Ripping to Streaming.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

I think I looked into that a while back.
Might need to revisit it

[-]

Dalearev@reddit

Cancel Spotify- as a musician this streaming service is horrible and predatory.

[-]

Weekly-Batman@reddit

At some point in the 2000’s i digitized most my CD’s and have been carrying that library around since. Fuck spotify

[-]

sebastianrileyt2@reddit

I have all my old stuff like that. Its just what I discovered since spotify became my main app.

I am usually skeptical about putting so much into one app like this, so I am kicking myself now.

[-]

lollroller@reddit

CDs are already digital. Spotify is fantastic for discovering new music, and listening in the car, or anywhere, really

[-]

Weekly-Batman@reddit

Yes but the music is restricted to disc until you extract it. Spotify is terrible. Treats artists like shit, now flooding AI music out there so there’s not even pennies to pay.

[-]

Spotify is also how new artists get exposure; they are working on AI flooding, which does not affect me whatsoever. When I find a new artist I really like, I often order their vinyl, from their own websites if possible, and often from Bandcamp. Without Spotify I would never had made those purchases. Like everything, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

[-]

Weekly-Batman@reddit

Dark Matter vinyl. Now can you please hold up 3 fingers in front of your face.

[-]

lollroller@reddit

Haha I’m doing it (while cooking dinner, it is pretty funny). Don’t have that one yet. What about new artist albums? Any recent purchases? I try to buy 1-2 per week. My most recent was “Navigation” by Boy With Apple. Just released, had to order it from Europe, not cheap; but fantastic album

[-]

Weekly-Batman@reddit

Do you know a good blueberry pie recipe?

[-]

lollroller@reddit

I do not like blueberry pie, or fruit pies in general

[-]

weezie_lou@reddit

Same. I still have my 2000s CDs that I ripped. I buy new music from apple and download those files to. Burn then to CDs and thumb drives, ironically.

[-]

teleheaddawgfan@reddit

When I first got broadband, I mainlined downloading Dead shows and other live bands. Shared FTP sites with other traders.

At one point I was downloading more shows than I could listen to. The backlog was immense!!

[-]

sebastianrileyt2@reddit

So far Spotify is still my option. But there will come a time they increase it too much.

I am already thinking of what to do if that happens. I would prefer to own copies of then but thats alot of music to replace.

Spotify has us in a corner a bit with that.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

The other thing when you try to leave is your playlists and liked songs are all locked.

[-]

sebastianrileyt2@reddit

Yes! That is another way they get you.

I may start making copies of those lists just in case, but thats so much stuff.

It also is a good wake up call. I never get this dependent on an app, but spotify happened over such a long time I didn't notice.

[-]

justheretohelpyou__@reddit

I have a similar story to you. I’ve had an MP3 collection for years, but somehow had been streaming more. I happened to read an article comparing MP3 to FLAC to WAV files. The article mentioned that most cars would play these files via USB. I miss my CDs and this appealed to me. I started recreating my digital collection as lossless. Most songs I rip using Exact Audio Copy from my CDs. If I love the entire album, I’ll try to purchase a hi-res version on hdtracks. So far, I’ve ripped close to 600 CDs. It’s all in flac files and fits easily on a high capacity thumb drive that plays in my car. It sounds incredible. This feels like a true archival project. OP, You may like to get back to ripping.

[-]

Sea-Oven-7560@reddit

I said that when downloads first became a thing. Getting a new album lost a lot of it's appeal. You used to buy an album, put it on play and then spend then next hour or two listening and reading the liner notes. Now you buy a song that lives somewhere and if that somewhere ever goes away or changes their policy your music goes away too.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

That’s what I’m thinking

[-]

Sea-Oven-7560@reddit

I'm going back to owning my media. If I can't copy it 1000 times when ever I want and put it where ever I want I don't need it. Everything is still available. We as a world need to get off this subscription bullshit and actually own what we buy.

[-]

conscientiousrevolt@reddit

I'm buying used CDs at amoeba and ripping them to mp3, I'm going to use my Spotify as a shipping list and cancel it when I'm done.

[-]

bleepbeepclick@reddit

What program are you using to rip them?

[-]

smalltalk2k@reddit

I use exact audio copy. It's not super user friendly to get it working. You also have to set up Lame so it can create mp3's

[-]

bleepbeepclick@reddit

Much appreciated

[-]

conscientiousrevolt@reddit

Windows media player.

[-]

ChicagoBoyStuckinDen@reddit

$15 a month to play any album/song I want at this point is more attractive than taking the time to download and rip.

[-]

thedumbdown@reddit

I pay $25/year for Apple Match & like $3/mo for extra storage in iCloud. It matches the iTunes/now Apple Music from your desktop to your devices. I’ve been loading music into this platform for over 20 years. I also have a 24 TB backup drive with all the full albums as well because I’m not keeping every track in the library. I’m continually adding and deleting music and it all updates across everything.

