the future of recorded music

[Mirror Image]

I'm pretty old-fashioned when it comes to wanting to own the CDs and have all their original artwork. I think this is something that can never be replaced. As a collector, I have found so many rare recordings that are worth more than some Mp3 file. I take pride in my CD collection and I take even greater pride in knowing that CDs are still being offered to those, like me, who prefer to have something tangible right in front of us.

If CDs were to stop being made, I hope they do not, it really wouldn't make a difference at this point because my collecting for the past year or so has been about tying to fill in gaps.

[Scarpia]

Has anyone looked at the Amazon Music Cloud?

Your files are not stored on a local hard drive, no more need to back to duplicate drives, and no need to be rooted to a specific computer.  On paper it sounds great.  But, I am leery of trusting a site such as Amazon, although I'd sooner thrust Amazon than Apple.

Cloud storage is free if you bought the mp3 from Amazon.  I'm not interested in mp3, and storing files in Amazon's cloud that did not come from Amazon is not particularly cheap.

I think I may use it as a backup of a core of critical files (using the free portion) but not for extensive storage of media files not purchased from Amazon.

[Scarpia]

Ditto x2.

But I admit if I were still a rabid pop fan the benefits of downloading might actually appeal, especially since from the day of my first LP I can't remember a single album that satisfied from first song to last. This seems to be the nature of the pop album - a couple of hit songs accompanied by half-hours of filler music which have limited appeal (there are notable exceptions, of course: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc...but even bands like Led Zepplin couldn't fill out entire albums with top-rung music).  So in the pop realm cherry-picking songs might be an enormous advantage since if I don't want to spring for the entire album I can simply download the songs I want. Which means the savings would probably add up quickly!

That can apply to classical as well.  DG issued one of those Original Masters editions and of 10 CDs or so, there was one piece I wanted.  I got four lossless FLAC files from DG's web site for a few bucks and now I have what I want in CD quality sound.   

[Dancing Divertimentian]

That can apply to classical as well.  DG issued one of those Original Masters editions and of 10 CDs or so, there was one piece I wanted.  I got four lossless FLAC files from DG's web site for a few bucks and now I have what I want in CD quality sound.   

Cool!

[Daverz]

That can apply to classical as well.  DG issued one of those Original Masters editions and of 10 CDs or so, there was one piece I wanted.  I got four lossless FLAC files from DG's web site for a few bucks and now I have what I want in CD quality sound.   

Is there a way to get them to remove VAT for non-EU customers?

I was also hoping I could save money by just downloading the tracks for Böhm's Bruckner 3 rather than for the whole album with 3 and 4, but they were too smart for me!  The separate tracks for just 3 cost more than the whole album.

EDIT: That's not quite true.  Their site is just confusing.  On the right of this page they give an option for "Download FLAC Lossless" £11.49, but when I add it to the basket the total becomes $15.49.  Odd, unless they are charging £4 for "shipping".

[Scarpia]

Is there a way to get them to remove VAT for non-EU customers?

I was also hoping I could save money by just downloading the tracks for Böhm's Bruckner 3 rather than for the whole album with 3 and 4, but they were too smart for me!  The separate tracks for just 3 cost more than the whole album.

I seem to recall that the VAT vanished at the last moment (it was quite confusing exactly what they would charge me until the very end.  In my case, it was the "Janacek Quartet" edition and all I wanted was the Janacek Quartet's performance of Janacek.  Way cheaper than the entire thing.

[bigshot]

I remember when cable TV was first introduced. The argument was that eventually, there would be a hundred different channels, all showing different kinds of programming. Flash forward thirty odd years... We have over a hundred different channels, all of which are owned by a handful of media conglomerates. Every channel, with a few exceptions is pretty much the same.

If music all goes into the cloud, we won't get an ocean of back catalog titles and a wide diversity of music. We'll all get the same pressed and processed music that they choose to feed to us. The only people with a diversity of music will be the collectors of arcane physical media.

[Scarpia]

If music all goes into the cloud, we won't get an ocean of back catalog titles and a wide diversity of music. We'll all get the same pressed and processed music that they choose to feed to us. The only people with a diversity of music will be the collectors of arcane physical media.

Cloud or no cloud, you can get the entire Universal Classics back-catalog, including titles that are out-of print, as a lossless download.  I'm anxious to hear how you're going to claim that's bad.

[bigshot]

That isn't the entire back catalog. That's the current catalog. Not the same thing. There appear to be many titles on those labels that are only available on CD or on LP. I did a search for Ligeti and it pulled up six search results, not including my favorite version of Nouvelle Adventures on DGG.

[petrarch]

I did a search for Ligeti and it pulled up six search results, not including my favorite version of Nouvelle Adventures on DGG.

Out curiosity, which version of Nouvelles Aventures is that?

[Daverz]

I seem to recall that the VAT vanished at the last moment (it was quite confusing exactly what they would charge me until the very end.  In my case, it was the "Janacek Quartet" edition and all I wanted was the Janacek Quartet's performance of Janacek.  Way cheaper than the entire thing.

