Add music streaming service to library
Cambionn
Member
While I have most my audio on CD and don't necessarily have a subscription on a streaming service, reading about the Plex+Tidal think the other day made me think. I am paying for YouTube to have it ad-free, which by default gives me a subscription to YouTube music (which I currently never use). Then I was thinking, it would be kinda cool if I could add that library to the Astiga one somehow, as I'm not going to use multiple audio apps and currently I see no reason to leave Astiga.
Without a doubt, it could be a nice extra for those digital only releases and hard to get albums if they could add their YT Music, or other services like Spotify, Tidal, etc.
On the other hand, I can see issues with double entries for items in people's own library, inconsistent metadata, and the library becoming full of stuff I don't care for. Ideally I would want to select what songs/albums appear in Astiga under the metadata tags I choose.
But then I also realise how complex it might be. First to add streaming services to Astiga, then even more to allow only adding user defined selections.
I'm mainly just thinking out loud on a could-be type idea.
Comments
I think you have a good point. Just as there are some releases not on streaming services, that people use Astiga for, the reverse could be true - streaming-exclusive releases.
I prefer to break down features (especially large hairy ones like this) into discrete features that deliver value but aren't necessarily the final delivery. The simplest possible solution early on for this could be to separate this from the rest of the library, and just make it available to play.
The simplest possible solution early on for this could be to separate this from the rest of the library, and just make it available to play.
I think this would be a good start. Indeed more advanced features can always be added later, and by keeping it separated yet integrated it won't be messing up libraries from people who have very specific ways they order stuff on metadata.
Just as there are some releases not on streaming services, that people use Astiga for, the reverse could be true - streaming-exclusive releases.
This, and lately I've been seeing quite some digital-only releases. Some can be found on promo CDs but those are expensive and hard to find, and some don't even exist even in promo format.
But also that most people can't buy every CD (or however you buy your music) at once. Surely, long-time collectors likely won't miss much as they already have an extensive library, but it can allow for a nice bridge for people starting to collect or only having a few files of their own to take advantage of both worlds without needing multiple services. Adding streaming could allow people to build their library over time without missing out on stuff they haven't been able to collect yet while still using Astiga, making it possibly more interesting for starting collectors and those who only collect some.
For example, I have some friends who collect only the CDs of their favourite groups, but listen to more. I know one has thought about using Astiga after I told him about it, but the fact he only has a few CDs is stopping him and keeping him on YT Music exclusive. Perhaps allowing both to be playing through Astiga could increase your market this way too.
The other thing is the commercial side. I don't know what sort of agreements need to be in place for this. I guess Plex are doing it, and Roon has done it, but I suspect this is something streaming services want to control.
Yeah, I've also seen implementations with Spotify, like in Last.FM. Of course, Spotify playback in other sites requires a paid subscription. Plex indeed seems to allow Tidal. But as said, personally I would be looking for YT Music as I get that with my already existing subscription. I'm not sure if any service support YT Music.
In the end, I wonder. I would think simply accessing it won't be the biggest problem assuming a paid subscription is a requirement. That is, simply browsing the library, playing songs, and perhaps using Astiga's inbuild Last.FM scrobbler (which considering there are scrobble-specific apps and programs that check every media player I would guess is doable). After all, it doesn't matter much for them if you listen through their app or through some API, as long as they get the streaming counts and the money for the subscriptions. I'm not sure how much complexity the ability to have songs from streaming services combined to songs from your own library is, but I would expect (and I'm making a rough expectation here as I make much different software for work, so I have little experience in this particular issue) that it's not too different from having playlists with files from multiple storages? I would think that in a way, the streaming service's library would be added in a similar way as a storage?
As for categorizing and changing metadata to wish, perhaps some local overlay could do? Similar to how the current meta-data editor doesn't really edit the files, but rather locally stores the changes and flags the file to not changes those on a resync (from what I understood from Koen's explanation about it)? Of course, that still doesn't count in for possible legal limitations, only technical ones.
Once again, just thinking aloud. As I said I don't have much experience in this particular issue, so at best it's an I'm making educated guesses based on the experience that I do have and the things previously mentioned about the workings of Astiga (which I love btw, it's very interesting. So I definitely hope you'll continue to discuss/explain those when they come up much like Koen did ;P)
After all, it doesn't matter much for them if you listen through their app or through some API, as long as they get the streaming counts and the money for the subscriptions.
Not sure about that. They love control. They might want to impose a usage pattern, might want to keep the potential for advertising later, etc etc...