[-]

TheJokersChild@reddit

I've heard a lot of hassle about iTunes Match matching the wrong versions of some songs to people's libraries. How much of a problem is that for you?

[-]

thedumbdown@reddit

Never noticed this happening. The experience has certainly been better over the years, but it’s still better than having an algorithm determine what I’m listening to all the time.

In 2007, before Match existed, my library got corrupted and I had to reload 2/3 of it. It took a couple months. I’d rather do that again than lose control of what I’m listening to.

[-]

COVID19Blues@reddit

This is the way. ☝🏼

[-]

87YoungTed@reddit

yeah i have to dig through a stack of flash drives. one of them has a library of around 6000 songs on it. switched to a new phone and just never found the time to reupload them onto it.

[-]

Vivid_Engineering669@reddit

Technology in general has been moving towards a reoccurring revenue model the “you’ll own nothing and be happy”, permanent rental state. There are torrent sites you can grab music from and store locally and listen to on players..

[-]

ACorania@reddit

Streaming was just easier and convenient. I spent tons of time downloading and ripping, but even at $25 a month for whole family, my time is worth more.

I do add an album or two worth of songs to my list monthly so it isn't just the same thing over and over

[-]

StG4Ever@reddit

I went back to ripping my old cd’s and set up a server on my NAS that I can listen to from anywhere in the world using tailscale to connect in the background. Had spotify but noticed all I ever listened to were 70’s 80’s and soundtracks that I already owned…

[-]

Amazing_Factor2974@reddit

As a kid we went from Albums to cassettes to CDs ..born 1970 ..if you did it tape it off the radio ..cassette to cassette and few people had CD burners ..you didn't on it. Now streaming is good for car rides and trips ..but not the same.

[-]

Antsygrl1@reddit

You forgot about the 8 tracks my stepdad played in the car for like 2 years in the mid-'70s before cassettes were popularized. Also born in '70.

[-]

Amazing_Factor2974@reddit

Yes ..I never 8 track until they were totally obsolete.

Every one I knew played albums at home ..had reel to reel .. listened to the radio. Cassettes were 1977 ..I think when I noticed them ..but didn't get them myself until I got a Walkman 1981 ..mine also had a radio. .

[-]

Kkittums@reddit

Where in the hell is Spotify $25 per month?

[-]

Ok_Possible_2260@reddit

Even at 25$ a month, adjusted for inflation, it is still cheaper than 1 CD was back in the day.

[-]

At0mJack@reddit

Sure but you're renting and not buying.

[-]

Ok_Possible_2260@reddit

Who gives a shit if you’re “renting” it. The alternative was buying one $15 CD just to like 2 songs on it. I’ll take access to every album ever made for 25$ a month.

[-]

alfundo@reddit

Those 2 songs can now be bought for 2 bucks

[-]

-Granby-@reddit

So much music a person could never afford to buy though.

I love Buckethead and just he alone has 400 releases. I could never buy all that.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Family plan in Canada now $23.99

[-]

Farpoint_Farms@reddit

I'll never pay for that crap. I ripped my CD collection in the late 2010's and just realized that I really haven't wanted to hear a new album yet. Mumble rap and vapid pop just don't fit my needs.

[-]

Accomplished_Exit_30@reddit

I'm still buying and ripping my CDs. I started off with iTunes, then just windows media player. But now windows won't pull any album info, so you have to load it all yourself.

[-]

Jasonictron@reddit

I never stopped ripping and downloading. I use soulseek for downloading

[-]

St1ck33@reddit

Soulseek is great!

[-]

Fit-Distribution2303@reddit

I like Amazon music. It's included with Prime.

It's just the basic version but it is more than adequate for me. Pick an artist or genre and it's basically a shuffled playlist.

As someone who ran a decent sized file sharing network for a few years after the napster debacle, I refuse to pay to stream music. (Prime doesn't count. I have it for the free shipping. 😆)

[-]

VarietyMage@reddit

Maybe *you* got convinced. I bought my stuff, because I learned from an early age that if you don't buy it, it's not yours.

[-]

CptBronzeBalls@reddit

Time is money. Finding, downloading, ripping, transferring, tagging, managing… I don’t miss spending my time and attention on any of those things.

Being able to listen to whatever I want whenever I want to wherever I am is one of the few positives about this increasingly dystopian future.

[-]

realityGrtrThanUs@reddit

After ripping my cd's to mp3 i now use 7digital for new buys. Download mp3 to phone and backup to Google drive.

I will never pay to stream music. Makes no sense. I abhor paying for Netflix but no better alternative. Mostly use fandango at home for things i want to keep.

Ownership is a dying concept.

[-]

Evil_Weevil_Knievel@reddit

I used to maintain a massive FLAC lossless collection. I still have it but since Apple Music is just too good. Since the quality went lossless, it is absolutely flawless. You can give it set limits to maintain on your device for downloaded files, also you can manually specify music to keep on the device always.

