Comments | tongodeon: iTunes Plus

tongodeon

iTunes Plus

May 30, 2007 10:46

Today Apple announced "iTunes Plus". For 30 cents more you can buy 256kbps music without DRM. That's absolutely fucking fantastic.

A little over a year ago I announced that I would never buy music from iTunes because the DRM restricted my fair use rights: I couldn't export clips, remix samples, or share between devices. I did say that I'd ( Read more... )

drm, music, itunes

Comments 11

steeltoe May 30 2007, 18:21:37 UTC

matrushkaka's reason being lack of subtitles on their videos?

The biggest reasno that this excites me is because I can get EMI classical tracks DRM free - if their whole catalog goes up, that will include some hard to find Classical music that I've been reading about but can't buy locally, and can't buy anywhere 1 track at a time.

I *reallllllly* hope they start sending out lossless tracks. While the difference isn't meaningful while I'm listening on my ipod or in my car, in a quiet room with a quality stereo, I want to listen to music that wasn't transcoded to get it to my CD player.

So so so close to perfect. I hope it takes off.

tongodeon May 30 2007, 19:09:58 UTC

While the difference isn't meaningful while I'm listening on my ipod or in my car, in a quiet room with a quality stereo, I want to listen to music that wasn't transcoded to get it to my CD player.

I've got one of the highest-quality dac/amp/headphone setups that it is possible to purchase. If you ever visit I'd like to give you the opportunity to try to guess the difference.

Not because I don't think you can necessarily, but because I honestly don't know whether you can or not.

steeltoe May 30 2007, 19:34:18 UTC

I'm more concerned with the AAC -> WAV conversion when I burn CDs.

There is a subtle difference MP3s and CDs. The noise floor is usually higher than the difference, but it's there. I used to think that people couldn't tell until I played a CD that was a copy of the original, and not the MP3s I thought I was listening to. The original WAV CD was noticeably brighter.

madbodger May 30 2007, 20:37:56 UTC

Depends on the source and the bitrate, but I can usually easily tell the difference between
the original AIFF and an MP3 of the same material. I suspect this is because I have much
more high-frequency hearing than most people, and the mangling of high-frequency
information is hard for me to miss. I much prefer AAC (less mangling for equivalent
compression), but was annoyed by not being able to play purchased AAC files on any
third-party equipment. Until now.

daakroth May 30 2007, 19:59:11 UTC

Down with iTunes Music Store!

I demand subtitled MP3 files!

:)

chemicalpilate May 30 2007, 21:04:21 UTC

I demand subtitled MP3 files!
OK that is definitely FTW.

usernameguy May 31 2007, 02:02:00 UTC

Now I have a vision of a bunch of deafies with placards protesting - loudly, and indeed, sloppily - in front of an Apple Store.

tongodeon May 31 2007, 03:36:21 UTC

I'd invite Pepe to join us protesting the Apple Store but he works there.

kasplode May 30 2007, 23:12:59 UTC

iTunes Plus puts your name in the file

... and email address, apparently.

usernameguy May 31 2007, 02:04:23 UTC

If there's not a scrubber for this already, I'd be really surprised.

PS live journal be havin' problems: [Error: Database handle unavailable at /home/lj/cgi-bin/LJ/User.pm line 346. @ sf-lj-web016]

flwyd May 31 2007, 04:19:52 UTC

I'm excited about this. I've purchased about 15 songs (all unrelated singles) from iTunes and gotten five for free for buying a plane ticket to Norway. So far it's been a question of "Is my desire to listen to this one song worth a dollar and the pride loss at using a format I don't support?" I will gladly pay 30 cents more to have a copy of the file in a format I can philosophically support.

I also have an account at Calabash Music. They provide DRM-free world music mp3s for less than $1 and musicians get 50%. I download the weekly free single, but I haven't bought anything yet because I still feel attached to the CD medium. Partly it's the immediate backup and portability thing. Partly it's good booklets. Partly it's the fact that I enjoy finding surprises at a used CD store more than I like online shopping. Used CDs average $7 or $8, so online purchases don't save much (and may cost more) and I like supporting local businesses. But I know musicians don't get anything directly from used CD sales so maybe I should ( ... )