BIS Records taken over by Apple

[Roasted Swan]

For those of us outside the Apple ecosystem, ciao, Bis!

Yup - that about sums me up - I so dislike the way that to access apple music you have to embrace their player/downloader etc.  I also like good old fashioned physical media too so I guess I'll be trawling the 2nd hand listings for anything back catalogue from now on......

[71 dB]

For those of us outside the Apple ecosystem, ciao, Bis!

A CD-player + Compact Discs is my "ecosystem." Has been since year 1990.

Apple and BIS may soon find out the classical music community will be walking away from this restrictive model of music distribution. It is time to vote with our wallets and show these technology  companies we don't put up with this crap.

[Maestro267]

¡Viva la revolución!

...or something I guess...

[Madiel]

To be fair we don't actually know that BIS recordings will only be available on Apple. It's just a fear at this point.

I am a bit perturbed by the BIS website disappearing. It was a very nice site, good for searching their extensive catalogue. It's one thing to have a new landing page, but quite another to have everything redirect to that one, link-free page.

[Que]

I kind of expect this to become a new pattern: the big companies buy up the smal independent ones. Mainly for their back catalogue, which will render cost free revenues online. New recordings? Maybe.. But I can't see the likes of Apple puting any money into CD issues.

[Spotted Horses]

I am part of the "Apple Ecosystem" but I see BIS becoming part of Apple Music as problematic. Apple Music just provides the audio, no out of band information (no notes, recording date, recording location, etc). And no real surround sound (not an issue for me, I only listen to two channel). And although they still sell tracks, only lossy compression is available, again with no notes. Speaking for myself, loss of physical media is not an issue, any new release I purchase as a download. But I would want to be able to see notes ("the booklet") and buy a lossless download. If eClassical survives, or distribution on Qobuz or other streaming services survives, I would be satisfied.

And FWIW, you don't need Apple hardware to get into the "Apple Music Ecosystem." I believe Apple Music is available on Windows and Android, as well as MacOS and iOS.

One other little tidbit, at the bottom of a BIS release viewed in Apple Music there is a link to BIS records. For other labels the label name appears in the same spot but it is not a link. Perhaps that's where some version of BIS' web site has gone.

[Roasted Swan]

I kind of expect this to become a new pattern: the big companies buy up the smal independent ones. Mainly for their back catalogue, which will render cost free revenues online. New recordings? Maybe.. But I can't see the likes of Apple puting any money into CD issues.

To the bolded - just so.  Exactly the same thing happened with the sheet music publishing industry.  For years there were literally dozens of publishers often operating in quite niche areas.  In the UK there were many "big" names; Novello, Boosey & Hawkes, Chappells, Chesters, Faber, Bosworth, OUP to name just a few of the major ones.  Most - not all - were bought up by UMP (United Music Publishers) who cherry-picked their repertoire and kept publishing the money-making pieces/editions. 

The real value when these publishers were independent was that it was possible to access archive editions of long-out-of-print works.  Now, as there is no "value" in preserving these archives it is all but impossible to locate/buy/play these works unless it happens to have been scanned onto a portal like IMSLP or you happen across a copy in a 2nd hand shop.  Of course libraries also used to be a great source (certainly in the UK) of hard-to-find music but the music departments in most libraries and the budgets to support them has been decimated.  So there becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that unknown music remains unknown simply because it is all but impossible to find to study/perform.  Therefore "interest" in this music declines, therefore there appears to be no "need" to preserve this music. 

The BBC has one of THE great music libraries - I am sure (if it has not happened allready) that the cuts required to cope with the dwindling licence fee income will hit that archive soon and much of the music held there will literally (I do mean literally) end up in landfill.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

If CDs stop being manufactured, I wonder how this will effect libraries and lending?  I often try new artists and recordings by just browsing through them.  Perhaps they will have a setup like for ebooks and magazines.  During the pandemic, I borrowed a few ebooks through a much larger library (reminds me that I have to renew my card).  After a couple of weeks, the ebooks just go "poof" from your account.

PD

[Madiel]

If CDs stop being manufactured, I wonder how this will effect libraries and lending?  I often try new artists and recordings by just browsing through them.  Perhaps they will have a setup like for ebooks and magazines.  During the pandemic, I borrowed a few ebooks through a much larger library (reminds me that I have to renew my card).  After a couple of weeks, the ebooks just go "poof" from your account.

PD

The Canberra library system already provides me with access to the Naxos Music Library (which I don't really use), and similarly has access to a couple of ebooks systems - which struck me as very hit and miss in terms of catalogue, but it's there.

I'm fairly sure there's access to pop music in some form as well, but I've not made any use of it. There's a good range of other online catalogues available as well. All at no cost to local residents who choose to make use of it.

I can well see that being the way of things in the future.

[Spotted Horses]

If CDs stop being manufactured, I wonder how this will effect libraries and lending?  I often try new artists and recordings by just browsing through them.  Perhaps they will have a setup like for ebooks and magazines.  During the pandemic, I borrowed a few ebooks through a much larger library (reminds me that I have to renew my card).  After a couple of weeks, the ebooks just go "poof" from your account.

PD

I also tried borrowing ebooks from my library, but more than 10 years ago. At that time demand outstripped supply, the library only had a limit number of 'copies' of any given ebook and they were often out. I could reserve it, but it would become available at some arbitrary time and I had a limited time before it went 'poof.' Didn't find it too useful.

The physical browsing aspect is gone, but music streaming services would make it much easier to sample new music, although for a small cost.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The Canberra library system already provides me with access to the Naxos Music Library (which I don't really use), and similarly has access to a couple of ebooks systems - which struck me as very hit and miss in terms of catalogue, but it's there.

