iTunes, One Billion Suckers Served
ABC News: iTunes: One Billion Served Crank up the old PR and spin machine. Apple today announced their one billionth iTunes download today. The song? Speed of Sound by Coldplay.
"Over one billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Personally I've never bought an iTune and I don't own an iPod. I think Apple's DRM is awful and represents a major step back for us all. I think those that are investing in iTune digital libraries are suckers. You are basically betting that Apple's proprietary DRM laced format will be the standard for the rest of your life. You are paying too much for your music and tying yourself to only Apple products going forward. More innovative ways to play your music may indeed come in the future but unless they are marketed by Apple you will not likely be able to use these devices with your iTunes files due to Apple's tight proprietary control.
Personally I want nothing to do with it. I still collect my digital music the old fashioned way, I rip it straight from CDs to crystal clear high bit rate DRM free mp3s. These files of course can be played on any device and represent better value in my opinion for today's consumer.
What happens when the killer phone is finally here? You know the one, built in terabyte of storage, lightening fast file transfer speeds, full satellite radio, a breathalyzer, your car and house key, a tiny little thing the size of credit card with a 12 mega pixel camera on it (hey it's the future right, we can dream). What happens when this phone is out and you really want it and unfortunately Apple didn't make it? That's right, you're a sucker then aren't you. I thought so. You paid all that good money for your iTunes and now you can't put them on your new phone because your new phone threatens Apple's dominance. So who owns the music anyway? You or them? They do. You bought nothing. You bought the right to play their song on their product. It might work today. But I'm not about to bet that this will be the format du jour 10 years from now.
Of course the record labels won't care about you being screwed because they'll be happy to just have you buy your same music all over again. Just like you did when you bought it on LP, then cassette, then CD then from iTunes. Why charge you once when they can keep charging you over and over and over again?
And if you think Apple will be opening up their proprietary format anytime soon, think again. Apple makes virtually nothing on their iTunes downloads, after paying the labels, marketing costs, bandwidth costs, etc. they make peanuts. They make a *ton* of money on the other hand on selling iPods. This was the genius deal between Steve Jobs and the hacks over at the record labels who are just as big of suckers as you are and basically have done nothing but cannibalize existing more lucrative CD sales. They were short sighted and never thought to try to get a piece of the hardware sale and now they are yammering on about raising iTunes prices on you because they are bitter dogs over the screwing that Jobs gave them. Jobs of course is quick to turn around and call them greedy hacks, but can anyone here say "pot" "black".
They will do everything they can to protect this market including screwing over you the customer who mistakenly thought you bought a song from them.
Above and beyond all though this has done absolutely zero to stop online digital music piracy despite Jobs' central point in Apple's spin release this morning.
Just look at the latest P2P numbers from BigChampagne, and I'm not even going to get into BitTorrent which makes the numbers BigChampagne tracks look tiny. And this does not even begin to scratch all of the other ways that music is being traded. Let me ask you a question. Can you rip your friends CD on your PC? Yeah I guess you can. Can you rip your brother's CD on your PC? Yep this works too. Can you copy your entire digital music library of 100,000 mp3s and give a copy to your brother on Seagate 500 gig drive? Theoretically it's possible right? What about sneakernet? Again, theoretically. Would it be possible to send that same hard drive via the U.S. mail to your new friend that you met last month on your My Space account? And would it be considered sharing if he sent it back to you in the mail full of his own 70 or 80 thousand favorite tunes. Welcome to the darknet ladies and gentlemen.
And what if you are just dying to get the latest CD from that hot new band. Again, theoretically, would it be possible to go down to Amoeba records, buy it for $14, take it home and rip it, then return it within 7 days to get 75% credit back? What's that like $3.50 for the new CD? And with 12 songs that's like what 29 cents a track? Hmmm... would I rather have a crystal clear high bit rate mp3 track for 29 cents or a sure to be antiquated DRM bloated track from iTunes for 99 cents?
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating piracy here, per se. But the way I see it, if Apple is going to go to war with me the consumer to lock up my music and keep it off my innovative new devices of the future, then this doesn't really represent a valid step forward away from piracy at all.
It will also be interesting to hear what Xeni Jardin has to say about the billionth download later tonight. I can't tell if she was on World News Tonight Last night or will be on next Thursday. I'll try to find out.
Also for more on the iTunes saga be sure and check out downhill battle's great site on the subject.
And..... let the Appleheaded fan boys flame comments begin.....5, 4, 3, 2, 1… now.
Tags:
posted by Thomas Hawk at 8:56 AM
208 Comments:
No flames here, but I buy iTunes stuff and immediately burn to CD and then rip back to MP3. I need a CD for my car and backup purposes anyway, and I rip the regular CDs I buy, so I'm not losing anything by going this route. My stereo equipment and ears aren't sophisticated enough to tell the difference in sound quality, and it eliminates the DRM component of the music.
Most of what you say is correct, or arguably correct, but my iPod only contains MP3s without DRM, mostly ripped from my own CDs. I don't like the iTunes store either - doesn't preclude me from owning and enjoying an iPod.
OK, no flaming here, just a compliment. You make some very valid points in your write up, and yes itunes is a bit restrictive, but as someone who has limited disposable income, I would rather buy music one song at a time. But I understand your stance and it too is a good one!
let the Appleheaded fan boys flame comments begin.....5, 4, 3, 2, 1… now.
Well, you suckered me over here.
