Haha, that sounds awful! Probably uses something like the SPEEX codec in a 44kbps stream :)

Strings are bad - and cymbals. MP3 at low bitrates is indeed horrible. But those are all high-end that would be completely absent on AM. If you wished you could encode the MP3 with the high end filtered/compressed out and it would sound just like AM. People seem to prefer bad high end to no high end.

In any event, I wouldn't listen to either low-bitrate MP3 or AM except maybe in the car where it doesn't much matter :)

I'm not sure how old you are, but maybe your ears have lost high frequency response? AM has a very low dynamic range - something like 30dB. You can usually tell immediately that the radio is tuned to AM rather than FM. You could also be lucky enough to be listening to AM with a receiver that can handle HD or stereo broadcasts... those should sound better.

I would like the name of that streaming service, to avoid if possible :)

I'm skeptical, but perhaps in an ideal state you could coax AM radio to sound as good as Pandora's free stream at 128kbps. Certainly not in the typical configuration of an AM radio in 1980. It was not stereo, had horrid dynamic range (lower than the telephone!), and it picked up motor noise from your car engine or refrigerator. And again, you were listening through those horrid 1970s factory speakers or possibly a really crappy set of foam headphones.

Heh, yeah, now I have this image of Neil Young listening to a 48kbps MP3 and declaring digital dead.

And AM/FM radio often have static and drop-outs, and low dynamic range. Even at it's best, FM radio is distinguishable from an LP - which itself is generally full of pops and clicks and sounds a bit worse every time you play it. Tape is distinguishable from an LP, and was usually played on a crappy deck. An 8-track is an abomination, with crosstalk where you could actually hear the other tracks.

Sure, Spotify streams are distinguishable from a CD under good listening conditions. But so are all of the other media he lists. The man is completely deluded. Good artists usually are. I don't really care, since the art is what matters and not the opinions of the artist.

Probably. I was born in the 70s, so "oldies" tend to be from the early rock-n-roll era, while "classics" tend to be from the 70s. When it is 2050, I'll probably still be calling 70s rock "classic rock".

So were car speakers, especially in the 70s and 80s. Clock radios. Awful 1980s walkman earphones. The man came of age and built his fan base in an era with really crappy audio technology by modern standards. His stance only makes sense when filtered through the "eccentric artist" point of view.

Now it is true that in 1980, one could pipe their cassette deck through a really nice amp and set of speakers. Just like you can do today with Spotify.

He might not need my money, but then neither does Bill Gates but they still charge money for Windows. I really have no idea whether this behavior is driven by greed or insanity or a little of both, but it doesn't change all of the classic music he has made.

If a print artist sold prints using an analog transfer process for 40 years and then someone came along and started making digital copies that were visually indistinguishable from the former analog copies? That's an almost perfect analogy, and yes, I'd also call that artist bat-shit nuts and completely ignore their opinion.

It's OK - great artists seem to be highly correlated with bat shittedness. Young has made some really classic music and his personality quirks do not diminish his prior works of art. Bill Cosby's 70s stand-up is still funny, even if he was a rapist the whole time.

Yeah, I'm perfectly capable of listening to his music (stealing, if need be) and tuning his insane ass out. Put his opinions in the same part of my brain as Michael Jackson and Jim Carey.

No, I don't see the difference. He's not happy how his music (input) sounds coming out of the streaming service (output). I also think you are missing the part where he talks about the format being below the standards he is seeking to "preserve" his life's work.

No, Neil Young is not being misrepresented. Straight from his Facebook page:

I hope for his sake that he is really just trying to push his magic sound machine and doesn't believe any of this.

You can own a condo. Land comes with property taxes. You have condo fees, but in general the economics work out for a big common space vs. a bunch of individual spaces. A tiny home on it's own parcel also implies low-density housing, which makes you dependent on an automobile. The city is not for everyone, but it is the best way to keep your ecological footprint low, if that is your thing.

Mark my words - the "tiny home" thing is a trend that will die like bell bottoms and pet rocks. You can already get a 700 sq. ft. condo for the same price - this is not a new thing. You are absolutely right that most of the growth will come from people currently living without glass windows or indoor plumbing, but if we can figure out the right free trade / labor balance there is plenty of room for growth right here in the developed world. It just won't seem like it because it will be in the low single-digit percentages.