Classical Convert

Friends Don’t Let Friends Use iTunes

The subject of where to get one’s non-CD music from (because that’s the way we roll these days) has come up several times before. In the last edition Dennis commented on his surprise that more people hadn’t left the mostly still DRM encumbered and low quality lands of iTunes for the emerald pastures of Amazon (which offers 256Kbps audio, DRM free). Over at Electronista today they have a post on exactly that issue.

A recent industrial research survey by the NPD group shows that only 10% of Amazon’s users are converts from iTunes, and iTunes also only holds 6% of the total market share of music sales in the US (compared to 19% for iTunes, 15% for Wal-Mart and 13% for Best Buy) which is actually a decrease in relative market share from 6.7% last spring.

Maria commented last time that she though the average iTunes user probably was just buying a couple of songs they heard on the radio, and likely doesn’t care about 128Kbps bitrates. I think that’s bang on. The thing about Apple is that everyone and their mom recognizes the brandname instantly. I would hazard a pretty whopping guess that the majority of people do not distinguish between “iPod” and “MP3 player” or “online MP3 retailer” and “iTunes”, let alone caring about the difference between 128Kbps and 256Kbps or AAC vs. MP3. They just want to get a copy of “Soulja Boy” they can play on their pink iPod Nano.

In fact, since most of the music purchasing audience probably doesn’t give a crap about technical specifications at all, it’s not terribly surprising that more companies haven’t pushed ridiculously-high-quality (specifically, lossless) digital recordings. The increase in users this would attract versus the expenditure is probably negligible for outlets which make most of their money from mass-market sales.

On the other hand, this is probably why DG is very smart to have 320Kbps audio available. Classical listeners are stereotypically extremely concerned with audio quality, and a classical store offering higher quality recordings will poach a significant fraction of classical downloaders from other sources. I would guess the same is true for jazz as well, another genre with more than it’s fair share of audiophiles, but since I can’t stand jazz I dunno if there are any specialty high-quality retailers out there.
In the end, there has to be a financial incentive for a company to offer high quality recordings, and currently there is no widespread public demand for this. Joe Consumer is far more concerned with having a pretty interface than downloading DRM free music. I suspect this will only change when either Amazon becomes a real threat to iTunes, or when seamless transferral of music to relatively high quality reproduction systems (see: not listening through crappy earbuds) is commonplace. Or perhaps music will get dragged along with the demand for HD video transmissions.

Here’s to the day when we can download lossless HD music in glorious 50.1 surround sound. Until then I am pretty content with 320Kbps.

Tags: amazon, dg, ipod, itunes, mp3

David Lynch Blasts Phone Mediated Media (NSFW-ish)

Here is the inimitable and fabulous Lynch in a delightfully derogatory spoof of the irritating iPhone ads. Specifically, he is dissing the experience of watching of movies via the miniscule screen and sound source of the phone.

Warning: he says fuck, so you might not want to watch at work.

Although music is less limited in this kind of circumstance (after all, if you’ve got earphones in you’re directly hooked up, but there isn’t an equivalent input for vision, we’re still waiting for retinal laser projection) it’s still a related problem, what with the low bitrates, over-compression, horrible earbuds, etc. Plus, David Lynch kicks arse.

Cheap Earbuds Suck

Gizmodo has a comparison up of replacement earbuds to the ghastly buggers that come free with almost every MP3 player out there. However, their conclusion is that those ubiquitous bright white iPod earphones actually sound quite good… when compared to a bunch of other crappy earphones. The comments in the story have some interesting recommendations though (but naturally span the range from clueless Britney fan to overly prodigal audiophile)

What would be really interesting to see is a review encompassing the key $20-$50 range, which is more typical of people who want decent sound quality without paying extortionate and exorbitant amounts of money. I’ve been pretty happy with my $45 Sennheisers. They’re about 3967 times more comfortable than the ergonomic monstrosities which I got with my player, and sound a hell of a lot better.They also seem like a good balance between cost and quality, given that they tend to be used in a noisy environment.

More MP3s: I heart you, Deutsche Grammophon!

Holy crap, DG just started a new online music store, and it’s almost perfect:

• 320kbps MP3s with no DRM limitations -  this is easily the highest quality music you are going to get from any of the online music stores. If you can distinguish this from CD audio you have extraordinarily good ears and an extremely expensive stereo.
• Liner notes - You get a PDF download of the liner note booklet with each album you buy. Hooray!
• Out of print CDs - They have over 600 out of print CDs available for download.
• Web-based download system - No stupid front-end program is needed, so you can download stuff directly from the webpage, using any operating system you like.
• A-la-carte shopping - It’s not subscription based, individual tracks vary depending on length (but not using stupidly directly proportional pricing, there are a few tiers, just as I hoped) but pretty much everyone will probably download a whole CD for around $11.

It looks like the last few nails are getting hammered into my CD buying activities. This gives you almost identical sound to a CD, as well as the liner notes, but it’s near instant and already encoded as MP3. Thanks DG!

My mp3 Player and Stereo Should Chat to Each Other

Today I was listening to (one of my utmost, blab on about favorites) Shostakovich 15, as I walked back in the depressingly early twilight. The first Sunday in November is way too soon away. That particular symphony has a huge mother of a build-up and climax in the last movement. It’s a kind of dreary passacaglia based on the invasion theme from the seventh symphony lasting something like five minutes, before screeches in the woodwinds push it over into an even more morose conclusion.

It started on the far side of the bridge, and so by the time I pranced up the road to my front door (well, prancing really isn’t so appropriate here, what’s a bit more apt… dragged, limped, something droopy and miserable) the music was almost peaking… and then I’m home. Bad timing. Closing the door should coincide with a natural stopping point in the music, not the middle of a crescendo. I don’t like keeping my headphones on indoors as I can’t hear any flatmates or assassins.

However, this time it wasn’t a problem. As I reached my room my mp3 player vibrated to let me know that it’s successfully made contact with the stereo over wifi, and now they both know which piece I am listening to and where in the piece I am currently at. I just have to press a button, and bam - the stereo starts playing at exactly the same point as the mp3 player is up to. It’s a seamless handover of music.

Well, actually of course that isn’t what happened at all, because neither of my music systems are that sophisticated. However, it would be pretty trivial to set up something like that with the newer stereos and mps. In a few years when you have your friends over, you’ll all be able to take turns ordering the stereo around with your iPods, picking and mixing across all the playlists floating in waves through the room.