If you're an audiophile, both downloading and streaming music offer the same audio quality. However, if you need to save storage space or are worried about exceeding your data limits, downloading music is the better option. Ultimately, if you have enough storage space to store it, downloading as much music and podcasts as possible is the best choice. The Rolling Stone article notes that downloading and streaming a song initially require the same amount of energy.
However, once the track is downloaded, less energy is needed to play it again, while re-streaming a song will require the same amount of energy as the first time. This is mainly due to the fact that both the listener and the digital service provider (DSP) produce greenhouse gases during transmission, and devices use twice the battery life to play a streaming song than to download a downloaded song. Downloading music from Amazon or Google Play Music means that the file has been saved in your device's storage until you allow it to be deleted. Once the file is downloaded, you don't need Internet access to pay for your favorites.
You can listen to the music you've downloaded even in areas that don't have Internet access. Therefore, it can be the best option you can choose for any place and time. For example, if a person is traveling by train or plane and wants to listen to relaxing and calm music, but doesn't have the right signal to transmit, downloading will be a safer option even in an emergency. It's much faster to collect songs through Apple Music than it is to download every song you want to your phone.
It would also save space on the phone. Additionally, there's something about owning the files and knowing that they're yours which makes you feel safe if something happened. Streaming means consuming, watching or listening to music and videos online without having to wait for the content to download. Streaming is good for discovering new music, but not as a permanent storage solution for your favorite, emotionally attached music. Streaming services allow you to sync music for offline listening for a monthly fee, but there are all kinds of restrictions on the types of devices you can do it on and how many devices you can use, how many playlists and songs you can save, how much Time you can stay offline and so on and so on. Some files are independent of whether you use streaming or downloading them, until they offer the same level of quality for both streaming and downloading.
Suppose there are some love songs that you like the most and you listen to them every time from your phone, then downloading them from an audio downloader and storing them permanently on your device is the best option. After researching, it was discovered that streaming services offer a library of your music, but if you cancel your subscription or if something ever happens to the service, the music disappears. Therefore, downloading and streaming are more environmentally friendly methods of consuming music, but there is still a difference between them. Streaming music has incredible value for discovering new music, but if you're not really listening to any new songs then buying downloads (or copying CDs) as well might be more cost-effective. In conclusion, downloading music is better than streaming in terms of saving storage space, avoiding data limits and having access to your favorite songs even in areas without Internet access. However, streaming services are great for discovering new music.
