It would be interesting if this ended up being an iTunes-exclusive deal. It might push people more towards iTunes and less towards Amazon and the rest of the competition.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple and Record Labels to Bundle Interactive Booklets with Music Downloads
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I remember when I was a younger man, reading the booklets and liner notes on the bus on the way home from town after buying an album. For me, this seems like a somewhat bygone era, where we all used to study the pictures and try to imitate the look/clothes/haircuts of our favourite bands.
Is this still the case with the digital download? Is this extra information still relevant/important? It seems, to me at least, that with the ease I can access all this content (and not have to take a bus) it has all become more disposable and I don't need to spend hours studying one album, I can buy another whilst I make a cup of tea...
Plus I don't really enjoy reading on a computer screen (even though I do it all day, sigh). I shall remain sceptical for the moment. Hopefully I'll be surprised!
Is this still the case with the digital download? Is this extra information still relevant/important? It seems, to me at least, that with the ease I can access all this content (and not have to take a bus) it has all become more disposable and I don't need to spend hours studying one album, I can buy another whilst I make a cup of tea...
Plus I don't really enjoy reading on a computer screen (even though I do it all day, sigh). I shall remain sceptical for the moment. Hopefully I'll be surprised!
Yeah, just what I've been missing ... pages of dedication information and credits.
/pass
... though at least maybe the lyrics sometimes included with cover inserts will be larger ...
... oh wait a minute ... there isn't any new music worth opening any cover art these days anyway ... I'm helplessly trapped in the 80's - 90's.
/pass
... though at least maybe the lyrics sometimes included with cover inserts will be larger ...
... oh wait a minute ... there isn't any new music worth opening any cover art these days anyway ... I'm helplessly trapped in the 80's - 90's.
If they want to stimulate sales the record companies should try signing up bands that have a new sound, not just a "me too," or "bio-engineered" band.
And Apple should push out lossless files just like CDs, which cost about the same as a digital album (at least week of release) but cost much more to distribute. The number 1 reason I don't buy digital music is it's lossy. It may sound "ok" on a iPod or even a mini-stereo, but it sounds paper thin on a full blown stereo system of even moderate quality.
These gimmicks Apple and the record companies are planning are not going to sell one more album because people buy albums for the music. I thought that was basic common sense.
And Apple should push out lossless files just like CDs, which cost about the same as a digital album (at least week of release) but cost much more to distribute. The number 1 reason I don't buy digital music is it's lossy. It may sound "ok" on a iPod or even a mini-stereo, but it sounds paper thin on a full blown stereo system of even moderate quality.
These gimmicks Apple and the record companies are planning are not going to sell one more album because people buy albums for the music. I thought that was basic common sense.
Your observations are dead-on. This is a totally different era. You are reaching back to the days when an album was a "complete story" like a book, vs now where they are 10 individual songs bound together, like a magazine. You listened to the songs sequentially because there was no easy/fast way to skip to the next. To pass the time while listening you'd read the lyrics, look at the art, etc. Now you can just play on iTunes and read the Internet instead.
Of course 98.9% of the music of any era is disposable. For every Led Zepplin there are 9 Ambrosias. So in that regard it's not the media, it's the talent. But I do think the "concept album" is a lost art and unappreciated now because of the easy ability to "skip," "ignore," and "shuffle."
what a crap. music is a commodity and fortunately albums as a format are dead. people want to buy a specific song because they like this song. they don't want to buy 12 songs where 10 are totally crap just to fill up the album or totally different because the artist want's to show his "othere side".
trying to sell albums by adding some pictures is just another marketing gimmick to make people spend more money than they want. i hope this fails miserably.
increase the quality, cut out the labels, cut the costs for music execs, lower the marketing costs, don't pay million dollar contracts for britney spears and the like, lower the prices for itunes songs. in short shrink the business to a healthy size. that's the way to sell more music.
trying to sell albums by adding some pictures is just another marketing gimmick to make people spend more money than they want. i hope this fails miserably.
increase the quality, cut out the labels, cut the costs for music execs, lower the marketing costs, don't pay million dollar contracts for britney spears and the like, lower the prices for itunes songs. in short shrink the business to a healthy size. that's the way to sell more music.
But Wait There's More!
I think there is much more to it than a cocktail of songs, lyrics and pictures....I believe it would also include subscriptions to additional media from the artists, concert info, ticketing [possible bookings via itunes?] new releases, related info, interviews, venue info... Think along the lines of a DVD with all the extra bits and additional to that you get whatever else the artists create and interact with over time...
Now if the above elements were part of the whole parcel and all ported via the Tablet, iPhone, Ipod Touch and iPod then I think we're looking at a much bigger picture here... I think that if this is the case then the publishers would actually be keen as well as the artists.
There's a small company in Melbourne Australia who port artist info on subscription via SD card that is bought. The artist publish more info and the subscriber can download the latest info from them, interviews, tour info and of course music videos and song... That kind of material would be much more of interest to consumers and viable to what the Tablet would likely be a portal too.
What I think it would do is, for as long as the artist is interested in revenue stream, the consumer would basically get hooked into the artists career as a media stream...
¢¢
I think there is much more to it than a cocktail of songs, lyrics and pictures....I believe it would also include subscriptions to additional media from the artists, concert info, ticketing [possible bookings via itunes?] new releases, related info, interviews, venue info... Think along the lines of a DVD with all the extra bits and additional to that you get whatever else the artists create and interact with over time...
Now if the above elements were part of the whole parcel and all ported via the Tablet, iPhone, Ipod Touch and iPod then I think we're looking at a much bigger picture here... I think that if this is the case then the publishers would actually be keen as well as the artists.
