BBC Music Article - Recording Companies Reluctant To Release Physical Media

[GhostShip]

The recording industry is in flux it seems, this article from the bbc is well worth a read.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42701623

Something odd is happening to the music industry in the era of streaming.
Age-old commercial strategies are being overturned as record companies big and small fight to adjust to the new technological reality.
Nowadays, physical albums that might previously have shifted hundreds of thousands of units are not even being released because no-one thinks they will sell.

I urge you all to read through the full article, my own opinion is they no longer wisht to deliver the expense of producing physical material  when for virtually nothing they can gain the same revenue from streaming it to you leaving the end user with nothing physical to enjoy and pore over.

I havet ever used streaming, an mp3 will perhaps bait my musical taste buds and get me interested in seeking out & purchasing some physical media even if that means grabbing it from ebay or other sources such an a small artists website directly, all avenues that the music industry seem determined to shutter and monopolise, havent they learned a single lesson yet in ensuring that if they deliver what the customer wants they will always make profit, dogma based delivery is just the new face of a long standing greed.

[Pri]

I personally haven't bought any physical media in over 10 years. Gone fully digital, it just saves so much room having a few hard drives able to hold the equivalent of 20,000 CD jewel cases etc (I don't have that much music, just an example of the size differences).

Personally I don't mind so much. I do feel that the music streaming services are good value. I do not currently subscribe to Apple Music, Spotify or Tidal but I do feel that the £99 price that Apple Music costs for a year is great value. All you can eat music on all your modern devices etc - Spotify is also good value, little more pricey about £120 a year. Tidal is I think £150 a year or more but it offers all their music in Lossless fidelity 1:1 to the CD release / master files. So if you care about quality that's a way to go, I think you also get free tickets to concerts with Tidal and free online streaming of concerts.

Overall I don't mind if they get rid of the physical media but maybe I'm drinking the koolaid

[White Stripes]

problem with physical media of music, especially "pop" music, is you pay $20 (price of a movie or old used video game) for a disc with 16 tracks on it and only 4 of them are worth it... ...on the flip side of the coin id rather have to go through that trouble than use only a streaming service if i really wanted those 4 songs...

and for the albums that are good from beginning to end, well, physical isnt going to go away cos ppl will still collect those... there are aural masterpieces on disc that will never be on the radio let alone cycling around the 'top 40' charts...

[GhostShip]

What truly concerns me with digital services isnt so much downloading where you can keep a copy locally but streaming where no local copy is produced, both systems are consumer limiting in terms of poor value for money versus the resale value of physical media and more importantly the unspoken aspect of digital companies going belly up and at a stroke denying you access to what you thought you had purchased via digital rights management.

This exact scenario we have witnessed at least 3 times since 2005 and I prefer plastic in the hand with the option to rip to an mp3 player for my own personal usage against vague promises of continuity of service, trust is and always will be lacking when it comes to dealing those whom monopolise and abuse their position whilst delivering little to the original artist bar the inflated studio bills and production costs.

[White Stripes]

I prefer plastic in the hand with the option to rip to an mp3 player for my own personal usage against vague promises of continuity of service,

something tells me that the type of music you listen to will always have a physical form.... the CD isnt going anywhere... hell even vinyl made a comeback...

the article said,

"The three majors live in a different world from us," says Mr McNay. "They have a different business structure, they have higher overheads. They're very much geared to finding the new Ed Sheeran.

ed sheeran? really? the sheerans of the world are going to be consumed by those who think their cell phone speakers sound "really good" and dont collect discs... ...the good music is still going to be pressed to CD and/or vinyl since its still purchased that way by its fans...

[Pri]

Losing access to content already paid for is concerning. It's the reason I've not signed up for any streaming services at this point in time. I still get digital non-DRM copies of my music and store those in my own library.