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Streaming At The Tipping Point

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Audio Quality Quiz Results: You Did Slightly Better Than Guessing Randomly

Chris Martin of Coldplay in 2008. When asked to pick the highest-quality clip of Coldplay's song "Speed of Sound," more of you guessed the lowest quality MP3 than the lossless WAV file. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images hide caption

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Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Audio Quality Quiz Results: You Did Slightly Better Than Guessing Randomly

June 9, 2015 • We asked you to listen to six songs at different audio qualities. Most listeners had a hard time telling the difference between a low-quality MP3 and a lossless WAV.

How Streaming Services Are Remaking The Pop Charts

Photo illustration: Claire O'Neill/NPR. Images via Flickr Commons and Billboard

Streaming At The Tipping Point

How Streaming Services Are Remaking The Pop Charts

June 5, 2015 • For 50 years, Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart counted just two things: radio play and retail sales. The addition of streaming data is shaking up how the charts are made and which songs reach the top.

Looking For A Connection In An Infinite Jukebox

Photo illustration: Claire O'Neill/NPR. Photos via NASA and Flickr Creative Commons

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Looking For A Connection In An Infinite Jukebox

June 4, 2015 • With more than 20 million streaming songs at our fingertips, is the idea of owning music becoming a thing of the past? Or are we redefining the connection between songs and listeners?

Why Can't Streaming Services Get Classical Music Right?

Photo illustration: Claire O'Neill/NPR. Photo via NASA

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Why Can't Streaming Services Get Classical Music Right?

June 4, 2015 • The big sites miss the mark, and yet the specialist services serve a small audience. What's a classical-curious listener supposed to do?

12 Essential Archives For Internet-Era Music Historians

Photo illustration: Claire O'Neill/NPR. Photos via NASA and iStockphoto

Streaming At The Tipping Point

12 Essential Archives For Internet-Era Music Historians

June 3, 2015 • Some of the places where we dig up sounds from the past are obvious, others obscure. Here are a dozen sources for diving deep into music history, shared by some of our favorite writers.

Can We Ensure The Internet's Musical Archive?

The Internet can be a wonderland of musical discovery and discourse, but it's not built to be a permanent archive. Photo illustration: Claire O'Neill/NPR. Photos via iStockphoto and Flickr Creative Commons hide caption

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Photo illustration: Claire O'Neill/NPR. Photos via iStockphoto and Flickr Creative Commons

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Can We Ensure The Internet's Musical Archive?

June 3, 2015 • There is a wealth of music, along with music-related artifacts and conversation, on the Internet, but the companies that control these vast resources don't always prioritize permanence.

Illustration by Claire O'Neill/NPR

Streaming At The Tipping Point

How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?

June 2, 2015 • A hi-def test for your ears (and your audio equipment): Listen to these songs and see if you can tell the difference between an MP3 and an uncompressed audio file.

Over time, Aether's Cone speaker uses an algorithm to learn the taste of its owner, and offers time- and location-specific recommendations. Photo illustration/Photos via NASA and courtesy of Aether hide caption

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Photo illustration/Photos via NASA and courtesy of Aether

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The Record

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Audio Quality Quiz Results: You Did Slightly Better Than Guessing Randomly

Streaming At The Tipping Point

How Streaming Services Are Remaking The Pop Charts

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Looking For A Connection In An Infinite Jukebox

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Why Can't Streaming Services Get Classical Music Right?

Streaming At The Tipping Point

12 Essential Archives For Internet-Era Music Historians

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Can We Ensure The Internet's Musical Archive?

Streaming At The Tipping Point

How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Would You Like To Hear A Song, Dave?

Streaming At The Tipping Point

Streaming Utopia: Imagining Digital Music's Perfect World

Streaming At The Tipping Point

How Streaming Is Changing Music