Apple Working with U2 on New Music Format to Boost Digital Music Sales

[subjonas]

What about giving us the damn lossless files? --'

No freakin kidding. And even more importantly, give us transferable license (or no license...). I don't "buy" digital music for the sole reason that I don't get to own it. I refuse to rent.

 

[Chrisedge]

Wrong, the BEP have been around just as long as U2. Before they hit it big on the charts, they started off in the making undergriund hip hop records

They might have been "around" as long as U2 if you count Will.I.Am as a first grader when U2's first album came out. Will was still in high school when The Joshua Tree came out.

 

[RipsMctits]

>2014
>Buying albums
>shiggy diggy

I really hope the people at Apple aren't this dense. A new format isn't going to boost ****. The people who are going to buy music still, already do that with iTunes and such. Meanwhile, the rest of us have moved on to music streaming services (I use Spotify personally). First Beats, then U2, now this? How old are the people at Apple anyway? How many bad decisions are they going to make in a row?

This makes as much sense as MS buying Minecraft long after the fad died out. Too little, too late. No one cares. No one cares about U2. No one cares about a "new" music format. You're bringing solutions to the wrong "problem". Holy hell.

 

[teslo]

I really hope the people at Apple aren't this dense. A new format isn't going to boost ****. The people who are going to buy music still, already do that with iTunes and such. Meanwhile, the rest of us have moved on to music streaming services (I use Spotify personally). First Beats, then U2, now this? How old are the people at Apple anyway? How many bad decisions are they going to make in a row?

This makes as much sense as MS buying Minecraft long after the fad died out. Too little, too late. No one cares. No one cares about U2. No one cares about a "new" music format. You're bringing solutions to the wrong "problem". Holy hell.

this is true - when you account for yourself, and me, and many other people on the internet. what you're not taking into account is the fact that we are essentially the pioneers. most people on the internet don't know that google isn't the entire internet unto itself, think facebook is the 'greatest newest thing' out there, and get all their online news from Yahoo because they don't even know sites exist outside of what their browser recommended the first time they fired it up. you don't think grandpa would at least give Minecraft the old Farmville Try if it was blasted in his face via the networks he uses day-to-day?

apple (and any other smart company) is good at bringing the habits and behaviors of truly interested people (you and me) to people who aren't technologically inquisitive at all (grandpa and soccermoms AND the kids who learn from them). if they can provide a new method or format that makes it easier for gramps/soccermom (and their profit margin), well... that's been their track record right?

'bringing something to the masses' is an apt way to describe it. we find something we like (if only for a few years), and share it on youtube or reddit or kickstarter and companies pluck these trends and market them in order to see if it's viable with everyone else (the masses).

 

[Yelmurc]

Fixed.

Thanks

 

[840quadra]

Nor can the vast majority of "audiophiles" if they try and pick out the difference in an ABX test.

Oh I would fail, I am far from an audiophile. I just enjoy clarity in my music, and select speakers / headphones that fit my criteria. Some are liked by true Audiophiles, but many would be laughed at (especially speakers i build myself) .

In many cases compressed AAC is fine, however there are a few songs I didn't like the overall tone, and went lossless.

 

[greenmeanie]

Why not let us use Linux Formats?

 

[patent10021]

how great would it be if Apple started their own record label and focused only on indie/unsigned artists - like a iWork suite of apps and networks, but for musicians, artists, managers and promoters, etc.

one can dream...

apps like what? How would money be made?

 

[Chrisedge]

Why not let us use Linux Formats?

Linux is less than 2% of the dying laptop/desktop market. I bet more people saw U2's last tour than use Linux. Lol

 

[Websnapx2]

So why did Apple even bother with the Beats acquisition if they're going to work with U2 on a new Music format? I know Apple wanted the insight the Beats men have on the music industry and their streaming service, but wouldn't the Beats gents have a lot more to say about a new music format than U2?

Just give us non compressed files in iTunes at a lower price point.

Could it be that the Beats app will just stream the new file format instead of the current one?

