ABSTRACT
Although downloadable and streaming media are well on their way toward dominating the music and media industries, the ability to buy, own and gift a physical media object still warms the hearts of many a media product purchaser. Often, containing uncompressed, high-quality music, these physical discs and records are held in regard as something that can be held onto, looked at and packaged up with a big, bright gift bow. Beyond the process of distributing audio over the Internet, as of this writing, the compact disc (CD) is still a strong and viable medium for distributing music in a physical form. With the ever-growing demands of marketing, gigging and general business practices, many independent musicians are also taking on the task of burning, printing, packaging and distributing their own physical products from the home or business workplace. Streaming refers to the concept that music and video content exists only in the cloud and is available for listening by the subscriber.
