Comparing Online Music Offerings 603
hype7 writes "The Wall Street Journal has just posted a comparison of the three main legal music download services: Apple's iTunes Music Store, MusicMatch and Napster v2. The review covers the pros and cons of each of the services, and concludes with: "I'm sure all three services will evolve and get better, and others will enter the fray. But, for now, iTunes is the best choice on Windows.""
What about. (Score:0, Informative)
Um... Ogg Vorbis? (Score:5, Informative)
Better than all of those mentioned (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Sorry, not interested. (Score:0, Informative)
And his comment about "for any reason" - so if the RIAA sues Apple for putting too harsh a DRM on their music, requiring Apple distribute everything in Ogg Vorbis format (yeah, I know, not very likely), he's going to boycott them?
Re:10 times? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:the last line says it all (Score:2, Informative)
iTMS lets you re-download music you've already purchased. It also trashes a moderate number of computers on install, which some may see as a drawback.
MMJB doesn't work with the iPod? Somebody better tell Apple that they shouldn't have shipped it with all the iPods up until now.
The other thing he doesn't cover is that Napster and MMJB downloads will work directly, without laborious circumvention techniques, on many different portable players and also on the computer itself on MMJB, WMP, and Winamp.
iTMS only plays on iTunes or iPod. iThink unless you have an iPod, you're better off with another service.
Re:10 times? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:10 times? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Tipware? (Score:3, Informative)
Oh...AND I AM NOT A TROLL! This is a LEGITIMATE point to make about this news item. Just because reasonably priced download sites now exist, we still all have an obligation to do every thing we can to quash evil, lawyer flinging, corporate association associations like the RIAA and the MPAA.
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Re:the last line says it all (Score:3, Informative)
An updated version (4.1.1) became available for windows yesterday and it addresses the known issues from the initial release last week. read about it here [com.com]
Re:Sorry, not interested. (Score:4, Informative)
It shows you which labels are not affiliated with the RIAA, and thus are 'safe'
Re:No open formats yet... (Score:4, Informative)
Both the Supreme Court and the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 say 'yes'. And, in fact, by the AHRA we pay for those copying rights whenever we buy blank audio CDs.
Re:10 times? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Sorry, not interested. (Score:5, Informative)
Beta-lactam Ring [blrrecords.com]
Elevator Bath [elevatorbath.com]
IDEA [idearecords.com]
Wholly Other [wholly-other.com]
And last but not least, the best independant distributor of anything ever... Forced Exposure [forcedexposure.com]
Re:134 (Score:3, Informative)
Ignoring the legal issues, iTunes (and the other services) do have advantages. iTMS provides a large selection of music, consistent quality, fast downloads, and 30-second previews. p2p is generally a wasteland of mislabled files, corrupted downloads, poor encoding, audio glitches, and slow download times, if you can even find what you're looking for. There are some specialized cases where p2p or binary newsgroups are better (bootlegs, studio outtakes, live recordings, etc), but for commercial music, iTunes, musicmatch, etc. offer a more user-friendly experience.
Re:the last line says it all (Score:3, Informative)
Not true. Once your download has completed, you can't download a song again unless you purchase it again. Apple recommends that you burn a backup of the downloaded song to CD or anything.
It also trashes a moderate number of computers on install, which some may see as a drawback.
As someone just said, they released a version that takes care of that.
MMJB doesn't work with the iPod? Somebody better tell Apple that they shouldn't have shipped it with all the iPods up until now.
MMJB's DRM-infected^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hprotected songs are WMA's, which will not play on the iPod. Regular MP3's and such work just fine, but you can't copy the songs you purchase from their music service (which wasn't around when Apple first packaged the two together).
The other thing he doesn't cover is that Napster and MMJB downloads will work directly, without laborious circumvention techniques, on many different portable players and also on the computer itself on MMJB, WMP, and Winamp.
So they work with anything that can read protected WMA. And I wouldn't call burning and re-ripping laborious.
iTMS only plays on iTunes or iPod. iThink unless you have an iPod, you're better off with another service.
At least one company (I can't remember the name) has said that if the AAC format (the one that iTunes/iPod uses) catches on, then their players will support it. So don't be too sure about the strictly-Apple requirement in the not-so-distant future.
Re:No open formats yet... (Score:3, Informative)
Or are you taking the attitude that the RIAA is going to rule forever, it will never fall, and music lovers everywhere will always be enslaved to whatever terms they dictate? Take a look at history if you believe that.