BTW - Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton are top-notch sound engineers from all the years they have lived in a recording studio since they started from high school. Bono and Edge have been to "creatives" of the group, but the Adam and Larry are the technical experts.

 

[milo]

for the artists (pennies from everyone trumps $10 from a few).

If only it were pennies. $10 from a few trumps streaming royalties when they are not pennies but thousandths of a penny. No artists are making any real money from streaming, the only upside is for lesser known artists who maybe can become more well known.

If you're not seeing the big red "new copy protection and ultra-restrictive DRM" sign here, you're blind.

Never gonna happen. Consumers won't accept DRM again for music, especially if Apple was the only one to add it. DRM just can't be enforced on audio anyway. Even with video it's really weak, they're lucky that enough consumers still accept it.

All I want is the same quality as the studio master, losslessly compressed. Most studio masters these days are 24bit/192kHz.

Not really. The vast majority is 24 bit, but a huge amount is still good old 44.1. Higher sample rates are more of a pain and any improvement in quality is debatable.

No freakin kidding. And even more importantly, give us transferable license (or no license...). I don't "buy" digital music for the sole reason that I don't get to own it. I refuse to rent.

What exactly are you complaining about "transferable"? Without DRM in the music, why is the license even an issue? It's just like buying a record or CD, you pay for it and you can listen to it.

 

[cinealta]

I think they're thinking about going from CD quality (16 bit, 44.1 KHz sample rate) to 24-bit dynamic range with 96 KHz sample rate. It's the 24-bit which will make a ton of difference.

 

[milo]

I think that apple is in the perfect position to revolutionize the music industry. If they can do for musicians what they have done for software developers on their platform then that would be a huge win for artists, and Apple's 30 percent cut would be a huge improvement over current industry deals. I think that we are most of the way there already with digital music stores and streaming, but it's still YouTube that independent artists turn to when they need to be discovered. If Apple can put the whole experience into one $99 a year package like the developer programs are, with top tier recording software, training, marketing, and distribution, then that would be huge.

Now that's interesting stuff. More than some sort of new file format, it would be great to see Apple allow artists to submit their material to iTunes easily and directly instead of having to go through a middleman. If any musician could just upload their music to iTunes and get their cut instead of having to share it with a label or other company, that would be a big deal.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

The biggest problem with music quality is the mastering, no change of formats will solve that, the engineers need to stop mixing music for loudness and then the sound quality of music we get will be drastically improved.

The formats we have are perfectly fine, the last thing we need is yet another Apple-only file type. The high definition thing is all pointless, standard 16-bit 44kHz sampling rate has enough dynamic range to cover everything the human ear can hear, the only reason high res music sounds better is because more attention is paid through all stages of recording and mastering. That's where the emphasis needs to be.

Amen. I Stopped buying CDs a while back because of this.

 

[Peace]

Now that's interesting stuff. More than some sort of new file format, it would be great to see Apple allow artists to submit their material to iTunes easily and directly instead of having to go through a middleman. If any musician could just upload their music to iTunes and get their cut instead of having to share it with a label or other company, that would be a big deal.

That would be a big deal but it won't happen.

A lot of bands make a lot of money touring. Say hello to Ticketmaster,Live Nation,Metropolitan Entertainment and Clear Channel Entertainment.

They control 90 % of the concert venues and about 75 % of radio stations.

 

[gugy]

>2014
>Buying albums
>shiggy diggy

I really hope the people at Apple aren't this dense. A new format isn't going to boost ****. The people who are going to buy music still, already do that with iTunes and such. Meanwhile, the rest of us have moved on to music streaming services (I use Spotify personally). First Beats, then U2, now this? How old are the people at Apple anyway? How many bad decisions are they going to make in a row?

This makes as much sense as MS buying Minecraft long after the fad died out. Too little, too late. No one cares. No one cares about U2. No one cares about a "new" music format. You're bringing solutions to the wrong "problem". Holy hell.

I think most people are missing the idea behind U2 and Beats. It's not about if you like their music or headphones.

Apple is after the talent, leverage and inside connections these two provide.

