[zedius]

I downloaded an mp3 from itunes once. It was "Shot", by Neil Young. I downloaded it on my girlfriend's computer while she was living in a different city. I took it home on my flash drive and found out I couln't play it away from her computer. Fuck Apple and fuck their .m4a files.

I will never buy another mp3 until there is a distribution system that allows me to buy unprotected MP3s.

CDs are wonderful. CD shopping is fun. The art is worth it, and more importantly I like to have to sit through "bloated albums" because the "rubbish" consists of all the songs that it takes effort to sit through and understand the album as an album. The singles on a sonic youth album, for example, are never as important as the album itself. They're just catchy songs to grab your attention to the rest of the masterpiece.

I consider mp3s a means to distribute a band's name without major label marketing, and whenever I find a new band with a myspace profile that pumps incredible new music into my ears I only wish I could pick up the album.

I think a lot of other people feel the same.

[Glice]

In terms of the making money part of the music industry, CDs are dead. People who listen to whole albums, absorb artwork and post on message boards are, increasingly, a marginal market. There's a lot more money to be made out of mp3s. No packaging, easy marketing, increased consumption (you don't have to even wander down to the store or wait for it to be delivered). Albums won't die, but I doubt the younger generation of casual music listeners (not the sort of people who'll post here) will bother with buying artwork and physical copy any more.

I don't buy mp3s, but I don't disapprove of them. CD albums won't die, but they probably won't increase in sales - inasmuch as single whole albums won't sell enormous amounts of physical copy an more, but I suspect album sales overall will go up. The market is diversifying, which can only be a good thing. As I've said before here, increased proliferation of mp3s has meant that kids getting into music now - 12-19 yr olds - generally have a much easier access to a wider range of music, something which I can only approve of.

[Savage Clone]

Casual listeners don't mind paying money for a crappy sounding compressed-to-shit "product."
I hope this doesn't lead to a generation with tin ears.

[atari 2600]

And what are your thoughts about Budweiser?

[!@#$%!]

i'll pay for downloads when they start offering raw 24-bit audio files.

in the meantime, i'll stick to vinyl and then CD when nothing else allows. looking forward also to affordable (and interesting) SACDs...

cds are not great, but compressed audio files further offend music. unfortunately the market is in the hands of hearing-impaired bitches who can't tell the difference.

--

ps- the yo la tengo album i recently bought (in sweet vinyl) came with a code for a free download from matador's site. that's the best of both worlds. i can listen on vinyl at home and mp3 on the bus.

[Daycare Nation]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

CD's are dead.

yet more apostrophe issues

If I'm not mistaken, that mistake was officially made correct.

[!@#$%!]

i thought this fucking thread was about records, not commas.

anyway here is something i might want to grab:

http://store.acousticsounds.com/brow...10347&section=

most SACD titles are shit however. the bangles greatest hits? pffffffff!!!!!!!!

[noisemachine]

CDs kick ass.

[Pookie]

Minidiscs are the future.

[porkmarras]

One thing i'm sure of is that i have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of cd radio promo singles/albums in many record shops which can only mean that there aren't many being sent out to magazines/radio stations etc etc.

[Glice]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

looking forward also to affordable (and interesting) SACDs...

This label do a load of SACD/ normal CDs. They play on either system. They're reasonably priced. Looking at that site, I see they've recently released a SACD version of Beethoven's 9th, which can only be perfect.

[Jt]

For the love of FUCKING CHRIST.

I shouldn't even need to s-p-e-l-l o-u-t why this clown's sentiments consist of unadulterated bullshit, but I think I'm going to anyway, so rape me.

Firstly, let's talk fidelity. Until, as another boarder pointed out, online music retailers start trading in 24-bit raw wave files or equivalent, the download market remains bottle-necked by its own shit clarity; MP3s constantly hampered by clipping, flanged drums and sub-par separation. Plus, it's got to be borne in mind that a computer will NEVER compete with a dedicated stack stereo system for quality of sound - even if you hook up your Audigy to that pair of pricey Creative speakers, you're not even going to approach the finesse you'll be getting jacking in a full stereo set-up replete with quality speakers, CD player, deck and amp (plus good wiring). So get fucked, "Alan."

Next, let's discuss flexibility. With M$ and associated record companies' licensing restrictions on the download market, the online world actually represents a MUCH EASIER MANIPULATABLE field in which the majors can screw their clientele. WMA files are nortorious for their playback restrictions, often requiring the obtaining of licenses over the internet before activation. What of CDs? Here's a ker-razy theory for you to postulate, turd-features: how about RIPPING the music in question straight from the disc you've just bought, thereby giving you BOTH a hard, characterful copy of your music along with a digital file ready for transferring to your KnobPod in one deft motion. Which software provides for this handy little trick? Why, Apple's iTunes, of course! Prick. If you want to hit back with remarks about CD piracy restrictions, forget it - Sony tried and failed with their dongle-based effort (look it up) and, ultimately, all methods can be very easily circumvented.

Moving on now to choice. CHOICE. Arguably THE most relevant factor to a board of relatively diverse characters like ourselves. With the noughties' surge in quality independent labels, never before has the range of music on this format been so vast and obtainable. With re-issues complimenting the current fairly healthy state of the underground music scene, CD junkies have access to a world of music their downloading brethren could only DREAM about. Plus, while hunting out obscure CDs is always a pleasure (with, remember, high fidelity all but guaranteed), sites such as GEMM, Amazon and eBay allow access to all but the most truly left-field titles, not to mention labels' own websites.

Finally, and crucially, we have price, Alan. Your argument is utterly self-defeating. The Stone Roses have been for sale for £3.99 for a year, have they? How much does their "album" cost on iTunes, per chance? £7.99. Dumb-ass. So, I suppose it would be churlish of me to point out which is the better deal - a hard copy, with all artwork and liner notes, easily converted to digital (ANY bitrate or format of your choice) for half the price of a piss-poor set of license-bound .m4a files from the beloved Apple? Quite. Lest we not forget, too, that buying music from other online sources is a legally grey venture - several Russian outlets purport to sell dirt-cheap music, but with a myriad of legal issues surrounding them.

Morons like this try-too-harder constantly propogate the dawn of a "new digital age" heralding the arrival of unlimited free music, with their eyes wide shut to the fact that most of the music industry's best output was during the '60s-'90s, where labels had even more control than today. Worth remembering is that labels require MONEY to fund recording sessions and releases, and indeed render a music career a viable one in the eyes of the young artists they're attempting to attract. Ultimately, download culture is devoid of a true UNDERSTANDING of music, indeed living for the 3--minute pop song, when artists warrant so, so much more attention than this.

What're you going to show your kids as testimony of your music taste, Alan? Your piss-poor hard-drive full of 3-play-only pop songs? Gang-rape yourself you fucking ignorant cunt.

[atari 2600]

 

CD's are dead.

 

"Cocaine is dead! It’s deader than…it’s dead! Heroin is coming back in a big way.”

 

[blastscenealibi]

Or "CDs are dead. They're deader than Def Leppard. But vinyl is coming back in a big way. "

edit

If only that were so true.

[atari 2600]

 

[blastscenealibi]

I remember when Steve Clark died.

[blastscenealibi]

Thanks for the info!

I remember when Stevie Ray Vaughn died.

[Pookie]

While we're on the morbid subject, I remember when D. Boon died.

[blastscenealibi]

I remember when Obi-Wan died.

[atari 2600]

Ben!