Why Buy Music?
06/01/11
It is accepted that the demand for music on CD has significantly reduced, this is nowhere more evident than the announcement this week that HMV will be closing 60 stores over the course of the year. Music consumers are now accustomed to MP3 and other digital formats; downloading from the iTunes library and syncing up their iPods for music on the go. We no longer have shelves of CDs, but computers and hard drives filled with digital content to be ready at the touch of a button. But, do we need to have a music library at all?
Internet based music streaming services are providing the next step in accessibility and convenience. Why would you pay to download the entire back catalogue of your favourite artist when it is permanently available to stream to your computer, your iPod or around your home?
While iTunes is synonymous with downloading music; Spotify, Napster and Last FM are leading the way in the music streaming market. For a monthly fee you can access their libraries, create your own playlists and let them make custom radio stations based on your taste.
These streaming services integrate into your home systems too. Sonos is able to access all the major online streaming libraries, as well as your playlists and personal radio stations. This eliminates the need to have you computer or network drive on, or indeed to connect it up in the first place.
Many new customers choose a system like Sonos purely to access Napster and Spotify, they no longer own a record collection. Others discover this feature as they become familiar with the new technology. And this doesn’t only involve music. With the release of their latest £99 Apple TV device, movies can be streamed from Apple's online library straight to your TV.
At first the differences may appear subtle- after all what is the difference between downloading and storing music and just playing it directly? The idea that we don’t actually need to own the music is an interesting concept. With a music library it is always there whenever you want it, but like your shelves filled with CDs, your computer is now becoming full with digital music files.
We moved from CD to digitally stored music and now we move again- away from music and movie ownership and back to the public library. Perhaps the question shouldn't be shall I buy my music on CD or MP3, but should I buy my music at all?