There's a small company in Melbourne Australia who port artist info on subscription via SD card that is bought. The artist publish more info and the subscriber can download the latest info from them, interviews, tour info and of course music videos and song... That kind of material would be much more of interest to consumers and viable to what the Tablet would likely be a portal too.
What I think it would do is, for as long as the artist is interested in revenue stream, the consumer would basically get hooked into the artists career as a media stream...
¢¢
Fortunately, it's still possible to find good albums if you know where to look, and it doesn't have to involve major labels.
An album doesn't have to be a "concept album" per se (i.e. every song is a continuation of the exact same theme) in order to be a 'proper' album. Most of my favourite albums are somewhere between the 'concept album' and the 'individual songs bound together'. They are a collection of songs that work individually but are best appreciated when heard together, in order.
I don't believe the album is dead. What's true is that no-one is forced to buy a complete album any more, so there's no excuse for padding out a record with filler. I believe that if an artist provides consistent quality then people will be motivated to come back and get the rest of the album. I hope, though, that this won't kill off great 'album tracks' that don't fit the Single format.
I think there is much more to it than a cocktail of songs, lyrics and pictures....I believe it would also include subscriptions to additional media from the artists, concert info, ticketing [possible bookings via itunes?] new releases, related info, interviews, venue info... Think along the lines of a DVD with all the extra bits and additional to that you get whatever else the artists create and interact with over time...
Now if the above elements were part of the whole parcel and all ported via the Tablet, iPhone, Ipod Touch and iPod then I think we're looking at a much bigger picture here... I think that if this is the case then the publishers would actually be keen as well as the artists.
There's a small company in Melbourne Australia who port artist info on subscription via SD card that is bought. The artist publish more info and the subscriber can download the latest info fromt hem, interviews, tour info and of course music videos and song... That kind of material would be much more of interest to consumers and viable to what the Tablet would likely be a portal too.
¢¢
That's exactly what I was thinking. I think a big chunk of DVD sales is for all the extras on the DVD. Think about an album that include out-takes, alternative endings or lyrics. What I think would be really cool would be an experience that lets listeners feel as though they are part of the creative process from album inception to final production and even distribution.
However, I agree that we'll never get back to the ear of amazing cover art. I remember dating a girl in college and going back to her parent's house one time. This girl's dad was quite an audiophile and had an entire wall 20 foot wall in his basement lined with albums on display from floor to ceiling. It was the coolest thing to be able to walk along and see Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Hendrix, Chicago, Peter Gabriel, Cat Stevens, Jackson 5 and just about any other major artist from the mid-1960s through to the mid-1980s sitting up there.
All well and good, but if the record companies really want people to start buying full albums again, they should give the artists the freedom to create.
Also, pricing albums more aggressively than 99 cents x # of songs might entice people. There's not much incentive to try out a full album when there's no savings over the a la carte pricing.
Also, pricing albums more aggressively than 99 cents x # of songs might entice people. There's not much incentive to try out a full album when there's no savings over the a la carte pricing.
Moronic comments like this sum up the plight of the music industry. For every buyer of classical symphonies, or a complete orchestral film score, or a recording of a live jazz concert, or a recital of lute music, there are 1000 small-minds whose brains demand nothing of an intellectual nature from their music.
To such dullards, the thought of reading about a composer or a period of music history, or a description of an historic recording event, or the libretto of an opera, or instrument-maker describing his art is a total waste of their time. So, in that case, they assume it must be a waste of everyone else's time too.
It turns my gut to think that writers like the poster above make up the majority of music listeners these days. They think a piece of music should be as freely and blandly presented as the next piece of toilet paper on the roll.
Sad, pathetic, narrow-minded... and as worthless as the stuff that the aforementioned toilet paper was designed to clean up.
Seems interesting and i'd like to check it out if they add it to any future albums i plan to purchase.
What i would prefer to see is apple lossless tracks offered at £1 a song max though. That would lead me to move all my album purchases to digital other than limited editions with special goodies.
What i would prefer to see is apple lossless tracks offered at £1 a song max though. That would lead me to move all my album purchases to digital other than limited editions with special goodies.
Its too late, things have changed for good now. Thanks to the success of iTunes music sales are per hit single basis rather than by hit album. That ship has now sailed and what remains is to for the record companies and artist to react to it appropriatly. It never baffles me how the music industry has a foot stuck in the past when confronted with the future. The old days of swimming in cash is over, get over it.
According to this cnet article "Cocktail" isn't really Apple's idea, just Apple's new version of a plan that record companies pitched to Apple well over a year ago.
The ship hasn't sailed for those who appreciate and create serious music. All that's happened is that there are currently thousands of iPod-wielding youths swarming over the decks.
Battery Life!
The most important thing is battery life... it must last long enough!
Otherwise there's no point and it's worthless!
The most important thing is battery life... it must last long enough!
Otherwise there's no point and it's worthless!
I think these things--movies, enhanced music album presentation--are not going to be the "purpose" of the tablet, but rather examples of enhanced functionality that it will have, in addition to all the other currently normal things that people do with their computers. I imagine this as a highly convertible device, one that will dock to a keyboard/external HD for home use, and could be carried with a keyboard or without one (keyboard for writing, without if reading books, listening to music, and watching movies).
Who really sees my album cover art? Me, and that's about it. I've never bought an entire album via iTunes and I probably never will. Marketing a full album will never return to the industry; b/c the fact is these artist sometimes put a horrific sounding song(s) on their albums under the premise that it's gonna sell better if they have twelve songs on the album v. only ten. The public won't get fooled again....