I'm fairly sure there's access to pop music in some form as well, but I've not made any use of it. There's a good range of other online catalogues available as well. All at no cost to local residents who choose to make use of it.

I can well see that being the way of things in the future.

Interesting.  So to access the Naxos ML, do you just enter in your library card number on your own computer?

I also tried borrowing ebooks from my library, but more than 10 years ago. At that time demand outstripped supply, the library only had a limit number of 'copies' of any given ebook and they were often out. I could reserve it, but it would become available at some arbitrary time and I had a limited time before it went 'poof.' Didn't find it too useful.

The physical browsing aspect is gone, but music streaming services would make it much easier to sample new music, although for a small cost.

It's been awhile since I used it (over a year), but it worked quite well.  I think that they gave you three days to "pick up" your book.  My local library also has a fair number of magazine subscriptions that one can use (haven't tried those yet).

PD

[Madiel]

Interesting.  So to access the Naxos ML, do you just enter in your library card number on your own computer?

Card number and password, yes. The same information that I use to access the library's catalogue and reserve books. So it's the library's access gate that I'm using, not the same one that a person would use if they signed up to Naxos directly. The web address once I'm in actually reflects this too, and it says "ACT public library" up in the top corner.

I haven't really used it to play music** so I don't know if there are any meaningful differences in how it works compared to a private account. But I haven't encountered any obvious restrictions and it seems to be a very healthy catalogue of albums.

**I mostly use it to take a look at booklets, when they're available (on a par with other streaming services as far as I can tell).

[DavidW]

I also tried borrowing ebooks from my library, but more than 10 years ago. At that time demand outstripped supply, the library only had a limit number of 'copies' of any given ebook and they were often out. I could reserve it, but it would become available at some arbitrary time and I had a limited time before it went 'poof.' Didn't find it too useful.

That hasn't really changed due to the draconian pricing model that publishers impose on libraries.  I get that the libraries pay much more for a physical copy than we would in a bookstore, but those books last DECADES and even the popular ones that are frequently rechecked hold up.

But ebooks will have similar pricing but with very limited terms (1-2 years) limited checkouts (20-40) or both.  The result is that the library will have a far, far smaller ebook collection and it will cost way too much of their budget.  Only a handful of major libraries have decent selections with also enough copies per title to not have wait times of weeks or months.

[Spotted Horses]

That hasn't really changed due to the draconian pricing model that publishers impose on libraries.  I get that the libraries pay much more for a physical copy than we would in a bookstore, but those books last DECADES and even the popular ones that are frequently rechecked hold up.

But ebooks will have similar pricing but with very limited terms (1-2 years) limited checkouts (20-40) or both.  The result is that the library will have a far, far smaller ebook collection and it will cost way too much of their budget.  Only a handful of major libraries have decent selections with also enough copies per title to not have wait times of weeks or months.

In my case the library did not have it's own ebook collection, but was enrolled in some sort of library consortium collection. The problem was that you couldn't get a new release book.

In the interim, I discovered BookBub and now have a backlog of books by my favorite authors that I want to read, at $1.99 each.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

That hasn't really changed due to the draconian pricing model that publishers impose on libraries.  I get that the libraries pay much more for a physical copy than we would in a bookstore, but those books last DECADES and even the popular ones that are frequently rechecked hold up.

But ebooks will have similar pricing but with very limited terms (1-2 years) limited checkouts (20-40) or both.  The result is that the library will have a far, far smaller ebook collection and it will cost way too much of their budget.  Only a handful of major libraries have decent selections with also enough copies per title to not have wait times of weeks or months.

I didn't know about the limited terms and limited checkouts.  I would have thought that they would  have some various options in terms of usage or like in owning more than one ecopy of a popular title. 

PD

p.s.  I know that there are some "library bindings" of some titles (built sturdier than the bookstore copies) and I imagine that those would somewhat more expensive.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

In my case the library did not have it's own ebook collection, but was enrolled in some sort of library consortium collection. The problem was that you couldn't get a new release book.

In the interim, I discovered BookBub and now have a backlog of books by my favorite authors that I want to read, at $1.99 each.

I'll have to check them out. 

PD

[Spotted Horses]

I'll have to check them out. 

PD

You can start by picking genre's you are interested in (literary fiction, biography, SciFi, etc). I discovered some authors that way. But it becomes really useful when you put in your favorite authors and you get a very targeted selection of deals.

[71 dB]

I'm friends with Robert von Bahr and this morning shared my concerns and those of others who worry that BIS will no longer issue SACDs or will only be available for streaming on Apple. He assured me that business will carry on as usual. He didn't elaborate beyond that.

What if mr. Robert von Bahr doesn't understand himself what Apple getting involved means?

[Spotted Horses]

I'm friends with Robert von Bahr and this morning shared my concerns and those of others who worry that BIS will no longer issue SACDs or will only be available for streaming on Apple. He assured me that business will carry on as usual. He didn't elaborate beyond that.

I assume you mean Facebook friends, not "have a beer in a pub" friends. (He also accepted my Facebook friend request some time ago.)

I can't imagine myself purchasing a BIS CD or SACD in the future, but I do want to be able to do lossless downloads of BIS releases on Qobuz, eClassical, etc. That is the thing I have my fingers crossed will not go away.

[San Antone]

I do want to be able to do lossless downloads of BIS releases on Qobuz, eClassical, etc. That is the thing I have my fingers crossed will not go away.

Apple has lossless audio.