Iovine and Dr. Dre are respected in the music business as well U2. These folks can help Apple set up deals with the music industry and advance their business model. Plus Apple is looking for their help to create new ways to buy music and distribution. Forget about if you think Beats is crap or U2 are dinosaurs past their prime. That's not really the point of this partnership.

 

[cmaier]

Obviously there is something that can be done. Write a dozen good songs, without listening to rubbish producers who tell you to copy the last hit song you had again and again. Admittedly, it's hard. But people have done it before.

But no techno-gimmick will solve that problem. Unless Apple is intending to form a record label.

 

[rdlink]

Wrong, the BEP have been around just as long as U2. Before they hit it big on the charts, they started off in the making undergriund hip hop records

So, in essence, if you read what I actually wrote I was correct. I said U2 was around long before ANYONE EVER HEARD OF the Blackeyed Peas.

I have a friend who has been recording and releasing CDs for over 15 years. But they haven't sold enough to even pay for pressing costs (It's a labor of love.) Thus, nobody has ever heard of them.

 

[John.B]

Apple should have bonded with Neil Young and his Pono Player. But Neil was smart enough to do it on his own.

Be sure to get back to us and let us know how successful this was.

----------

What is missing in the post is that it has a special DRM. Apple doing philanthropy? What a joke..

There's no DRM on the "Songs of Innocence" album.

MR needs a "BS Flag" smilie.

 

[iWe]

Like… iTunes LP? This already exists. But not that many artists seem to want to bother that often.

The iTunes LPs I've seen haven't managed to replicate the traditional LP experience nor have they've really added anything to it that would enhance the experience. They've been more or less like PDF albums covers with crude navigation clued on them. They feel like 10+ old websites with their simple visuals and limited content. They've been far from any kind of immersive audio visual experience truly developed for the new iDevice age.

 

[rdlink]

I think the point is that people actually like the musicians he listed. Not me personally, but more of the population than U2.

From Wikipedia:

U2 have sold more than 150 million records, placing them among the best-selling music artists in history. With 51.5 million certified units by the RIAA, U2 rank as the 21st-highest-selling music artist in the US. The group's fifth studio album The Joshua Tree is one of the best-selling albums in the US (10 million copies shipped) and worldwide (25 million copies sold). Forbes estimates that U2 earned US$78 million between May 2011 and May 2012, making them the fourth-highest-paid musical artist. The Sunday Times Rich List 2013 estimated the group's collective wealth at €632,535,925.

Now granted, BEPs have enjoyed great success in the last few years, as well. But to say that people "like them" but not U2 is just wrong.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

Cant they just stop doing pushing ****ing U2 already?

 

[guzhogi]

I'm on my break from work, and I apologize for not reading all 9+ pages of comments, but can someone explain to me what the new "Music format" will be? Is it a new file format, a new delivery system, something else entirely? If this has been answered already, I apologize. Feel free to copy & paste!

If it's a new file format, what would this offer that AAC, MP3, FLAC and all the other formats don't offer? I really hope they offer something extra like additional quality, smaller sizes, additional features. I have this fear that it won't provide anything new, but just a way to get people to repurchase the same songs. Hopefully, my fear is not justified.

If it's lossless, what's wrong with FLAC or AIFF (except maybe file size)? Also, if it's higher quality (lossless, 24 bit, whatever), what's the size of the targeted market? Is there enough people who really notice/care about the difference in sound quality to rebuy all their music?

 

[Mike MA]

A potential "designed by U2" label being virtually attached to that new format won't be such an good advertisement if you take the last couple of days into account....

 

[ApfelSchaf]

LOL

Will this new, magical, music format replace crusty old U2 with SISTAR, Brown Eyed Girls, T-ara, 2NE1, or Girls' Generation?

• SISTAR - Alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ZHXVp_wUE
  
• Sistar19 - GNAAL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtVhwsACgTw
  
• Brown Eyed Girls - Abracadabra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofwFr8o8p0Y
  
• T-ara - Number 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk52ypnGs68
  
• 2NE1 - IATB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lSP8Vc3o
  
• GG - Genie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwiSpudKWI

You can thank me later...