This household has 2 macs and 4 iPods, but rarely does music get purchased from iTunes. (But I do buy audio books occasionally.) I've bought a couple of albums, but only because the only other place I could get them was to order as an import for $30+ each, so I figured $9.99 was a good deal. And of course I instantly burned them onto CD-Rs and re-ripped them to remove the DRM.
As long as you've got Amoeba in town (I used to live only a few blocks away), there's probably no reason to buy off of iTunes. Problem is most places in the world don't have an Amoeba.
I was a sucker for about a year. Then I bought a Sonos system for home audio and was stuck with about 150 songs that were using Apple's DRM, which is incompatible with Sonos. I burned all of those songs to CD's and then ripped them to MP3. There have been a few songs that I have only been able to find on iTunes and on occasion I will download the free weekly song but aside from that my days of purchasing music on iTunes are over.
Umm burn them on a cd?? it's really simple really
Yes, you can burn them to a CD but once you've invested in 10,000 songs how much fun and work is that going to be? And what about all of your metadata that you've customized? Will you be able to burn this over and transfer it to your new mp3 file. Admitedly I haven't tried this but I suspect you might lose customized meta data that you entered. Burning everything to CD and then reripping is time consuming and something that you shouldn't have to do -- better to start with DRM free mp3s in the first place.
And what happens when your laptop with your mp3s are stollen? How easy was it for you to backup your DRM laden tracks?
Even if you don't have an Amoeba near you, used CDs are everywhere in the world. While you may not get back 75% like Amoeba, they will always buy them back for you at some price and you still will likely end up saving over going the iTunes route.
I bought iTunes songs and albums until v6 showed up... prior to v6 I freed my music with JHymm for personal use on my Roku SoundBridge or Samsung Yepp. I had the convenince of instant purchase and download with the ability to play the music on the devices of my choosing. Now forget it, I'll buy a used CD off ebay and rip it.
I downloaded two episodes of Battlestar Galactica yesterday and tried to watch them full screen on my laptop. Resolution and black levels were poor with artifacts. They need to bump up the resoluion and give me a simpler path to a television screen. Perhaps next week's announcement will address that.
Feh. Lighten up! :-)
For me, the iTunes Music Store is one avenue of many for expanding my music collection. I still buy CDs, I still digitize from vinyl, and I've been known to launch Acquisition X on occasion.
I'm no fan of DRM, but iTunes' is relatively innocuous compared to the likes of, say Sony's. I consider it a reasonable tradeoff for the convenience of being able to buy individual tracks.
And if My Fantasy Phone of the Future can't play my iTunes tracks, I'll just use my iPod to play them—just like I use my turntable to play my vinyl and my cassette deck to play my tapes.
Anyhow, I will so never buy a phone that contains a breathalyzer.
"And what happens when your laptop with your mp3s are stollen? How easy was it for you to backup your DRM laden tracks?"
Showed your hand that you don't know anything about iTunes. Backup is as easy as backing up any data. And you put the backup on your new computer when you get one, import into iTunes, and simply put in your iTMS password when it asks for authorization for the new computer.
Anonymous, yes there are things that I don't know about iTunes because I've admitedly never tried it.
I do know fundamentally that I do not want tracks that can only play on Apple approved devices and as such will probably never get to fully try out the functionality.
While I agree with pretty much everything in your post I don't like the suggestion of buying, ripping & returning CDs. That's theft plain & simple.
Many of the CDs in my CD collection are still shrink wrapped, I bought them to "justify" the songs I downloaded off of KaZaA (or whatever). If a song I downloaded I didn't like enough to buy the CD, I simply deleted it.
Nowadays I don't download music off of P2P sites, I don't buy DRM'ed online music either. I also almost never buy major label music either. They have demonstrated pretty effectively that they don't want me as a customer. (I never in my life bought more CDs than when I regularly used P2P sites to download music, every other week I was buying a new CD based off a song or songs I DL'd and liked)
Nowadays I buy indie music, the stuff you can find on garageband.com and buy from CD Baby. I'm thinking about trying out AllOfMP3, the legality of which is kind of a gray area but by my standard of ethics it's OK.
"I do know fundamentally that I do not want tracks that can only play on Apple approved devices and as such will probably never get to fully try out the functionality."
Fair enough. Your choice. Just don't call people suckers for their choice that they have no problem with when the DRM really doesnt effect them.
Oh for those that are advocating atking iTunes "Purchased" songs, burning them to CD then ripping to CD, let me break it down for you:
1. Song gets ripped to DRMed AAC format by Apple, probably from a CD. (conversion 1)
2. User pays for song, downloads file.
3. User burns song to CD, AAC file gets converted to CD Audio format (again) (Conversion 2)
4. User then rips song from CD to MP3 (conversion 3)
So by the time you have the song in a format that lets you use it on anything but an iPod, within the iTunes application or on one of those hot selling ROKR mobile phones it's been converted three times, if one had a song in MP3 format it would only be converted once.
Thomas,
You said:
And what about all of your metadata that you've customized? Will you be able to burn this over and transfer it to your new mp3 file.
CDex will fill in the same metadata on an iTunes-burned CD that it does on a "real" CD.
Yes, you can burn them to a CD but once you've invested in 10,000 songs how much fun and work is that going to be?
I've burned CDs from day one. I'd never let the songs build up, for precisely the reasons you mentioned.
Burning everything to CD and then reripping is time consuming and something that you shouldn't have to do -- better to start with DRM free mp3s in the first place.
