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Topic: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming? (Read 9402 times) previous topic - next topic
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Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Hello,
I have a lot CDs at home I collected over the years and I thought about converting all of them to FLAC. However, I read on certain websites that converting CDs is now considered an outdated method of listening  to music. I know that FLAC is future-proof because it is an open and documented format and even if there are no big differences between MP3 320kbp and FLAC in terms of sound, I think from an archival standpoint FLAC makes more sense. Do you still collect CDs and archive them on your computer? or you are just using the streaming services now?

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #1 –
As this an audio enthusiasts' enclave, you will probably a lot of confirmation for sticking with your own physical/ripped FLAC collection. (As I am mainting one myself.)

But in the end, this is not something where you should be taking the advice of random strangers too seriously. After all, this is a hobby, and you should follow your own preferences. Some take joy in meticulously tagging, rating and filing our files. Others prefer the no-fuss streaming experience that saves them hours of crate digging.

For "important" releases, I invest into a physical copy, either CD or sometimes vinyl (not playback, more for the large cover art print), just to be able to showcase and handle the object. Do you need any of this? Only you can decide that.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: ojdo on
this is a hobby, and you should follow your own preferences. Some take joy in meticulously tagging, rating and filing our files.

This.

I may be old school but like to have music files on local disk. Never used any of streaming services and I probably won't use it. I like having my own music collection and ability to have full control of files, like to move, copy, rename, transfer, tag, is a big plus for me.
Somewhere, there's someone dying in a foreign land
Meanwhile, the world is crying stupidity of man
Tell me why, tell me why

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #3 –
I definitely find CD's and rip them to FLAC, because then I can convert to any format I want for any reason I want, and I can also do whatever when I have the true audio data in my possession.
Don't think it's outdated at all when the sound can still be excellent (depending on the mastering and original recording), plus when you rip it you can have it anywhere.

But as others have said, do what you will.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #4 –
I still buy CDs and rip them to FLAC.  I sometimes use streaming services to check out new music, but I often find that albums can be mislabeled, incomplete, or disappear from the service.  With music from my own collection, I never have to worry about listening to music interrupted by ads or needing an Internet connection (on the go).

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #5 –
I collect FLAC files and store them on my PC. Not a whole album but the music I love the most. I still have a subscription to Deezer/Tidal/Qobuz.
Collecting FLAC files is a hobby for me.
In 2019, I created 20+ playlists on my Deezer account. After a year I don't find some songs from those playlists. Deezer removed some songs for some reason. The same thing happened to me with my Tidal playlist in 2018.
That is why I collect all the songs I love.

Right now no giant corporation uses MP3 anymore. Like YouTube uses Opus (160kbps). Spotify uses (Vorbis 320kbps & FLAC), Facebook uses Vorbis (110kbps), Deezer and Tidal use FLAC.

I was using Qaac (q127) for daily listening but I've started to listen to Opus (vbr 320). That's the advantage of collecting FLAC. I can convert them to whatever codec I want and save some space on my phone.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #6 –
Who wants to support some unethical corporations that overcharge customers and underpay artists? I buy used CDs and resell them on Discogs, so I make money, albeit at the cost of some time. I'm more familiar with my collection and my music than I would be just streaming it. Besides, one can stream one's own collection and still subscribe to some service or the other. Me, I'm too frugal, I'll do almost anything not to have another monthly bill. https://www.discogs.com/user/2tec/collection
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #7 –
I have music that my friends made and music that I've made myself. That doesn't go on a streaming service.
That aside, I think there is some value in having at least some music that is very valuable to you, as a digital copy on a storage medium that only you have control over.
We see things with video streaming platforms, where some movies and series simply vanish and end up difficult to find. There is no reason why this might not also happen to audio streaming platforms, too.

There is some audio content, which I feel I must have full control over myself. And since audio files don't take up much space and are very easy to handle, there is almost no cost in doing that, so why not?

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: 2tec on
Who wants to support some unethical corporations that overcharge customers and underpay artists? I buy used CDs and resell them on Discogs, so I make money,
ummmm so you're not just underpaying the artists (i.e. zilch) you're making a profit out of them

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Vicas on
I may be old school but like to have music files on local disk. Never used any of streaming services and I probably won't use it. I like having my own music collection and ability to have full control of files, like to move, copy, rename, transfer, tag, is a big plus for me.
Damn, I could have written this entire post, word by word! ;)

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #10 –
Yes, I still rip CDs or buy lossless files (and occasionally other physical formats) and don't subscribe to any streaming service. Sure, part of it is the mere hobby of collecting physical objects and the pleasure of having all the info and artwork in the booklet.

