Winamp from Best Music Player For Windows

I have a large music library. I don't and won't use a "service" like Spotify and/or Pandora. I never have, do not and never will believe in "Subscription" services, no matter who does it. I will NOT rent my music or my software. I will buy it, and use it how I please afterward. If that requires a little "creativity" on my part to make it possible, so be it. I paid for it, it's mine. Period. 1. I have a bandwidth cap on my home internet service. I will not use it up listening to music someone else's algorithm decides I should listen to. 2. My local library is mine, and is here and cannot be taken away or turned off because some corporate bureaucrat decides that a license should be revoked this month. The only people who do not or would not benefit from a music manager, are those under 25 who grew up in the now common "mobile" world where everything is streamed and short lived. They know nothing of cultivating a library or collections. Everything for them is NOW, later doesn't exist.

I'm confused. How many people still buy/download/manage music files outside of native apps like Spotify and Pandora? Is a music player still a necessary thing for most people? I stopped using winamp when I stopped buying new music (about 7 years ago), the only time I miss it is on long road trips ... but I covered that with Pandora (now spotify) and a little Aux cable. Even video players seem more like a bare minimum necessity today.

I rarely ever use Spotify, and I haven't used Pandora in years. 99% of my music is still bought and put into a good old-fashioned music player in MP3 format.

Particularly considering that you can dictate the quality of the recordings by paying attention to the bit rate of what you're downloading. A lot of the sound quality on those streaming services is truly awful.

I only recently gave up on buying music and switched to streaming (Rdio, since they're the only one I can legally use in Canada), so I've just been using VLC to play some of my downloaded tracks. I also have foobar2000 on my computer but rarely use it. What would be the best possible solution is for the streaming services to incorporate a media player in their desktop clients. Rdio at least has a feature to scan your offline collection, but you can only stream the songs that are also in their catalogue. The ability to actually play back those media files would be the perfect harmony of streaming and music collections.

What these guys said. My music is important to me, as are my books and films. I want to own it, not license it from a company that may cease to exist one day, and only when an Internet connection is available (other customers of Time Warner Cable will understand). A good-quality MP3 is small, reliable, and mine.

No matter how good the internet is and how much the cloud is pushed local data and local apps are always better than the 'cloud', it's more reliable, it's more private, and it's yours, you cannot have things forcibly removed from you, and you are free to do with it as you please.

The closest I've ever come to this is using Music Bee in combination with Last.fm. Logging into my Last.fm account through Music Bee "scrobbles" (are they still calling it that?) everything I listen to offline, and then adds it to my in-service library so that I can stream it online too. Your way seems much easier, though. If only such a thing existed.

I'd like to agree with you on principle, but I just can't anymore. Torrents (or its concept at least) will always exist and Spotify if it ceases to exist will be replaced by something else that will still provide me with access to the content at a discount of the price of paying for each song individually. It's enough for me to know that if my content is ever taken away (by Spotify or Pandora or whomever comes next), I can always take it right back through a more physical and local medium.

I have satellite internet with a 10gb/month bandwidth cap. I can not spend that just mindlessly listening to whatever some bullshit algorithm on Pandora decides I can listen to. Sometimes I might use Grooveshark but I have to be really careful how much I listen to. For me a media player is essential in keeping my huge library of MP3s organized. I'll stick to Winamp. It's installed on all my computers, and I will always be able to find it on the Internet to download again if I have to. It amazes me how many people just live inside their little bubble and can't fathom why or how anyone would need or want something that they don't.

Everyone lives in a bubble. All social interaction is predicated on people trying to move out of their little bubbles to learn from others and share discoveries. That is what I am doing. I want to know frequency but not ask in such a dry or overly clinical manner. I am not denigrating you for choosing to live the way that pleases you. I am asking why you do so and I've gotten some very interesting replies from people that think similarly to you. What amazes me is how many people just can't stop themselves from being negative toward others online. I can fathom why and how letting off steam in an environment where no one knows you is helpful to you, it just amazes me that so many people don't think about how those actions effect others. Arguments I can fathom and have not yet heard. I like to support the artists. I prefer .WAV files for fidelity. If I get these services without commercial its more expensive for me in the long run and I hate commercials. I have a huge stash from college that I don't want to ever get rid of. I'm a DJ and those services don't offer me the necessary flexibility. I'm really rich and don't give a fuck.