Agreed. But it still can be more convenient to download from iTunes, burn and rip than to buy a used CD and wait three days to get it. My cutoff for used CDs is that if I can get them for less than $10, including tax and shipping, I go that route.
And what happens when your laptop with your mp3s are stollen? How easy was it for you to backup your DRM laden tracks?
Once I have MP3s, this is a data backup issue like photos or anything else. I see Apple's DRM'd tracks as disposable. If I were to lose all my MP3s, I'd re-rip my CDs.
I don't generally buy songs from the iTunes store because I don't want to buy compressed files. I also like the artwork and liner notes, etc... However, I enjoy my iPod immensely.
And while I am not a fan of DRM, the iTunes DRM is pretty lax compared to what was suggested before they launched the store.
Anonymous, my point in the sucker comment is that as devices change in the future your iTunes songs may very well not work on them. While a certain amount of this is just technology moving forward, you are more likely to be able to use your content stored in mp3 format than iTunes format. It is myopic to think that the world of digital media of today will stay the same. Personally I feel like I've been a sucker for buying music in the past on LP, then cassette, then CD, etc.
Getting the content in a DRM free state makes the most sense to protect me from feeling like a sucker again in the future. It also is the best way to protect my own personal rights with regards to fair use and the content.
I think too many people do not even begin to consider what their music library mightlook like in 20 or 10 or even 5 years.
Robert, you make a good point about the stealing thing. My point though is that if valid alternatives are not available more people will resort to piracy.
There are those who would also say though that after being price gouged by the record labels all these years (I know that I personally have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on music) that taking back a bit is basically just tit for tat. Obviously it was the consumer's choice to overpay, rebuy music, etc. but it doesn't mean a bad taste isn't left and now that the power equation has shifted there may be less compassion for the profits of big record labels than there were in the past.
I am not advocating anyone do anything illegal -- how one handles their music ethics comes down to individual choice and personal ethics though. Your choice is admirable and valid, but I can also certainly sympathize also with those that feel that they have been overcharged in the past and would prefer to reprice their own music in the future -- especially when DRM schemes remain closed and proprietary.
I think too many people do not even begin to consider what their music library mightlook like in 20 or 10 or even 5 years.
Do you even think the CD will be the standard sold format that far into the future? I am pretty sure it will be replaced by another format. A format that will offer higher sampling rates and will contain a DRM mechanism on the disc.
Anonymous, the CD very well may be replaced as well, but I imagine it will take a while and there will still be plenty of used CDs floating around -- cheap old music.
Still, if I'm betting on which format will be more veratile in the future mp3 or iTunes, I'll pick mp3.
I've worked in IP for 20 years and have had much of my work stolen, so I prefer to pay for my music. I love my iPod (black 4gig Nano) and the integration with iTunes.
I have bought about 20 songs, mostly impulse buys that I have to have now (or one-hit wonders where I don't want to wate $15 on an album). Most of my music is from CD's that I've bought over the years.
What's not being discussed here is that Apple has the best hardware/software solution so far. Fairplay let's me use my music on several computers, buy single tracks or albums, and back them up to audio CD so I can rip them to MP3. Yeah, it's a hassle, but where is a comparable Microsoft solution?
I also think $1 per song is a fair price.
I really like the video store. I've bought a few episodes of Lost so I could catch up, and the quality was better than expected.
Hopefully I won't sound like an Apple "fanboy" since I own a Powerbook and a Media Center. ;-)
- Mike K
HackingNetflix.com
Interesting, but it's a bit obvious you've written on a subject or technology you haven't tried yet. I mean, really.... I've been buying most of my music on iTunes for about 2 years now; maybe dozens of albums, a few hundred songs, yet I possess zero ACC files on any of my machines. I'll buy an album, immediately rip to CD, print a CD cover for a case to store on the shelf, yank in mp3's at 160kBPS, then delete the ACC songs I just bought. I don't see a problem here. No DRM, no apple formats, I've got a near-ripoff store-like copy on the shelf for backup, and then maximum quality mp3's to share all over work and home. The other option is what?... rent my music on a napster-ish site? Be my guest. I challenge anyone, no.. ask for, anyone to show me a better way to buy and own music to do with what I please.
Fact: No restrictions. No DRM. This is in fact less effort than buying a CD, then ripping it etc...
To expand on what I wrote earlier, because you seem to be conflating and confusing the issue: MP3s and iTunes are not mutually exclusive. I have over 150 gigs worth of MP3s, converted at high bit rate from physical CDs that I've purchased over the years- I only listen to music via iTunes or via an iPod (driving, on the El, walking, wherever) or via custom CDs that I've created with iTunes. Less than .01% of these songs are in a format other than MP3.
So I don't understand your comment:
"Still, if I'm betting on which format will be more veratile in the future mp3 or iTunes, I'll pick mp3." because it doesn't make sense.
Of course an iPod can play regular MP3's, but Jobs would prefere you didn't.
The AAC crap is the issue, and a large number of iPoders drink the Kool-Aid regularly and have no idea there even >is< an issue.
And what happens when your laptop with your mp3s are stollen? How easy was it for you to backup your DRM laden tracks?
What happens when your house burns down? How easy is it for you to backup your DRM-less MP3s?
Straw man arguement, there.
Peanuts x 1 Billion = $$$
Oh and I think your use of the term suckers is a bit strong, more like people who find iTunes easy to use and functional.
