Winamp was (and still is) great software, but it's usefulness has run out. When was the last time you downloaded an mp3? For streaming video and podcasts I stick to VLC, but for music I've switched entirely to streaming apps like Spotify.
* You like to own your own music files
* You like to listen to music in without depending on an internet connection
* You don't like to waste bandwidth
* You don't like to depend on an external service / walled garden.
I think that streaming services like spotify are kind of like american cable television. It brings music to the masses. But I bet they are going to slowely diminish in popularity, making way for the next mass consumer revolution. In the mean time real music lovers have all their CD's and records ripped and stored on their hard-drives (or SSDs; or whatever). And are going keep on listening that way when someone else makes a similar statement about streaming services as you made about locally stored music files.
"When was the last time you downloaded an mp3?" I download MP3s all the time.
I use WinAmp and I love using WinAmp. Just wanted to add a different perspective.
So for me, Spotify is a hot mess with regards to what is there and what is not and what versions of the albums are available. Also, it wastes bandwidth which is a luxury for me (I live in the countryside and have only a 4G connection with a 100G data cap) and the kicker: it rips off artists by paying out rounding errors -- for most artists, orders of magnitudes less than they used to make from the conventional record industry, which itself was a total ripoff.
So when possible, I buy CD's directly from the artist/label and rip them, or I buy MP3's from Bandcamp. Then I play them in WinAmp.
This isn't exactly Spotify's fault. There are a lot of good remasters. It depends.
> So for me, Spotify is a hot mess with regards to what is there and what is not and what versions of the albums are available.
Very true. All that stuff that isn't available for streaming would leave huge gaps in my collection. And for people that rely on streaming exclusively, it might be getting worse: Licensing deals end, favorite albums might disappear suddenly. Then you paid all those years and might end up with very little to show for it. Just remember how Netflix' catalog started to shrink. Is Spotify going to produce originals when that happens? Renting music is a bad idea.
> So when possible, I buy CD's directly from the artist/label and rip them, or I buy MP3's from Bandcamp. Then I play them in WinAmp.
Great. However if you're already buying from bandcamp, why would you opt for the lossy MP3 versions of those releases?
Point is, it doesn't let me choose. It arbitrarily selects one version of an album which is not necessarily the one I want.
Great. However if you're already buying from bandcamp, why would you opt for the lossy MP13 versions of those releases?
I can't hear the difference :) However, if I were to burn them out to CD-R, which I've done a couple of times, I would use the lossless version. I'm happy that I have the option.
True.
> I can't hear the difference.
That's ok. However a lossless version allows you to switch formats in the future, create lossless and lossy copies. Building a library with lossy audio is a choice you might regret at some point.
The vast majority of my library is actual physical CD's, so I'm good there at least :)
This is not spotify's fault btw. Some bands have original record and the remastered version available. It is decided by the label/band.
Some bands think the original version is flawed, hence why they remastered it. Others might have been forced a remaster on them by label, or simply know that fans value both versions.
FLAC, but every time I get something from Bandcamp.