In everything that changes, there are tradeoffs. With high quality streaming, maybe some of the religious experience has been lost, the walking over to one’s wall of lp’s or cd’s, picking one, cleaning it a bit, placing it on or inside the playback device, returning to one’s seat between the gargantuan speakers in the solitary chair and listening. Repeat for next album, etc.
With streaming, sit in that same chair and do it all from a tablet. BUT, here is where it gets interesting. The kids in the next room with their half dozen friends can access the same library and play their selections while the parents are enjoying a cocktail on the back patio listening to their selections. I have my entire library on my Nucleus Plus and have 2 backups, one at home and one at the office. At my office I have a audio wonderful setup there as well so I always have access to all my owned music as well as Qobuz and Tidal through Roon. People come in and out of my office all day, they hear music playing and often comment favorably on the music and the playback quality. I’ll have brief but sometimes lengthy discussions about the different music I am playing, their favorite music and then since I have immediate access to basically everything...I will play their favorite music over a high quality system and several have purchased their first (humble) high end gear. It’s often the first time many young people have ever seen tubes let alone understood their virtues.
so, all the hand wringing is valid if you happen to feel it is. The lamenting that there will no longer be a social hour at the Walmart CD bin. The mourning that a certain record store closed as the end of an era has got to stop. Water either flows around obstructions or pushes them downstream. With a limited perspective, some may say that the social aspects of music are gone forever. I would posit that just like the music formats have changed over the years, the way that the social interaction happens has shifted as well...like at my office.
All the whining about change is really tiresome. Im presently in my mid fifties but have chosen to live in an area where outdoor recreation and an active lifestyle is the norm. Alot of people where I live listen to alot of music but they are on the go more frequently so they listen on their mobile devices. They also take time to listen to the wind, to streams (water in this case), waterfalls, birds chirping and singing. Oh, and plenty of live music. Every generation is certain that when their norms are being disrupted that everyone’s in the same boat. Not hardly! Heck, clothing stores around here don’t even carry pants/slacks in waist sizes larger than 36 or rarely size 38. Not a pair of “dad jeans” in sight.
Get out of the basement, there’s a great big beautiful world out there.
