Tag: streaming

Ran Out Of Qs

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

In the UK, there has always been an abundance of magazine publications, all suited around whatever hobby or interest you could have. Model trains, cross stitching, running, photography, almost anything had a magazine. My big interest was always music. And, in the days before you had music recommendations at a click of a button on Spotify, you had music magazines, and the odd radio show.

From, when I started earning my own money, I always bought music magazines. It started off with Smash Hits, moved on to Kerrang, Rocksound, NME and Q. There then became more niche magazines, Big Cheese covered punkier stuff, then Metal Hammer got heavy metal. Magazines would often give away free tapes, then CDs, so you got a taste for the bands you were reading about. I always liked different music, so I would buy different magazines, to try and absorb as much information as possible. If you wanted to find out about music out with the Top 40, you had to work for it. Which is why magazines were so important to me when I was younger.

Unfortunately, more and more of the publications that I used to buy, are closing. With Q Magazine being the latest victim. After 34 years of publication, the magazine has published it’s final issue. And it is hard to imagine, in these days, where music seems instant, that a major way I discovered music seems to be dying away. There was a time, when pondering a career path when I was at school, that I thought about journalism, in particular, music journalism. I had never been the most accomplished writer, but I loved the idea about showing appreciation for something I loved. To shed light on bands and albums I loved. It sounded pretty magical.

These days, if you like a certain genre, or listen to certain bands, the music streaming service you listen to, will recommend new music. It’s seamless, and almost effortless to find something new. I liked reading about a band’s exploits, about their history, and understanding about the band members. I also loved reading reviews on gigs, especially if I was discovering a new band. It’s not the same anymore. Even pop music, there is no music on TV anymore. When I was younger there was Top Of The Pops, CD:UK, even Popworld. Shows that created a buzz, and added a bit of personality to the most generic bands.

I know things move on, but it makes me sad.

Bad Connection

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

You don’t need to read very much here, to realise that I can get stressed out over nothing. Silly things, can have such an adverse effect on my mood. It doesn’t even really matter what it is, really. But that happens to everyone.

These days, we are so used at getting anything we want so easily. Years ago, if we wanted to know anything, we would have to have went to a library and researched. Now? A simple internet search can find you everything from historical information, to recipes, to watching cartoons. No longer do people have to wait months for new programmes to air in their respective countries, they can find an online service to stream content the same day as it is aired in the country of origin. I tell you now, my 12 year old self, would be utterly spellbound by this concept alone.

However. The internet becoming so important in daily life, does create an issue. Especially, when like today, your connection to the internet is a steaming pile of donkey shit. Yes, my internet connection, both my home broadband, and mobile 4G, have been playing up. It means, that it has taken till this time of night (10.30pm) before I could get a connection steady enough to post this. That is flaming ridiculous. Couldn’t listen to Spotify, couldn’t watch Naruto (sshhhh… don’t judge) and I had problems messaging my friend, because I use Whatsapp or Facebook messenger. I was angry. For most of the day.

It does make me think, what would I do if there was no internet. If I wanted to sit by the TV, I’d have to put on a DVD or stick to the schedules, instead of watching Youtube or … Naruto. (I am obsessed with Naruto, like a child, all over again.) I think it is very easy to take for granted on how simple it is to stay in contact with people, thanks to services such as Facebook. A service that can even link with your calendar on your phone or PC, to remind you of events or birthdays. The internet has simplified so much, that when it isn’t there, we come to a loss. If there is no connection to the web, everything can seem like it takes so much more extra effort.

Maybe we have just got lazy.

WMG to back out of streaming

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Having a look through the internet, just browsing for things of interest, and found this:

www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/news/2010/02/10/Warner-Music-Ditches-Streaming–Strands-Spotify–Last-fm–Napster/p1

Yep, WMG ( Warner Music Group) is pulling out of online streaming. That means artists like Madonna, Avenged Sevenfold, Fall Out Boy, Hootie and the Blowfish, Killswitch Engage, Lostprophets, Linkin Park and a ton more, will no longer feature on streaming sites, like Pandora (now US only), Last.FM, Spotify and Napster.  And I feel that they are attacking the normal, honest music fan, who uses the internet to quench their thirst for new bands.

This has really bothered me, because I use both Spotify and Last.FM a lot. WMG is one of the big four music companies (the others being Sony, EMI and Universal), and having them pull out of something, is surely only the beginning of the end for streaming. People may scoff, but be aware that Warner was the first studio to pull out of Toshiba and HD-DVD. Its whether the other studios follow suite or, Warner just falls behind.

People were becoming powerful in the music industry, no longer were we force fed music on Radio 1, and told what is good music. Now, people can go onto Last FM, and listen to streaming radio full of recommended artists.  People can make their own decisions. And more people are listening via streaming, then buying legal downloads.  If you take away peoples abilities to listen to the free music they want, illegal downloads will just increase. Whilst people are being more adventurous with music, they are still unwilling to pay for something they have never heard.

I felt that the music industry was moving forward, but someone says ‘its not profitable’ and it goes back to square one. There are more suited millionaires running the music industry, than there is with the currupt banks. The Music industry has always been about making money, but radio was how people learnt about new bands. To the average user, streaming has no difference from listening to the local radio station, except no dud songs. And people started to use streaming sites, to try before they bought an album. And, myself, as an honest music fan, would then buy a cd/record or download the album off emusic or itunes. But if you take the ability to listen to music before they buy, they will just flock to torrent sites and download what they want for free. This way, if the album is weak, then they don’t lose out on anymoney, and can just delete it. But this person is criminalised, because, they have stolen the album, they have now deleted.

Is this right? I don’t think so. Streaming keeps people happy, people can preview music, and they aren’t downloading illegally to get their taster. Music companies don’t like the word ‘free’. Everyone has to pay for what they use, I understand that. But if a free listen, ends up in a purchase, is that not better for the industry, rather than downloading off Limewire, and keeping it.

The music companies are pushing their audience further and further away. And they won’t see it, till its too late. The damage will have already been done, and noone will respect music at all, because the industry’s lack of respect to its customers.