Music ownership vs. Streaming subscription

I decided to see if I could get through 2015 without buying any CD's. Now well into April and I haven't really missed the hours I used to spend browsing on Amazon or the thrill of a delivery dropping through the letterbox. Mind you I had reached a stage where all new CD's were ripped on arrival and quite a few of my 2014 purchases I'd never really listened to properly to be honest. 

I have to decide on whether to pay for Tidal in the next week or two. My main issue with it is the catalogue is very gappy. I'm working away during the week for a year at the moment and it is certainly more convenient than managing physical media across two locations. 

I'm not too concerned about paying for streaming services, I've been paying for Spotify for quite a while. I view it like radio but where I have control and I don't have to listen to annoying ads. So as I see it I am getting something for my money but I'm not sure about upping the spend to £20 per month for Tidal though. 

In the long run I don't see any difference, very close to 100% of the CD's I've spent 1,000's of £'s on are going to end up in a skip anyway and there is a scarily high percentage of them that haven't been played for 5 yrs or more. Plus I'm probably as or more likely to have a gas explosion which destroys them all as to lose all ability to access enough of the music I love through streaming services. For me it is about the value equation rather than the principle, if Tidal was £12 per month rather than £20 and a gap in the catalogue was as rare as finding a CD I actually want to buy in HMV these days, my experiment would be becoming a lifestyle choice. 

I'm 53, I thought vinyl was a pita when I grew up with it and a turntable is about at likely to get added to my system as an Austin Allegro is to my garage. 

How could you turn down such a fine looking ... machine?

They did a brilliant job on the body of that android, pity they displayed it on an Allegro though.

I have a simple arrangement:

For finding new music I use streaming - whilst I find MP3 or OggVorbis to sound small and flat in presentation and to lack a degree of clarity, it's not too bad; and it will certainly let me know whether I'll play something regularly.

If so I'll regard it as worth the purchase of a download of at least Red Book quality (-> move to next point).

Music I listen to regularly is on a NAS, either from downloads or ripped from CDs (I retain the original for Copyright compliance).  The data are backed up in 3 places, one off site, stored along with my computer backups.

This allows me to find new music and to still have reliable immediate access to the stuff I listen to regularly without exposure to the whims or vagaries of external service providers.

Nice one Simon. With that orange go faster stripe perhaps I might have to reconsider!

Enjoying the perspectives on this thread...here's mine. 

I have a bunch of CDs, accumulated since mid-80's in what could best be described as burst mode: some periods of high purchase rate, some big gaps. Not all my boyhood favorites re-purchased, but many; I have had no vinyl since 1989. I've had a variety of portable digital players since (mumble) but played CDs at home and car. Switching to NAS-based streaming a few years ago was a big lifestyle / listening mode change for me. like Olly, I buy and rip straight away: a flac copy to the NAS, an MP3 to iTunes and box the disc - some car-worthy discs get a ride for a while. I ripped and re-discovered a lot of my old collection and had fun with random mode as a way to explore. 

At Christmas time I got Spotify and have been listening to a lot of back catalogue, some new discs, and dipping into classical with help from Gramophone magazine. (At the moment, thanks to Olly's avatar, I'm playing the live Feat version of Waiting for Columbus; I've found and enjoyed stuff thanks to others on the forum too, especially A Love Supreme from someone who was discussing several different masters). 

I haven't purchased a CD since Xmas. In part that's down to travel and in part because my favorite local shop closed its doors a month ago after a wind down period that was distressing to see (my last visit on their last day was ill advised!). In part, though, it's because I'm using Spotify to discover and to listen. Things I like or want to play again, I mark as saved; if I'm going on a travel, I download for offline listening. I've been tempted to buy a couple to own but so far haven't pulled the trigger. 

One thing folks have mentioned as a downside to online streaming is loss of access if they stop subscribing. I get that. I have Netflix but still buy movies I want to own, usually as DVDs that come bundled with the digital copy (I only get the iTunes versions, have not set up with ultra-violet) for on-the-go. But for me, I don't consider the monthly fee as a charge for nothing, or that I won't have anything if I stop subscribing: I'm good with the cost to enjoy the show and the convenience and selection. 

