Interesting. I think you're kind of right. I like the can't compare (Lord of the Rings) books and films idea. That makes quite a bit of sense.
Last week I picked up a 1973 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tri-fold cover, two-disc album by Elton John from a free giveaways box outside a local house. Beautiful condition; took me days to persuade myself it wasn't a modern reprint.
Think you’ve made a good point. They aren’t in competition. They serve entirely different audiences and to some, a different purpose but streaming is without a doubt the ubiquitous format. Nobody I know owns equipment to facilitate older formats. It’s all phones, laptops and Bluetooth speakers. I read something last week that asked if people who decry the perils of music streaming, compare it records etc, do they have the same vim for film/tv streaming. When i frame my thinking through that lens, nostalgia/habits/purity all come to the fore.
Unless the industry comes up with a more sustainable way to make records (that doesn't compromise sound quality), I sometimes wonder how long the current love and demand for vinyl will last. Will younger/future generations begin to turn their backs on the industry as records are not eco-friendly? Used records, of course, are a great way to recycle! 😊
The one thing I would stress in the vinyl vs. streaming camps is that vinyl (and for that matter, CDs and cassettes) is about physical ownership, the idea that, unlike a streaming service, I have a permanent record of a piece of music.
Totally agree. I never thought that there was a competition between Vinyl and streaming formats, but that they could coexist perfectly given that each one fulfills its own function. I would say that they are complementary, rather than exclusive.
The notion of "winning" a format war harkens back to VHS vs. Beta. That battle was worth fighting, though the inferior format won. However, the physical vs. digital debate is a little hackneyed at this point when a symbiotic relationship between the two grows the recorded music marketplace and helps artists grow their audience. "And," not "Or," as you suggest. Thanks for a great post!
It is a valid point that both vinyl and streaming each have their own limitations. Streaming is great for its portability but it’s also a great way to discover artists/ albums I’ve never heard before. Given the price of vinyl nowadays, I’ll often refer to streaming services to determine whether or not my level of enjoyment of any album justifies my spending money on a physical copy of it.
Beautifully composed, as usual, Andy! As for your "old" paramour, he's got a great perspective, in theory, but human nature will lead us to, if not force us to compare books to movies. Let's face it....scriptwriting, and the director's choices and vision will or will not adhere to whatever book he/she is interpreting for the screen. See record producers (and a handful of same-song covers) for a similar parallel.
As for my perspective on your treatise (and you know it so well, Andy)....as a decades-long vinyl junkie, content to mainline PVC and happily rejecting any intervention, I fully, and 100% rely (and have to rely) on streaming and YT videos. For new readers of either of us, I sold my entire collection on eBay at the turn of the century, so I envy those of you who have a choice.
With no turntable, I've chosen to give myself no chance to purchase any vinyl, new or otherwise. I go rarely, anymore, to record stores, as it's become an odd mix of being welcomed by those familiar 12"-square cardboard artworks housing those puzzling single-grooved slabs of plastic, coupled with a sense of the loss of 2,000 close friends.
So, I'm the proud grandpa, I suppose, who feels so proud of the young-uns today who are happily discovering our licorice-pizza friends, and welcoming them warmly into their homes. If technology encroaches and offers a new, reliable, and far-reaching delivery system we can all live with, I'm down! For what I do FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, it's downright necessary!😁👍
Yes, different formats work for different people in different life situations. As an artefact, vinyl is peerless. But storage space is an issue. What matters, above all, is the music. I can now best access the music I want to listen to via digital files, so the issue of one format being better than another doesn’t have anything more than academic relevance to me.
Al haber pasado seis décadas me siento afortunado, en cuanto a los soportes de sonido, por descubrir y disfrutar cada uno desde su invención, salvo el gramófono y los discos de pasta. Considero el momento actual espléndido en el sentido de poder elegir según las ventajas de cada medio el propicio para cada gusto o posibilidad.
I see the dichotomy as you either own your music, vinyl, cd, cassette, reel to reel, etc or you don’t. I like streaming for discovering new artists and for the convenience. I like physical media for the experience and ritual of playing it and knowing that once it’s on the shelf it’s mine.
For the record, no pun intended, in the late 50s. You could get a 45 RPM record player as a factory option in your car. Although I must admit, I'd be a little nerd, nervous or taking my vinyl into a hot car, but at least it was portable.
Complementary for sure. I can't buy everything new, or even old, thing I want, so thank god for streaming, too.