[-]

ShartlesAndJames@reddit

gif

[-]

Junior_Ad_3301@reddit

Related question. Say i still have multitudes of music on burned disks, but I haven't even had a desktop in like 10 years, if i put these disks into a modern drive, they will still likely be readable? Really considering loading music directly to my phone like my old mp3 players. I assume it won't be an issue?

[-]

Jethris@reddit

I bought an external CD drive. I ripped a ton of CDs that are from the kid 90's,no issues.

[-]

GeoHog713@reddit

I found my old hard drive with all of my MP3s from college ....

[-]

jayhawkwds@reddit

I still have files I downloaded off of Napster.

[-]

9inez@reddit

My usage of my Apple Music account goes like this: - all of my ripped (from CD and vinyl) is matched - all of my pre-streaming digital purchases are there - all of the purposefully chosen streaming album selections are there - I select many new albums per month, well beyond the cost of my account, if they were album purchases - about 95% of the time, I listen only to my library (≈ 15k songs) - about 5% of the time, I investigate certain recommendations, genre playlists, check new releases - I spend time away from Music via other resources reading about and seeking music, finding artists/albums I want and add them to my library - I can listen nearly anywhere

Therefore, I feel like I’m easily getting massive music value every month. I don’t do algorithm IV drip to my brain. I’m not listening to commercials. So I’m good with that.

It is true that if I end the subscription, a shitload of music will be gone. If I’m doing that, either I’ve found another avenue or I’m done.

[-]

slaveofacat@reddit

https://cnvmp3.com/v54

YouTube to MP3, works amazingly well

[-]

BallisticHabit@reddit

TIL

Thank you.

[-]

Viperlite@reddit

What happened to all your ripped song files? Did you just delete them to show fealty when you started streaming subscriptions?

[-]

Erok2112@reddit

I use Jellyfin+Tailscale for outside streaming - https://jellyfin.org/ https://tailscale.com/ Running on an old enterprise desktop on a 6th gen Intel CPU. It has an 8TB drive with 500+ gigs of music and about 2TBs of movies and TV shows. Not paying for streaming my own music is a good feeling. There are many options to get this same setup - Old lappy and an external drive, old pc you have hanging out. Jellyfin has Roku apps and can also connect to various media streaming devices. But thats just me

[-]

GeoHog713@reddit

I'm definitely doing this

[-]

Erok2112@reddit

I'm running my setup on Ubuntu Linux but its not required. Could be a good time to get some alternative OS training if thats a thing you want. Ubuntu+Samba+Jellyfin so I have a media server and a file server. There are many fun options

[-]

GeoHog713@reddit

I used to use Ubuntu. Its been a minute, but I bet I can either figure it out, or draft my engineer nephew to set it up

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

I have a similar setup for movies and TV on fire sticks.
The issue I now have is my phone is a company phone and even copy and paste is disabled.

[-]

Erok2112@reddit

I thought about getting a digital audio player with a big SD card for my car - most have Bluetooth and 3.5 jacks so playback has options. There are plenty on The Amazon if you want, or the other option is to get an older Android phone with SD card slot and just use the BT connection.

[-]

R_437@reddit

Spotify fees are continually going up - we decided to cancel and now we still have access to our lists and faves, but skips are limited and we get ads (I mute them)

[-]

Sugar_bytes@reddit

Cost and convenience finally was good enough for us to bow down and pay.

[-]

2stinkynugget@reddit

I kept all my CD and records. Threw away the cassettes

[-]

jollytoes@reddit

I've been sailing the seas since Napster days. $300/year to listen to your music is insane.

[-]

StrangeAssonance@reddit

$300 must be a family plan. With Apple I think it’s like $20 a month and I can have 5 people on the plan. That is $4 a month per person. I spend more than that on coffee a month.

I’m good paying for the ease of use on any of my devices anywhere …

[-]

jollytoes@reddit

$300 for a family to listen to music is also insane. I understand paying for coffee, I will never understand paying for something that can be had for free.

[-]

SeaSignificant785@reddit

Monochrome.tf

Free. Download flac. Make your own Playlist, listen to theirs.

[-]

StrangeAssonance@reddit

It’s the convenience of having music on all my devices synced up and also not having to go hunting for mp3 or flac encodes of stuff.

For $25 or whatever my family plan is with Apple, the whole family gets unlimited music with one of the biggest catalogs available.

Music streaming is the only streaming I support because I’m just too busy to do what I used to do to access music. Time is money!

I do hit the high seas for movies and tv shows though as I use that content a lot less often.

[-]

KaleidoscopeSilly797@reddit

The only thing I don't like about streaming is that you pay every month for a device that you don't get to own the actual music.

[-]

GeoHog713@reddit

Money is money.

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WiWook@reddit

I ripped my entire library to ITunes way back when. That whole library has been added to significantly courtesy of our local library.
The main catalog is now on an external drive with a copy on:

iBroadcast

that is my "streaming" service. my own, augmented, library playing whatever random 500 tracks ot chooses at a time. It's free.

