The Future of Music Storage

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I am very late to the digital music revolution but now that I finally have a broadband connection and an iPod I'm wondering how it's all going to turn out. So two questions:

1) Predict: What do you think will happen with digital music, in terms of how it is stored and distributed?

2) What would you like to see happen? What would be your ideal situation in terms of storage and distribution? (reasonable answers only, plz)

Talking next 5 to 10 years here, or however long it takes for the next radical change.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I think storage is out, and streaming is in. On-demand audio streaming will replace home storage. Fee structures will be like cell=phone fees - charge by the hour.

Whatever you want, when you want it. $20/month

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I think a music service will provide a virtually unlimited amount of storage space online to users for a monthly fee. Those files can then be streamed wirelessly to a user's portable listening device, whether it be a car stereo, portable mp3 player, PDA, cell phone or any other number of gadgets. Music will be able to be purchased from any of those devices, and you will be able to listen to it immediately. Physical storage will become a thing of the past.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

On-demand audio streaming will replace home storage
Certainly not in the next 5-10 years though.

Storage space is cheap and small -- we'll probably have 500 gig hard drives that won't be much bigger than a pocket calculator. So I don't see home storage going away for a while.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:09 (twenty-one years ago)

1) Storage: hardware replacing software evermore, CD sales continuing to drop further as people plump for digital files downloaded from the net. perhaps pocket-terrabyte storage commonplace 5 years from now with on-board DAB and continued convergence with other devices such as phones and remote TV.

Distribution: Piracy and downloading increasing further, tho still fought by stubborn industry wings, understandably. the transition of developing alternate ways of generating profit from artists (club membership/consumer loyalty initiatives, ringtones blah blah) peaking.

I think people will still prefer storage - streaming tending to be more volatile/prone (server outage etc.), but improvements to bandwidth capacity combined with compression quality will make it more palatable.

― teh pow! (blueski), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, if home storage gives way to streaming, then the industry will at long last have the "pay for play" scheme that they've always wanted. Personal ownership of music, in the sense that we can buy or download something today and are free to listen to it as much as we want, won't exist. This bothers me.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

What would be your ideal situation in terms of storage and distribution?

i'd be perfectly happy with an iPod sized device that could play audio and video stored and streamed with ease. 1tb capacity would suffice i think, i don't need an entire collection on there really. wireless internet with easy access to thousands of digital net radio channels broadcasting audio and video in MPEG2 if feasible by then. being able to transmit files from one device to another remotely a huge plus.

― teh pow! (blueski), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Home storage is small and cheap but not terribly reliable. I'd rather pay a flat fee and let someone else worry about hardware problems and upkeep.

So how much would you pay a month for unlimited on-demand access to all music? $100?

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 16:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I just want to store my entire cd collection in .wav format along with all my .mp3s in *my head*.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

i lose pocket calculators all the time

― kephm, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

mp3's are toast if hard drive sizes keep rising so fast.

CD = .wav

and roflmao at the music industry for coercing us to switch to a digital format, greed biting you back on the ass much these days?? :D

― ruffle bar (grumpy_bastard), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm thinking CDR GO!s will be replaced by IPOD 40GIG GO!s on ILM. We'll all have 2 ipods: one for personal use, one for trading.

There was a good thread on music gigantism here, but I can't seem to find it in the search engine.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The petabyte player
What's in store when it comes to personal media players?

― Helpful, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I really hope for the quick introduction of a wireless audio/video & controls protocol to seamlessly send and control (play/pause/skip/volume/etc) audio/video between your personal little "iPod" and any stereo system, headphones, TV, desktop, laptop, car player and mobile.

― Siegbran (eofor), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

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