Neil Young calls out Tidal

Several years ago I met Mr. Stuart at an audio show introducing TIDAL. I had a question. Since the bitrate supported, speed and bandwidth of the interweb was increasing exponentially, and solid state storage was shrinking in price, I asked him how long it would be before true hi resolution master files could be streamed natively. I also asked him when that day came, what would that do to his business?
He had no answer then. Today, reality is pressing on his business. I guess that is the answer.

After NY's recent 50th Anniversary "reissue" (with a small "r") vinyl, and its lame price, plus promoting it on Qobuz as a reissue to get plays, well, I was pretty much done with him.  What will he stoop to next to make more stinkin money?   IMHO, this is pretty messed up.  What a freakin marketing deal this is.  Old Hippy?? Really?  He's a walking contradiction.  I've got most all his vinyl I bought in the seventies and eighties, so I'll just enjoy those.  I'm glad I bought them, and I love his old music.

Kudos to Mr. Young. It’s not about the quality of the file or the format. It’s about misrepresentation. When someone says it’s the Master, it should mean The Master, not some version of the Master. That "semantic" plays into getting more people to download the music than without it, which profits the company. I’m on NY’s side.

Let’s cut to the chase here. This is not about sound. It’s about getting paid. Let’s just be honest here. At the end of the day, that’s what the artist is truly after. I can’t blame Neil because that’s how he makes a living. I just don’t settle for BS. To tell you the truth, most artists could care less about HiFi or Hi End Audio (Equipment). If they are a guitarist, that’s their focal. If they are a drummer, they typically only care about their drums. This is the truth. Spend time with these artists, and you will see. I have very close friends that went to The Juilliard School. They will tell you straight up. Folks, don’t believe the BS unless you were born yesterday. It’s really sad folks try to push this nonsense. Like I said, it’s a business and I do understand his position about money and how he makes it and gets paid. Don’t try to sell smoke and mirrors because they truly don’t care how you listen to music, they only care about how you are gonna pay for it. If you want to strive for what they call their best sound, go see them in person (at a concert). 

I just wish any streaming service with really good audio had a jazz channel as good as XM/Sirius.  I will sacrifice quality of sound for quality of programming.  Life could be worse.