[-]

This-Professional-39@reddit

That's the neat part, I don't.

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SMakked@reddit

I'm still downloading albums. Have over 1.2mill MP3s now. No way I am paying unless it's an outstanding record then I will buy it. Collection would be bigger but had major HDD failure in 2010

[-]

SMakked@reddit

Another thing to kention6. If you have decent gear to play music MP3s sound terrible lol

[-]

Swimming_Ad_8856@reddit

Apple music family plan less than 20 share across family

[-]

tommyalanson@reddit

I still have my mp3 collection- about 400gb. But I also subscribe to Apple Music.

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HiOscillation@reddit

Spotify is a service that was not created by the music industry. It is an independent company based in Sweden.
The music industry fought tooth and nail against music streaming, they hated it. The profit margins on selling physical music were immense. They loved that you bought "dark side of the moon" at least 3 times, probably more.

With Spotify, you're paying for a service that delivers basically every song you could want, in a neat, organized manner. It also introduces you to new music, creates playlists for you, and is with you on every device you have. It never gets damaged, lost, or stolen, it weighs nothing and takes up no space in your home.

With Spotify, you can make a huge collection of 10,0000 songs and download them to your device and it will play offline. I have many "Airplane Mode" lists. My entire CD collection - which I ripped to MP3 years ago - 768 discs - has only 5,966 songs, which if I played them all, one after the other, would play for 16.7 days. Spotify's offline song would play for about a month.

Spotify keeps my musical tastes fresh. I listen to music I would have never discovered before. On Spotify, I have access to a library bigger than I ever could have built on my own.

I still have my old MP3 collection, as well the 100 DVD's and 200 Blu-Ray discs I ripped - I never touch the files. Streaming services offer me more choices, more flexibility and more convenience than my physical media collection ever did.

[-]

ApplicationUpper9229@reddit

And they don’t pay artists

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HiOscillation@reddit

One of my kids is a working musician.
Tours and all that. It's a tough life.
He still makes more money than when he worked in retail.

The old business model isn't coming back.
Artists can boycott Spotify, Youtube, Instagram - all of it.
And they will become even more invisible.
As it is, about 20% of the songs in the Spotify library have never been played.

Yes, Spotify sucks for making money as an artist.
However, streaming not what makes money, it's what drives people to the things that make money.

What makes money are ticket sales, merch and licensing, and that's the way it is.

[-]

kevbayer@reddit

I still have all my ripped mp3s and those what I usually listen to. We had Spotify for awhile because they more variety than the few thousand songs I have. But we got tired of yet another subscription so we cancelled

[-]

freisbill@reddit

lookup newservers (usenet)- much better than p2p and safer...little complicated but worth it.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

I have all that for TV and Movies.
Might need to start rebuilding my MP3 collection.

[-]

sharp-calculation@reddit

So you’re OK with just stealing everything? What else do you steal? Food, gasoline, clothing?

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Well the government steels 60% of my income when you look at the taxes.
As to bands and artists I’m the first to support them directly and have hired a few for private nights.

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sharp-calculation@reddit

What a crock of shit.

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bcb1200@reddit

This is why Apple Music is better. All the CDs I ripped 15 years ago are still on iTunes (now Apple Music) on my Mac. And paying for Apple Music for my family (Apple One) means that entire library is synced to the cloud and available on my phone. Plus I get all new music from Apple Music.

This is the way to do it.

[-]

ggibby@reddit

Until the corporation decides you don't get access.

If it's not on hardware you own, it's not yours.

[-]

bcb1200@reddit

Then I’ll buy it

[-]

Responsible_Big_4183@reddit

You’re Gen X and you “grew up” ripping CD’s from MP3’s? 🤔 I was well into my twenties before those existed in popularity at the same time. CD’s came out when I was in high school and popular just after I graduated.

I “grew up” making mix tapes on cassettes.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Like I said level 52

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Responsible_Big_4183@reddit

Gotcha. My ex GF was a young Gen X she’s 46 now. So I forgot. You guys were doing the MP3’s in high school maybe. Which is still growing up.

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Yes, grew up with tapes, then CD’s then MP3’s.
My first computer was a Sinclair ZX80 a true child of the digital revolution.

[-]

Nanocephalic@reddit

The amount you pay for streaming doesn’t give most artists a lot of money, but it’s a lot more than they get when you steal their music instead.

[-]

LouSevens@reddit

The whole thing is still bizarre. My cousins gave me records in the mid-70's, then my grandparents would take me to record stores in the 70's as well. 80's I would get casettes. 90's I would start to get cd's.

00's I would end up burning eventually like 800cd's or so to my computer via mp3's

10's - donated the cd's had my collection on hard drive; at some poitn amazon music comes along and I am listening to better quality of my collections- some things are still only on my hard drive.

[-]

nusuth31416@reddit

The other day, I saw an app that allows streaming music from different sources. I did not see a subscription fee. It also has an MCP server for your AI agent in case you want your AI agent to manage your music app.

https://nuclearplayer.com/

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Thanks maybe interesting

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Joyce_Hatto@reddit

I have over 5000 albums on iTunes on my external hard drive. I’m all set!

