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A few years ago if someone asked whether you still bought music or not, they were probably asking if you paid for it, or if you just downloaded songs illegally from the internet.
These days, the growth of services like Spotify, rdio, and Pandora have changed the game — now the question is whether you buy songs that you can keep, or pay a subscription for an all-you-can-eat buffet of music.
Here’s a roundup of stories from around the web.
- Does it still make sense to buy music (instead of paying a monthly subscription?)
I like knowing that my music collection won’t disappear if I decide to stop paying a monthly fee, or if I decided to switch to a different subscription service. But I suspect I could probably listen to more songs for less money per month if I just started subscribing to Spotify. What about you? [CNET] - Nearly 23 percent of US publisher sales in 2012 came from eBooks
Sales of eBooks made up a bigger percentage of book sales than ever last year… but the numbers may be starting to level out. [paidContent] - PebbleOS 1.1 adds support for third-party watchfaces
What makes a smart watch smart? Part of the picture is the ability to connect to the internet and deliver data other than the time. Another part is support for updates, apps, and themes. Now developers can create new watchfaces for the Pebble smartwatch. [Pebble] - Facebook Home now available for select phones
Facebook Home is now available for download from the Google Play Store, for folks that want a little more Facebook on their home screen and a little less… everything else. While my HTC One X is officially supported, the custom ROM I’m running is not. [Google Play] - Google Chrome OS Beta update adds new three-finger gesture
Google’s latest beta of Chrome OS includes an updated Chrome Office Viewer, memory improvements, and support for a new three-finger scrubbing gesture that lets you move between tabs by swiping on the touchpad. [Chrome Releases]
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Spotify means I can afford to listen to all the stuff I want to listen to. It’s awesome. I buy Iron Maiden CDs and Tyr on iTunes but that’s it.
Over the past year or so, I’ve found myself listening to Pandora much more often than I listen to music which I own. In fact, last month I paid for the annual Pandora|One so I don’t have to put up with advertisements. With a good selection of stations and liberal use of the up/down thumbs, I seldom hear a song which I dislike.
For me, Pandora Rocks.
The easiest way is still to simply download the stuff from the internet. 🙂
I buy CDs, rip to flac an reverse rsync to my handset/tablet.
Nothing I enjoy is available for streaming.
If I’m buying music I’m buying on CD, if I’m just listening I have a Sirius subscription that I use.
Amazon gives free songs and albums everyday and some time Google Play there no need to spend money on music, with the money save get yourself a good pair of headphone $120 or more
“While my HTC One X is officially supported, the custom ROM I’m running is not.”
Hopefully you will let us know when somebody on xda-developers hacks Google Home to run on more phones.
Buy, limiting yourself to the .99 to 1.99 classical choices from Amazon that you never tire of.