My new car and music

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Ain't it the truth. They either do not think of this or chose to ignore it. It frustrates me.

I think they chose to ignore it, for good reason. I honestly can't think of a single person that has kept their old CD collection. Sure, there are people that do have those collections but a vast majority don't have them in the car any more.

Originally Posted by boombox

The car I bought last year is the first I've owned without a CD player. It does not have a 3.5mm socket, so I was unable to connect my old portable CD player. It does have a USB port and Bluetooth capability. I refuse to pay money to Spotify and Amazon to get them richer while underpaying artists, so I still buy CDs, usually at gigs so the artist gets a bigger cut. I won't touch Apple products either as they are overpriced and use proprietary software, so I just rip the CDs/LPs to mp3s and drop them onto my Samsung phone and stream via Android Auto - no need to pay for premium to avoid ads, I get my own music, no worries about data connection, have the discs for home use and reading the notes etc and it supports artists more. Took me a while to find a decent player though - my go-to, WinAmp, didn't work well, so I am currently using AMP.

I had an interesting experience at a concert a couple years ago. I had stopped listening to CDs and was using Spotify but wanted to support the artist. I asked if I could "buy" a CD but not actually take it. I'd still listen to the music (through Spotify) but wanted him to be properly compensated. It was very confusing to him.

[ghostnote]

The bottom line is that if it’s digital, it can be played in your car via some method, including all the ones mentioned in this thread. If you don’t want to use a phone, your choices will be limited. The only service I subscribe to for content is Sirius. My iTunes library is vast (more than 18,000 songs), so I need to have access to that. Everything is in there: every CD I’ve bought since the ‘80s, any band recordings that I’ve made over the years, old cassettes that I’ve digitized, my original songs right up to the present. I use a thing called iTunes Match, which has been around for years, but which I only discovered a few years ago. It costs $25 per year, and it allows your iTunes content to be available across all of your devices. I love it - all my stuff, anytime and anywhere I want it. To me it’s well worth the $25 a year. I’m not in love with SiriusXM, but they do have some great channels there, so I keep it. They have recently restricted customer interactions- you used to be able to call them, talk to a reasonable agent, and opt for a plan that is more tailored to your wants, which would take effect immediately. Not anymore: I got an email from them a few months ago saying that all plans are now non-refundable, and negotiating will now be much more difficult. I haven’t had to do either as of yet, but I’m not happy about it if it’s true.

[Humbuster]

My 2024 Outback Touring XT came standard with a factory installed CD player (in the console) . They are available as a dealer installed option.

Additionally, I have an SD card reader. Plug it into my USB port and have access to over 500 albums (Flac files). Rarely used the CD player, but nice to have.

No issues at all.

[eyesore]

Just went on Spotify , it is starting to make sense... but on the other hand ;like a lot of you said ,the bands are not making a cent off of this service! Right?

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by eyesore

Just went on Spotify , it is starting to make sense... but on the other hand ;like a lot of you said ,the bands are not making a cent off of this service! Right?

https://support.spotify.com/us/artis...cle/royalties/

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by TBman

I don't get the abandonment of CD players in autos. A lot of people invested in building a CD library, only for auto makers to assume that everyone listens to music on their phones and discontinue CD players.

No, everyone doesn't have their face and ears glued to a phone.

The CDs are just one more of many inventions where most have moved to something superior in one or a few ways. Sometimes I'm frustrated with change but do better to adapt.

I'm lost on how CDs or streaming have much or anything to do with being glued to a phone.

Originally Posted by 12barBill

https://support.spotify.com/us/artis...cle/royalties/

On occasion I look at the reports and part of our choosing Apple Music was paying higher royalties, but also to get the fantastic News+ and a better music library. However, to me all the dominant service work well.

[GCWaters]

Originally Posted by ghostnote

The bottom line is that if it’s digital, it can be played in your car via some method, including all the ones mentioned in this thread. If you don’t want to use a phone, your choices will be limited. The only service I subscribe to for content is Sirius. My iTunes library is vast (more than 18,000 songs), so I need to have access to that. Everything is in there: every CD I’ve bought since the ‘80s, any band recordings that I’ve made over the years, old cassettes that I’ve digitized, my original songs right up to the present. I use a thing called iTunes Match, which has been around for years, but which I only discovered a few years ago. It costs $25 per year, and it allows your iTunes content to be available across all of your devices. I love it - all my stuff, anytime and anywhere I want it. To me it’s well worth the $25 a year. I’m not in love with SiriusXM, but they do have some great channels there, so I keep it. They have recently restricted customer interactions- you used to be able to call them, talk to a reasonable agent, and opt for a plan that is more tailored to your wants, which would take effect immediately. Not anymore: I got an email from them a few months ago saying that all plans are now non-refundable, and negotiating will now be much more difficult. I haven’t had to do either as of yet, but I’m not happy about it if it’s true.

Just a note: It's my understanding that if you subscribe to Apple Music, iTunes Match should be automatically included at no cost. You only need the Match stand-alone service (which is very nice!) if you don't subscribe to Apple Music.