Spotify Wrapped

I decided to switch to Apple Music. I know no one cares, but I like to keep random people on the internet informed of my decisions.

I just joined Bandcamp, finally.  I'd been hesitating about it for ages, but now that I've gotten comfortable with managing downloaded music, it was time.

Still staying with Spotify and Amazon Music too but this was for actual downloads.

I use Bandcamp, as well. Some stuff is only available to sample there and sometimes it’s much cheaper to purchase from there.

If Apple Music had a free version I’d probably use it, I already use it to play my downloaded Bandcamp/itunes songs. But if I’m going to pay anything at all for music, it will be outright purchases directly from artists, not a monthly subscription to some tech company

I've never had much downloaded music before this year, it was either streaming or physical copies.  I have noticed that Bandcamp music files sound better than the same songs on Spotify or Amazon music.  The sound is punchier.

As the digital song collection grows however, how do most people store them?  

I have a small collection so far but do I need to leave them on my hard drive to be able to play them on my laptop?  
Or can / should they be moved to an external drive?

If that's a separate question for another thread, I can move it somewhere else.

Welcome!  Bandcamp is an awesome platform though the company is especially woke.  The first Friday of most months is "Bandcamp Friday" where they waive their fees.  I only ever purchase music on those (with few exceptions). 

Yes I'm going to wait until those "Bandcamp Fridays" for any purchases.

I am aware of their Wokeness which is why it is best for the band to get the money and not the platform  

Spotify is pretty woke too tbf, they keep trying to get me to listen to “icons of black LGBTQ music”

Constantine wrote:As the digital song collection grows however, how do most people store them?  

I have a small collection so far but do I need to leave them on my hard drive to be able to play them on my laptop?  
Or can / should they be moved to an external drive?

If that's a separate question for another thread, I can move it somewhere else.

I store 'em on my laptop's hard drive and copy 'em to my portable music player.  But for everything you buy on Bandcamp, you are able to stream from their website/app without ever downloading.

Kerrick wrote:

I store 'em on my laptop's hard drive and copy 'em to my portable music player.  But for everything you buy on Bandcamp, you are able to stream from their website/app without ever downloading.

Does that include free downloads?  I'm confused about that.  I was going to download a free blues rock album and it asks me which e-mail address to send it to.  To me that seems like it will just be on my computer?  It doesn't say anything about storing it on my account.  I'm not sure how that works yet.

seth wrote:If Apple Music had a free version I’d probably use it, I already use it to play my downloaded Bandcamp/itunes songs. But if I’m going to pay anything at all for music, it will be outright purchases directly from artists, not a monthly subscription to some tech company

I do pay for albums. I use the pay version to stream and sample and then I buy what I like when I can, usually digitally.

The email address is so they can send you a receipt so you can download it on multiple devices

seth wrote:Spotify is pretty woke too tbf, they keep trying to get me to listen to “icons of black LGBTQ music”

That playlist makes me laugh and cry at the same time.

seth wrote:The email address is so they can send you a receipt so you can download it on multiple devices

Hmm...Okay that makes sense.  Actually I only want to keep certain songs on my hard drive and delete others.  
I am guessing that if the whole album is in my account and I can't cherry-pick there....

You can buy only specific songs, you don’t have to buy entire albums. And once your songs are downloaded you can delete whatever you want

seth wrote:You can buy only specific songs, you don’t have to buy entire albums. And once your songs are downloaded you can delete whatever you want

With these "free downloads" I am looking at from Blues Rock Review, you apparently have to download the entire album.  
They are all compilations / samplers.  They don't give you the option of excluding anything.

As long as I can delete some afterwards, that's great.  

But I would rather have the option to download single tracks.

Apple Music is very conducive to listening to entire albums, which is my preferred way to listen. This is especially true since it integrates with my iTunes.

You can also download lossless files.

^^Disclaimer: I was not paid by Apple for the previous post.

