Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

dotdotdot

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 23, 2005
2,391
44
Am I the only one who feels bad about buying digital music?

For years, people have purchased music compact discs, records, casettes, and others to listen to music. They could play the music in their cars, homes, and anywhere else. You had control over the music. Plus, you could store it.

But with digital music, its not yours. Its a file. You won't have it in twenty years, will you? Basically, it makes more sense to pirate music and delete it without a worry than to buy music.

Whenever I buy a song on iTunes or download a free single, I don't delete it. Ever. Why? I paid for it. So, how do I store it? What do I do with it when I'm bored of it? Its weird...

I don't know, I just feel like a sentimental musicy thingy... whatever...
 

Heb1228

macrumors 68020
Feb 3, 2004
2,217
1
Virginia Beach, VA
dotdotdot said:
But with digital music, its not yours. Its a file. You won't have it in twenty years, will you? Basically, it makes more sense to pirate music and delete it without a worry than to buy music.

Whenever I buy a song on iTunes or download a free single, I don't delete it. Ever. Why? I paid for it. So, how do I store it? What do I do with it when I'm bored of it? Its weird...
I'm not quite sure what your point is... I plan on still having all my music in 20 years. Hard drives just get larger and larger, so there's no need to delete the files.
 

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
Heb1228 said:
I'm not quite sure what your point is... I plan on still having all my music in 20 years. Hard drives just get larger and larger, so there's no need to delete the files.

There is no guaranty that those files could/would be playable "legally" 20 years from now. Much like the comments being made about digital images (who is to say that JPG or your RAW format will be read by iPhoto 10 or CS 8?).

In the case of iTunes, the copyright protection scheme may not allow for "legal" conversion down the road to the newer formats.
 

Heb1228

macrumors 68020
Feb 3, 2004
2,217
1
Virginia Beach, VA
Chip NoVaMac said:
There is no guaranty that those files could/would be playable "legally" 20 years from now. Much like the comments being made about digital images (who is to say that JPG or your RAW format will be read by iPhoto 10 or CS 8?).

In the case of iTunes, the copyright protection scheme may not allow for "legal" conversion down the road to the newer formats.
This doesn't seem to be a persuasive argument to me at all. Especially the image file analogy. Programs almost universally support older file formats. Can you give me one example of an image type that Photoshop used to support but doesn't now? (I'm no photoshop expert, but I'm betting you can't give me one, at least not one that has had widespread useage by any means.)

As for the DRM issue, I don't think there's any way Apple could take away your rights to a song you have purchased from them. That would take away one of their whole reasons for using iTunes as opposed to a subscription based service: That you own the music you purchase as opposed to renting it from Napster or others. (I know, you don't techinically own the music, just the license, but you see my point.)
 

.Andy

macrumors 68030
Jul 18, 2004
2,965
1,306
The Mergui Archipelago
If only we were burdened with this problem in Australia :(....

I actually treat all my music as digital these days. My physical CDs on the shelf just sit there gathering dust and taking up space. When I buy a new one it gets ripped straight away. The practicality of having a digital collection personally far outweighs and sentimentality I have for cover art etc. I imagine I'll just regularly keep it backed up on hard drives/backed up on DVDs for the term of my natural life.

The most sentimental I get is trying to get the vinyls of my select-few long-term fave albums. That way I get the fantastic cover art with good old vinyl sound :).
 

Heb1228

macrumors 68020
Feb 3, 2004
2,217
1
Virginia Beach, VA
Chip NoVaMac said:
In the case of iTunes, the copyright protection scheme may not allow for "legal" conversion down the road to the newer formats.

Also, what makes you think there will be any need for newer file formats? The only reason thus far for other file formats has been data compression. Music files are the size now that it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference if they are smaller, considering the size of hard drives now and that they'll only get larger.
 

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
dotdotdot said:
Am I the only one who feels bad about buying digital music?

For years, people have purchased music compact discs, records, casettes, and others to listen to music. They could play the music in their cars, homes, and anywhere else. You had control over the music. Plus, you could store it.

But with digital music, its not yours. Its a file. You won't have it in twenty years, will you? Basically, it makes more sense to pirate music and delete it without a worry than to buy music.

