Streaming, Again...

It was reported back in January that sales of digital music had fallen for the first time since 2003. A lot of bloggers have blamed and decried the rise of streaming as the culprit. Some have even suggested that streaming will not survive as a business model. I think that streaming is not the problem at all.

CD sales have been falling since the late 1990s. The Mp3 and the iPod became a sensation at the beginning of the 21st century. Digital downloads rose steadily until recently, when the increase in the use of mobile computing devices gave many an opportunity to sample and then become heavy users of streaming media services.

Any loss of profits by a major recording company, from the sale of music can be absorbed by the parent company that owns it. Independent and DIY artists most likely supplement any loss of revenue with money earned from touring. And of course, if you don't tour, you don't make any money.

I think, and this is just my opinion, once again, the lure of, "free," is making it difficult to sell music. Many potential music buyers are willing to forego ownership of their own copy of a recording, believing in, and feeling safe in the knowledge that they will always have access to the media as long as they have access to the internet.

I think that what has been missing from the discussion of why things have become the way that they are is that there is no thought being given to what one would do if they suddenly were without internet access. Think about it. All those music files stored in the Cloud would be unavailable, hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles away.

I'm not an anarchist. I love technology. But, if something should happen to cause a loss of connection to the web or a prolonged loss of power in general, those who were wise enough to obtain and save a hard copy of anything will be miles ahead of everyone else. It seems strange to me that no one ever talks about that.

Things of great value stored on electronic, internet enabled devices won't be able to provide one with needed information should some mishap make it impossible to retrieve your precious data. A solar flare or an asteroid strike could make life unbearable for an extended period of time.

In the past, music was considered precious, valuable, and worth preserving. In the days of vinyl, many a collector stored away their albums after making taped copies. The belief  was that the originals would be worth a great sum of money in years to come. But, should our lives one day be interrupted by some major calamity, those who were wise enough to see the value of owning their own copy of sound recordings, as well as many other items, may quickly discover that what they saved has become not only timeless, but priceless.