A couple points:
1. The only reason the Apple's DRM holds up securely is because Apple issued cease & desist orders on fairTunes et al. If/when Apple falls out of the market, I'm sure FairPlay will be quickly taken care of.
2. Who says Apple won't quit using FairPlay? I bet it was mostly a leverage tool to use with the record companies. Now that they see that sales are up overall, why hold on to the DRM? It'd be a quick fix in iTunes and Quicktime to ignore the DRM.
3. People who bought vinyl in the 70's didn't consider that all vinyl would be obsolete 20 years later. At least digital files are pretty much here to stay, and you can quickly and easily convert (even in iTunes - "Convert Selection to [format]").
I realize this is a personal blog and post, but once it reaches ./ level some research would be nice.
Ummm...anybody ever heard of the library?
75% of my ipod is filled w/free rips from the local library and 20% from friends/family (only 5% from iTunes)
P.S. www.allofmp3.com (take that iTunes!)
Ummm...anybody ever heard of the library?
75% of my ipod is filled w/free rips from the local library and 20% from friends/family (only 5% from iTunes)
P.S. www.allofmp3.com (take that iTunes!)
hymn-project.org
end.
I can't believe your piece of shit blog and this equally shitty post made it on to slashdot.
First off, let's take a step back and a deep breath and understand where DRM is coming from. It's not an Apple invention. If Apple could sell songs online without DRM don't you think they would? Blame the record companies, they're responsible for the mess (yes, the same record companies you're funding through your CD purchases).
I buy very few songs from iTunes simply because I think the bitrate is unacceptable. If I'm going to pay $10-11 for a digital download of an album where there are no traditional costs (duplication, packaging, shipping, retail) to the record company, can't I at least expect lossless quality? Apparently I can't. And that's infuriating. I don't have a shiny CD to hold in my hand and pretty liner notes to look at, I have to worry about backups, I can't loan my music to my friend, I have inferior quality, yet I'm paying the same amount? That's just robbery, and it's the record companies holding the gun.
So if we're going to rant and rave, let's do it about online music distribution in general and the record companies' endless refusal to embrace the future and change their business model. This is not Apple's fault, Apple is just the middleman with his hands tied behind his back.
The last time I checked, the only way to buy label-grade DRM-less and lossless music online is through a certain Russian website that's equivalent to just ripping the music off. And if I'm going to steal, why should I pay to do it?
What really needs to happen is an explosion of used CD sales. Buy a used CD, rip it, trade it back in at a small loss. Perhaps the record companies would get the message if everyone embraced this approach for awhile.
I yearn for the day when I buy my music directly from the artists and record companies are but a bad memory. And that day is coming.
I'm a modern day pirate myself.
Thomas, I think you ought to post an update or errata of some sort. People have brought up way too many mistakes in your arguments, and the main point now is barely holding up.
First it was the "songs-are-stuck-in-itunes", torn by cd burning. Then the backup part, shown to be a weasel argument at most.
Just in case you are still not convinced: Apple makes "peanuts" in iTunes? Nearly 10% of revenue is peanuts now?
I don't think your beef is really with Apple. As you say, their business is selling iPods, not songs. I doubt Apple cares much about DRM beyond the fact that it allows them to make deals to distribute iPod content as part of an overall experience.
It's certainly convenient for the labels that Apple takes the blame for these sorts of things, but it's the record companies that are creating this environment. If Apple withdrew all of its DRM, all that would happen is all of the record companies would migrate to some Microsoft solution, and I think the music world would be worse off for it.
I wrote something on this before:
http://theocacao.com/document.page/215
Seriously how can you write about a service you never even used? Even worse call people that use the service suckers?
Thats like saying people who buy Ferrari's are suckers while driving around in your cute little Corolla.
It's a matter of preference.
I can't see how you could possibly compare the price of 'returned music' to a legal service. If there wasn't rampant piracy in the world we wouldn't have DRM in the first place.
FYI, iTunes is also about convenience. Call me a sucker but I buy the song I want when I want. Within minutes I'm bopping to new songs on my iPod.
All this worry about the itunes format is a lot about nothing. As a computer scientist I can tell you beyond any doubt that DRM simply can not work in the long run. If they encrypt a file and then hand you the very key you need so that you can play it, and then to think that you can't just "read" it (e.g. convert to another format) is absolutely senseless. The only thing that will prevent you from enjoying your purchased music is the stupid laws that they are passing to keep you from using what you just bought and payed for. Keeping you from using yours does not keep someone else from sharing theirs. The sooner that the RIAA learns that the better because they are only making their "social problem" bigger by doing stupid things, and they are making the problem worse every day they continue this illogical nonsense.
What you say makes a good deal of sense.
Apple's hardware, including iPod, is overpriced (compare, $110 for a tiny 20GB Archos Gmini) and buying songs at 128Kbps(!) is just dumb, in my opinion, with or without DRM.
Apple's products are for people who have more money than sense.
Being a raving troll neither wins you respect, nor makes a valid point. Just there you advocated theft, professed to knowing nothing about a system you proceeded to bash, and shied away from any trace of moderation on your quest for Apple hatred. And at the end, to cap it off, you made a blatantly immature and provacative jab at -anyone- who might dissagree with you.
If you want to make a point, pretend to be intellegent.
