The Stuff That Streams Are Made Of

Vinyl is making a comeback. CDs are still popular. Even cassettes are coming back into vogue. Nothing beats the experience of trolling through the racks at a record store and the joy of discovering some obscure treasure. But let’s get real—streaming has long ago left all other forms of music consumption in the dust.

According to soundplate.com, in 2023, global music streams totaled more than 7.1 trillion. The average person spends around 21 hours listening to music online every week—the equivalent of 414 three-minute songs. The record industry has seen a record-breaking surge in revenues in recent years, and streaming accounted for more than 75% of it. And that continues double-digit growth year after year.

Why has this massive shift taken place? What are the consequences?

Why Streaming Has Taken Over

The reasons for the growth in streaming are hardly surprising. The benefits were immediate for listeners, to the point that it’s almost hard to imagine what life was like before you could stream pretty much any music you want instantly. But even for those who remember the “before times,” it’s worth looking back at the revolution that took place, and why it happened so fast.

Increased Convenience

At the top of the list is convenience. A few clicks of the mouse or taps on a screen are all it takes to play an endless stream of music—far less effort than cueing up any form of physical media. No need to get up and flip a record, or put in a new CD; in fact, no need to get up at all. There’s certainly some value in the ritual of listening  to physical media, and you can see it in the resurgence of vinyl. But the more convenient option is likely to remain the default in this busy world, especially when you consider the next reason: it’s also lighter on your wallet.

Reduced Cost

The youngest people might not appreciate how much it used to cost to listen to music. For comparison, a single album used to cost around the price of a month of Spotify Premium, which gives you access to millions of albums. That’s not to say the price was inflated—making CDs and vinyl required materials, manufacturing costs, shipping, storage, etc., all of which had to be reflected in the price. There’s another reason streaming is cheaper, of course, and it’s not quite so innocent: companies have used the change in medium as an opportunity to cut into artist pay. Listeners pay less money per listen than ever, but at the same time, musicians make less money per listen, too. More on that later.

Massive Library

Another major advantage of streaming is the selection—not only the most popular tracks, but a great many of the more obscure. When you learn about a new artist, you can pull up their entire discography on the spot, and even check out a curated playlist of their hits. By comparison, you once had to seek out a music store, go to the correct section, sift through an alphabetized collection, and hope they had what you’re looking for. Often, they didn’t. Now, it’s all there for you. Want to binge on Hawaiian slack key guitar music from the 1960s and ‘70s? How about early British skiffle tunes or 1950s rockabilly? Whatever your pleasure, there’s probably a playlist for it on your streaming service. And you can have it playing in seconds.

Discovering New Music

Speaking of new genres, streaming services have been a boon for discoverability. The algorithms behind Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming service will keep the music coming after you run out of ideas. Often, these “autoplay” features will algorithmically search out music that’s in the same vein as what you already enjoy, replacing the role of the older sibling who guides your music taste with their hard-earned knowledge. The benefits are obvious—new music forever!—and it’s always great for artists to have new avenues to find their audience. There are even AI-assisted features like Spotify DJ that do a little more than just generating a never-ending playlist, giving you different options for different moods and genres. The long-term effects of this technology are still to be seen, as artists and listeners adapt to this new way of life. An early trend has been the movement away from long albums and toward quick singles that fit well into playlists. Regardless, the algorithm appears to be here to stay.

But What Are the Consequences?

We’re only beginning to see the consequences of music streaming, even though it has been around for a while now. In some ways, music has remained the same. Despite all the crossover artists, genres still exist. Despite the playlists and shuffling, albums still get released. Even with AI music beginning to make an appearance, people still crave connection with a real-life artist. These things may prove timeless. But the changes are significant nonetheless.

Sound Quality

Of course, the arguments about compressed digital files not sounding as good as analog are as old as the MP3 format itself. And while it’s broadly agreed that digital audio has come a long way from the early incarnations, the point is still valid. While services like Qobuz, Tidal, and others offer high-resolution streaming, the vast majority of listeners on Spotify and the like are hearing compressed audio that is arguably not ideal in quality and resolution. The question is whether people really care. The numbers suggest that many don’t—but then again, the death of vinyl was reported many years ago and proved to be false. The death of high-quality audio may also be proven false. (Selfishly, we hope that’s the case.)

Reduced Royalties

It’s not just audio that has been compressed—artist payment has taken a significant hit in the age of streaming. You can find countless reports of artists getting thousands and thousands of streams, reaching more listeners than ever felt possible when they had to sell CDs by hand, but making less money than ever before. For many artists, the best bet has been to turn that audience into merch sales or higher attendance at shows, where there’s still a chance to make some cash. Other artists back away from streaming and switch to other digital outlets like Bandcamp, which focuses on connecting artists with listeners who actually want to pay them. Somewhere in between is a streaming service like Tidal, which makes a point to pay better royalties to artists, but also costs more for subscribers.

Long-Term Ownership

It’s easy to forget, but every single benefit of music streaming relies on these streaming services continuing to exist. In the old days, if a shop closed, or a record company went under, your collection of records didn’t disappear off your shelf. They were physical items that you owned. There may be a tab in your streaming app called “library,” but don’t let that fool you—you are renting access to that music, and there is no guarantee you’ll have that access forever. In fact, if you stop paying, it’s guaranteed that you will lose access entirely. For most listeners, that trade is more than worth the benefits: convenience, cost, etc. But in such a dynamic landscape, it’s impossible to know what the future holds.

How You Listen Matters

While it’s arguable that today’s listeners may not be as accustomed to great sound as their audiophile brethren, good sound still matters, and a good set of speakers is still essential. In fact, while the shift to online music has created a wealth of older hi fi equipment at pawn shops and on eBay, today’s essential listening environment is all about having a good set of monitors. Nothing is going to sound good through phone speakers, not even those “lossless” files available on Tidal or Apple Music. Even consumer earbuds come with huge compromises.

That’s where Mackie has you covered: our CR studio monitors have the incredibly high-quality sound Mackie is known for, with the convenience of Bluetooth® on the BT models, so you can connect wirelessly to your phone and stream from your favorite app. There’s also a tone knob that lets you dial in your preferred sound to match what you’re listening to, from classical to hip hop to electronic. That way, you can always hear the music at its best—no matter what streaming service you choose.

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