USB Flash Drives - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

LTSings

Gender: Female

What do you think of pre-loaded USB flash drives as a format for music? I only have one so far. It's Lauren Talley's "This Is For You" album, but I kind of like it as a format. I'd like to have more, but there aren't a lot of artists (at least the ones I listen to) that have their music available on USB flash drives. I did see that the upcoming album by The Collingsworth Family (one of my favorite groups) will be available in this format, so I'll probably get that one. I'm thinking it might kind of fun to collect them, but as I said, at least for now, there aren't many artists that I listen to that have their music available on this format yet. If you have any, do you have very many?

Romanelli

Bone Swah

Gender: Male

Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Moderator

LTSings wrote:

What do you think of pre-loaded USB flash drives as a format for music? I only have one so far. It's Lauren Talley's "This Is For You" album, but I kind of like it as a format. I'd like to have more, but there aren't a lot of artists (at least the ones I listen to) that have their music available on USB flash drives. I did see that the upcoming album by The Collingsworth Family (one of my favorite groups) will be available in this format, so I'll probably get that one. I'm thinking it might kind of fun to collect them, but as I said, at least for now, there aren't many artists that I listen to that have their music available on this format yet. If you have any, do you have very many?

For me, I wouldn't be into it. I'm not into buying digital music anyway...and I like WAY too much being able to hold an album (even on CD, which is what my entire collection is) and look at the artwork and read the liner notes, and I prefer to not have to plug it in to a device to be able to do so. Also...I know that they do have storage options for the physical drives...but the things are just so small. You'd have to either keep them in a case or have them laying around. I like having my collection on the wall where I can see it and easily browse it. They are also not going to be widely available, so I would have to continue to use more than one format. I'll stick with the one that gives me the ability to have most music available on it. The sound quality with CD's is fine for me...and I haven't heard a USB flash drive sounding better (although there's probably a way to get better sound than a CD...but I don't have time for that).
_________________
Musicians play gigs.
Fans go to shows.

LTSings

Gender: Female

Romanelli wrote:

For me, I wouldn't be into it. I'm not into buying digital music anyway...and I like WAY too much being able to hold an album (even on CD, which is what my entire collection is) and look at the artwork and read the liner notes, and I prefer to not have to plug it in to a device to be able to do so. Also...I know that they do have storage options for the physical drives...but the things are just so small. You'd have to either keep them in a case or have them laying around. I like having my collection on the wall where I can see it and easily browse it. They are also not going to be widely available, so I would have to continue to use more than one format. I'll stick with the one that gives me the ability to have most music available on it. The sound quality with CD's is fine for me...and I haven't heard a USB flash drive sounding better (although there's probably a way to get better sound than a CD...but I don't have time for that).

OK. Thanks for your answer. Oh, and by the way. the one that I have, "This Is For You" by Lauren Talley, comes in a small plastic case and it has the same front and back cover art as the CD version, it's just much smaller. And it does have the credits, for all tracks listed inside.

MadhattanJack

Just to end the list...

Gender: Male

It's nearly impossible to make a completely foolproof write-protected USB stick, and commercial record labels won't distribute digital music on writable media, so this is basically a non-starter, at least in what most people would call "the music business." Also, it's only been in recent years that a significant percentage of cars have data-capable USB ports, but of course people still use them mostly for charging phones, and a lot of car owners probably don't even know you can play music through them. Basically, they figure if you're smart enough to know that you can play MP3s off of USB sticks in your car, you're probably smart enough to know you can fill the USB stick up with MP3s yourself.

The idea has persisted in the traditional-Christian market though, probably because that market – unlike commercial CCM or, say, Christian metal – doesn't sell much product through conventional retail channels (which are deemed to be evil, or at best, not Christian enough). Mostly they sell physical media via mail order or private websites (though there are obviously exceptions, including the Talleys). So, my guess would be that since they're selling to other Christians, they assume nobody will overwrite their USB media as long as there's "real" Christian music on it, since that would be tantamount to erasing God's word. And of course, shipping is cheaper because USB sticks weigh almost nothing and can fit in a standard mailing envelope.