But it's also about spending your budget on specific artists and releases rather than yet another intermediary, and about wanting to preserve (access to) the music. With streaming platforms, as Replica9000 mentioned above, you never know when or why they might alter certain works or stop offering them altogether, raise the subscription fees etcetera. You get disputes between artists and labels, between labels and streaming services, censorship, copyright disputes with uncleared sampling and so on. But I'm pretty sure no one will come and seize your personal copy.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Squabsy on
Quote from: 2tec on
Who wants to support some unethical corporations that overcharge customers and underpay artists? I buy used CDs and resell them on Discogs, so I make money,
ummmm so you're not just underpaying the artists (i.e. zilch) you're making a profit out of them
LOL, mainstream artists have way too much, most other musicians way too little, besides I pay for my music, new or used. No one is being underpaid here except the poor and I hardly see published artists as poor unless they have poor money management skills; but hey, nice try. (Not to mention I add my local artists to Discogs and sell their music for them online.)

Besides reselling and conserving is sustainable. I'm just pointing out it's too bad copyright has been so unreasonably extended, much to the detriment of the public's domain. (Not to mention it's the transnational corporations that are gaining and it's the artists and the public who are losing.) Just saying.

Bob Dylan sells catalog for $200 million ~ https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-357971-8-.htm
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #12 –
I love my CD collection, I still even have my cassette tapes. I also know the fun in collecting Vinyl CDs. I've also "ripped" them as backup on my computer/USBs. But to be completely honest with you, I have never touched them in years. Whenever I want to listen to something, I just hit the internet. It's just so convenient. I guess the only time I listen to my "ripped" collection is when I play them on the car via USB.
so I guess I moved on.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #13 –
Good morning to all. I'm an new folk on that incredible forum, and I hope my experience with you guys gonna last good !
I'm also an enthusiast on searching old material on physical copies, and that is the beaty of my hooby, spending hours of discogs
and trying to dig everything of whatever likes me. Ripping is old stuff fun, but I more create newer audio cds than ripping olders !
But is importand that almost all of us we having at least hundreads of losseless audio (I more like .wav) on our pc's and maybe on our phones, and I see streaming like an free-time relaxing; when I'm on YouTube or I doing some work, I love just to listen online.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #14 –
Streaming is a form of communism.
The powers that shouldn't be want everyone to use their on-demand streaming platforms so they can continue to control and influence the music world.
I still have my own collection of files and really this is the only way to go, unless you're fine with listening to whatever is available on a streaming service.

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #15 –
Quote from: zoliky on
However, I read on certain websites that converting CDs is now considered an outdated method of listening to music. Do you still collect CDs and archive them on your computer? or you are just using the streaming services now?

@zoliky, could you give an example of a website that distributes such information? I do not use any streaming services and will never use them for two reasons: a) they own the content, so they can obstruct or even revoke the access (from outdated OS or browser or that VPN is not allowed to political sanctions), not to mention that an outage may happen along the way, b) they interfere with the content, thereby distorting the intent of the creators, from changing the way it sounds to censorship. To prevent each person’s home from turning into a warehouse, comrades use peer-to-peer exchange systems like book swapping and torrents. Listener-supported radio stations are in demand as well.

Quote from: Cybercat2000 on
Streaming is a form of communism.
Streaming is a rental service, a form of rentier capitalism. Previously, people rented videotapes (VHS), now they rent access to music, films, apps (games included) and books. If you're looking for an echo of communism, look no further than the public library.
• Join our efforts to make Helix MP3 encoder great again
• Opus complexity & qAAC dependence on Apple is an aberration from Vorbis & Musepack breakthroughs
• Let's pray that D. Bryant improve WavPack hybrid, C. Helmrich update FSLAC, M. van Beurden teach FLAC to handle non-audio data

Re: Is it still worth having your own music collection in the era of streaming?

Reply #16 –
Quote from: Cybercat2000 on
Streaming is a form of communism.
Communism? Oh, you mean like the Kibbutz movement, the Hutterites and the hippies, right? No? Oh, you meant like the USSR, the CCP, the Khmer Rouge and the current regime in North Korea, didn't you? Well it is true, these were and are 'communistic' in name, in reality, they're top down command economies, which aren't actually communist, nor even Marxist. Command economies are actually closer to fascism than communism. However, we often see 'red baiting' where communism is used as a slur to discredit because it's assumed that communism is a failed theory when in fact the opposite is true. Communism works exceedingly well in small communities but like most political structures, it does not scale. What people call 'communism' is most often despotism. Just saying.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)