Obviously you're not looking at Apple's pricing scheme for their TV shows vs. HD TV shows. I figure loseless would be the equivalent of HD.
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Sony BMG to Offer DRM-Free Music on Apple's iTunes?
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You Americans, you're so spoilt for choice. Here in Australia, we have no Amazon MP3 or eMusic. The only real competitor to iTunes in Australia in digital stores is Bigpond, which is conveniently not compatible with iPods because they sell DRM-loaded WMV files.
Does Vodafone have an MP3 service there? The NZ one is very clunky but it does work.
I hope to god that the Sony BMG DRM-Free music will be available in Australia and the rest of the world other than just the US.
It's nice to buy just a song. Most CD's aren't worth buying when they only have 1 or 2 good songs on them.
I do not download from itunes, amazon, etc... because of the lossy formats. When lossless is available and drm free, I'll download.
For some lossless downloads check out hdtracks dot com
And your proof to confirm this is...
Like to know how you "know they will be AIFF format". Honestly, that sounds fairly unlikely.
Sony may now be happy to get DRM tracks onto iTunes... most of their Walkmans play AAC happily via drag and drop. (Some of the walkman players are actually VERY good sound wise and the headphones are a lot better straight out of the box too on the high end ones. Avoid the B Series... they say on their website they can play AAC but they can't!!!) I'm using a set of Sony EX headphones on my iPods as they are more confortable and way better sounding...
Like to know how you "know they will be AIFF format". Honestly, that sounds fairly unlikely.
Sony may now be happy to get DRM tracks onto iTunes... most of their Walkmans play AAC happily via drag and drop. (Some of the walkman players are actually VERY good sound wise and the headphones are a lot better straight out of the box too on the high end ones. Avoid the B Series... they say on their website they can play AAC but they can't!!!) I'm using a set of Sony EX headphones on my iPods as they are more confortable and way better sounding...
Just out of curiosity, how do you store and transfer lossless analog data? I mean there's infinite amount of information after all. In a CD or a FLAC file? Now that is LOSSY compression you see and very poor too. SACD is much better but no real audiophile would consider even that sufficient.
Give me tape and LP purchases from iTunes store and I am in! All digital formats are lossy (CD, FLAC, SACD included) and thus lame by default.
Also give me movies on film and VHS since DVD and bluray are LOSSY and I need lossless no matter the cost!
I'd like to see all tracks on iTunes 256kb.
But . . .
I would ALSO like to see record companies take another stab at high resolution audio using Blu Ray. At least this time around you wouldn't need to buy another player if you already have Blu Ray. Trent Reznor put out a limited Blu Ray of Ghosts I-IV and it's supposed to sound amazing.
Currently I use iTunes plus and standard and buy CDs which I rip at 384kbs.
But . . .
I would ALSO like to see record companies take another stab at high resolution audio using Blu Ray. At least this time around you wouldn't need to buy another player if you already have Blu Ray. Trent Reznor put out a limited Blu Ray of Ghosts I-IV and it's supposed to sound amazing.
Currently I use iTunes plus and standard and buy CDs which I rip at 384kbs.
sorry i meant AAC not AIFF (>_<)
Ah yes, very sorry all. It is AAC, i had confused that with the AIFF.
As of November 11th all new Sony releases on iTunes will be delivered and made available for sale in the iTunes Plus format. What is iTunes Plus? iTunes Plus offers content in a higher quality (256 kbps as opposed to their standard 128 kpbs). There is no digital rights management (DRM), however, all files are still in the Apple proprietary AAC format, NOT MP3. So these files will not play on your phone, Zune, iRiver, etc.only an Apple product (e.g., iPhone, iPod, Nano). Other digital accounts like Amazon, Rhapsody, Walmart.com, and Zune have already been selling distributed content at 256-quality, without DRM but in the open MP3 format. These MP3s will play on all devices including iPods.
As of November 25th, the new Apple/Sony Music agreement is requiring all owned and distributed labels to provide digital booklets in a reader spread. This will be the new standard format.
Ah yes, very sorry all. It is AAC, i had confused that with the AIFF.As of November 11th all new Sony releases on iTunes will be delivered and made available for sale in the iTunes Plus format. What is iTunes Plus? iTunes Plus offers content in a higher quality (256 kbps as opposed to their standard 128 kpbs). There is no digital rights management (DRM), however, all files are still in the Apple proprietary AAC format, NOT MP3. So these files will not play on your phone, Zune, iRiver, etc.only an Apple product (e.g., iPhone, iPod, Nano). Other digital accounts like Amazon, Rhapsody, Walmart.com, and Zune have already been selling distributed content at 256-quality, without DRM but in the open MP3 format. These MP3s will play on all devices including iPods.
As of November 25th, the new Apple/Sony Music agreement is requiring all owned and distributed labels to provide digital booklets in a reader spread. This will be the new standard format.
A lossless and HD music format choice would be nice too. I stopped buying iTunes (even Plus) when I discovered SACDs. Before you go on about there being no SACDs out there, I listen to classical music, and there are 1000s of classical SACDs released.
I definitely think there should be some "iTunes HD audio" option for extreme high-quality music. I never bought any SACDs, but I did buy a DTS audio disc. Woah. I still remember a friend loaning me some Eagles DTS audio disc and showing me how a different singer was coming out of each speaker. That was just awesome.
I'm also intrigued by such things after hooking my A/V receiver back up and watching a couple of Blu-ray movies on it. While watching The Phantom of the Opera, I literally heard stuff in the soundtrack that I had never ever heard before -- and it's "just" a Dolby Digital soundtrack!
