Neil posted this to Facebook today:
Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans.
It’s not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent.
It’s about sound quality. I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don’t feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It’s bad for my music.
For me, It’s about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that.
When the quality is back, I’ll give it another look. Never say never.
Neil Young
I guess pono will be getting into streaming. Then we’ll really see artists not make any money from streaming.
radio? In your car?
radio on the internet !?
but seriously, this sounds like a stunt for pono. Neil Young does not have the clout of Taylor Swift these days though..
Yeah, he’s full of shit. Streaming quality? Really? 256AAC is beyond good enough for 99.9% of the population. Does he realize a shitload of people listen to songs at MUCH worse quality (like on the radio) and have no problem with that? No, it’s just even though he’s filthy rich, he’s not making as money as he wants with streaming, and basically telling anyone who listens to his music on a streaming subscription to fuck themselves. Sorry Neil, your “quality isn’t good enough” excuse is pure horse-shit, and his false self-righteousness and “concern” for his fans is downright insulting. Does he expect people to buy Vinyl?
Self-absorbed audio snob.
I don’t call myself an audiophile, but my most expensive pair of headphones cost the same as my most expensive guitar (PRS), and I can’t consistently tell the difference between a high-quality stream (256kbps or higher) and a FLAC rip. If Neil Young is saying that the difference is so noticeable that it actually removes the soul from the music, he is completely full of hot air.
“Worst quality in the history of broadcasting”?! He must be loosing his memory of the AM-only radio. Top-notch quality there. FM, too.
“Worst quality in the history of broadcasting”?
Neil’s never heard AM, has he? And only … bad streaming?
Worst quality in the history of broadcasting? Oh yea, FM Radio is totally higher quality.
What’s with these audio snobs? I myself am somewhat of an audiophile, and even realize practical limits of sound quality. Considering the audio gear 90% of normal people own (EarPods or similar cheap earbuds), any increase in sound quality will not be heard or noticed by practically anyone.
Lets also not consider bandwidth costs etc. There are practical reasons for doing things a certain way. If you want to disrespect everyones data plans, and cost them data for sound quality they will never notice or appreciate, that wouldn’t be in the best interest of users. Taking your music catalog offline in protest of this, is also not in the best interest of your users. Neil Young is a completely arrogant snob doing this for himself, not at all caring about his listeners needs or desires.
Respect. But most people would probably end up paying more for bandwidth if all music was uncompressed. Whether the dude can actually tell the difference after years of rockin on stage is rather suspect.
Neil’s next of kin will probably be more rational.
I guess he was too stoned to care about the abysmal quality of 8 tracks and cassettes in the 60s and 70s.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Quality? High bit rates and high resolutions are useful for specialized purposes, ie, recording and mastering. A properly recorded and mastered recording sounds beautifully on CD, even on iTunes.
With the disgusting over-distorted masters nowadays, no matter you sample at several GHz and hundreds of bits. Crappy sound is exactly the same.
I understand Mr. Young’s frustration with the sound of many current releases, but it’s not related to bit depth, sampling rate or even compression at all.