Where does Apple source iTunes Store songs from?

[macdudeguy]

I meet one person after another who thinks iTunes Store tracks are sourced from CDs. But to me this doesn't make any sense because for the amount of tracks available on the store, the number that become newly available regularly... it would take an army.

I was always under the impression that Apple sourced the tracks digitally from the labels, and encoded to AAC from sources that were almost certainly higher up the ladder than CD quality (ie; studio master)

Does anybody know for sure what the lineage of Store songs is?

Thanks.

 

[chrismacguy]

I meet one person after another who thinks iTunes Store tracks are sourced from CDs. But to me this doesn't make any sense because for the amount of tracks available on the store, the number that become newly available regularly... it would take an army.

I was always under the impression that Apple sourced the tracks digitally from the labels, and encoded to AAC from sources that were almost certainly higher up the ladder than CD quality (ie; studio master)

Does anybody know for sure what the lineage of Store songs is?

Thanks.

Im pretty sure Apple gets sent the studio master audio (uncompressed raw audio) and then they compress it to the required format - thats why iTunes Plus had so many tracks available at launch, Apple probably handles the encoding.

 

[macdudeguy]

That makes the most sense to me as well.

But is there any actual proof of it because I'm going to need something to prove the point in the debate I'm having.

 

[robbieduncan]

Studios upload to Apple using a custom application Apple provide them. You can read a little about the requirements for iTunes Connect here: https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wo/0.0.0.9.7.3.1.1

The labels use iTunes Producer (I think): http://gwhiz.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/itunes-producer-under-the-hood/

 

[KeithPratt]

I was always under the impression that Apple sourced the tracks digitally from the labels, and encoded to AAC from sources that were almost certainly higher up the ladder than CD quality (ie; studio master)

I'm going on no evidence, but I wouldn't bet on it being higher than CD quality. It's quite likely studios will send them the tracks they get from CD mastering.