Interesting. I think you're kind of right. I like the can't compare (Lord of the Rings) books and films idea. That makes quite a bit of sense.
Last week I picked up a 1973 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tri-fold cover, two-disc album by Elton John from a free giveaways box outside a local house. Beautiful condition; took me days to persuade myself it wasn't a modern reprint.
I like this journal :)
Think you’ve made a good point. They aren’t in competition. They serve entirely different audiences and to some, a different purpose but streaming is without a doubt the ubiquitous format. Nobody I know owns equipment to facilitate older formats. It’s all phones, laptops and Bluetooth speakers. I read something last week that asked if people who decry the perils of music streaming, compare it records etc, do they have the same vim for film/tv streaming. When i frame my thinking through that lens, nostalgia/habits/purity all come to the fore.
Thanks for the writing.
Unless the industry comes up with a more sustainable way to make records (that doesn't compromise sound quality), I sometimes wonder how long the current love and demand for vinyl will last. Will younger/future generations begin to turn their backs on the industry as records are not eco-friendly? Used records, of course, are a great way to recycle! 😊
The one thing I would stress in the vinyl vs. streaming camps is that vinyl (and for that matter, CDs and cassettes) is about physical ownership, the idea that, unlike a streaming service, I have a permanent record of a piece of music.
Totally agree. I never thought that there was a competition between Vinyl and streaming formats, but that they could coexist perfectly given that each one fulfills its own function. I would say that they are complementary, rather than exclusive.
The notion of "winning" a format war harkens back to VHS vs. Beta. That battle was worth fighting, though the inferior format won. However, the physical vs. digital debate is a little hackneyed at this point when a symbiotic relationship between the two grows the recorded music marketplace and helps artists grow their audience. "And," not "Or," as you suggest. Thanks for a great post!
It is a valid point that both vinyl and streaming each have their own limitations. Streaming is great for its portability but it’s also a great way to discover artists/ albums I’ve never heard before. Given the price of vinyl nowadays, I’ll often refer to streaming services to determine whether or not my level of enjoyment of any album justifies my spending money on a physical copy of it.
Beautifully composed, as usual, Andy! As for your "old" paramour, he's got a great perspective, in theory, but human nature will lead us to, if not force us to compare books to movies. Let's face it....scriptwriting, and the director's choices and vision will or will not adhere to whatever book he/she is interpreting for the screen. See record producers (and a handful of same-song covers) for a similar parallel.
As for my perspective on your treatise (and you know it so well, Andy)....as a decades-long vinyl junkie, content to mainline PVC and happily rejecting any intervention, I fully, and 100% rely (and have to rely) on streaming and YT videos. For new readers of either of us, I sold my entire collection on eBay at the turn of the century, so I envy those of you who have a choice.
With no turntable, I've chosen to give myself no chance to purchase any vinyl, new or otherwise. I go rarely, anymore, to record stores, as it's become an odd mix of being welcomed by those familiar 12"-square cardboard artworks housing those puzzling single-grooved slabs of plastic, coupled with a sense of the loss of 2,000 close friends.
So, I'm the proud grandpa, I suppose, who feels so proud of the young-uns today who are happily discovering our licorice-pizza friends, and welcoming them warmly into their homes. If technology encroaches and offers a new, reliable, and far-reaching delivery system we can all live with, I'm down! For what I do FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, it's downright necessary!😁👍
Yes, different formats work for different people in different life situations. As an artefact, vinyl is peerless. But storage space is an issue. What matters, above all, is the music. I can now best access the music I want to listen to via digital files, so the issue of one format being better than another doesn’t have anything more than academic relevance to me.
Excelente artículo!
Al haber pasado seis décadas me siento afortunado, en cuanto a los soportes de sonido, por descubrir y disfrutar cada uno desde su invención, salvo el gramófono y los discos de pasta. Considero el momento actual espléndido en el sentido de poder elegir según las ventajas de cada medio el propicio para cada gusto o posibilidad.
I see the dichotomy as you either own your music, vinyl, cd, cassette, reel to reel, etc or you don’t. I like streaming for discovering new artists and for the convenience. I like physical media for the experience and ritual of playing it and knowing that once it’s on the shelf it’s mine.
For the record, no pun intended, in the late 50s. You could get a 45 RPM record player as a factory option in your car. Although I must admit, I'd be a little nerd, nervous or taking my vinyl into a hot car, but at least it was portable.