Why Physical Albums Will Never Be Replaced By Digital Music

Paid downloads and subscription streaming services will never fully replace physical albums, whether they are CDs or vinyl records. There are multiple reasons for this, as I will now explain

Firstly, there are many people, albeit a minority of audiophiles, who demand that any music they pay for must be tangible, of the highest quality, or simply have the right feel and sound, even if it's far from perfect. With CD and vinyl you get something that lasts, that you can touch, that has substance, digital music cannot and will never off this. There's also the artwork and liner notes, which the vast majority of downloads don't include. The satisfaction of finding an album you've been searching for, or finding something completely unexpected all on your own isn't there either.

The second reason is convenience. Although downloads are claimed to be easier and more convenient, if you don't have a credit card, it's actually no easier to download music, in fact, it's easier to buy the physical album. In most cases, legally download music you need a voucher, which you have to buy from a store, like you would with a CD or vinyl. No difference there, but if you're downloading you still haven't got your music, you still have to register your voucher, find what you're looking for, check out, and download, a problem if you have a low monthly download limit. For older people, the idea of buying music online might not appeal because they ind it difficult. It's also harder to share digital music with friends than it is to share CDs and vinyls.

Thirdly, illegal downloads and free streaming. Why pay for something you can get for free. An infinite number of piracy sites and YouTube downloaders can provide you with free music you can listen to anywhere. The only things stopping you are extremely poor quality and a possible feeling of guilt for not supporting your favorite artists. YouTube and free Spotify mean that you can legally listen to music on your computer for free, the guilt you might experience from downloading pirated copies is gone (it may return after reading my fourth reason) and you can still listen to whatever you want without paying a cent.

Lastly, services like Spotify Premium are unsustainable. US band Parks and Gardens receives just $0.00966947678815 per stream from Spotify and $0.00330526797710 per stream from iTunes Match. A good busker could out earn them on an average day. Eventually, artists will pull out of these services because they can't make enough money to survive. British Theartre vocalist Biffy Clyro touring guitarist Mike Vennart said he would rather people stole his music than listen to it on spotify.

Physical albums aren't going anywhere, for a large number of people they are still the preferred option and will remain that way for a long time to come.

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