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

I remember the Winamp day

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Impressive-Shame-525@reddit

Whips the llama ass

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

I so much want it to make a come back that and milkdrop visualizers

[-]

skspoppa733@reddit

I have no clue where all my cassettes and CD’s went, it I do t mind paying the subscription fee for the convenience of streaming them, plus all the different versions that I didn’t buy and everything else out there.

I get the whole ownership thing but there’s so much more other music out there to discover than I have time to sift through.

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Zesty-B230F@reddit

I have XM and all my CDs...and records and tapes. So, I'm pretty set on music.

[-]

Phobos1982@reddit

Most of the 250+ CDs I have are legit. I just burned them to MP3 and put them on my phone. Most of my movies are legit too. I purposely buy DVDs since it's harder to rip Blu-Ray.

[-]

QueenScorp@reddit

They haven't convinced "all" of us to pay for streaming. I own all my media and self-host streaming clients so I can listen to it from anywhere. I will not pay to subscribe to, well, anything at this point.

[-]

Kreesto_1966@reddit

They didn't convince all of us. I refuse to pay for a streaming service and still have my music library going strong. In fact, I just ordered a CD yesterday from Amazon! Long live owning your own music!

[-]

Absentmindedgenius@reddit

Yeah, they hook everyone with a low price and then jack it up. Saw that coming.

[-]

Ok-Offer-541@reddit

gif

[-]

alfundo@reddit

Dude, true GenX doesn’t pay for radio! Instead I buy an iPhone with enough storage to carry my 19000 tracks with me.

[-]

TheJokersChild@reddit

Or an Android phone that still has a MicroSD slot. Or hell, even a hi-res player.

[-]

Robbudge@reddit (OP)

So did I, but found out the other month that apple offloaded a lot to the cloud

[-]

polkastripper@reddit

I saw through the bullshit when this model came out, it was inevitable that subscriptions would keep creeping up in price.

I have a phone with 1TB SD card so everything I've ripped or downloaded, I still own. It's all backed up to a hard drive. I also buy digital albums directly from the artists either on Bandcamp, their website, or I'll buy their CD and rip it.

Nothing beats the old model of owning the music you buy, I'll never support streaming.

[-]

Bk_Punisher@reddit

Still own all my physical media in addition to everything downloaded from the days of Napster till present. Fuck streaming services!!!
While 20TB of storage might be small to some, it houses my own personal archives.
Movies, music, pictures….

[-]

Stfudeal@reddit

Run your own service.

[-]

blue-collar-nobody@reddit

$25 Breaking the bank🤣 shit 1 cd would cost you that much BITD. Stop whining.... streaming is the best ever. What the fuck do you want... it for cheaper? 🤪 let the musicians starve? How much are your talents worth if .80 a day is a problem to afford

[-]

CrispyDave@reddit

Let not pretend you're paying musicians anything by streaming their work eh?

If that's your concern CDs are actually still a thing.

[-]

blue-collar-nobody@reddit

"Let's not pretend" some artists aren't making money Music Streaming Payouts Comparison: A Guide for Musicians and there are links to merch, Lps, tickets when music is streamed. You want to doom and gloom technology but its feeding plenty of people. Could it do better for Independant artist and labels...maybe. the reach for Independants couldn't be more favorable to the savy and talented that put it out there and find success which leads to touring and trying to make it.... which has never been easy no matter what

[-]

CrispyDave@reddit

If it makes you feel better.

[-]

blue-collar-nobody@reddit

gif

[-]

TheJokersChild@reddit

$25 for Spotify? How many people on your account? Qobuz is like $11 with more sound quality and less ethical concern.

[-]

D3viantM1nd@reddit

I bought a CD at a noise rock gig a few weeks ago.

I don't have a CD player or drive.

[-]

JT-Av8or@reddit

I didn’t fall for it. I still have my CDs AND DVDs ripped to a NAS in my basement. We were watching “High Anxiety” last night. Zero fees. Fuck the “rent everything own nothing” model.

Still running MS Office 2000 as well. It writes letters just fine.

[-]

PirateJim68@reddit

I have hundreds of dvds still. My grand kids love coming to Papa's house because I have everything from cartoons to horror flicks

[-]

MaybeOnFire2025@reddit

Physical Media FTW!

Was is a "NAS?"

[-]

KellyzKillaz@reddit

Physical media for the long term win.

Ripped losslessly to the NAS for the ultimate in convenience and preservation of the media.

[-]

MaybeOnFire2025@reddit

What is NAS?

[-]

Icy-Reception-7605@reddit

Network Attached Storage

[-]

MaybeOnFire2025@reddit

Thank you

[-]

Slipstream_Surfing@reddit

I call it a music server so people unfamiliar with jargon understand what I'm talking about and avoid creating confusion like OC did.

