Legal Music Download Services Taking Downturn

[Tyler]

I'm sure comes as no surprise to many that the use of "legitimate" download services are starting to decline.  iTunes is still the leader of the pack, but they're also reporting less activity.  It's pretty sad when Apple doesn't really even make any money off of their download service because of royalties and licsensing fees.  They just use iTunes as a launchpad to help iPod sales.  Not to mention that it still costs too much for a whole CD.  12 songs, $12 dollars.  You might as well buy a CD at a store and not be subjective to the DRM.  

"Legitimate" music download services will never suceed until they have something to offer that the free ones don't.  

Let's see, $12 a CD for DRM crippled music of MusicMatch, $13 CD at store without any, all the music you want for free off of emule--priceless.

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/14585">Full Story Here

[bill corcoran]

itms charges $9.99 an album, not $12.  single tracks are 99ÂÃ,¢, making albums with less than 10 songs appropriately less expensive.  i have only purchased two albums via this method, but both times the download speed has been superb.  the quality is excellent - i actually find it indistinguishable from uncompressed audio (of course, that could be my mediocre 2.1 speakers and choice of genre).  my experiences with p2p sharing is that quality and download speed vary wildly (usually on the low end for the stuff i go for).

p2p sharing is OK for sampling stuff, but i really feel like you get what you pay for.  if i actually like the music, i like having the whole kit (hard copy of liner notes, pressed disc, artwork etc.), and to support the band.  so, sometimes itms is adequate, other times it leaves me feeling like i should have tried a little harder to find the real thing.  at least it's quick and usually cheaper.  now if they would ship you the retail disc for the same price...oooh...that would be nice.

[Bryan]

Everyone talks about quality.  I guess I'm both lucky and cursed that I spent one too many days using the table saw with no ear plugs, because if you give me a 128kb song and a 384kb song to listen to, I wouldn't be able to tell you the difference.

-Bryan

[Tyler]

I have some MP3s that are 96kbps, and I can tell those sound kind of crappy.  Anything >= 128 is perfectly acceptable to me.  When downloading, however, I prefer to look for songs >= 192 so I feel like I'm living large.

I really don't think that the bands see much money from regular CD sales or from online music sales.  I've always been a firm supporter that if you want to support a band, see them in concert and buy a $20 tshirt.

[Jerry]

Sometimes I think about buying the T-shirt.  

Then I think about MTV Cribs.

[Tyler]

I personally am not a bery big fan of the really popular music on the radio.  In fact, I hate the radio.  I live off of my iPod.  

To agree with what you said, I do realize that if someone cannot get there 10th Bentley because I "illegally" downloaded some of their music, I'll take that responsibility with a heavy heart.

Most of the bands, however, that I really enjoy, do not have more than one car.  They are the kind of bands that don't have a tour bus--they have a bunch of cars and vans.

And if you're wondering, no, I am not the kind of person that dislikes something just because it is popular.  I just find that most of the popular music really sucks (with some exceptions), and music I really like never makes it on the radio or on MTV.

[bill corcoran]

i have much less sympathy for bands not receiving a fair share of the revenue generated by their CD sales than for bands not having their music purchased because it is freely available through p2p channels.  if they're not getting a big enough cut, it's because they agreed to it, and that's between them and their label.

my experience is that "concerts" are rarely worth it.  the sound quality is almost certainly shit, the crowd is more often than not a bunch of assholes, and $20 is still too much for a t-shirt (or even a ticket, usually).  what the band sees from it can of course vary wildly, too.  touring is expensive, and there is a lot of overhead in the price of admission.  sure, seeing the band in concert and buying a t-shirt is going to support them more, but only because you're throwing more money at them.  personally, i'd rather just buy another disc if they're any good.

i will admit there are acts you have to see.  like wesley willis, RIP.  i may go to hell for it, but damn did i enjoy seeing that man play his keyboard and sing about how he whupped batman's ass.  they wanted something ridiculous like $30+ for a t-shirt when i saw him, of all acts, at the creepy crawl a couple of years back.  and bones bridage at big top in belleville - it don't think it gets any better than that:  skateboarding with a live soundtrack.

[Tyler]

I think a lot of the problems with bands not seeing a fair share of the profits is that to hit it "big", normally you HAVE to sign with a major label.  Major labels, however, tend to take more than their cut before giving the artist a fair share.

I also enjoy concerts quite a bit.  I've been to a good many concerts, and have only been to a couple that were not extremely enjoyable.

[Elizabeth Weber]

To agree with what you said, I do realize that if someone cannot get there 10th Bentley because I "illegally" downloaded some of their music, I'll take that responsibility with a heavy heart.

My heart just skips right along.  I grew a healthy collection of stuff to which I never really listened in the days when I had a CV LAN connection and Napster had not yet lost the war, since I have sought out other p2p shares, but my machine is no longer occupied 24/7 with a constant stream of downloads.

I have never tried the pay services, though ethically I admit they are a good idea.  A band could certainly make profits that way and go completely digital, never pressing an actual album.

Since the aquisition of my 200GB drive, I developed a habit of garnering entire collections of other compressed audiophiles  :-D .  Saves a lot of time and tells you a little bit about the people you know ;) .

My new favorite thing to do though has been buying CD's out of the trunk of the artist themselves.  Looks a little shady on the street, and the music is rarely impressive, but I feel much better supporting these people because these are the people who recorded their music because they have a passion they want to share, not to get noticed on Cribs.  From said practice I have been handsomely rewarded and have music that has been stuck in my head in a good way and some of the most interesting, creative, and amazing presentation styles I have ever seen.  I might dare call it art.

I haven't been to many concerts, but the few I have been to tended to have small nobody bands as openers (this may be universally true, I simply don't consider 2 a large enough sample space to make such a judgement).  TMBG had one such band open for them when they came through town a couple months ago: Common Rotation, which has become my new favorite band.

[DaleDoe]

I developed a habit of garnering entire collections of other compressed audiophiles. Saves a lot of time and tells you a little bit about the people you know

The idea that I am what I listen to is rather scary. :-o

Songs in my collection that probably fit me best:
I can't drive 55--Sammy Hagar
All my life--Foo Fighters
F___ the system--System of a Down
Ode to my car--Adam Sandler
Crazy train--Ozzy Osbourne

A lot of the songs I have actually reflect people I know/have known.
Beautiful disaster--311
Bad Company--Bad Company
My head's in Mississippi--ZZ Top
Call me the Breeze--Lynrd Skynrd
Don't ask me no questions--Lynrd Skynrd

 8-)