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

iPod Question about "album only" songs

F

fusion19

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
14
0
How come there are certain songs on the iTunes Music Store that are "album only"? More specifically, does Apple decide this or is it mandated by the recording studios that provide the music? I'm guessing that it is probably a requirement by the recording studios for letting Apple sell their music on the iTunes Music Store.

I hope Apple gets rid of the "album only" songs soon. I can't tell you how anoying it is to find a good song I want to buy, then find out I have to pay for the whole album to get it. These "album only" songs defeats the main draw of the iTunes Music Store for me: being able to download the individual songs I want without having to pay for the whole album.
 
mkrishnan

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
I've never really wanted an album-only song, but I do sympathize. I'm pretty sure it was a result of the original record company negotiations, as this has pretty much always been there on the iTunes store, AFAIK, alongside partial albums (which I find even more infuriating, because they're typically poor albums with one or two good songs, and the good songs are the ones that are completely unavailable). In the beginning, there was a lot of criticism that the per-song model would crush whole album sales. It might change more as the industry itself is becoming less reliant on whole album sales (because of not only iTunes and the like but also ringtones, for instance).
 
bartelby

bartelby

macrumors Core
Jun 16, 2004
19,795
34
I hope they get rid of that too. There are loads of album only tracks I want.
 
theBB

theBB

macrumors 68020
Jan 3, 2006
2,453
3
There has been a couple tracks on movie soundtracks that I wanted, but is available as "album only". Mad World on Donnie Darko was one example, but eventually it became available. Right now, there is a Macy Gray(?) song from Deja vu that I am waiting on. Of course, there is no way I am paying $10 for just one song, so they lose that one dollar that they could have earned from me as well. Idiots!...

I understand some artists wanting their albums to be sold in its entirety, but when the same artist release Greatest Hits kind of compilations, that is hypocrisy.
 
Mac OS X Ocelot

Mac OS X Ocelot

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2005
603
0
It sort of defeats the point of selling single songs. iTunes isn't just a way to get albums without leaving your house. It's for getting that one song you want.
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
fusion19 said:
How come there are certain songs on the iTunes Music Store that are "album only"? More specifically, does Apple decide this or is it mandated by the recording studios that provide the music? I'm guessing that it is probably a requirement by the recording studios for letting Apple sell their music on the iTunes Music Store.

I hope Apple gets rid of the "album only" songs soon. I can't tell you how anoying it is to find a good song I want to buy, then find out I have to pay for the whole album to get it. These "album only" songs defeats the main draw of the iTunes Music Store for me: being able to download the individual songs I want without having to pay for the whole album.
Click to expand...

Happens quite often with very long songs. I think almost everything longer than seven minutes is sold as "album only". An extreme case: Mike Oldfields "Amarok". The whole album is just one song, 60 minutes. Can't buy it for £0.79; you have to buy the whole album :D
 
theBB

theBB

macrumors 68020
Jan 3, 2006
2,453
3
gnasher729 said:
Happens quite often with very long songs. I think almost everything longer than seven minutes is sold as "album only". An extreme case: Mike Oldfields "Amarok". The whole album is just one song, 60 minutes. Can't buy it for £0.79; you have to buy the whole album :D
Click to expand...
Well, with long songs, I kind of see the logic behind it. There is this live Miles Davis album, where most of the tracks are album only as each one is about 10 minutes long. Well, OK, I said, fine, but the same songs are available at eMusic by song at about 30cents if you use all of your monthly allowance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom