Jay Z pulls music from Spotify

[rickca]

This is significant news.  Jay Z pulled all his studio albums from Spotify on 4/7, leaving only his collaborative material there. This was announced in Billboard.

Sadly, Spotify executive Chris Bevington (director of global strategic partnerships) was killed in the recent terrorist attack in Stockholm.

[Booster MPS]

In general I think streaming services that try to differentiate themselves based upon exclusive catalogues takes us in the wrong direction.  I don't want that to be the reason I choose either Spotify or Tidal. They should sell me on the quality of their service, user interface, platform, and music discovery.  I listen to a lot of different genres so if they all become fragmented, then it does not help me make a choice.  It is a net loss.

[kirkmc]

On 4/10/2017 at 4:21 AM, rickca said:

This is significant news. 

 

Yawn. 

[eternaloptimist]

Let me count how many Jay Z albums I have... Hmmmm... zero.

Would be nice if Tidal front page wasn't dominated by hip hop crap and had a broader spread of promoted genres. 

If Spotify streams lossless, then I think I will be saying farewell to Tidal. 

[rickca]

Yeah I didn't call this significant news because I care about Jay Z's music.  I can't stand it.  I listen to classical and jazz so I use Qobuz instead of TIDAL.

 

However, Jay Z is wildly popular even if we find that incomprehensible.  So his move to pull his material from Spotify is significant.

[eternaloptimist]

9 hours ago, rickca said:

Yeah I didn't call this significant news because I care about Jay Z's music.  I can't stand it.  I listen to classical and jazz so I use Qobuz instead of TIDAL.

 

However, Jay Z is wildly popular even if we find that incomprehensible.  So his move to pull his material from Spotify is significant.

You make a good point. I think you are right to separate out the genre of Jay Z's music from the popularity and hence the impact in general of this move.

[realhifi]

He's being a baby.  I'll be shocked if Tidal is still around in two years.  Now that MQA and Universal are in bed and Universal and Spotify have signed a deal, the writing is on the wall as to direction of streaming.  I mean, Spotify even pushed Sonos around so that they didn't have to be tied to Sonos's interface!  You can use Spotify Connect on Sonos!  That's leverage.  Look at any mainstream piece of electronics coming out today and they all tout Spotify Connect as a feature.  That's remarkable.

 

Here's current list of electronics that Spotify Connect works with so far....

https://www.spotifygear.com/

 

I mean, if you were to bet on one streaming service making it who would you choose?  (Maybe two....Pandora might still make it)

[The Computer Audiophile]

On 4/9/2017 at 10:35 PM, Booster MPS said:

In general I think streaming services that try to differentiate themselves based upon exclusive catalogues takes us in the wrong direction.  I don't want that to be the reason I choose either Spotify or Tidal. They should sell me on the quality of their service, user interface, platform, and music discovery.  I listen to a lot of different genres so if they all become fragmented, then it does not help me make a choice.  It is a net loss.

 

I agree 100%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 4/12/2017 at 10:45 AM, kirkmc said:

 

Yawn. 

 

Ah yes, any mention of entrepreneur Sean Carter and you can't help yourself :~)

 

 

 

 

 

On 4/20/2017 at 6:29 AM, eternaloptimist said:

Let me count how many Jay Z albums I have... Hmmmm... zero.

Would be nice if Tidal front page wasn't dominated by hip hop crap and had a broader spread of promoted genres. 

If Spotify streams lossless, then I think I will be saying farewell to Tidal. 

 

I have several Jay Z albums. his unplugged album is awesome. 

 

Even if Tidal offered a broader spread of genres on the front page, the chances of you liking that music are very minimal. I prefer to use Tidal like a library, where I search for what I want. I don't really care what it features on the front page. If the front page had personal recommendations like something from Pandora's gnome project, that would be awesome. But general recommendations don't do much for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

49 minutes ago, realhifi said:

He's being a baby.  I'll be shocked if Tidal is still around in two years.  Now that MQA and Universal are in bed and Universal and Spotify have signed a deal, the writing is on the wall as to direction of streaming.  I mean, Spotify even pushed Sonos around so that they didn't have to be tied to Sonos's interface!  You can use Spotify Connect on Sonos!  That's leverage.  Look at any mainstream piece of electronics coming out today and they all tout Spotify Connect as a feature.  That's remarkable.

 

Here's current list of electronics that Spotify Connect works with so far....

https://www.spotifygear.com/

 

I mean, if you were to bet on one streaming service making it who would you choose?  (Maybe two....Pandora might still make it)

 

 

Most people said the same thing when Tidal launched. That it wouldn't be around. It's hard to believe T-Mobile and Sprint are still around, yet they are. Other services don't have to die just because one or two services are very popular. 

