Streaming Sources

Posted by: cycling66 on 04 December 2018

I have had a streaming experience over recent days that has me reflecting on where our streaming and downloaded audio files originate from and what can happen to them on the way to our streaming machines.  On the ND 555 I was listening to 

SIEGMETH, Hugo / WOLF, Axel: Now - Jazz and Renaissance Improvisations

in the HRA Streaming app when the music for this album switched from saxophone and lute, which are the instruments Hugo and Alex play, to what sounded to me like early classical piano. If you investigate this album on HRA or Qobuz you will still find several tracks are this piano music, and wonderful it is, too. Thing is, the the piano is unidentified, track times and sample rate are different than indicated for the Now album. I queried this with HRA who appeared to be unconcerned about the errors and suggested I contact the label Oehms Classics. Oehms were aware of the mixed tracks and said the matter was being sorted by Naxos USA who provide their digital services. I was looking for certain answers here, I wanted to know what the classical piano music was and who was playing it. If anyone can identify the piano music please let me know, I love it - try track 3 and 4 of the Now album.

Over on Naxos the sampling app plays the correct tracks for Now, no piano, so it has obviously been sorted at digital source.  Further, I learnt that Naxos provide digital sources for over 100 labels. So there was me thinking each label provided their own digital sources only to discover that like much else these days digitising services are outsourced. My point, I guess, as we see with this album, is there is  another link in the digital provision chain than I expected, another link to produce error.  Can anyone elaborate on the paths taken by digital sources on their way to the streaming providers? I'm beginning to feel there is much I do not know.

Posted on: 05 December 2018 by Innocent Bystander

Interesting, and not something I’ve come across since one occasion back in the early 70s when I seem to recall buying a wrongly labelled record, and also there were a couple of instances where records had incorrect track order printed on the sleeve.

If they can mix up tracks between completely different albums, it also begs a question as to what degree of quality control and monitoring they have in te production ‘plant’.