1 hour ago, Love Again said:

YouTube is free and has all songs as well. So why do we need streaming services then?

no ads, background play, better audio quality, less data consumed. Youtube premium exists to counter what other streaming services can offer

streaming. you can discover tons of artists and music so easily 

Streaming can literally turn non-singles into hits and people are listening more to albums and to new artists. So it just wins. 

So not only the artists catalog gets way more consumed as a whole and appreciated 

we also discover new artists more easily! it wins so easily.

 

However, i remember digital era, it was more entertaining and a bigger vibe overall indeed

the fact that performances and promo had a lot of effect was very nice.. now it's just tiktok and playlisting 

but the positive side of streaming is much more relevant than this negative. 

nothing is better than being able to hear more artists, more songs from our fave artist, etc etc 

Edited March 22, 20233 yr by Selegend

2 hours ago, Love Again said:

Good point, but is it fair that artists get severely underpaid because of Spotify? Especially smaller artists?

if they need money, they can get another job!

 

Even though the Pop culture spectacle aspect was more fun in the digital era, on a personal level there's no question that the streaming era >>> digital era. Everything is instantly accessible and barely costs anything. 

 

I remember like 10 years ago I was streaming music on YouTube dark past 

Everything that existed is better than streaming 

Also as far as the charts go there is an argument to be made how we might be reverting back to monoculture considering the top half of the BB200 and Hot 100 are now always clogged with the same artists their songs or albums

streaming >>>>>>>

Streaming era made the Global South a part of the conversation, so that alone puts it above the digital era. There's more to the music landscape than the US and european villages, it's great the global music industry finally reflects that.

 

That said, I do agree with other members that pop eras felt more exciting to follow during the digital era. Billboard charts are too stagnant nowadays.

Edited March 22, 20233 yr by Scars

The streaming era for sure is far more rewarding as a consumer. The fact that you can not only listen to music, but sample as much as you please in a quest for finding out what you like really allows people to have broader tastes and explore and appreciate artists' catalogues in ways they could not before.

 

As for the pop much side of the question, undoubtedly the promotional heyday of the digital era was far more exciting than in the streaming era where people of a certain stature (like my fave) know they don't need to do much more than release music and still more-or-less find success.

 

I would even go so far as crediting Beyoncé (at the dawn of the streaming era in late-2013) for creating the proof-of-concept project that would change the music industry's relation to promotion and release. What she did with the surprise drop also leveraged some of the digital era's strong points (quick access to music, even if you need to buy it) but was bold enough for the digital era, that the same strategy can worked just as well, if not better for the streaming era that would come next. Essentially, your music, the news of its release, and the word-of-mouth reaction (especially to its quality) can be just as good if not better promotion than any morning show interview could.

Streaming by far just because of the accessibility of music.

1 hour ago, Chika said:

I haven't heard a single Weeknd song since Can't feel my Face simply because I don't want to, and that's the problem! Music used to be unavoidable, if the industry wanted something to be a hit 9 times out of 10 it would be. Now I can just stream whatever the hell I want and pretend modern music doesn't exist, which used to be far more difficult.

But that's a good thing, though. I understand that from a stan's perspective, the fact that artists might not feel as big anymore can be bothersome, but being able to listen to whatever you want to without that much label trickery (there's still some of it, as seen with the whole auto-play fiasco) is ideal, to me at least. 

 

OT: streaming, for sure. Again, I understand why the digital era could be nostalgic for some, and, while I get why and do share some of the complaints about the current era (such as less promo/visuals), the accessibility to pretty much any song you can think of, finding the most random, unknown artist from whichever decade, and choosing what to listen to, in any way you want to, is simply unbeatable.

Maybe it's just cause I'm older now or it's just the industry itself but I felt more connected to the music I was listening to (and purchasing) in the digital era. I could go 2-3 months playing songs over and over again back then but now the music I listen to doesn't have as much staying power. I'm also listening to back catalogues and older songs more and more now too as sometimes there isn't any current music that I'm excited about.

 

Commercially, streaming is a more accurate chart measure but they have to do something about straight up fraud (like Morgan Wallen's 36 song album, like what happened to quality control and carefully curated albums) and royalties to artists/labels cause you can tell it's disincentivising investment in new artists over investing in quick hits driven by virality and social media.

 

Cons of streaming era is that the songs/albums could be yanked off the streaming services without warning, or old songs/albums of legacy artists are region blocked and cannot be streamed in your country if it's not on the list.

2 hours ago, Gorjesspazze9 said:

Having whatever song I want, whenever I want is kinda unbeatable as a consumer 

Can you have a Garth Brooks song? 

15 minutes ago, Love Again said:

Also as far as the charts go there is an argument to be made how we might be reverting back to monoculture considering the top half of the BB200 and Hot 100 are now always clogged with the same artists their songs or albums

That's not monoculture though. It's because we're not in the monoculture era anymore, and so because people listen to many more different artists, that the few artists that have a bigger following are staying at the top of the charts (Taylor, Morgan, Drake, The Weeknd...). 

 

A #1 today is moving way less units on average than a #1 in the early 2010 for example. Therefore, it's just natural that bigger artists would clog the charts. 

 

Not saying that it's a good thing or a bad thing. But that's not reverting back to monoculture in any way, on the contrary. 

As a listener, I prefer the streaming era.

The streaming era has revolutionised the way we consume music, making it more convenient, diverse, and accessible than ever before. I've discovered so many artists I would otherwise never have found without it. 

 

 

Digital

 

I only use streaming to know if I wanna download/buy the album.

Streaming because you can see what people are actually playing 
And not a bunch of fans mass buying singles 

streaming is better and cheaper, I am happy that when I cared more about the pop culture it also was a bigger deal during the digital era but now as an adult, I really do not care about performances, music videos, and anything, just give me the music I can listen to and stream on the go.

 

In the end, if an artist releases music I like I will of course also pay to see them live if possible and support them that way.

 

 

Also as streaming is global everyone can now enjoy music without much restrictions 

 

 

 

Pre-tiktok streaming era.

Digital

For consumption streaming easily but I think digital era was more enjoyable in terms of charts, streaming made charts more stagnant.

Streaming dont reflect the real hits. It was so fun tracking songs on iTunes, iTunes Pop Bars and stuff. #Nostalgia

Streaming has significantly more potential as a business model IMO. The main issue with it is that the distribution of proceeds is more subject to greed and manipulation than ever, which is less an issue with streaming as a concept and more just a consequence of how society has changed in the last few decades. I don't necessarily love what it's done to pop music and track lengths, but I do love how you can see stats and charts in real time, how you can access everything you want to hear instantly, and how it enables easier listener discovery of new artists.

 

What I dislike about streaming platforms is how malleable everything is. Albums can be updated on the fly, songs can be added or tweaked or removed. There's a real possibility- however slim - that you could wake up one day and a song could have had some dample removed, or you favorite album could just be gone. For that reason I still think downloads, and even physical media, have an important place in the market - once you own it, you own it. I purchase, either as CDs or high quality DRM-free downloads, the few albums that I know I want to have forever (and with my fave's situation there's actually some non-zero chance that one of my favorite albums ever gets pulled one day).

 

Both eras have their strong points for me, I guess.