The streaming revival - Will we ever need one? In this series, I've commented on revivals of various
dead formats - vinyl records, cassettes, MiniDisc CD, film photography - to name just a few of my
topics, and there have been comments. A lot of comments. The thing is, if there's a comment that
disagrees with my opinion in the video, and that comment is so insightful that it changes my mind,
I'll be happy to do that. It's the definition of an idiot who doesn't change his mind when
external facts change. The thing is though I haven't changed my mind on anything that I've
said across nearly 20 videos in this series. Yes I'm stubborn. But it's only my opinion, which is
no more valid than anyone else's. No need to get het up over an old guy's ramblings on YouTube.
But there's one theme that has come up again and again in the comments. It doesn't actually
contradict anything I've said but it does add perspective. And that is the difference
between streaming services and physical media, and this applies to vinyl, cassette, CD, DVD,
and Blu-ray or any other tangible physical medium that you can actually own. On streaming services,
audio and video, you own nothing and you will supposedly be happy. Let me concentrate on
audio for a moment. I subscribe to Spotify and I'm sure I'd be equally happy with Apple Music.
Both services offer more music than I could probably listen to in a lifetime. Granted,
not everything is there and I find the classical music experience on Spotify not the best. But then
I actually do go to concerts so I would say that, wouldn't I? Regarding audio quality, there are
some streaming services that offer audio in WAV format so there's no reason it should be any less
good than what the mastering engineer heard in his or her studio. I'm not a fan of lossy formats and
I predict they will disappear at some point in the future as bandwidth and download speeds increase.
So yes I'll agree that CD is superior to lossy streaming even though CD is only 16-bit. Pack
those bits correctly and you have audio as good as anyone could want. Now there's something
audiophiles might want to comment on. Go ahead - You won't change my mind on that. I digressed
a little bit there but my point is that criticism of streaming on grounds of audio quality might be
valid now but it won't be relevant in the future. OK... the rhinoceros in the room... You'll own
nothing and be happy. Google says this phrase was invented by Michael Walsh and it has certainly
gained a lot of traction. What it means is that in the olden days we would buy stuff and use it
until it wore out, or if there was a better model available to trade up to. But now we rent stuff.
Software-as-a-service is an example, where you pay for your Pro Tools or Photoshop monthly.
Stop paying and you can't use it anymore. Or you make a down payment on a car then pay
monthly for three years, then you take it back to the dealer. You've made all your payments,
you've driven the car to your heart's content (within the mileage limitations) and now you own
nothing. Are you happy? Of course, you'll just go through the cycle again. You useful idiot.
Back to audio and that rhinoceros I was talking about... If you own a CD,
you own it. You can listen to it as many times as you like for as long as you like. Your loved ones
can play it at your funeral, and of course you'll have bequeathed it to a select member of your
nearest and dearest. Let's say it's a classic CD. I'll say 'Brothers in Arms' by Dire Straits from
the 1980s. Whether or not you like this music, it was definitely a major success in its time,
and it was commonly used to test out PA systems. The audio quality was so good. Well of course
you can listen to this music on your favorite streaming service today but what when there's
some legal dispute about who owns what copyright to what line of lyrics? The streaming service
doesn't want to get into trouble so they pull it. You can't listen to your favorite album anymore.
Go search for "albums removed from Spotify" if you want to learn more about this.
Or the artist or label might decide to remove an album, sometimes with an understandable reason.
But whatever the cause, whatever the reason, the CD owner can listen to their music forever;
the streamer has lost it down a virtual drain. One more point which applies to my example CD
'Brothers in Arms'. I made some course material for Audio Masterclass where I wanted to compare
modern mastering with old school pre-loudness war mastering. 'Brothers in Arms' came to mind,
but I needed a genuine 1980s copy to be sure I was getting the correct era of mastering. Can
you hear genuine initial-release mastering on your streaming service? Not particularly. In fact they
make a big deal of remastered versions, whether it's for the better or not. So if there's an album
you like and you listen to it on streaming, next time you listen it might have been remastered and
you might not like it quite so much. So that's the rhinoceros. Now for the hippopotamus... I'm saving
the elephant for a future video where I actually do change my mind on something. Many commenters
have made the point that I've just made here that if you own something you own it forever or
until it wears out. With streaming, what you can listen to today you might not be able to listen
to tomorrow. But the way this thought is often phrased is "I prefer CD because I own it and it's
a great format", "I prefer vinyl because I own it and it's a great format", "I prefer minidisc"
etc. But, if you've watched any of my Revival Series videos, you'll know that my view on old
formats is that they belong in the past and should have no relevance other than nostalgia today.
And yes, I will accept that vinyl cover art is sadly missed. Also in these videos I have mostly
said that streaming is the modern way to listen to music, and if you subscribe to a service that
offers the WAV format you'll have access to audio quality that is in advance of anything from the
past. Yes CD, but 24 bits versus 16. But, as I've said in my virtual menagerie, streaming
has its downside and that's that you don't own anything and you're not entirely happy about that.
So what is the answer? Well one answer is streaming. Just get used to renting your music.
You have more than a lifetime's supply for an easy monthly payment. If you're okay with that then no
problem. Actually if you are okay with that, leave a comment and tell us all how you feel.
But the other answer is downloads. Yes like Apple Music, formerly iTunes, used to be. The way Steve
Jobs liked it, and he knew a thing or two. But the early years of downloads had their own wildebeest
in the room - DRM. Digital Rights Management. This applies to video too. DVD and Blu-ray both
have copy protection. OK it's been busted but most movie lovers won't know how to copy their disks to
transfer to another device. And Digital Rights Management can withdraw your permission to play
your music at any time at any time, so you think you own something but you don't. So, like I said
a moment ago, what is the answer? The answer is that formats are irrelevant. Modern digital audio
is as perfect as anyone - even an audiophile - needs it to be. Digital video of Blu-ray
quality is as good as being in the cinema (and my television has better blacks). And how should
these best quality audio and video materials be given physical form? Bits! Digital ones and zeros,
and it doesn't matter how you store them - disk, hard disk, SD card, scribble on a scroll
of parchment if you have the means to play them back. Listen and watch on your TV, phone, tablet,
smartwatch, or any other device that might be invented in the 21st century. If you own the bits,
you can store them, copy them, and play them to your heart's content. And let me stress
that all of this must be DRM free. At last you own something. You own those bits and you can do with
them as you please. Formats are irrelevant. And so there need be no streaming revival. OK, there are
a lot of details I could fill in here but I'll leave it to you in the comments. What have I
missed out? What facts have I got wrong? Should I be canceled for my opinions? Over to you...