I definitely think there's a market for HD music (I'm just using that term since the radio folks went with it) in digital format. The only problem is how to actually get the best out of such sound. I don't think any Macs exactly have the bitchinest audio adapters on the planet, and I don't think there's any optical or coaxial digital adapter made for an iPod or iPhone.
Um, are you trying to be serious? Or do you just like trying to spead rubbish? AAC is not apple proprietary, and will play on a lot of (non Apple) devices
You've hit the nail on the head. It's not even entirely down to laziness, either. If you can't easily leave the house (kids, ill, etc) or office (job, local shops that aren't open after-hours) yet you spend all day near an internet connection, it could very well become good value to pay for the lossless version even if it's close to (or marginally more than) the physical CD price.
But a lossless, transcode-able, can-run-on-most-players-anyway file would be well worth it.
My music acquisition has gone down recently as I buy stuff, yet can't always get to a music shop. And when I do, it's either long queues or the specific album I want isn't in stock.
While I welcome this development, I'd still like to see Amazon offer their music in either MP3 or AAC 256 kbps VBR format. The reason is simple: there are a LOT of iPods out there (Apple has at least 75% of the market for new portable music players!), and all of them can play AAC-encoded files. Also, the Creative ZEN and ZEN X-Fi, the Sandisk Sansa View, and the current Microsoft Zune models support non-DRM'd AAC files, so the potential demand is there, too.
I'm in the category of i won't buy it if the encoding is less than 256. I use iTunes to preview and find new music. If it's not Plus, i don't buy it on iTunes. If i find Plus music on iTunes i like, i'll buy it. If i love it, i'll then go buy the CD. The price is the same between 128 and 256, so why the charge to upgrade it? What's worse is that you can't upgrade specific cd's. YOu have to upgrade all or nothing. I bought a few things from iTunes i don't like. I'd rather not upgrade those. I'd be ok with just being able to upgrade what i wish.
This was always stupid by the music industry. They don't know how to play industry politics. If they tried to remove Apple's dominance by supporting Amazon, they'd simply shift the monopoly, not remove it.
Besides, Apple doesn't have dominance JUST for the iTunes Store. It's an important part of it, but the hardware is the main reason people buy iPods/iPhones. It's a complete integrated solution. No hassle, no fuss.
Besides, Apple doesn't have dominance JUST for the iTunes Store. It's an important part of it, but the hardware is the main reason people buy iPods/iPhones. It's a complete integrated solution. No hassle, no fuss.
Haven't bought anything tagged under the Sony BMG tag in years. Sony can go f themselves.
Heh, seems like way to little, way way way to late.
Heh, seems like way to little, way way way to late.
i haven't really bought any itunes plus music. i might give it a look since there should now be more to choose from
Yes, Apple is letting you download an *entire, larger* copy of the same song that you already bought, so there is an upgrade fee. You're getting 2 full songs for the price of 1 1/6 or something.
This benefits apple too, if everyone buys songs at 256kbps instead of 128kbps, they run out of space on their iPods twice as fast and need to upgrade.
I think the best solution is to allow DRM-free tracks at a bitrate of your choosing. Or as others have said, lossless.
But really it would be nice to have an option in the Store Preferences for your "purchase bitrate", and have it give you an estimate of how many songs will fit on your device at that bitrate. Apple's 8GB = 2,000 songs claim will be more and more of a lie as 128kbps tracks become more scarce.
I think the best solution is to allow DRM-free tracks at a bitrate of your choosing. Or as others have said, lossless.
But really it would be nice to have an option in the Store Preferences for your "purchase bitrate", and have it give you an estimate of how many songs will fit on your device at that bitrate. Apple's 8GB = 2,000 songs claim will be more and more of a lie as 128kbps tracks become more scarce.
As of November 11th all new Sony releases on iTunes will be delivered and made available for sale in the iTunes Plus format. What is iTunes Plus? iTunes Plus offers content in a higher quality (256 kbps as opposed to their standard 128 kpbs). There is no digital rights management (DRM), however, all files are still in the Apple proprietary AAC format, NOT MP3. So these files will not play on your phone, Zune, iRiver, etc.—only an Apple product (e.g., iPhone, iPod, Nano).
Zune supports AAC. Microsoft can do that because AAC is not a proprietary Apple format - Apple doesn't own it at all. It's simply a newer (and better) codec than MP3. BTW MP3 is owned by Fraunhoffer, and requires license fees to be paid by commercial entities creating decoders.
You might want to do some reading...
As of November 11th all new Sony releases on iTunes will be delivered and made available for sale in the iTunes Plus format. What is iTunes Plus? iTunes Plus offers content in a higher quality (256 kbps as opposed to their standard 128 kpbs). There is no digital rights management (DRM), however, all files are still in the Apple proprietary AAC format, NOT MP3. So these files will not play on your phone, Zune, iRiver, etc.only an Apple product (e.g., iPhone, iPod, Nano). Other digital accounts like Amazon, Rhapsody, Walmart.com, and Zune have already been selling distributed content at 256-quality, without DRM but in the open MP3 format. These MP3s will play on all devices including iPods.
As of November 25th, the new Apple/Sony Music agreement is requiring all owned and distributed labels to provide digital booklets in a reader spread. This will be the new standard format.
AAC isn't an Apple proprietary format. The Zune supports it, and, IIRC so do Sony's own Walkman phones (I had one in the past, and I remember AAC files working on it).
