Will I ever buy a compact disc again?

[trashcanman]

So this was an interesting week for me. I discovered the magic of Spotify. After exploring this new world of music distribution for a few days it occurs to me that I may never have to buy an album again. And now I'm troubled. I've allways loved my analog media. I still do. But now my computer doesn't have a disc drive and neither does my car. Neither does our home stereo. The only way for me to listen to CD's anymore is through my game consoles.

I'll never vouch for the superiority of digital music since I've run into all sorts of problems with corrupted files and songs that mysteriously won't sync with my phone and connection problems with my car's system. It's so much easier to just put a fucking disc in and listen to it play. But still, digital had its obvious perks. Carrying 11,000 songs in my pocket is no small convenience. And now Spotify. you can literally search out nearly any album from music history just like that and listen to it on the spot with only half a minute or so of commercials every 30 minutes. Granted, the free version has its own pitfalls like not being able to listen to the tracks in order and interruptions from annoying "recommended" songs, and needing an internet connection (I work in an area with no reception) but apparently for like $9 a month you get full on listen to anything you want whenever you want even offline awesomeness. That's less than the cost of most single albums and a small price to pay for unlimited access to practically all of the music in the world.

I managed to stump Spotify a few times (no full albums from Japanese punk/metal/ska/rap/alternative band Missile Girl Scoot...gotcha!) but 99% of what I was looking for, I found, and that is impressive because I have insane taste. So now I've thrown dozens of albums new and old I've never listened to but always wanted to into a gigantic playlist (because if a playlist is big enough, they won't hassle with recommended tracks) with everything from Lana Del Rey and Chvrches' latest to Desmond Dekker, Ice T, and Asobi Seksu's back catalogues and I'm feeling pretty indulgent. Over 11,000 purchased songs on my phone and all I can think of is all of the music I don't have? Looks like.

But the real question is back at the top of the topic. Is there even a reason for me to ever purchase another physical disc? $9 a month ain't shit considering how much I'm capable of spending on music. This could be the end of a lifelong era for me. Just wanted to share. Thoughts?

[The Curmudgeon]

Well, it's funny, because as the popularity and near ubiquity of streaming continues to rise, so too does the sales of vinyl. So while the effortless, never ending supply of music that Spotify offers is great, it seems people (a 240% rise since just last year) need the physical, traditional side as well.

My old boss had Spotify, and it's pretty damn sweet; he paid for the full version which meant you could create playlists and access the whole album (there seems to be a trend in certain releases being "Premium" only.

I'm not a fan myself, and I'm still of the dieing breed buying CD's and then transferring them to my phone. But shit, if you don't have a CD player in your house except through your console what you gonna do?

If I was going to go down the streaming route, it would probably be through Apple Music. One, because I'm a bit of an Apple fanboy, but it seems a better service than Spotify. It's got the heavyweight power of Apple and iTunes behind it and the radio shows they broadcast exclusively sound fantastic. I also read Apple give the artists a bigger share of the actual money (if the not at all publicity stunt with Taylor Swift is anything to go by, anyway).

[trashcanman]

Apple pisses me off routinely and I hate the whole attitude of the company and iTunes, but they do make a fine product. I may check their service out after I finish test driving Spotify before I decide whether to invest.

[Ben]

I use Spotify to look stuff up and try it out, but I'll stick to the physical stuff as long as it's still possible. I have a lot of dated equipment, so I've still got disc-playing capability almost wherever I go. There's something about having the physical album in my hand I don't think I'll ever want to give up. Not until they make me, anyway.

[trashcanman]

I hear you, man. But it's kind of gotten to that point with me where I'm stacking CD's on top of my shelves because I've got no more room, so in addition to the phasing out of physical media in vehicles and PC's there's that. It's just time for me to get with the times. I'm still all for the benefits of physical media, but it's just more trouble than it's worth for me at this point.