News1 min ago
Streaming Is Killing The Music Industry
59 Answers
I think it's fair to say we definetly have had the best years behind us in terms of how we buy and listen to music. In my opinion the music industry has never looked so bad. As a fan I used to get great pleasure from buying the physical product, and lots of artists, and I used to buy all the formats of their singles, even the cassette singles, remember them?
Streaming has taken all that away from us, but more importantly from the artist too.
Sadly it won't change back as it was, but I do think stricter rules need to be applied, as artists really are being short changed. I think streaming should be only used to check out new or unheard music to see if you like it enough to buy the physical album, it just seems a fairer way of doing things. I have a Spotify account but I only use it to check out music I have never heard before, and it helps me build my physical media collection. And used sensibly and fairly it helps you purchase and build a quality collection, rather than taking a punt on an album, only to find it's filled with duffers, which is a waste of money. I never agreed with the Official chart company when they included streaming into how it influences chart positions. There are many reasons I am against it, for example, I forget the amount, but apparently a song has to be listened to on streaming platforms hundreds of times to count as one sale. That alone is short changing the artist and is extremely unfair. Plus if you monitor the top 100 singles some of the singles on there have been in the top 100 for years, which makes the charts stagnant, and not refreshing as it did before streaming was allowed to count as chart positions. So that in itself slows the whole industry down, because it prevents new material coming along. In the days when the physical format counted towards chart positions the charts were a much healthier place because a music fan would hear a song on the radio or TV and go out and buy it, because they are putting their money where their mouth is, and dedicating themselves to being a fan, and it meant a lot to have a hit in those days for the artist, as it highlighted how popular the song really is, compared to being number 1 now doesn't really mean anything anymore. The sad thing is it's now affecting the album charts too which has become very stagnant, some albums have been in the top 20 for years let alone the top 100. It makes you wonder how anyone would want to be a pop or rock star anymore, we really have had the best years, not just for the artist but the fans too. It's boring trying to be a fan these days. Growing up as a kid in the 70's early 80's was amazing, I used to wait all week for Top of the pops to come on, and if your favourite artist were on there it was awesome, and I would be chatting all about it with my mates at school the next day. I know things will never be that great again, but I do feel something needs to be done to make the whole music industry fair again, it's really no fun being a fan anymore, and extremely unfair for the artists. I think if streaming services were regulated in such a way they are only used as a toe dip in the water, for the listener to go on and buy the CD or whatever it would be a lot fairer for both fan and artist. There is no reason I can see why the two platforms streaming and physical media cou.ldn't work together, and I am baffled why more artists are not calling for this.
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Wow. Are there more than one paragraph there ?
Surely streaming is just another way to listen to music. Radio didn't kill the industry off so, if it is now having problems, it needs to look elsewhere.
I couldn't face reading all your OP, but suspect you may simply be being stunned by the vast choice available. If so, just ask friends who they recommend and check out their advice.
My point is that streaming makes the official charts stagnant. It's hard to imagine how so many people are all listening to the same song for years on a weekly basis, but they must be as some songs have been in the top 100 for years.
So there's many reasons why I feel streaming should not be allowed to contribute to chart positions.
It depends how much charts matter to you.
If you go by charts, Bananarama are a better group than The Supremes, 'Grease' is a better album than 'Graceland', Rick Astley is more important than Leonard Cohen.
Do what you have always done - seek out the music you like and enjoy it. Ignore the music you don't like.
It's a wide world, there is room for everything.
You can't control taste, or art, that's what makes them worth having.
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