You just purchase a license to listen to the music.
Congratulations, you've swallowed the RIAA's propaganda. As a matter of law, unless you're dealing with encrypted CDs, you have full rights to make personal-use copies of music or videos you buy, and also to resell the original CD or other product. The only restriction is that you cannot distribute *copies* in any way without permission, or hold profitable public performances.
Re:No open formats yet... (Score:3, Informative)
I don't use iTMS for all my music desires.I'm guessing this, but I'd say the music on my iPod consists of 1/3 ripped tracks from my CD's, 1/3 um, "found" music, and 1/3 songs from iTMS. I like having another option open to me from which I can get the music I want.
Cheap CDs from BMG (Score:2, Informative)
Of course, now I expect the answer will be that $6.99 is still a rip off for a piece of plastic that costs pennies to manufacture.
Re:iTunes can be twice as expensive... (Score:3, Informative)
On compilation CDs, though, it seems that tracks are often missing. I'd guess probably due to licensing issues. Ultra Lounge CDs seem to all be partial... and thus, not available to buy whole. Maybe they'll fill it out later and have it available at a more rational, reduced cost.
Re:Cheap CDs from BMG (Score:3, Informative)
To me, BMG is like dollar movies. You have to wait a little bit for the good stuff to hit the catalog but if you aren't in a big hurry, you can save 50%-plus. They often have really good sales where you can buy one and get two or three free (yeah, they stick it to you on shipping but it is still far cheaper than going to a retail store).
I have wondered about why nobody on here mentions BMG whenever everyone is bitching about high prices for CDs before...and personally, I suspect you are right: some people just like to bitch!
For a list of my music, check out:
http://www.parentingforless.com/mp3trade/
Usurper_ii
Re:iShit (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What about Rhapsody, aka listen.com? (Score:2, Informative)
Another thing Rhapsody does it create a featured playlist / mix each weeek on the main page.
left out two (Score:1, Informative)
I have been doing a technical based comparison, and my own thought is that you'll go where the music is available, and if tied, the best sound quality. My (starting) chart is at http://www.techolio.com/onlinemusic/index.html
F
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Re:Sorry, not interested. (Score:2, Informative)
"And since copyright "theft" is really just infringment, which is a civil matter, all the RIAA can possibly do is sue people."
A common misperception. Here's the portion of copyright law which deals with criminal infringement [copyright.gov].
Additionally, Googling on "criminal copyright infringement" will deliver links to data on criminal cases where copyright infringers have done jail time.
Re:No open formats yet... (Score:2, Informative)
I'm not disagreeing with your statement that a large portion of the $1/song goes to expenses, but a lot of those expenses aren't where you'd think they are. Remember, whereever 2 or 3 million dollars are gathered, there also gather middle managers and expense accounts.
Audio codecs' step function varies over time (Score:2, Informative)
Most JPEG implementations use a constant quantizer matrix for a given "image quality" setting. Given a constant quantizer matrix, JPEG image compression uses the same step function for repeated compression and decompression of the same image. JPEG also works with each DCT block as it finds it and doesn't overlap them; a change to one block won't affect the others. Therefore, if you always use the same quality setting, you can edit small portions of a JPEG image without damaging the rest.
MP3 and Vorbis, on the other hand, changes quantizers based on the observed characteristics of the audio after the frequencies have been convolved with a masking function. This can subtly change some frequency bands' step functions on repeated compression. In addition, MP3 and Vorbis process using an MDCT, which processes overlapping blocks of signal, and an error can spread from block to block on repeated recompression. Heck, MP3 codecs don't even seem to have a consistent idea of the encoder's delay, so blocks may not be aligned from one save to the next.
BMG is worse than Napster was for the artists. (Score:4, Informative)
A user downloading 10 gig of music over WinMX, finding two CDs they like and going out and buying those on a whim gets more money to the artists than buying $1000 worth of CDs from BMG.
Secure Audio Path (Score:2, Informative)
Windows Media Audio with digital restrictions management encoding is encrypted, and it's decrypted, decompressed, and output through a Secure Audio Path (explanation [pineight.com]). But because these services do in fact allow recording audio to a CD-RW disc, the limitation of no direct transcoding to MP3 is only a minor hurdle.
Re:And for those outside the US? (Score:3, Informative)