[Dr Livor Mortis]

The quality is terrible
and you don't even get the art work and/or packaging!

A lot of people say "convenience" but thats stupid because you can just as easily order CD's online from Amazon.com and have them shipped to your door.

I don't get it.

 

[goldenratiophi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Livor Mortis /img/forum/go_quote.gif The quality is terrible

Well, most people aren't audiophiles. Maybe my headphones aren't high end enough yet, but 128k still sounds acceptable to me, and most people are using much worse headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Livor Mortis /img/forum/go_quote.gif and you don't even get the art work and/or packaging!

Well you do get the artwork techincally.... in a file

Okay you win there, but most people really don't care.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Livor Mortis /img/forum/go_quote.gif A lot of people say "convenience" but thats stupid because you can just as easily order CD's online from Amazon.com and have them shipped to your door.

- Instantaneous download vs. waiting a week for Amazon to ship
- Most often cheaper (9.99 per single album vs ~14.99)
- Non-album listeners who just want the songs they hear on the radio

 

[chroot]

Well, uh, most people don't buy music from iTunes. Here's some trivia for you:

1) On average, less than 3% of the music people have on their iPods is from the iTunes store.

2) 91% of the music sold in 2006 was on CD.

Source: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

In my experience, the people who do buy music on iTunes are in one of two categories:

1) They don't like albums, just individual songs, and don't wish to pay for more than just a popular song or two. These people are probably not "music enthusiasts" like most of us.

2) They use iTunes as an enormous sampling platter, downloading a song or two from an artist they haven't heard before, etc. They may well go buy the CDs later -- I can't find any research data on this topic.

- Warren

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

I just paid $.99 for a cover of 'Holiday Road' by Bunnygrunt.

Why would I pay $17.99msrp for a full CD to hear that?

 

[Dr Livor Mortis]

I see all these points.
I think its just something that will always be strange to me though.

 

[drew8mc]

Itunes was made for 1 hit wonders.

 

[tjohnusa]

Sadly I feel the majority of folks out there are products of the record companies campaign of "this is what you want" philosiphy. In regards to quality most people are satisfied with 128k since the home system they have is probably one of those shelf systems with the crappy speakers and have never wanted to or had the chance to listen to true hi-fi. This is why I like this web sight, I think most folks here actually like their music choices and would like to appreciate the detail in the recordings. I think many here are also open to listening to something new and that doesn't play on the radio 80 times a day I myself have gotten some great recomendations here. I have downloaded from itunes but that was only with a coupon for some free songs and that I used to check out new bands, I do however download podcasts to listen to at work. To each his own

 

[user18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Livor Mortis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see all these points. I think its just something that will always be strange to me though.

The other way is also true. People who buy iTunes may wonder, "Why would anyone want to pay $15 for a CD, when all they want from it is one song?"

Some places have Create-Your-Own-Compilation-CD services, but i think the songs available are mostly indies. I'll buy a CD when it gets to be ~$5 from Amazon, but mostly, I'll stick with online music stores. It's cheaper and more convenient.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Livor Mortis /img/forum/go_quote.gif The quality is terrible... I don't get it.

Yep, 128k files sound like crap. So do BOSE headphones (and speakers, and table radios, and...). So do iPod headphones. So do iPod docks with built-in speakers. So do "Home Theater In a Box" systems. So do "enhancements" like SRS, or software that claims to deliver 5.1 sound to headphones or stereo speakers.

And people lap this stuff up like it's champagne.

Point is, most people have standards only for the things they care most about. Most people are casual listeners who would settle for two tin cans and a string, if they had the right brand name prominently displayed on them.

However, if you are a fairly adventurous listener, you will find somewhat better SQ at eMusic. They sell **unprotected** MP3 VBR files which, if not as good sounding as lossless, are a huge improvement over the dreck peddled by Steve "I make PT Barnum look like an amateur" Jobs.

Most people haven't even heard of eMusic, despite the fact that they are the #2 download service, ahead of Napster, Sony Connect, Rhapsody and everyone else except Crapple.

And that's because you won't find Britney there, or Justin, or Mariah (God! what a waste of talent!), or any other major label artists. It's all indy labels, which is fine with me. The selection, within that, is huge. Explosions in the Sky? Check. Arcade Fire? Check. Thelonius Monk? Check. Joanna Newsome...well, you get the idea.

And on top of everything else, the cost per track can be as low as $0.33 if you can commit to $20/month.

In spite of all that, no less than David Pogue of the NYTimes wrote that they carry "nothing you've heard of."

If you breathe through your mouth, your sense of smell is badly limited.

 

[BigSurSpoon]

I buy my music on used cd's. That way I can get them cheap. I never buy from online music stores even though eMusic is a much better alternative to iTunes IMO.

 

[Dr Livor Mortis]

DrBenway...
Where in NYC do you live?

 

[Uncle Erik]

I bought a handful of songs on iTunes, stuff where I didn't want to buy the whole album and didn't care much about sound quality. Then again, I haven't bought in over a year. 90% of my purchases are either vinyl or SACD these days. I'll buy Red Book if nothing else is available.

 

[Masonjar]

When I need one song for a mix, or if I want a song for my wife or kids, it's perfect. yea, the quality isn't great, but for my purposes, it's easier to spend a buck to get the song, then to spend the time trying to track it down via another site or the library or friend.. etc..

I don't think I've ever bought an album, but I have bought around 10 tracks over the past few years. It's really convenient if you need a song *now*

If I take one of those, convert to WAV and slap it on a mix cd for my car, I really can't hear the difference anyway.. listening my nicer headphones, yea I can tell, but it isn't a dealbreaker for me.

-jar

 

[ken36]

OOPs.

 

[ken36]

Marketing is always the answer. IMO. For instance check out the Headroom website, always updated, showing all of their products (even the new ones) to great advantage. Easy to buy from. Great customer service. All of you know exactly what I mean. Other companies we deal with have not been updated in years. Apple is probably the great marketer of them all. Most folks only want some noise to listen to. Again, IMO.