We, individually and culturally, need Artists who create and maintain Meaning. Preserving their importance, including by recognizing our inter-dependency via taking care of their livelihood, is key. This is especially so in our post-modern, ultra-meritocratic, neo-liberal value-based, and ‘efficiency’-driven culture, where Meaning & Relatedness are often devalued and substituted with Consuming & Transactional relationships.
‘Artists’ and ‘Performers’ are dissimilar. The former creates, the latter entertains.
I typically use all of those services to discover new talent. I buy actual physical media from the artists I hear and like. I don’t fire up my main system every morning while preparing to come to the office. It’s either iPhone or iPad to the Homepod and Spotify/Pandora/XM. It’s a tool to gain access.
Maybe 30 somethings are largely uninterested in music because their co-generational music is uninteresting?
I’ve been listening lately to rock stations in the car and I often feel that the music is being written by the same person, to the same formula.
I guess I’m different (or my experience at any rate) and I hope there are many more like us. I grew up with McIntosh and my Dad playing herb Albert etc etc. Dad only would own Mac. Even built his own speakers.
My son(30’s) listens to more music that anyone I know. To work, from work, at home - constantly. Fave is Skynyrd, rock etc etc. Spotify opened a new world for him.
My Daughter and son in law listen 50% or so less but they will play Sinatra, or Italian dinner music during supper, etc (Spotify- can’t beat the playlists folks). That amazes me.
Neither give a damn about fidelity. Basic systems, Sonos etc. But they will listen the rest of their lives. Not much new, but some. Daughter loves the Christian channels which have come a looong way. Aaron is still in southern rock mode, John Prine, all over the board thanks to Spotify.
I got Spotify on now. Nothing better for background music while I’m putzing around.
My music life would be very different if I grew up in a era like we have now. But any stream service gives me access to millions of songs. I’m happy and so are my “thirty somethings” !
How can it not be the good old days considering the incredible quality of budget equipment compared to last decade. Amazing what you can get for smaller dollars like the Sprout and then climb the stairway all the way into Al Zone High as a Kite End Audio.
I’m not a fan of streaming either, but the luddites at the major labels left money on the streaming table so it’s no surprise Spotify and others stepped up to grab the cash. Remember when Walmart was the king of digital downloads? Walmart! Another example of major label leaving money on the table. It’s the same major label drama that surrounded cassettes and CDR. Silly!
That said, I’ve bought more physical music because I heard it on my wife’s Apple music family account than I would have without it.
This is one of the benefits of ubiquitous streaming options, IMO.
And, contrary to popular opinion, I think the easy access to so much music has encouraged a lot of music discovery and media purchases of late; whether the media is CDs, vinyl or downloads - although I have not run across any recent “industry” data supporting my belief.
My kids are Spotifiers also. I’ve not been interested. I spend most of the day with TuneIn over the Vault listening to the old and new hometown listener supported classical stations. Radio Paradise provides the of variety of stuff that I’ve never heard (though I am hearing some stuff too frequently) and Octave has me buying more physical media lately than I have in a quite a few years. I really like the world of music the Vault brings in and have come to appreciate quality recordings.
The younger set may be listening to low res stuff but I guarantee you the systems I was listening to in my 20s and 30s probably sounded a lot worse.
