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Streaming vs Stored Music

Methodology

One primary choice for the music listener is whether to listen to music stored on a personal computer or to stream audio online. Streaming music sends digital music information over the internet to a listener's personal computer or other device. Typically, audio will be streamed from a large online music database or online radio station; however due to legal limitations, individual tracks, albums, or artists cannot be streamed on-demand. Stored music files, on the other hand, are contained on a listener's personal computer or other device and can be played on-demand. These files, however, must be obtained by the user, typically by "ripping" a CD or by downloading mp3s.

Pros and Cons

With the current techological and legal limitations associated with both streaming and stored music, each method has important pros and cons. Streaming audio is free, provides access to a very large library of music, and does not take up storage space on a listener's personal computer or portable device. However, it currently has a large number of important legal limitations that prevent it from being ideal, most noticeably that users cannot listen to tracks, albums, or artists on-demand. To listen to music on-demand, a user must listen to music stored on his/her personal computer or portable device. However, it is difficult to collect or obtain (legally or otherwise) a very large library, and in order to discover new music, the user must first manually obtain it.