They still wanted to charge me over £12 for 4 tracks.  That's nearly $20.  I was ready to pay it, though, until I got this message:

Sorry, there has been a problem processing the digital items in your order. They will be cancelled and funds returned to your card within 72hrs. We apologise for the inconvenience that this will have caused.

The elves must not be able to produce bits fast enough.

[Scarpia]

That isn't the entire back catalog. That's the current catalog. Not the same thing. There appear to be many titles on those labels that are only available on CD or on LP. I did a search for Ligeti and it pulled up six search results, not including my favorite version of Nouvelle Adventures on DGG.

It's cumulative, and I've found many things there that are not available on physical media, for instance Bruggen's Schubert cycle.  CDs that were issued before they started the download service are not there, but things stay there after the physical media goes out of print.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

This seems to be the nature of the pop album - a couple of hit songs accompanied by half-hours of filler music which have limited appeal (there are notable exceptions, of course:

Yeah, it's for this reason that I said CD was not a good format for pop music. Buying a whole album meant you were paying $15 for 2 or 3 good songs. It wasn't like paying the same money for a Mahler symphony lasting 80 minutes. So the CD format was near-ideal for classicists and an expensive ripoff for popsters (with the few exceptions noted, of course).

I'm pretty old-fashioned when it comes to wanting to own the CDs and have all their original artwork. I think this is something that can never be replaced. As a collector, I have found so many rare recordings that are worth more than some Mp3 file. I take pride in my CD collection and I take even greater pride in knowing that CDs are still being offered to those, like me, who prefer to have something tangible right in front of us.

I'm with you. I like the physicality of the music collection, covers, booklets, sometimes the design of the disc itself. I also like their decorative function (same with books). And I like it when the labels themselves present the disc as part of a stylish package; that seems to be happening more often, in fact.

Ideally, I'd like to go back even further, and be able to play all those LPs I stored years ago in my parents' basement.

[Scarpia]

They still wanted to charge me over £12 for 4 tracks.  That's nearly $20.  I was ready to pay it, though, until I got this message:

Sorry, there has been a problem processing the digital items in your order. They will be cancelled and funds returned to your card within 72hrs. We apologise for the inconvenience that this will have caused.

The elves must not be able to produce bits fast enough.

I found my old invoice, it was 3.56 for four tracks.  I think that was 3.56 pounds, so 6 bucks.  A lot more attractive than paying $64 for the 7CD set (Janacek Quartet Original Masters edition).

In any case, I'd never buy any music tracks with any funky digital rights management, but a FLAC file seems like a reasonable way to go.  I can even burn it to a CD if I want.

Hyperion is another company that distributes lossless FLAC files, and they will give you a pdf file of the booklet as well. 

[Daverz]

I found my old invoice, it was 3.56 for four tracks.  I think that was 3.56 pounds, so 6 bucks.  A lot more attractive than paying $64 for the 7CD set (Janacek Quartet Original Masters edition).

Well, I managed to get my files, but it was over £12 for the 4.  Linn's site is so much easier, and their albums are 24/96 for about the same price.  Well, sorry for all the whining.

[Scarpia]

Well, I managed to get my files, but it was over £12 for the 4.  Linn's site is so much easier, and their albums are 24/96 for about the same price.  Well, sorry for all the whining.

Mine was a short piece.  The price is proportional to the length of the track, roughly, and generally no great bargain.  A used copy can almost always be found for less (though not in my case).

Wouldn't know what to do with 24/96.  I have a DAC that handles it, but the driver won't support anything but 16 bit, 44.1 kHz under Windows 7.

[bigshot]

Out curiosity, which version of Nouvelles Aventures is that?

I apologize. I went to my shelf and I had misremembered the label. It's Cerha- Charlent, Cahn, Pearson on Candide.

But how about searching for my favorite Scheherazade- Previn on Philips

[bigshot]

It's cumulative, and I've found many things there that are not available on physical media, for instance Bruggen's Schubert cycle.

$22 at Amazon?
http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Complete-Symphonies-Franz-Vienna/dp/B000INAVQW/

I'm not opposed to digital files. I have an iTunes library that can play for an entire year without repeating tracks. I listen to that almost exclusively now that I've ripped all those CDs. It's more convenient. But I find much more variety in used physical media than new digital downloads, and I really can't picture that situation getting much better.

[Daverz]

Mine was a short piece.  The price is proportional to the length of the track, roughly, and generally no great bargain.  A used copy can almost always be found for less (though not in my case).

Well, the high price I paid is probably karmic payback for the refund I got today for an Amazon Marketplace CD I thought was defective, but turned out to play fine.  Don't assume nasty ripper errors mean that a CD won't play.

Wouldn't know what to do with 24/96.  I have a DAC that handles it, but the driver won't support anything but 16 bit, 44.1 kHz under Windows 7.

I use a Squeezebox Touch for playback.

[Scarpia]

$22 at Amazon?
http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Complete-Symphonies-Franz-Vienna/dp/B000INAVQW/

I ordered it and it was "temporarily out of stock" for a month before I lost patience and canceled.  DG's web site says it is available only as a download.