Have streaming services like Spotify changed how you listen to music?

I started subscribing to Spotify 2 years ago and I've noticed a big change in my listening habits. I'm pretty serious about "liking" and sorting music I listen to into playlists. Spotify's algorithm does a really good job of taking what I like to listen to and recommends a lot of new music that I wouldn't have found otherwise. I really like their "daily mix" playlists that they generate. They actually create about 3 playlists daily that cover a range of genres so I get to pick and choose what genre to explore depending on my mood that day.
 
At first I planned to hang onto my stance of physical media only, but I subscribed to Spotify a few years ago and used it to discover new things to buy on physical media then last year I just gave up and switched to Apple Music and uploaded all of my library and integrated it with the stuff I saved on Apple in the Cloud and now I just buy the albums I really like on vinyl. I do like the seamless integration of Apple's cloud library with my local library. My only complaint with the streaming services are the fact that things can disappear without warning and then possibly come back months or years later.
 
my biggest complaint about streaming is that I don't get to choose the "version" of the album I want to hear...like, I want to listen to the original release of album XXXXX, not the latest Digital Remaster with 10 extra songs/outakes etc...and I REALLY hate it when those new versions dick with the song order I am used to from the originals. As @C.M. Jones mentioned earlier, an album is the entire work of art...the songs are segments, and when those segments are out of order, it messes with my OCD.

2 albums that really stick out to me in this sense are Saga: Worlds Apart, and Caress Of Steel by Rush...my "original" exposure to these were on cassette in the early 80's. I realize that song order back then was determined by what fit on the side of the album/cassette, and now many of those albums are in the order that the artists originally intended. I get the significance of the latter, but it messes with my impression of the former
 
my biggest complaint about streaming is that I don't get to choose the "version" of the album I want to hear...like, I want to listen to the original release of album XXXXX, not the latest Digital Remaster with 10 extra songs/outakes etc...and I REALLY hate it when those new versions dick with the song order I am used to from the originals. As @C.M. Jones mentioned earlier, an album is the entire work of art...the songs are segments, and when those segments are out of order, it messes with my OCD.

2 albums that really stick out to me in this sense are Saga: Worlds Apart, and Caress Of Steel by Rush...my "original" exposure to these were on cassette in the early 80's. I realize that song order back then was determined by what fit on the side of the album/cassette, and now many of those albums are in the order that the artists originally intended. I get the significance of the latter, but it messes with my impression of the former

It was great way back when to say, "Check out the third song on side two." Sides shaped our relationships with albums, and the B-side discussion was always intriguing. Now it's more a matter of a' la carte song selection. You get a bunch of appetizers but rarely a meal.
 
It was great way back when to say, "Check out the third song on side two." Sides shaped our relationships with albums, and the B-side discussion was always intriguing. Now it's more a matter of a' la carte song selection. You get a bunch of appetizers but rarely a meal.

yeah...and I still never listen that way...like just recently, I got introduced to the band Aviations by their song "Outliers"...when I got the album, I started at track 1, and went to the end. Outliers is the 2nd song, but is now part of the bigger picture of the album.

there are still very few albums where I don't listen to every song on the album...like, I don't even skip some of the "clunkers" because they are part of the flow

and the B-side thing...there are TONS of songs that were "buried" on that side, that are my most favorite song by the band...off the top of my head, "Castle Walls" and "Crystal Ball" by Styx, and "Natural Science" by Rush. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Maiden was always my most favorite song by them, and is now a huge hit, but wasn't back in the day
 
As @C.M. Jones mentioned earlier, an album is the entire work of art...the songs are segments, and when those segments are out of order, it messes with my OCD.
Death - Human
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

These 3 in particular are very necessarily order specific for me. Like the same way Peter and the Wolf must be order specific.

It was great way back when to say, "Check out the third song on side two." Sides shaped our relationships with albums, and the B-side discussion was always intriguing. Now it's more a matter of a' la carte song selection. You get a bunch of appetizers but rarely a meal.
When albums (tapes and CDs too) were a thing, I knew everything about every single one I had. Members, song order, artwork, I would sit there for hours just learning everything about them. Now I cant even remember who sings what because it has no context other than I like or not, and where I first heard it.
 
Death - Human
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

These 3 in particular are very necessarily order specific for me. Like the same way Peter and the Wolf must be order specific.


When albums (tapes and CDs too) were a thing, I knew everything about every single one I had. Members, song order, artwork, I would sit there for hours just learning everything about them. Now I cant even remember who sings what because it has no context other than I like or not, and where I first heard it.

