problem with any title purchased from Qobuz (not purchased anything from Tidal). So in my experience, Qobuz provides top (sound) quality music, both as downloads and/or streams.
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The only streamer I prefer is Streaming Soundtracks, a radio request line that allows me to explore new albums, even though it has its lag issues. But for collecting, daddy JJ needs to own his wares.
I appreciate 7digital, but by the power of all that is scientifically theorized to be ffffffffff***, their search engine sucks like a singularity, devouring all hope into its gaping maw. Took me a while to find Outbreak.
https://us.7digital.com/artist/james-newton-howard-(2)/release/outbreak-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-deluxe-edition-13982612?f=20%2C19%2C12%2C16%2C17%2C9%2C2
And now the hyperlink won't work here. BRILLIANT. It's bookmark time!
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Happy for you download folks!
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