Now, I'm perfectly content with a phone and an iPod- A phone for calling people, an iPod for music. It's not like I can't handle carrying around an extra quarter gram. It's a convenient way to store music, and even if it does become obsolete, I'll store my new music on my phone. No bother. There's no hassel, no problem, no need to call me a "sucker" because I bought the odd song that will never be a problem to me in any way.
I have no idea who gave you these ideas about iTunes and its users, but ask him never to speak to you again. I think I'll take a piece of my own advice now. Have fun, now, and don't steal the other children's candy.
Nice rant, however, Apple isn't the real culprit here -- all DRM is. Looking at the DRM models that other online major online digital music retailers have, Apple is actually the *least* invasive of all of them. The real joke is services like Napster, which you don't actually own anything at all and they "turn off" all your music the minute you stop paying their blood money. Apple, in contrast, strikes a fairly reasonable balance.
Of course, I agree with you that DRM is evil and should be avoided at all costs... however, I think you have unfairly singled out Apple - which seems to be fighting for the consumers a little bit... unlike the other alternatives out there which seem to be bending to the RIAA's every idiotic whim.
I agree with the comment about online music distribution in general. Where is this "nominal" 99 cent fee going anyway? It's not the artists. It's not Apple, and how much does it really cost to make a song available for download anyway?
It's going to the label. But ask yourself this: Where would record labels be without their artists? Nowhere. This is precisely why things cannot go on the way they are forever. As more new artists discover services like cdbaby.com where they can actually take a decent percentage of the sale of their music, the recording industry will be forced to evolve or die. Finally, if they really have to slap DRM on our music, couldn't they at least make it sound good by offering some type of lossless codec or at least a high bitrate lossy one? Why do consumers put up with this?
Anonymous,
You are in fact a sucker. While you are having to carry around a separate iPod and cell phone, my Audiovox combines the two into one and allows me to listen to any mp3 that I'm interested in.
By and large, I agree... I mostly torrent music, or buy used CD's from half.com or ebay - really the best deal, legal and cheap.
I've started buying a few iTunes, though, since I found a way to think about it that makes sense. Yes, a dollar a song with DRM is pricey and limiting compared to used CD's or, of course piracy. But it's quite a good deal compared to a jukebox.
If you want to hear a song at a bar $1 for 3 songs is normal, exhorbitant but normal. So, $1 to hear a song now, and over and over for as long as Apple's in the game - or forever if I rerip to MP3, really isn't a bad deal.
You also mention the super-duper credit card computer - by then, music will almost certainly be flat-fee subscription streamed (at least music made, oh, before 2007), so anything you buy or download will be a waste then...
check out some equally idle speculation I wrote about iTunes, Apple, and Disney, and the iPhone.
anyone tried the mp3tunes.com store? They *sell* mp3s for the same price as the itunes store and no DRM crap there as far as i know.
i havent tried it myself, cause i dont own an mp3 player, but might be of interest to people here.
Nice post, but hey, nothing stops me from burning my .m4a itunes tracks on to a CD and re-ripping them back on my computer as .mp3s. :D
=//Turnquest
fookpop.blogspot.com
I consider myself a huge "Appleheaded fan boy." but I agreed with all of what you said. However, I thought it was lame the way you said it. Your writing style comes off like it was written by some angsty High Schooler hell bent on stirring up some shit.
Burning to a CD and re-encoding to MP3 is not a viable alternative.
I highly recommend you pick a song in your DRMed AAC library, make a AAC --> CD --> MP3, and then borrow the real CD from a friend. You can make an MP3 from the original CD if you like also.
Now do a blind listening test using either a quality pair of headphones or a decent set of speakers. Your iPod earbuds do not count.
It depends on the song, but you will hear the quality differences if you play the songs back to back. I say it depends, because some songs will lose out on the high notes, while others will end up with really crappy bass, but you will hear a difference.
You folks burning iTunes-purchased songs to CD and then re-ripping to MP3 are really screwing up the sound quality. AAC doesn't sound that great to begin with.
At least lots of recent devices handle the AAC standard, but iTunes's.m4p protected files are awful. Soon every electronic device will play MP3/AAC files, but only Apple-branded ones will play iTunes-purchased songs. That just sucks for consumers who want to buy music downloads!!
jHymn and QTFairUse don't work with iTunes v6. Sure, in theory each generation of iTunes DRM will be cracked, but we've been waiting a while (I gave $50 to DVD Jon, but it's a thank-you gesture with no expectation or guarantee of a deliverable).
MP3 encoding has always sounded like crap. Not crystal clear as you state. When I heard the AAC format that Itunes uses, I was hooked. Finally, digital music that sounds great. I have been a fan ever since. I have only purchased a few DRM leden tunes because I have 100s of CDs and when you rip them with itunes, they are not protected so its just like a MP3. I may get burnt in the long run but I had 1000's of old albums. It won't be the last time either.
I'd have to say, get used to it. DRM is here to stay. By the time your "killer phone" comes out, you won't be able to buy any new music for it, because CDs will have gone the way of the vinyl and the dodo bird. I buy iTunes because all other M$ DRMed music sucks and doesn't work on my ipod or my mac and not very well on my PC without headachs and complications. I buy iTunes because it's easy, and I want to listen to my music, not spend all Saturday afternoon at the record store rumaging through CD bins and ripping them off to my computer. I guess I could also just steal off the internet and go to jail, and sometime later to hell, but I gave that up a whle ago.
1 Sucka served.
You could call all the iPod users suckers, man tha is funny. I have an iPod, mostly with my music on it from CDs. Apple has made taking your music with you and buying it very easy and that is what the music industry was looking for. I am sure the way you do your musice works too, but for the vast majority of music persons out there the way iTunes and iPod lets you do that is just way to easy. The DRM is crap but I guess they will have to cross that bridge when they come to it. Nice post and that is coming from a Applehead I think?
Look, bottom line is this. AAC is an unnecessary speed bump. While it may be the only way that Apple can get away with iTunes it still is a pain in the ass.
Yes, we've had to pay to upgrade our music from LP to casette to CD to... in the past but this is bullshit. We live in a digital world and we are now pushing the limits of quality vs. what our ears can distinguish. When I rip crystal clear high bit rate mp3s from CDs they are as good as I need to get. Any incremental benefit is meaningless to me.
By storing my music in DRM free high bitrate mp3s I will most likely never ever ever have to buy my music again.
And to the guy who said what about when my house burns down. That's why offsite backups are created.
My music library is large, very large, much larger than most. It would not be feasible for me to have to spend all that time circumventing Apples DRM. It is a hell of a lot easier to put 200 CDs into a Sony CD/DVD changer (yeah, Sony, I get the irony) and tell my PC to rip all the music into high bit rate mp3s complete with full metadata while I sleep at night than to screw around with trying to circumvent AAC.
And to the argument that Apple is not the real culprit the music is, agreed. Yet still, Apple could open up their AAC format to play on other non Apple devices to take a little bit of the sting out of it.
Like Davis I too listen to my music on an Audiovox SMT 5600 cell phone. I like the fact that when I'm listening to my player and a phone call comes in that it pauses my music and lets me take the call through my headphones/mic and then the music starts playing again where I left off after my phone call. Had I been listening to an iPod I would have missed the phone call. Unfortunately AAC will not play on that phone and that is by edict of Apple not the music industry.
Yes, you can circumvent Apple's DRM, but when you start talking about thousands of songs it becomes a pain in the ass and I'd rather get it right the first time.
I can't believe this stupid rant got frontpaged to slashdot.
You're a fucking idiot.
no doubt!
I agree except ogg vorbis instead of mp3. Get rid of all proprietary formatts so you don't have to pay any company to play your music files.
By the way I'm listening to the most enjoyable DRM free mp3 right now of Stan Getz's Corcovado. Beautiful stuff. Great value.
Some of the folks here are nuts- downloading compressed song, converting to cd audio, then _recompressing_ the song. What the @%$#^ is wrong with you? Wht not just stick a microphone in front of the speaker and re-record it that way?
Bt accepting Fairplay you are telling the Music industry that we're ok with them telling us what we can do and when. Next thing you know they will be telling you what time of day you can listen to the songs and at what volume. Eventually you will have to register your headphones so that they can be sure you aren't letting your friends listen to the songs you bought. You need to understand that DRM is a slippery slope. Either it gets stopped now or before you know it you won't have any rights at all.
I only buy used CD's specifically because I won't steal music but I sure as hell don't want to give the recording industry any more money.
Piracy is an economic problem- solve it economically. Where the hell does the Music industry get off charging $1.00 for a lossy song? You end up paying as much for a bunch of compressed songs which have far smaller distribution costs than you do for a physical CD which is of higher quality, includes it's own backup, has cover art, and has an actual distribution cost. Instead of wasting money on dumb DRM schemes and lawsuits (which do nothing but piss off your client base) try lowering the price of the music. A lossy song is not worth more than 50 cents. Period.
The real question is why the $10 billion a year entertainment industry gets to tell the $10 billion a week tech industry what to do.
To the person who said the recording industry should have demanded a cut of iTunes sales- get real. Jobs doesn't need the recording industry- he could have let people steal songs off P2P networks and use those on their iPods. iTMS was created because Jobs wanted to create a legal download service to provide end to end integration. The fact is, however, that the iPod was a hit long before iTMS.
There are countless other arguments to be made here but for those who believe in their rights there is no need- and for those who don't care- no amount of argument will make a difference.
Jesus christ. I can't believe someone with such little understanding of the technologies at hand, could get slashdotted. Hahaha. Good for a laugh anyway.
Anyone who says they burn their iTunes tracks to CD and then rip it to mp3 is an idiot. Think about what you're doing. You took a digital track, made a physical copy, and ripped the copy. It shouldn't be that hard.
Well if your like any other music consumer who cares. Every 5-15 years you rebuy all your music for a new format anyway. At least with iTunes its quick and easy to buy and it works with the really nice iPod you got.
Its not like you actually own the music in any format anyway. Now thats not saying that in the present environment ripping used CD's isn't a better value, well maybe there not. My time is worth something and iTunes is a lot quicker then a trip to Amoeba and then endless hours of ripping. Plus who wants a whole CD worth of songs anyway a good album these days has 4 good songs on it.
"Look, bottom line is this. AAC is an unnecessary speed bump. While it may be the only way that Apple can get away with iTunes it still is a pain in the ass.
.......
And to the argument that Apple is not the real culprit the music is, agreed. Yet still, Apple could open up their AAC format to play on other non Apple devices to take a little bit of the sting out of it."