I went one nerdy step further, and had spreadsheets with who the recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer were; who the producers were; the record company; where all the recording events took place; who the artists/illustrators were; which equipment was used

...my routine when I got a new album was to put it on, and then fill out the spread sheet as I listened. When iTunes came around, and there was less and less "need" for information other than the front cover artwork. and who gave the money for the project, this routine went away. Many of the releases would not list this information as readily as before...

this whole process was allowing me to be able to recognize the common elements of each engineers touch; or each studios sound; or the commonality of the equipment. used. I wanted to really study every element of the sound and art being created

now it is more work than I want to do....but keeping the spreadsheets would be easier now...I might spend some free time transferring a lot of those old ones to digital...and somehow try to start new ones. I really miss that routine
 
I went one nerdy step further, and had spreadsheets with who the recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer were; who the producers were; the record company; where all the recording events took place; who the artists/illustrators were; which equipment was used

...my routine when I got a new album was to put it on, and then fill out the spread sheet as I listened. When iTunes came around, and there was less and less "need" for information other than the front cover artwork. and who gave the money for the project, this routine went away. Many of the releases would not list this information as readily as before...

this whole process was allowing me to be able to recognize the common elements of each engineers touch; or each studios sound; or the commonality of the equipment. used. I wanted to really study every element of the sound and art being created

now it is more work than I want to do....but keeping the spreadsheets would be easier now...I might spend some free time transferring a lot of those old ones to digital...and somehow try to start new ones. I really miss that routine
I didnt have spreadsheets. I would get a new album and go to my room. I had both my own turntable and cassette players, so I would put the album on and listen to it, usually many times over, sitting on the floor at the end of my bed in front of the speakers. I loved bring absorbed by the sound, almost like a sonic blanket.

Music was very important in my house. Everyone had their own players and music. There was a radio in the kitchen that was always on. The tv was a very distant second. Make that third. Books were more important also.
 
I didnt have spreadsheets. I would get a new album and go to my room. I had both my own turntable and cassette players, so I would put the album on and listen to it, usually many times over, sitting on the floor at the end of my bed in front of the speakers. I loved bring absorbed by the sound, almost like a sonic blanket.

Music was very important in my house. Everyone had their own players and music. There was a radio in the kitchen that was always on. The tv was a very distant second. Make that third. Books were more important also.

yep, I had my speakers set up on either side of my bed - on the night tables - up by my head...like huge headphones. Fell asleep to music every night; also would lay there and read as well. We were not well off, so tv was also way down the list of "entertainment" Dad was a stereophile, so any money that would have gone to a tv went into stereo equipment and albums. I have inherited much of his stuff from the 70's, but have no room to set it up right now.
 
I think the trick is to use the streaming services in a beneficial way. It's really easy to just turn into a collector with thousands of hours playlisted and never really listen to anything. Now I use them either as a reference when I read about something or I'm looking at sheet music or I'm selective about a limited numbers of albums I really dig into.
 
nope, not really, i still get digital music put onto my ipod classic for on the go, and i still play vinyl, cassettes and CDs at home :)

man, i wish my 3rd gen iPod still worked...that was THE BEST way to do music. The headphone jack went out on it.
 
Spotify - great for the consumer, horrendous for the artist. If I find a band I like, I always buy a CD direct if I can to support especially at the moment with the lack of touring revenue. I really like listening to BBC6 music here in the UK, well worth a listen online if you can.
 
Spotify - great for the consumer, horrendous for the artist. If I find a band I like, I always buy a CD direct if I can to support especially at the moment with the lack of touring revenue. I really like listening to BBC6 music here in the UK, well worth a listen online if you can.

so, my wife and i are sort of "downsizing" for a possible stint at the nomadic lifestyle here in 4-5 years. The plan is to sell everything and do the vanlife thing for a while....

Right now, I have over 10,000 Cd's in storage, and I don't like to add to them...BUT, being someone who has some music "for sale" on iTunes etc, I am100% for supporting the artists...what I have been doing is buying t-shirts instead of the cd's...when I follow an artist, I always check for merch.

After the nomadic thing, when we plan to settel back down, I will definitely have a music listening space again like I did before
 
Streaming services haven’t affected me in the least, because I have no interest in subscribing to them. I prefer to buy albums and dive deep into bands I like. These days I buy albums digitally, but other than that, it’s pretty much the same as it’s always been for me.

All of this ^
 
I got a free spotify from a friend. It is great. I use it with wiki and discog for member listings. I find a lot of new old stuff that way. If I cant find it on Spot, I'll go to youtube.
 
Best B side (45) IMO: Hey Hey what can I do

First ruined album for me from remastering/reissue: Kill 'em All.
 
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