 

 

 

[realhifi]

On 4/28/2017 at 1:19 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Most people said the same thing when Tidal launched. That it wouldn't be around. It's hard to believe T-Mobile and Sprint are still around, yet they are. Other services don't have to die just because one or two services are very popular. 

 

True enough. It's just me being grumpy at the thought of having to have more than one of these services. I'd like to whittle it down to Pandora and just one other service but the musical chairs of artists makes it difficult to pin down just one. I won't keep more than one of them in the near future and I'll bet I am FAR from the only one. The media consuming public is tiring quickly of the number of subscriptions they "need" and my point was simply that some may not survive. 

 

 

[jhwalker]

2 hours ago, realhifi said:

True enough. It's just me being grumpy at the thought of having to have more than one of these services. I'd like to whittle it down to Pandora and just one other service but the musical chairs of artists makes it difficult to pin down just one. I won't keep more than one of them in the near future and I'll bet I am FAR from the only one. The media consuming public is tiring quickly of the number of subscriptions they "need" and my point was simply that some may not survive. 

 

 

 

I've never understood the model of Pandora - it just seems to play music at random, like a radio station - is that what people really want?  Certainly not I

 

I subscribe to Tidal (my primary source), Qobuz (for great deals on downloads more than streaming, really), Spotify (the free tier, but will probably step up to a paid subscription if they ever go lossless / hi-res), and Apple Music (for additional coverage, but considering dropping it).  In all cases, the attraction is to be able to stream and / or download complete albums, as many as I want, and keep them as long as I want.

[Melvin]

24 minutes ago, jhwalker said:

 

I've never understood the model of Pandora - it just seems to play music at random, like a radio station - is that what people really want?  Certainly not I

 

I subscribe to Tidal (my primary source), Qobuz (for great deals on downloads more than streaming, really), Spotify (the free tier, but will probably step up to a paid subscription if they ever go lossless / hi-res), and Apple Music (for additional coverage, but considering dropping it).  In all cases, the attraction is to be able to stream and / or download complete albums, as many as I want, and keep them as long as I want.

 

I love Pandora for music discovery. Their Music Genome Project algorithms continue to surprise me. With the launch of their Premium tier recently came the ability to play albums/songs on demand .. finally. I look forward to seeing/hearing what they can do with high-res in the future.

[Donzauker]

On 20/4/2017 at 1:29 PM, eternaloptimist said:

Let me count how many Jay Z albums I have... Hmmmm... zero.

Would be nice if Tidal front page wasn't dominated by hip hop crap and had a broader spread of promoted genres. 

If Spotify streams lossless, then I think I will be saying farewell to Tidal. 

I agree but sadly here Tidal is the only to stream HD music (and now master quality on Pc). So , by now, I changed my mind about Tidal and I'm happy with it.

.... waiting for qobutz...

[The Computer Audiophile]

I don't understand why so many people have such a big issue with the music featured on the front page of Tidal. It isn't like your life would change drastically if a variety of music was featured. In fact, I'm willing to bet most people who complain don't get much out of the Tidal genre browsing features. If they use them at all. 

 

The only curation I'd like to see is something based on Pandora's gnome project that shows me music I've never played in the past. 

[Donzauker]

Just like other services Pandora is not available in Italy... 

[Musicophile]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I don't understand why so many people have such a big issue with the music featured on the front page of Tidal. It isn't like your life would change drastically if a variety of music was featured. In fact, I'm willing to bet most people who complain don't get much out of the Tidal genre browsing features. If they use them at all. 

 

The only curation I'd like to see is something based on Pandora's gnome project that shows me music I've never played in the past. 

 

I'm generally a bit disappointed by the lack of smart recommendations in music. I still find it pretty hard to find stuff I like, especially in Jazz. This is supposed to be the age of big data and the streaming providers should know your musical taste better than anybody else.

 

Qobuz for example signed a partnership with a company called Musimap nearly a year ago, and I have yet to see any impact. All their recommendations so far are purely generic.

 

http://blogsv2.qobuz.com/qobuz-blog-en/2016/06/07/qobuz-now-boasts-the-best-of-cognitive-technologies/

 

Maybe Spotify is better on this?

 

In any case, this is how streaming services SHOULD differentiate, not on "exclusive content", but on better user experiences.

