(no subject)

[dakegra]

ooh, amazon.co.uk are now doing mp3 downloads.

DRM-free mp3 downloads.

Apple? Are you paying attention?

Now. Can I has .flac too?

Comments

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

They're a hell of a lot cheaper than iTunes too. I wonder what the range is like?

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

They've got a selection of albums for 拢3, so I'm giving it a try. Guy on the radio tonight suggested they had *lots* of stuff.

Quality seems pretty good - they've gone for VBR encoding, at about 256kbps, and it's a relatively simple process to buy/download.

Apple need to start paying attention - I've downloaded about three tracks from iTunes and what puts me off is that I can't play them on my mp3 player/phone. Sure, you can burn to CD and re-rip, but the iTunes mp3s aren't as high quality as the Amazon ones (or certainly weren't).

Come on amazon. Music video/films next pls.

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

I've got an iPod, but I was pretty much forced into it by the fact that I'd already bought lots of iTunes music before I got it. :( I'm happy enough with it, but I'd far, far rather buy from a DRM-free source in future, should I ever desert the iPod line. It's ghastly marketing by Apple, locking people into a proprietary format.

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

I'm quite keen on 7digital (because with most things you at least get a choice).

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

7digital?

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

http://www.7digital.com/

Stuff that's not on eMusic I usually find there (i.e. the more mainstream stuff and a better selection of comedy and audiobooks). It's up to the label/artist what format stuff comes in - MP3, AAC (a la iTunes), WMA or all 3. You can keep stuff in a "locker" to download again. You can pay with your mobile, too, which is a way of encouraging teens to pay for music. The thing I like best is being able to pay via Paypal - quite often I have little bits of money in my Paypal account, it's nice being able to spend it on songs.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

ooh, shiny.

Do you get kudos/credit for recommending friends? dakegra at gmail dot com if you do. :-)

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

Don't think so, no. Looks like they've upped the number of formats since I last looked, too: http://www.7digital.com/help?category=35

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

cool, cheers!

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

holy cow. They have a fair selection of Porcupine Tree stuff.

*impressed*

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

That won't last. I think it's a launch offer thing. Outside eMusic-y types, the majors aren't going to let new releases be sold at that price, even in this economic climate, for more than a limited time.

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

Possibly. What did they do in America? They've been established there for a while.

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

Launched cheap, now new releases are up to $12.99 per album/0.99 per track, which puts it on a par with iTunes for new stuff. Back catalogue is cheaper, which should be standard.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

heck, I don't mind paying for my music. What I want is good quality encoding and no DRM so I can play the music wherever I want.

Nine times out of ten a CD gets ripped and filed. I'd happily pay iTunes prices for decent drm-free tunez.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

oh sure, the 拢3 album thing is to get people in.

I'm having to resist the 'one-click' thing. Impressed with the selection so far - loads of Porcupine Tree, some King Crimson (two good tests of scope, imho)

I'm a long-standing fan of emusic though.

[anonymous-greg.livejournal.com]

I downloaded a couple of albums from Amazon.com for the first time last night, and while 256 kbps VBR is pretty decent, I, too, wondered if they'll climb aboard the flac train. (I'm so used to getting flac files from DGMLive, as well as DIME.)

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

iTunes is going to offer a lossless option, apparently. It would make sense for Amazon to follow suit.

256kbps is not to be sneezed at - you'd be hard-pushed to tell the difference, given the kit I listen to it on!

[anonymous-greg.livejournal.com]

I agree about the relative need for high fidelity. I do a lot of my listening over the car stereo. Under those circumstances, 256kbps is just fine.

Just found via google:

Big music services mull 'lossless' tracks
November 7, 2008

[...]

Added Bill Carr, Amazon's vice president of digital media: "We don't have plans to offer it. I think one of the biggest barriers, frankly, is that most MP3 players don't support. As long as that's true, that's going to be an impediment to services carrying it."

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

it's a fair point - 99% of their audience will be more than happy with the current offering.

[anonymous-greg.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :(