30 second samples...aarrgh.

[blackfox]

Perhaps this belongs in the General music discussion, but I thought it sufficiently broad as to warrant placement in community discussion. Mods, please feel free to move, if need be...

That said, I really am just kinda complaining/venting here, but what are people's opinions about 30 sec preview on music online, either through itms, or other venues?

I can understand that to a degree storage limitations/expense come into play, but considering the relatively low bitrate on many samples, that seems to be a relatively incomplete excuse. I also thought that perhaps it is just adherence to a de facto standard, but that also is a poor excuse.

I complain because I enjoy new music, and look for avenues to find our about new music. I wish to, and do, purchase my music legally. It is just that an average song ranges from 3-6 minutes and just sampling the first 30 seconds seems to not be nearly illustrative enough, considering many songs are structured so that the the main chorus of the song is post 30 seconds. You get the idea.

Why could it not be a minute? It still is not the whole song, but it allows you to get a representative feel for the song.

I realize that I am somewhat spoiled by the internet, as back in the day, I merely read music mags, compiled names and went to the local record store and listened to the albums. Although, even then, I got to listen to the whole song.

So opinions, insight, solidarity? I am just a little annoyed and extrapolating off myself, after shopping at itms today, Apple (or whomever) might very well make more $$ by providing longer samples as there were a number of songs that I just wasn't sure enough about to buy.

sorry for the rant.

[Veldek]

I never had problems with 30 second previews as I already knew the songs I wanted to buy. But the last time, I wanted to choose between different versions of the same song and I couldn't make out the differences between them because of the short preview. I almost downloaded them from a P2P network (just as a preview), but finally found a stream where I could listen to this special song and could decide. That was really annoying.

I think 30 second previews are needed because someone wouldn't need to download the songs, as he could just play the streams. That's why full previews with lesser quality would be the only way around.

[killuminati]

[QUOTE=blackfoxIt is just that an average song ranges from 3-6 minutes and just sampling the first 30 seconds seems to not be nearly illustrative enough, considering many songs are structured so that the the main chorus of the song is post 30 seconds. You get the idea.
[/QUOTE]

Actually the 30 seconds isn't from the beginning of the song. It's just from a random part in the middle. And I have never had a problem like that. I find thatt 30 seconds is just enough to get the feel for a song.

[mcmav37]

I can understand that to a degree storage limitations/expense come into play, but considering the relatively low bitrate on many samples, that seems to be a relatively incomplete excuse.

Well, I can't speak for other services, but iTMS has full quality samples so the bandwith/storage requirements are more of a factor then you make them out to be.

[Doctor Q]

They obviously can't give us 3-minute samples, so 30 seconds has seemed generous enough to me.

Sometimes, I think they pick the wrong 30 seconds and don't give you an idea of what the song really sounds like. Proud Mary by Tina Turner is one example.

Sometimes a track is less than 30 seconds and you can hear the whole thing as a sample. I hope nobody paid 99 cents to hear I've Got Blisters... by Ringo Starr.

When a song has both clean and explicit versions, the 30 second samples don't always distinguish, e.g., 1985 by Bowling for Soup, CLEAN and EXPLICIT.

[Doctor Q]

Today I compared previews for Avril Lavigne's Complicated with the "Weird Al" Yankovic parody. The two clips start in different parts of the song and they are even in different keys, but I think they both give an appropriate sample of the music/comedy your 99 cents will get you.