[-]

KellyzKillaz@reddit

Whoops, sorry. I read that as "What is a NAS?" sarcastically. Like, I won't bother acknowledging NAS because using physical media is so much better. That's on me. As others have already said, Network Attached Storage.

[-]

Sir_midi@reddit

I am on level 57 and I grew up holding a tape recorder next to the stereo hoping the dj wouldn’t talk all over the intro.

[-]

PirateJim68@reddit

Waiting for hours to finally hear that one song that day, only to have the DJ either talk over the beginning or cut off the end by going to a commercial

[-]

lollroller@reddit

I still remember my first cassette recording of “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” had the DJ talking all over the end of it

[-]

DrumsKing@reddit

I had many 1000's of mp3, and I've succumbed to Spotify.

Ease of use. And 100,000+ songs at my fingertips. (I rarely listen to entire CDs anymore).

[-]

-Granby-@reddit

I love Spotify. I'll never go back. We pay for Spotify premium family plan so we have 6 accounts. Me, my wife and daughter and then my daughter lets 3 of her friends use them. It's awesome. I have so many playlists. My daughter can be playing a playlist of hers in her room and I can join and we can each shuffle songs.

I see people complain about AI music on Spotify but I have had zero issues with it. I don't see how so many people are having a problem. It is totally worth the money to have all that music on demand and able to curate unlimited playlists and share playlists with each other.

Back around 02 I was burning CD's like mad. I was always on Limewire, Kazaa and Soulseek but the best was AOL instant messenger. I would direct connect with people I met on the internet from various chatrooms and such and they would share all their folders with me.

Spotify is just too vast and too easy to ever give it up.

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PirateJim68@reddit

Using OP's reference, I am on level 58 of the game of life and I started making mixed tapes from the radio and from the HI-FI my parents had. Then moved to the limewire, Napster and Rocket downloads. Ripped and burned plenty of CDs (which I still have). I still will not pay for a service and have used the free versions of YouTube, Pandora and now Spotify.

We have always adapted and the moves are just adaptations to continue listening to the music we love.

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

How’s level 58 ?
I had a massive collection. Need to start rebuilding.

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PirateJim68@reddit

I have found there are still things I can do at 58, and other things I definitely cannot. I have given up on trying to compete and keep up with every new tech item out there. I do and listen to what makes me happy 😊

I have somewhere around 250 plus burned cds. They cover probably 40 years worth of music.

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ElDeguello66@reddit

I had one as well and sold off a bunch. There's a popular thrift store near me that sells CDs for 50 cents and has a fantastic selection, so I'm rebuilding the pop and rock collection. The bluegrass CDs I sold a few years back will cost me more than I sold them for too replace.

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whoops53@reddit

Oh you just unlocked a memory of me as a teen splicing cassettes from when I recorded the Top 40 on a Sunday night! (DJ chatted over the beginning and ending of the track...really annoyed me!) Oh jeez...bring those days back, pleeease!

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LisaLisaPrintJam@reddit

I burned everything I'll ever need when Napster was still a thing. Some older rare stuff I couldn't find, I bought the vinyl. You can set up a nice playlist on YouTube (free) and even record the audio with free software if you have a regular computer.

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Standard-Cockroach64@reddit

I did the same, still have it all saved off as MP3's. Haven't bought a CD since (maybe) 2004? Now, it's all vinyl

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Standard-Cockroach64@reddit

Still love going to my favorite record stores weekly, even if it's just to shoot the shit with the owners and talk about music.

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Ruenin@reddit

I built myself a NAS for movies and music. I can stream movies and music anywhere I want. I subscribed to Plex for this reason a couple of months ago, but you don't have to do that. If you watch a few YT videos on the subject, you can build a Jellyfin server that doesn't require a sub instead. Plex just raised their lifetime sub price to a literally insane number.

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I-use-to-be-cool@reddit

CD's rule and there is no changing my mind!!

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Consistent-Ad7428@reddit

Rip all your stuff and set up a Plex server.

This is the way.

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NoGood2154@reddit

running on Ubuntu and CasaOs over here boss...

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Not used PlexAmp. Ran plex for a few years but it got to bloated and to busy trying to sell services.

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Consistent-Ad7428@reddit

Lifetime sub is about to go up majorly soon, btw.

If you don't have it yet, consider getting one at the lower price or investigate Jellyfin.

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

I have Jellyfin.
Might need to start rebuilding Audio.

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tranquilseafinally@reddit

I need to do this. I'm on Linux and it's my goat to digitize all my DVDs and BlueRays. I have close to 1000 movies.

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SignificantTransient@reddit

Remember when we used to record our music off the radio and other tapes. You can still do the modern version of that.

It's called Audials Tunebyte

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MarcooseOnTheLoose@reddit

Perhaps approaching 10,000 wonderfully curated tracks, not a single subscription.

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Good for you.
I need to set my NAS back up.

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tranquilseafinally@reddit

I have a music library I have curated since the 1980s. I digitized a long time ago. I have never paid for streaming.