Thomas, seriously, before throwing firebombs you should check your facts. AAC is not DRM. AAC is an encoding format, as is MP3. You might call AAC the logical successor to MP3. And AAC is not an Apple-owned format. What Apple sells in iTunes are songs encoded in AAC and wrapped in DRM called FairPlay. It's the FairPlay DRM that belongs to Apple. However, I can rip all my CDs in the AAC format with no DRM. Which is what I do, since AAC sounds as good to me or slightly better than MP3 LAME, and encodes much faster on my Mac. (Of course I rip everything to Apple Lossless first for my archives...).
And as far as Apple opening up "their AAC format," what you mean is Apple opening up FairPlay, their DRM layer. Any device manufacturer could include AAC on their devices (and why more don't is a mystery to me), it's AAC files with Apple's DRM (FairPlay) that are off limits to the Creatives/iRivers/etc. of the world. And why not? Apple created iTunes to sell more iPods, not to make a fortune selling songs online. Why would they subsidize the iTunes Music Store for people who would rather buy cheaper Korean iPod knockoffs? Is that good business sense? Should Creative get to make an easy buck selling MP3 players that work with iTunes, with Apple doing all the software development work and maintaining the huge infrastructure required to run the iTunes Music Store? I think not.
And if this seems uniquely unfair, I seem to recall a certain company called Microsoft became a market dominator by keeping a leash on its Office document formats, no?
And speaking of Microsoft, while everyone is ranting and raving about Apple and AAC and DRM, no one thinks to mention that all the legitimate competing services use Microsoft's proprietary format (WMA) that also uses Microsoft's proprietary DRM. Yet Microsoft tells us they represent "choice" (PlaysForSure) and amazingly manages to do so with a straight face. Hmmm...
If I'm going to get shackled to someone's proprietary controls, thanks to the record company overlords, it sure as heck ain't going to be Microsoft's.
You may already understand the whole AAC vs. FairPlay thing (doubtful, since you've never used iTunes), but if you do it's not clear from your comments.
You don't think that there will ever be an application that autoconverts all .xxx files into .yyy files with a user-specified conversion? If the iTMS goes down the drain, within a year at the outside, someone will have written an autoconverter to ogg vorbis, mp3, or some new format not yet thought of.
i bought 1 CD from itunes well i guess 2 since it was a 2 disk set burned them riped them and secided i'm not doing that again for all my trouble time and media cost i could have bought the real disks
so i went searching found a place that hits you for a dime a track if it's under 60 seconds it's free and if you buy the whole disk they take off 10% so some whole disks cost as much as a single itunes track it's all high quality MP3s no DRM and the selection is HUGE compared to itunes
about 9 CDs later i've barley burned $15 of the origional 30 i put in (it's prepay) if you think i'm ever shopping itunes again you need to get your head checked
google mp3search if you want to find the store
juenger1701
This hasn't been a problem, except for the un-educated. All of these formats are interchangable with the correct software. the software is free, and easy to use.
It does seem rather odd to see a post like this show up just a few days before the launch of "the Orgami Project".
Perhaps Microsoft is trying to seed the doubt, so they can push more obsolete, difficult to use, DRM laced contraption on the world. Can any of you say "Altrak"?
What's stated in this posting can apply to ANY DRM system. It's clear the industry wants DRM, it's an evil we're probably going to be forced to live with.
If anything, the iTunes/iPod popularity has contributed to sustaining a profitable system that can survive over the long haul, making it a "safer" investment.
Although I too would recommend investing too much in any DRM'd system, your rant is fairly lopsided, acrid and clouds the substance of your argument.
You catch more flies with honey...
"I do know fundamentally that I do not want tracks that can only play on Apple approved devices and as such will probably never get to fully try out the functionality."
I am a total MS person. All workstations at home are XP. I run a tablet for work. I have a Windows Mobile phone, etc, etc....and I own an iPod Mini. You're ignorance of the device and the software is astounding yet you felt qualified to write about it. I've bought roughly 10 songs on iTunes, then turned around, burned them to CD, and re-ripped them. Yes you do lose some audio quailty going from one lossy format (ACC) to another (MP3) but at least you no longer have the DRM issues. Plus I can tolerate .99 cents for a single song that I am not going to pay $15 for a full CD. The rest of my iTunes library is all MP3 ripped from my CD collection. MP3 works on iPods. Unless there is going to be a total shift in the digital music scene that dumps the MP3 format, iPods will play those songs with no problems. What about this don't you get?
As for your comment on those that have bought 10000 tracks. First off, what do you care? Secondly, if they back up data to either CD or an external drive, then the songs and the data are readily availble. If your hard drive crashes all you have to do is copy the data back and you're good to go. No different than the current MP3 collection you have. You admit to doing the same thing so how is it any different if I backup my iTune's directory and restore it after a problem than how you restore your music folder after a problem?
The big issue here is DRM. Is it silly that there is the Apple version and the Sony version and the MS version? HELL YES! The digital music industry should focus on creating one DRM standard that everyone follows. God fobid they would do that though. Instead they are creating new ways to screw the consumer into paying for music that we already purchased. You want to read something scary? Read this:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060215-6190.html
Full ACK! Every word you say. What really makes me mad is: when I was was 15 me and my friends could record tapes for us, all I needed was our stereo racks, we could even trade demo tapes around the world with almost no legal hasseling. Today everything became almost too complicated and limited for most of my friends, esp. for those who are not into bit rates, DRM, formats etc. They simply want to hear their music. The effort to painlessly enjoy music with others simply grows for the non-geek. Buy a mp3, burn it to CD, encode it again? For let's say 20 tracks? C'mon, what a shitty service is that? Should I recommend to write a shell script for that???
