Streaming music

[opa]

I'm old-school and out-of-touch I suppose. Whenever I ride in a car with someone they usually use a streaming service for music. It's their choice but it seems to be a poor one. There are frequent ads, straight up horrible songs, and songs that repeat. Also, I have noticed that the sound quality is hot garage if you go through an area with no cell service. Why is this people's preferred method of listening to music in a car?

I think the main reason is that it's convenient. Download the app and hit play. Yeah, I get it. Netflix for music or whatever. No thinking or setup involved. I just don't understand why that would be your primary choice for listening to music on the go.

Ever since I got a smartphone I've been using the VLC app. I load up my music files and I have a library that I don't have to wait for an ad to play before enjoying. Also, I can play high quality file formats if I desire. Additionally, the app has the option to cycle through the whole library and play random songs. There we go; a random music station (no subscription required).

Do y'all use these apps or are you a crazy person like me and still ripping CD's?

[Markies]

I listen to Pandora while I am at home and working, but I don't think I would ever listen to it outside.

Thankfully, my Car is just old enough where it came with a CD Player. I still buy CD's as I own about 550 of them, so I love to listen to them while driving. I really hope my car lasts for quite a while because that is one of the aspects that I am afraid of losing. Though, I have seen USB to portable CD Players on Amazon that you can put in your Car. I've also heard of people going to Car Audio places and asking them to put in a CD Player.

My friend has Sirius XM in his car. It is a bit expensive for a subscription, but that is a great idea if you want to listen to radio that way.

[MrPopo]

Streaming is the replacement for the radio. I've got a ton of ripped CDs because I want to support the artists, but I 100% understand folks on the streaming bandwagon.

[Raging Justice]

I do most of my serious music listening at home. That's where I'll check out new albums, songs, and stuff. If I'm in a car I'll just put on something on the radio with classic music like classic rock, classic jazz, 80s hits, etc. I generally avoid modern mainstream music.

[marurun]

I do still want to buy and rip CDs of bands I like enough to have in my collection. But I also like to use Apple Music to explore back-catalog entries I don't have and discover new music.

[Raging Justice]

I haven't really used streaming services now that I think about it. I can usually check out songs on youtube. If I like what I heard then I can buy the album on CD. Heck, you can easily torrent or download music so you don't even need to use your CD and possibly scratch it. So many albums get put up on youtube you can easily listen to anything for free honestly

I'd like to buy vinyl, but I don't know where I'd store them and supposedly CD audio is higher quality anyway. Vinyl collecting seems more like a novelty for serious music nerds and I'm really just a casual fan of music.

[marurun]

I'd like to buy vinyl, but I don't know where I'd store them and supposedly CD audio is higher quality anyway. Vinyl collecting seems more like a novelty for serious music nerds and I'm really just a casual fan of music.

CD is far and away a more accurate replication of what was recorded, but some people value the qualities vinyl can add to music (added after the fact, mind you), much as many people like, for example, the warmth added to music when using tube amps. It's not about perfect reproduction but adding desirable distortion/alteration after the fact. That and using vinyl requires a kind of ritual for listening, between the physicality of the item and the lack of convenience. It forces the listener to sit and listen through the entire side. That said, listening to vinyl damages the records much more permanently and profoundly than any digital medium. So an album that is listened to frequently will indeed slowly degrade over time, no matter how fancy the player (unless you've spotted for a laser turntable.)

[Reprise]

Oh... This is something else to make me feel old and out of touch.

Yeah, I still use CDs in the car. Why would I stream? I agree with your criticisms. I don't have a premium account at the moment (which means random songs, forced shuffling and constant ads) and the quality is poor anyways.

Tbh even at home, I still have a hi fi system, a CD player and I still like to buy music on CDs.

We stream too and have smart speakers and my wife has them linked to her account which is premium, but it's not my preferred method to listen to music. I just use it for the kids or to put a random playlist on it I don't know what to listen to. Or I listen to a new album to sample it and if I like it, I buy it on CD. That probably makes me weird

[Ziggy]

Oh my God, I love you guys!