[realhifi]

8 hours ago, jhwalker said:

 

I've never understood the model of Pandora - it just seems to play music at random, like a radio station - is that what people really want?  Certainly not I

 

 

I work with a large variety of clients in supplying A/V systems along with home automation and by FAR the number one service (besides actual radio broadcasts) is Pandora.  Apple Music is making inroads and certainly Spotify has come into the public eye through news and their sheer will at being embedded in practically every A/V product that is currently being manufactured. Trust me, people want the radio experience. You would not believe how many people don't even know that internet radio is available to them and when shown that and then introduced to Pandora, a service that you can curate (more or less) your own station according to your tastes they are in ecstasy. 

[jhwalker]

48 minutes ago, realhifi said:

 

I work with a large variety of clients in supplying A/V systems along with home automation and by FAR the number one service (besides actual radio broadcasts) is Pandora.  Apple Music is making inroads and certainly Spotify has come into the public eye through news and their sheer will at being embedded in practically every A/V product that is currently being manufactured. Trust me, people want the radio experience. You would not believe how many people don't even know that internet radio is available to them and when shown that and then introduced to Pandora, a service that you can curate (more or less) your own station according to your tastes they are in ecstasy. 

 

I don't get it, but whatever - horses for courses.

[Booster MPS]

2 hours ago, realhifi said:

 

I work with a large variety of clients in supplying A/V systems along with home automation and by FAR the number one service (besides actual radio broadcasts) is Pandora.  Apple Music is making inroads and certainly Spotify has come into the public eye through news and their sheer will at being embedded in practically every A/V product that is currently being manufactured. Trust me, people want the radio experience. You would not believe how many people don't even know that internet radio is available to them and when shown that and then introduced to Pandora, a service that you can curate (more or less) your own station according to your tastes they are in ecstasy. 

 

It really does not resonate with audiophiles, but a lot of people simply "want some music on in the background" and Pandora more than meets that need.  It's not about listening.

[Pat Case]

13 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I don't understand why so many people have such a big issue with the music featured on the front page of Tidal. It isn't like your life would change drastically if a variety of music was featured. In fact, I'm willing to bet most people who complain don't get much out of the Tidal genre browsing features. If they use them at all. 

 

The only curation I'd like to see is something based on Pandora's gnome project that shows me music I've never played in the past. 

I'm with you. Frankly, I can't even remember what the front page looks like. I search a TIDAL for specific genre and to explore /pursue new interests. I'm generally not lured by front pages.

[realhifi]

8 hours ago, Booster MPS said:

 

It really does not resonate with audiophiles, but a lot of people simply "want some music on in the background" and Pandora more than meets that need.  It's not about listening.

 

I guess the great unwashed aren't "listening" to music when they have friends over and have some Motown on while cooking, or when they are sitting around sipping wine and have Bob Dylan radio on playing song after song that they are all humming along to eh?  I'm pretty sure that none of them really care if it resonates with "audiophiles". 

[Pat Case]

19 minutes ago, realhifi said:

 

I guess the great unwashed aren't "listening" to music when they have friends over and have some Motown on while cooking, or when they are sitting around sipping wine and have Bob Dylan radio on playing song after song that they are all humming along to eh?  I'm pretty sure that none of them really care if it resonates with "audiophiles". 

To my continuingly mild upset, my son comes from an audiophile upbringing, my daughter too. On my son's part, he uses music as a background "accent". He's just gutted a house and is rebuilding the entire inside. He's purchased and is installing Polk in-ceiling speakers and he's setting up a Sonos system in various rooms. Just a couple of weeks ago, he said that they don't play enough music for or around my grandson. My son and his wife  listen mostly to streamed Apple Music R&B, hip hop and rap. My daughter has a one box speaker system, she listens to the stuff that she was brought up with Nina Simone, Keith Jarrett lots of other jazz and an array of classical music - but she doesn't seem to care about the vehicle for the sound. All of her music is streamed from Apple Music.

 

Both of my kids like and enjoy my music system but, when I pop my clogs I can't imagine them scrambling over each other to get at my great audio gear. I know that my daughter can tell the difference between Mozart's Requiem through her one piece system and through mine. I don't pretend to understand the phenomenon but I guess that since all of their peers are into streaming, it's just the way of things. 

[rickca]

If you think this is insignificant because you can't stand Jay Z, check this out

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jay-z-signs-10-year-touring-deal-with-live-nation-reportedly-worth-200-million-2017-05-11 

[rickca]

This is interesting.  Taylor Swift is returning to streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and TIDAL.  No more Apple exclusivity.

[rickca]

Spotify financials.  Total subscribers up 38%, net loss more than doubles!

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-spotify-prepares-for-an-ipo-its-financials-show-growing-losses-2017-06-15

[The Computer Audiophile]

It's tough to say what this really means. The new way of doing business is to lose money for a long time. Look at the billions of dollars Über is losing.