If you think Itunes is bad, just wait.
When Vista comes out, the'll be locking out your hard drive so that you only have the 'right' to use Windows -- and that will be locking up all sorts of content.
I'm waiting for the first virus that locks up user data with a random encryption key. ... Run. Run screaming from DRM.
I wonder if everyone who advocates burning their itunes downloads to CD and reripping realizes that then there's no point in paying itunes in the first place - when you strip the DRM you're breaking your EULA with itunes, and probably going against DMCA as well, so you might as well have pirated the CD in the first place.
Let me guess, you're over 30 and still own a turntable... oh yes!, you own Microsoft stock.
It's especially great that someone like "mike k" who has such great experience with theft of IP thinks it's ok to ignore Apple's (really RIAA's) imposed IP regulations in this case.
It's like everyone knows it's illegal to break into a car sitting at a rental agency and drive home with it, but thinks it's completely ok to rent the car for a given time, ignore the terms of the rental agreement, and just do whatever they wish with it.
I've not read through the post, but what I want to sayis that....
Software is absolutely different to hardware!
And, if iTunes was not that restrictive, I'm sure those music companies won't compromise so easily.
Excellent way to win people over to your view, by calling them suckers.
You really should be nice to people who might not know any better, you dickhead !
All you spastics who spend time and effort burning cds and then ripping them are stupid. There are easyier ways. And DRM wuldn't be there is the world wasn't filled with pirates.
Ok... this is ... well.. the same argument... a thousand times.....
NOW... the MIDDLE GROUND...
You can use (legally) Apples OWN DRM to remove the DRM on your purchased tunes without violating either DMCA or the EULA at least in a small area that even the RIAA is DEEPLY afraid of....
There is code out there... but here is the basic point... use a legitimate itunes account >> decode to sound >> recode to original format - DRM ....
THAT IS NOT purposeful subversion of encryption (DMCA), because you are encoding a NON-ENCRYPTED stream of data ... (the sound).. amd is not a device (HW/SW) created simply to avoid encryption, since you are using apple's own software to PLAY THE SOUND...
it is not purposeful "re-mastering" or "re-distribution" (EULA) as long as you are using it under your protected federal right to back up any media you have purchased the RIGHT TO USE... (caveat -- apple could still technically, at any time, order you to destroy all copies and you get NOTHING.... } ... the funny part is that it is a EULA violation if you destroy the original encrypted work and then retain the BACKUP...
side note --- this would also apply to the burning of the CDs as BACKUPS... once you re-encode them ... you are required to destroy the CDs, because the EULA only allows for one "method" of backup (and it wouldn't have that if the fear of being sued wasn't on their minds...) p.s. that restriction is allowed... 92' I believe...
ok... trying to move past all the wasted time and breath on legal issues....
way the hell at the top.... I agree that apple is forcing people into a technology scheme that is... a bit closed. Try to keep in mind that encoding to mp3 isn't legally open either (i know, long confused discussion).... AAC is an open standard that has been warped by DRM that is manufacturer specific... kinda like Microsoft.. oh well... I agree with the original post... this is a dangerous sucker play, but I don't think apple will abandon this for the next... i think they will offer migration ... the power of the all-mighty dollar...
Yeah man, have you looked at Sony and their SonicStage? I bought an Hi-MD 1GB minidisc recorder (only minidisc was a good solution which records in pcm or atrac and small form factor and good price) to record my own music via mic in. Guess what? It was DRM protected! Unlockable with SS but man! And SS, that's such a piece of crap. I bet Apple is going this good because their SW and HW offering is just way better. I have no personal experience however.
Yeah man, have you looked at Sony and their SonicStage? I bought an Hi-MD 1GB minidisc recorder (only minidisc was a good solution which records in pcm or atrac and small form factor and good price) to record my own music via mic in. Guess what? It was DRM protected! Unlockable with SS but man! And SS, that's such a piece of crap. I bet Apple is going this good because their SW and HW offering is just way better. I have no personal experience however.
Sheesh... the author is off the mark here. He should just go to the store, plunk down some $ for an iPod Nano or a video iPod and give it a whirl. He doesn't even need to buy any music from their music store (iTMS). If he doesn't like it, if he can't return it, he can sell it for not that much of a loss.
You can still rip all your CDs to MP3 w/iTunes and you'll get all the great metadata automatically thanks to CDDB support built right in. Syncing it over is just as simple as plugging in the device.
Before I actually got an iPod (which I got for free thanks to TiVo referrals credits), I just figured it was another MP3 player and that it looked cool. Now I've seen the light.
As for songs, I've only bought 1 song from iTMS so far, the other 33 I got were from an Audi test drive promo. They hit the nail on the head. The experience of finding, preview, buying and sycning is almost painless. You can free copying the DRM purchased songs to whatever media you want, but in order to play them on that machine [short of burning to red book audio CD], you have to authorize that machine [by just entering your username and password when it asks]. You can authorize up 5 and you can deauthorize them if you wish. It seems like a decent # to me. Two of my PCs and 1 of my Macs is authorized [I'm a PC guy at heart and have been using them since 83, I'm not a Mac head.].
I still would buy CDs if I want the better sound quality and if most of the songs were good. But, if only 1 or 2 are good and the single is too costly, I'd be ok for paying $1 for a song. The quality is "good enough" for the environments where I listen to them [2 cars: 1 is very noisy].