My car is a 2012. So it has the ability to link my phone via Bluetooth, but it also has a CD player. I have streamed music in the car before, but yeah, it can be annoying when service is hit or miss. I mostly listen to FM radio these days, switching stations to avoid ad cycles. And if all my presets are currently on ad cycles, then I switch to CD. Or I'll just go straight to CD if there's something particular I feel like listening to.

I still buy CDs. If there's an album I want to pick up, CD is usually the default choice since it's the most versatile. I can play it at home on the Hi-Fi system or in my car. I can rip it to my PC, which I have a large library of music ripped to. And I can put it on my phone and play it over Bluetooth in the car if I really wanted to. I also very much like to buy vinyl and cassette, but those are usually specific things and mostly just for fun.

Just about the only time I stream these days is if I want to do some work in the one room in my basement. I usually play a YouTube or Amazon Music playlist from a PC. But my studio monitors have Bluetooth, so occasionally I'll stream from the phone.

When I inevitably get a new car, I do have concerns about losing the CD player. No vehicles seem to come with CD players these days. And since the radio is usually built into a touchscreen that integrates several other car features, it's kinda impossible to just swap out decks these days. Although, I understand that the newer cars have better link ups for phones, I still don't think anything will be as fast and as easy as turning on the FM radio or CD.

Sometimes I'll just make a 1:1 burned copy of a CD to bring in the car, to keep the original safe at home. But one of my favorites ways to use CDs in the car is the mp3 CD. From way back in the mid 2000's when I got my first deck that had the ability to play mp3 CDs, I had burned two CDs that each had around 100 songs. I still have them, and pop both in every once in a while. But then I learned that you can organize mp3 CDs with folders, so I made more nifty ones. Like an Incubus CD consisting of all of their albums, where each album is in it's own folder. On the radio touchscreen or my steering wheel controls, I can select tracks or folders. It's very intuitive to use. But I suppose if I get a new car without a CD player, the newer phone linkups will work just as well if I dump all my music to my phone.

I got pretty fed up with streaming about 2 years ago. Work is mostly at construction/renovation job sites, and music is mandatory for me. I was doing the streaming Bluetooth thing for a while, but there are so many things to get annoyed with. First, Bluetooth may be OK for the car but it's still not the bee's knees for all use cases. Like at a job site, if the house is large enough or when you have to go out to the truck to get something, the Bluetooth signal often cuts out. Unless you're willing to leave your phone by the Bluetooth speaker, which I am not willing to leave my $700 phone out at a construction site. I also hate when I'm listing to someone else stream music, every time they get a text the music dips out for a second. And if they get a call, the music stops entirely for the duration of their phone call. Like, OK, we'll just go without music while you're on the phone. Or if they go out to the truck, you get to listen to crackling music as the BT signal cuts out. And that's not to mention service, which is usually pretty good but there are still plenty of dead spots on Long Island.

I got so fed up with streaming and Bluetooth that I fell back to using an FM radio at work. It's just so much easier and faster to use. I have presets that I can scroll through to avoid ad cycles. But while you're working, it can sometimes be annoying to stop what you're doing to go change stations. And FM signals can also have their issues. So my resolve was to get an mp3 player. My job site radio has a side compartment with a 3.5mm audio input and USB port. I bought this little mp3 player that I keep in that side compartment, and the USB port keeps it charged. I dumped a ton of music on it, and I just play all songs at random. It takes me just a few seconds to turn on and play, and then I have endless music for the entire day. No worries about signal strength, no worries about Bluetooth, it just works. And I get a kick out of the fact that the 20 year old tech is better in many ways.

Sometimes people ask me "What app are you using? I never hear any ads." LOL. Then I pop open the side compartment and show them the mp3 player.



On a rare occasion, I will sometimes stream music at work. The one good thing is the ability to play music that I don't own. But I'll pretty much only do it if I'm at a location that I know I have good service and the BT wont cut out. Which is hardly ever.

[opa]

I had a CD player in my old car. Got a new one recently so that's not an option but I prefer digital files anyway. I actually used one of those ghetto FM modulators for a few years. It was cheaper than burning CD's at that point.

A lot of my vinyl and cassettes that I purchase from bandcamp come with the flac/mp3 files so that's convenient.