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MarcooseOnTheLoose@reddit

My ‘discotheque’ sadly had to be rebooted in the 90s because of a big move. Otherwise, same here, perhaps approaching 10,000 wonderfully curated tracks, not a single subscription.

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tranquilseafinally@reddit

I recently moved to Linux and away from iTunes. I spent days editing meta data. Now I'm good again.

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snotick@reddit

Remember pushing the record button to record a song from the radio to cassette? The same thing is still possible with Audacity and the internet.

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HerNameIsVesper@reddit

I am approaching level 60 and love streaming. I did have an iTunes library but it got lost in the transition to Windows and Android devices. I have fully embraced streaming on YouTube Music and SiriusXM, both of which give me access to all my old favourites plus lots of amazing new artists.

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FailureFulcrim@reddit

I have Bohemian Like You on a thumb drive. I plug it into whatever I'm driving and listen to it 40 times a day.

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VisualEyez33@reddit

I tried watching one of my burned dvds last night, which I haven't tried to do in probably 10 years. I can't figure out where to find a dvd player app that will process my file folders that are all named stuff like audio ts and video ts.

So I gave up and found the movie I wanted to watch on a streaming service instead.

I miss getting altered and going to the video rental shop to spend half of movie night browsing and comparing choices with friends before we all decide together.

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GrandeT42@reddit

VLC will play those and just about anything else.

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Robbudge@reddit (OP)

Was about to say VLC

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Able-Tomatillo6806@reddit

I guess I am not very much of an audiophile. But movies... torrent is the way.

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cantcountnoaccount@reddit

I don’t know how they convinced you, but I’ve never rented music and I never will. Yes that means I do not have any music streaming service. Lately I’ve been buying new CDs from artists I like and ripping them like the old days.

It’s kind of fun to get mail anyway.

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Fish-Weekly@reddit

I’m still using iTunes, iPods and own all of my music. Never saw a reason to switch to streaming.

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keithrc@reddit

Por que no los dos? My CDs and MP3s haven't gone anywhere, just because I pay for streaming.

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Xombiekat@reddit

Yeah but the torrent scene in 2026 is dogshit. I ripped audio from YTube a little but it's tedious.

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Fidrych76@reddit

I’m still sitting on about 600 CD’s that I ripped 20 years ago. They worth anything?

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Slight-Bowl4240@reddit

Go find out!

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ndGall@reddit

I still buy and rip CDs. It’s all I need, really. YouTube has me if I really need to hear something I don’t have.

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gilesachrist@reddit

The good old days of intellectual property theft. We all did it because there wasn’t another good option, things are better now, for just free to $25/month you get access to all the music in the world. Sad that having music made available to you isn’t worth $300/year.

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AwardSalt4957@reddit

Just want to be able to listen to all my music, anywhere, regardless of internet connectivity. Forever.

I purchase music in physical format (usually cds), artist gets paid, I put it in my iTunes for ease of use in my car, but I own that shit.

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CollectsTooMuch@reddit

We can afford it and it’s easy. I still have 20,000 songs in my mp3 library but Amazon Music has more and is easy and works on all of my devices so it’s easy enough that it takes the fun out of stealing the music because, let’s be honest…we ripped our own CD’s but downloaded most of the content.

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GramercyPlace@reddit

I have a big vinyl collection but use Apple Music pretty heavily. But if I need an mp3 these days, it’s very easily to download the music from YouTube. Search YouTube to mp3.

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Wacko_Banana_Pants@reddit

I prefer to own hard copies of media because you never know when something will be labeled as offensive and removed by the keepers of the internet.

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At0mJack@reddit

Physical media for the win. They can't revise, edit, or remove anything that's sitting on my shelf.

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MiamiViceGuy@reddit

You can still download your music for free if you know where to look.

People pay for convenience. My Apple Music only costs $12 and I used to buy cassettes, blank CDs and other things well over 144/yr.

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LeadingResearch9528@reddit

I’m on level 51. RIP the limewire days. I now pay $10 a month for Apple Music subscription and it’s worth every penny.

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lollroller@reddit

You’re 52 and grew up downloading MP3s? They were a late 90s thing. I grew up wo

IMO high-resolution audio streaming is one of the best things to happen to the music industry in our life time

Access to basically all music ever recorded, literally at our finger tips. It has never been so easy to discover new music and make playlists (what we used to call “mix tapes”)

I don’t understand the opposition; most of us paid for cable TV for years without a second thought

You can still buy vinyl and CDs if you really want to

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Cryo_Dave@reddit

I'm with you. For a little more than $10/month I have access to an essentially unlimited library of high-res audio. I won't live long enough for streaming to cost more than just buying what I have on my existing playlists and the artists get paid (albeit rather poorly) for their work rather than having it pirated.

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SaltyDogBill@reddit

The big torrents sites are still a great place to download catalogs. I grab my FLAC files there, dump the, into my Plex Audio Server and then set up a little listening station with a WiiM, DAC and quality headphones. Works great.

