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by alyx 4089 days ago
Personally, I have not bought music since streaming services started covering 90% of the music I listen to.
3 comments

Personally, I've bought more music since streaming services (iTunes Radio with iTunes Match) exposed me to more music than I normally listen to (i.e. my existing iTunes library). Not a lot more music, but a couple more albums and a dozen more singles than the few new releases I normally would have purchased from my favorite artists. That ability to, on demand, listen to any song I want to listen to... it's too valuable to me to let go of completely even if much of the time I'm okay with listening to whatever comes on a stream.
That's so bizarre to me. I'm pretty much with Penny Arcade on this: "it's basically infinity dollars." [1] I mean, the idea of "owning" a digital file is a bit nebulous, but streaming offers nothing to me.

Though I'm completely the opposite when it comes to movies, where I'm perfectly happy with streaming. So who knows.

[1] http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/05/15

It might be infinity dollars but it's also infinity music. As new music gets released you can listen to that too as well as a back catalog larger than you could conceivably own. The concept of renting something is neither new nor strange. Penny Arcade's example is the same for housing, gym memberships, etc.
How many movies do you rewatch? A really infectious song, you'll listen to it tens or even hundreds of times. It's a different kind of investment
Music is already 'nothing.' Just sounds in the air. But then, life is also pointless if you want to go down that road.
What do you do with the remaining 10%?