Buying new music versus streaming services

[sjkiss 28]

Am I the only one who is struggling with streaming services? Many years ago, I digitized my CD collection and have curated it scrupulously. I also, sadly, sold my CDs. So, my digital collection is literally an important connection to many past phases of my life. But now that Google Play music has disappeared, it is harder to buy new music to add to my library. I know that there is 7digital and a few other sites, but they seem extremely limited. Just as an example, 7digital's Beatles collection is almost zero. What am I supposed to do? I can afford to pay monthly fees for streaming purposes, but then I have a complete second interface to deal with. What am I supposed to do? Flip back and forth between the two? Ask myself, 'Is that artist from my personal library, or on Tidal'? What about mixed playlists? I know that Plex has built-in Tidal integration, and that looked promising, except that you can't download tidal songs through the plex interface to listen to. So, it's basically convenient if you're sitting at your computer. I'm honestly pretty depressed about this; it seems like all this technological innovation we've developed is just being ruined by competition between firms. All I want is for a userfriendly way to give money to someone, let me download their music, add it to my library and listen to it wherever I want. Weren't CD stores just that? I feel like we've taken a giant step backward. 

I'm sure there are others in similar boats, aren't there? Does any one have any setups that work well for them? At home I have a QNAP NAS and a HEOS speakers system. I stream my library to HEOS via Asset UPnP, which is *amazing*, but I access my music on my PC and my phone through either Emby or Plex, depending on the day. I prefer Emby because you can export playlists much easier, and because the forum is so much more responsive. But Plex has this Tidal integration which I'm now flirting with. Help!!
 

[roaku 842]

I still buy CDs off Amazon and rip them to flac.

They sell mp3s too.

Sometimes, when you buy a CD you get the mp3s before the CD shows up...

[jachin99 88]

I think downloading off Amazon or even itunes is still the way to go if you don't want to rip CDs.  I still get CDs and concert dvds.  Every now and then I use tunepats software to rip grab songs off spotify.

[sjkiss 28]

1) how well does tunepats work? 

2) how and where do you buy mp3s on Amazon? Thanks!

[vdatanet 1617]

I buy music at qobuz. They have MP3, CD and HiRes quality, DRM-free.

Edited February 6, 2021 by vdatanet

[sjkiss 28]

Qobuz isn't available in Canada afaik.

[ebr 16169]

3 hours ago, sjkiss said:

how and where do you buy mp3s on Amazon? Thanks!

Amazon digital music (it is an option in the search bar).  I'm not sure how extensive their catalog is these days.

[WilhelmStroker 102]

I buy my music digitally through amazon but my main source is bandcamp aa they have a lot of independent and obscure stuff and don't take a big cut of the money.

[sjkiss 28]

Thanks, i didn't know about Amazon's digital music catalog. I'm not a fan of bandcamp, as the interface is a little awkward and I'm not really buying a lot of indie music these days. 

[Deathsquirrel 745]

I just buy CDs and rip to FLAC still, but when that's not an option I usually buy off iTunes and copy the files into my Emby music library.

[sjkiss 28]

It looks like you can't buy digital music through amazon.ca; only Amazon.com. *brutal*

[sjkiss 28]

but it looks like buying tracks is still pretty easy through Apple Music. 

 

 

[pwhodges 2012]

2 hours ago, sjkiss said:

It looks like you can't buy digital music through amazon.ca; only Amazon.com. *brutal*

I buy from time to time on amazon.co.uk.

Paul

[sjkiss 28]

I confirmed from Amazon.ca today you cannot purchase digital music on Amazon.ca. And doing so on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk requires addresses in this countries. Appalling.  But that's Canada for you!