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SamHandwich0@reddit

Wow i should get my FLAM and hook it to my ZAQUE and then GORP my WAGLE switch.

Thanks for the tip!

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LordBalderdash@reddit

Don't GORP your WAGLE too hard. It makes the left channel dip.

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Wacko_Banana_Pants@reddit

But I don't even known where the BIG torrent sites are anymore. I got tired of chasing Demonoid because it had to move every few weeks

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Famous_Attention5861@reddit

Your local library might still have a collection of CD's that you can rip if you have a computer with disc drive, some might not even be streaming due to rights issues.

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ZebraBorgata@reddit

I have 250 CDs and many I’ve ripped. I still download .mp3 files. 99% of the time I’m not paying for music and I can listen to my collection anywhere.

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Formal_Plum_2285@reddit

I like streaming.

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Techchick_Somewhere@reddit

I teach University students. They are done with subscription services too. Time for the big downgrade.

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73DodgeDart@reddit

I never got rid of my cds but I mostly stream my music out of convenience. I still buy the occasional CD or record as a collector but my daily listening is via Spotify. I used to spend $50-$100 a month on new music a month so streaming is still a bargain for me. For movies though I buy the 4k discs as the audio on the video streaming services is just too compressed for my enjoyment.

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GrandeT42@reddit

I refuse to rent my music. I spent too long curating my music library to leave it behind.

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FakeNameSoIcnBhonest@reddit

I’m all in on Apple Music. My CDs have all been done away with except a very few that I keep for dumb reasons.

Streaming offers just about everything at any moment and I love it.

Even for dumb reasons like: some person made a post on Reddit about the band Ratt and said “Infestation was the best Ratt album!”. I responded with “No way - Invasion of your Privacy was their best”. He responded with “are you sure - did you really even listen to it?”.

I was pretty sure I had heard it and didn’t like it, but I downloaded it and gave it another listen. Turns out I was right - the lyrics are a hot mess and I hate it. And it cost me near zero to take a trip back in time. 30 years ago I would have spend a decent chunk of change just to be disappointed.

I like trying new music, and streaming lets me do it near consequence free.

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HearingDue2119@reddit

Same. All in on streaming. Horded CDs records and tapes all my life. Ended up with several thousand. Life changes forced me to sell off. Thought I’d be sad but it’s all still there. Mostly. It’s a bitch that the music can come and go at anytime, but for $15 a month for a family plan you can’t complain too loudly. Plus the sound quality is excellent.

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HighSeasArchivist@reddit

Come join us in /r/piracy. Things are way easier now, just get paid VPN. I am saving over $250/mo with internet only instead of Xfinity shit internet, TV, movie channels, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Music, etc.

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Teaspoonbill@reddit

In young adulthood I had a good-sized vinyl LP collection. ’They’ convinced me that the phonograph was obsolete and the future was CDs, so I ditched my record collection — a decision I deeply regret. When ‘They’ told me I needed to get rid of the CDs because streaming was the future, well…fool me once, shame on you…but I was not falling for that again. I am quite content with having 1000+ CDs in this house, actual physical media that I paid for and own.

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killslikeaninja@reddit

I still buy CDs and rip them to my computer, then download to my phone. I have 100s of albums and over 25,000 songs that I’ve been collecting since the late 90’s.

I never used P2P. But I was a hard core Newsgroup user.

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SparksWood71@reddit

I honestly don't mind paying $12 a month for a music streaming service that offers millions of songs. I don't need to waste hours of my time stealing music.

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LAKingSteve@reddit

Soulseek is the way…just like Napster. I don’t stream but I do buy digital as I’m pretty much out of space for CDs.

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GraphicSarcasm@reddit

Couple thousand mp3s I ripped over the years. They're all on a usb hard drive. Got SXM in the truck finally after they offered it for $4 a month. So i got it on my phone too. However, I also have the couple thousand mp3s I ripped on the phone too.

Monthly subscription is good business model currently. Hate it, but hard to change the world.

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SpecialOil6869@reddit

Just like Netflix and Hulu, they offered a great service for a reasonable price. A lot of people stopped pirating. Then over time streaming splintered off to 100 different apps & kept raising prices until we all hit the high seas again.

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addys@reddit

I'm 100% with you on this. It's the same playbook as Netflix and Amazon Kindle- first they offer a simple, easy, attractive and free experience and then slowly enshitify it to "extract value" (ie money) from the client base.

Same as boiling a frog, if it happens gradually enough then the victims (sorry, customers) barely notice.

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Xavelle@reddit

We don't own anything anymore. I was thinking about the Gulliver Travels mini series VHS set that used to have. I can't just stream it on demand and even if I still had the tape, I don't have a vcr. My on demand of the 90s consisted mostly of Disney and Winnie the pooh for my kids. And now I have to monitor my grandchildren as they scroll through YouTube videos meant for kids.

Enough is enough.

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