technology changing, not for the better, and being of mixed minds...

[acroyear]

So, Pixar/Disney have decided that Up's soundtrack won't be released as a CD, but only as a download.  They are doing both major options, mp3 through Amazon (8.99, 256m variable rate) and ac4 through iTunes Plus (still DRM free - 9.99 and includes 7 min video interview).

So my options are

1. Amazon, 'cause mp3 means I don't have to do any further conversions
2. iTunes, 'cause the sound quality may be a little better (when the cd is made for the car and home stereo), I get the extras, but I have to convert to mp3 to be portable (losing a bit more, but not really noticeable 'cause i'm not looking for perfection from my creative zens.
   
3. in a fit of protest, don't bother getting it
4. in a fit of "saving money after spending a lot on a vacation", don't bother getting it
5. in a fit of protest, download the mp3 version illegally from a sharing service

I'm kinda only half-joking about #5, of course, but for the last 3 in general?

I am all for high-quality mp3s becoming the norm for archival releases, releases where the demand for pressing and printing a million items only to sell 2,000 (but needing to stock copies in a million stores).  I'm also in favor of mp3s for "official live bootleg" purposes, a-la Marillion  and King Crimson, since again, it saves the band money on printing/pressing/shipping, and given the recording sources, it ain't gonna get much worse going through one layer of compression.

I have bought the iTunes for 20,000 Leagues and The Black Hole, classic (ancient) Disney movies that I am first to admit have a very limited audience for their scores.

I would certainly rather companies start taking FLAC or APE seriously (lossless compression, like wrapping a .wav file in .zip - it'll only cut the space in half to a quarter, rather than 10%, but burning a cd from it loses nothing), the way that DGMLive does.  In particular, I think the classical and film music would would benefit from more people learning what quality they can keep when paying that little bit more for these formats, especially as it costs the hosting site next to nothing to carry them in addition to the compressed mp3s for the less audio-particular ears.

But for a brand new score to a brand new, and #1 for the weekend, movie, I am seriously annoyed at the idea of having to get it only in a compromised, compressed form.

Comments

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Well, the not doing any future conversions does depend on where you are sending it. Typically I put 128 VBR MP3s on my Sansa, so having it at twice the bitrate would maybe take up twice the space. Not really my preference. Given the choices, I'd probably go with Amazon, since it seems that MP3 is what you mostly standardize on.

Personally, I'd first off rather have the CDs which I can rip to FLAC. Second choice would be a lossless format like FLAC (doesn't Apple have one of those?)

It is the reason why I don't really buy much from online services. Course, I also still need CDs if I want to listen to anything at work, since nothing else will do.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Apple has traditional iTunes (DRM, 128 aac) and the newer iTunes Plus (DRM-free, 256 aac). No lossless is available from them. The only lossless download service I've ever seen anywhere is DGMLive's FLAC, which I use exclusively when I get from DGM.

Of course I'd rather have the CDs, which is what started this rant in the first place. :)