LTSings

Gender: Female

My dad knows how to play one in his car, and he knows pretty much nothing about stuff like that. My brother made him a mix with a blank USB flash drive and his CDs and MP3s. My dad plays it in his car all the time. Those of us who are a little older on this site can remember making mix tapes. Well, young people these days can make mix USB flash drives. They hold a lot more music than those old tapes did, and they don't come unwound like those old tapes either.

By the way The Talleys retired. Now there's just Lauren's solo career and her new group, Lauren, Amber & Kenna. And Lauren's dad, Roger (formerly of The Talleys) is a producer. He produces for quite a few different Christian / Gospel artists.

LTSings

Gender: Female

Also, the "Turn On the Light" album by The Villines Trio is also available in this format. And also, someone who doesn't do Christian or Gospel music, Mark Riddle's instrumental exotica album "Lahaina Sunset" is available in this format. And the flash drive version of "Lahaina Sunset" is made of branded bamboo and comes in a very nice branded bamboo box. See the picture here.

https://www.discogs.com/release/2706052...Q5NzIxMzQ=

And the flash drive version of "Lahaina Sunset" also has a lot of extras that aren't included with the other available formats.

Romanelli

Bone Swah

Gender: Male

Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Moderator

LTSings wrote:

My dad knows how to play one in his car, and he knows pretty much nothing about stuff like that. My brother made him a mix with a blank USB flash drive and his CDs and MP3s. My dad plays it in his car all the time. Those of us who are a little older on this site can remember making mix tapes. Well, young people these days can make mix USB flash drives. They hold a lot more music than those old tapes did, and they don't come unwound like those old tapes either.

By the way The Talleys retired. Now there's just Lauren's solo career and her new group, Lauren, Amber & Kenna. And Lauren's dad, Roger (formerly of The Talleys) is a producer. He produces for quite a few different Christian / Gospel artists.

I did go through a brief phase of making mixes on USB drives. It was quite a few years ago...15 or twenty, I think. I was married at the time. Trying to find a format my (ex) wife would use. Didn't take. And I remember that, at least back then, the quality was not great. And she would lose them really easily.

Today, you can play things like Spotify anywhere you want to. Especially on your phone. Phones can play wherever you are with bluetooth...even older cars if the have an aux jack and no bluetooth. And you can make playlists ahead of time so you can hear what you want. This kind of makes mixtapes a thing of the past, unless you are dealing with someone who doesn't quite grasp technology, or a romantic gesture. I can make a Spotify playlist in a matter of minutes, and I don't have to carry anything to make it play anywhere I want it to except for my phone.
_________________
Musicians play gigs.
Fans go to shows.

LTSings

Gender: Female

@Romanelli Oh, I definitely use Spotify too, a lot. But still, there's something I like about this new format. As, I said, I only have one so far, but I think it'd be nice to have more, at least for me. I'm thinking of getting Mark Riddle's "Lahaina Sunset" in this format (The one in the picture). I think it's very nice and comes in a very nice box and it has a lot of extras that you don't get with the other formats. I already have the digital version, but I may get the flash drive too.

LTSings

Gender: Female

I just found out that Brian Free and Assurance is another group that has some of their music available on USB flash drives. They have one full album available on USB flash drive and also their 30 track, 30th anniversary compilation on another flash drive. And also, their latest 3 albums plus 6 bonus videos available on another flash drive. And lastly, they have all 22 of their albums, their entire, discography, available on another USB flash drive. Imagine, having 22 albums on a single, small flash drive. So, it's still not common for music to be released on USB flash drives, but it looks to me like at least a few more artists are beginning to do it. I don't know if it will ever really catch on or not, though.

LTSings

Gender: Female

And I just found out that The Nelons have an album out on USB flash drive too. The list is artists who offer their music on USB flash drives seems to be slowly growing.