Are lossless files really noticeably better than mp3’s? I had the option for that with bandcamp, but their file size is so big I go with mp3

seth wrote:Are lossless files really noticeably better than mp3’s? I had the option for that with bandcamp, but their file size is so big I go with mp3

I have noticed a big difference between the .WAV files and the compressed MP3's for one particular album, but that is the only time I've heard the 2 side by side so far.

seth wrote:Are lossless files really noticeably better than mp3’s? I had the option for that with bandcamp, but their file size is so big I go with mp3

They are to me and I don’t have any super hearing or anything. That being said, I usually just do mp3s because of the file size.

Constantine wrote:As the digital song collection grows however, how do most people store them?  

I have a small collection so far but do I need to leave them on my hard drive to be able to play them on my laptop?  
Or can / should they be moved to an external drive?

Constantine wrote:Does that include free downloads?  I'm confused about that.  I was going to download a free blues rock album and it asks me which e-mail address to send it to.  To me that seems like it will just be on my computer?  It doesn't say anything about storing it on my account.  I'm not sure how that works yet.

You can listen to any album on it's page without buying or downloading but eventually they will start begging you to "open your wallet"... when you make a purchase it is added to your collection and you have unlimited downloads and listens. "Name Your Price" or Free downloads are not added to your collection. Also, depending on how the artist sets it up "NYP" can have a limit on how many downloads are allowed, then a price is put on it, or they just decide to put a price on it later. That to say, if you lose a download that was "NYP" or free you may not be able to download it free later.

I download to the computer and then have an external backup copy (so, at least two copies). You never know if tomorrow we wake up and bandcamp does not exist anymore and, if you have not downloaded copies, it's all gone. With backups you'll still have the music if they go bust.

crucifyd wrote:

"Name Your Price" or Free downloads are not added to your collection. 

I download to the computer and then have an external backup copy (so, at least two copies). You never know if tomorrow we wake up and bandcamp does not exist anymore and, if you have not downloaded copies, it's all gone. With backups you'll still have the music if they go bust.

Thanks, that is great info.   That's too bad that the NYP or free downloads are not added to my account.
Looks like I will have to download these free samplers to my computer and then weed out the songs that way.

Also that is a great point about Bandcamp's site being a potential risk.  And even if they don't go under they could get hacked or otherwise taken down.  

Good thing I have room on my hard drive but I also want to do the back-up thing.

Constantine wrote:Actually I researched this new Spotify situation.  Indie artists will eventually get paid after they reach 1,000 streams of a song. That is the new minimum.  If that never happens, then yes, they will not get paid.

I agree it is still despicable and wrote about it on other sites.  But I believe Spotify is still useful for giving the public a chance to be exposed to the music of an independent artist. I would never have heard of Letter 7, for example, or other lesser-known bands were it not for Spotify.  At that point if you become a fan, you can support the artist outside of the streaming platforms.

Black Rider wrote:I'm at a point where I can hardly afford to buy music. It stinks and I feel for the artists but it's food or music.

It should not matter if we have 1,000 streams or a penny's worth of streams.  It is our money and we should receive that compensation.  While many here might be buying outside of Spotify, there are more that will not meaning that we have moved from playing gigs for exposure to now giving away our art for said exposure.  What a sad day that music has no value to people anymore.

I get not being able to buy all the music you want, but if it gets tight enough for me to choose between food and music, then I have enough music.

Personally, every smaller artist needs to pull their music from Spitify (they spit on us) and delete accounts.  Fans need to do the same and tell them to pay what radio pays or shut down their service.  Someone has to figure out a better model so that it actually pays artists and songwriters to do what they do and not just the pop crap that the big labels throw out there.

I have a hate/hate relationship with Spotify.

Letter 7 was talked about A LOT on this site and I saw them on many other Christian metal sites when they were active.

My band will never put full albums on any streaming platform again and will only put free singles on there, like bands do with lyric videos on Youtube.

It doesn't matter if YouTube pays more, it doesn't amount to anything significant in the end.