Whenever I buy a song on iTunes or download a free single, I don't delete it. Ever. Why? I paid for it. So, how do I store it? What do I do with it when I'm bored of it? Its weird...

Dot, what are you smoking tonight? ;)

Hate to break it to you, but when you buy a CD, your music is.... a data file. It's yours in approximately the identical way that the iTMS track is yours -- that is it is owned by the copyright holder and you have a license to use it for your listening pleasure as long as you want. And with iTMS you can control what tunes in which order you burn to CDs.

You have exactly the same chance of having your Josh Groban CD in twenty years as you have of having the CD backup of your iTMS Josh Groban tunes in twenty years. More, actually, because if you lose or break the physical CD, that's it, it's gone. But you can make yourself a replacement CD from the iTMS tracks.

You can store your computer resident music on CDs (or DVDs) and erase it from your computer, I guess. And you can, well, play it in your car or cottage or boombox or.. I don't know what you're on about, frankly.
 

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
Heb1228 said:
This doesn't seem to be a persuasive argument to me at all. Especially the image file analogy. Programs almost universally support older file formats. Can you give me one example of an image type that Photoshop used to support but doesn't now? (I'm no photoshop expert, but I'm betting you can't give me one, at least not one that has had widespread useage by any means.)

As for the DRM issue, I don't think there's any way Apple could take away your rights to a song you have purchased from them. That would take away one of their whole reasons for using iTunes as opposed to a subscription based service: That you own the music you purchase as opposed to renting it from Napster or others. (I know, you don't techinically own the music, just the license, but you see my point.)

The future of image data files is a serious concern, so much so that Adobe is trying to push the open DNG file format, so that future generations can have access to the RAW formats and the rest in the long term future.

As to DMR, as long as you have a computer running an older OS and software, then you will be safe. Guess much like those that have LP's or cassettes. The issue is that with DMR, we really don't owen the music any more.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,595
3,934
New Zealand
Heb1228 said:
(I know, you don't techinically own the music, just the license, but you see my point.)

"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon
 

Heb1228

macrumors 68020
Feb 3, 2004
2,217
1
Virginia Beach, VA
Nermal said:
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon
He might not have said that if he was losing a bunch of money from illegal downloads... but then again maybe he wouldn't have cared.
 

fistful

macrumors 6502a
Mar 29, 2004
892
0
Socan
I kind of see what you're saying. Even though technically you don't own the content but the ability to access it, it's hard to get past the idea of owning something that doesn't come in a physical form.

Also what do you do with it once you no longer feel you want it? you can't sell it, give it away like you can a cd.

Like others here as soon as I buy a cd I rip it straight to my HD and even though my cd's just sit there on the self most of the time it still gives me piece of mind that they are there.
 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Most of the world's money is virtual and has been for quite some time. I suppose it was just a matter of time before other industries and "possessions" went the same way. I don't have any major problems with it and I'm not terribly worried that I will suddenly be left with no means to play mmy twenty year old music (if ever I get that old :p ).

However, I know what some of you are saying, it doesn't really feel like you've bought something when you don't technically receive anything physical. Since Australia still doesn't have an ITMS I can only partially empathise with music specifically, but there are other examples like some software.
 

njmac

macrumors 68000
Jan 6, 2004
1,757
2
I have thrown away many, many CD's, tapes, and records. Records got scratched, replaced with tapes, tapes got replaced with CD's, and if any of these I just lost the taste to listen to them, I tossed 'em.

With digital, its just that much easier to delete when you no longer like a song.

I'm just now reminiscing about the dozens of singles I use to buy on 45 or tapes that got trashed.......
 

Applespider

macrumors G4
Nope but that's probably because I'm old enough to have had albums on vinyl which I haven't been able to play for years because I don't have a functioning recordplayer. I've already replaced onto CD once and thankfully been able to make them digital for the iPod etc.

I'm quite happy to buy digital tracks - at least then I can burn them to a CD currently and to whatever the next fad in storage is.
 

joecool85

macrumors 65816
Mar 9, 2005
1,355
4
Maine
Like everyone else has said, just burn them to CD or DVD and you'll have them for just as long as anything else you might buy.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.