All that said, I have one tale that hasn't surfaced here that I will share. It's about Mark Knopfler, discussed on another thread months ago, and some kind soul added comparative lists of available albums on a few different services (Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal, maybe more...). I like Mark Knopfler. I buy his album every time he records it. It's a habit, and some get high play rates, some float down the pile before I really come to know them. So Beryl, the single from his new album Tracker, comes to Spotify and it's fun and fine...then I'm on a travel a couple weeks later (in France, I think) and the album is out and I have a wifi connection for my iPhone and I connect to Spotify - wow, huge convenience! love that, thanks - and save the album (chose the deluxe version, it had a couple extra songs versus the ordinary one), download for offline, enjoy it in the lounge before the flight, etc. At home here in Canada, a few days later, I decide to listen again. It's gone. No sign of the tracks, just the saved album with only the single in the track list. WTF, I say, how did I mess that up? But no, it's really gone - must be a digital rights thing...it is not on Spotify, but neither are most of his other older albums. I was in the USA last week, checked and they didn't have it either. Maybe I'll get it again for a while when I go to Eurpoe. 

Hmm. I am not sure about this. to be honest, I don't really care about Tracker. If I had it, I'd listen on occasion. If I see it at the store I might or might not buy it (I haven't acquired the habit of online purchasing). Like Olly, I have stuff that never got enough -or any! - airtime, and I also have things I wanted but never got around to getting, again without turning my life upside down. But there is a tiny control - or, strictly speaking, loss of control - issue here that is distracting me. 

Oh well. Thanks for letting me share. I have no conclusion, just the anecdote. I'm 53, for the record, and I've discovered lots of new bands and a few new genres thanks to online listening (especially Radio Paradise). I really like the sound I get from my Naim gear, I enjoy red book quality, but the 320k streaming is also very nice to me and I'm glad it doesn't grate the way it does for some. I may try a lossless service when I'm home for a good stretch in a row...but I expect my subscription choice will continue to be driven by content and integration with the Naim systems more than any other factors. If Spotify launch a lossless service, that will be an easy thing for me to try. 

Best wishes and kind regards, alan

Since recorded music was first invented the concept of "owning" a copy of a performance became the norm, and as someone who grew up with that I wouldn't want it any other way.

Given my fairly restricted taste in music - I dislike far more than I like, with a predeliction for disliking the temporary music of the day, which was as much the case when I was 16 as a similar sounding but much greater age. That result is  that I have a record collection (which is how I regard my exclusively HD based collection) that whilst reasonably large grows only slowly, and of which many recordings receive frequent replays.

for me therefore owning that collection makes far more sense than paying to hear, while I am never at the mercy of internet connection etc.

As has been mentioned by others, streaming even of mp3, is a way of listening to new things to decide if interesting enough to buy, whether Spotify or artists' own websites etc.

also of significance in this debate, for the -small percentage of population but still significant number of people - who live in places with poor broadband internet availability, streaming in HQ may not be viable.

Lovely post with which I agree with in every word ...

My son works abroad and texted me a day or two ago asking me if I had heard of The White Buffalo. Nope, never heard of The White Buffalo, but approximately 10 minutes later I was listening to Once Upon A Time In The West on Spotify through my Muso, and very enjoyable he is in a Leonard Cohen not so cheery fashion for, like Passenger, he's a he and not a them. +1 to streaming.

Or you could have Googled or Youtubed it. If you prefer to use Spotify that's all fine and dandy. But subscription services bring nothing new in terms of browsing and discovery. Choice is always a good thing, although history didn't begin three years ago.

Actually you are quite right. My son recommended 'The Whistler' on YouTube which is not available on Spotify. However, I now have the album, which is very good, available to me when I go on holiday later this week. 

I very much appreciate people wanting to physically own their won music. I still have my first album The Beatles Rubber Soul from way back then as well as almost every album I ever bought, but never play them now as I do not have a record player on my system. i also have all my CDs but again rarely touch them. 

Cor, now that's reminded me of something I can warm up the system with when I get back to England. The music is what it is all about. I agree that the more ways we can get to it the better.

Rubber Soul was probably about my 10th LP...  I ripped all my LPs to hard disc when I decided to make the move wholly to digital - in fact initially then burning to CD before CD player demise made me decide to go streaming from HD. I used Audacity, and used its 'click removal' tools to iprove some LPs: the odd scratch was easily removed, though I found it most effective if painstaking to do manually; wear noise was somewhat less successful, but what I have, for those irreplaceable and with no available digital version, is still music I love. 

I didn't buy Rubber Soul when it came out, not till maybe 1970 or thereabouts - I didn't appreciate the Beatles until 'Get Back' was released, which was the first single I bought.  My first album was Shades of Deep Purple. 

My ripping was was done for love of the music, and lack of funds to buy it all all over again. And a fantastic prompt to listen to every album, or make the conscious choice to bin (that fate only faced a handful).