I've never thought about the problem but it should be solvable. If you only stream hi quality to logged users you can track their behaviour.
If they want higher quality they can ask me or hear it when I play out.
Also, IIRC, there is a 'allow high-quality streaming for logged in users' checkbox in the upload editor.
But that would defeat the purpose of streaming services: convenience.
> IIRC, there is a 'allow high-quality streaming for logged in users' checkbox in the upload editor
Maybe for pro users. I just uploaded a file and didn't see that option.
Many of us oppose this level of convenience as it cheapens our art. I'm happy to hand out mp3s or even allow them to be downloadable, if someone wants them.
And it looks like HQ streaming disappeared as a feature, just like communities. Unless it's still on pro, but I wouldn't know since at some point they converted my pro account to a free one.
And mp3 is not obsolete...far from it. 320kbps is still the goldilocks standard among Bittorrent scene, and unlike the current format du jour (what is it now anyway?) it still plays everywhere
This defeats all the practical advantage of the internet removing limitations.
I can't ask you because I don't have an account and will not register one to do so (I actually did once to get in touch with the artist and he gave me shit) and I can't hear it when you play out because I have no idea when and where you play out and we don't even live on the same continent.
Defeating the whole point of its existence points to a non existent future. I used to use soundcloud because I could discover music and artists and download hiqh quality files. I don't go there anymore and am back to discover music and artists on file sharing between people which I've been doing since before the democratization of the internet.
(And before someone points out what appears to be a contradiction with my previous statements, while I think SC is for its users, its original design was much more artist-centric and extended lots of control to the people who create its content)
It sucks that the artist you reached out to decided to be lame, but my experience doing that has been the opposite.
SC still offers a download option, and as long as your track isn't flagged for copyright you can set it and unset it freely, so the lack of ability to download from Soundcloud has more to do with the artists you are browsing and/or Soundcloud's UI.
By the way, I am fully in support of piracy, so no objections here. As a principle it stands for the ownership of bits and against the commodification of art. Piracy encourages individual pursuit, curation, effort, and even creativity. Youtube and its consumption culture value none of these things.