| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Tiny Team Concerts |
Posted - 10/06/2007 : 14:07:11
By and large, I don't buy music in the digital download format.
I only use that for grabbing live boots and/or commercially unavailable stuff.
However, I have kept up with some of the discussions on these boards regarding the pros and cons of buying FBF's recent albums (specifically the Best Of and Bluefinger) via that format. I know some folks have suggested that if one already owns all of Frank's earlier solo stuff and Bluefinger, that the only reason to buy the Best Of is for the radio edit of "Threshold" and the live bonus tracks.
Imagine my surprise to discover quite by accident that right now, plenty of his solo stuff AND Pixies material is available for legal download through Amazon.com at prices much cheaper than iTunes.
Plus, unlike iTunes, these files are at minimum 256 KPS variable bit rate, and a maximum 256 KPS constant rate MP3s with absolutely NO DRM on them whatsoever.
If I understand correctly, according to this ordering page:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5ASY0/ref=sr_f2_album_1/102-6748913-3703321?ie=UTF8&child=B000SG6J5G
one could purchase the 2 CD Best Of set - including ALL 21 live tracks combined from each special edition, for only $15.98, which comes out to about 38 cents per track, and they can be copied, burned, transferred, backed-up etc... as much as one wants, in better fidelity than iTunes!
How this compares with the fidelity and/or pricing of eMusic, I'm not sure, but as most folks here were encouraging joining eMusic just to grab the FB tracks for free as part of their initial trial and then deleting the membership, it may be irrelevant.
Still, 256 KPS DRM-free MP3s of the Bossanova LP are only 65 cents each when the full album is purchased at once.
All apologies if I am behind the curve on this, but their website says it's a brand-new thing that has up till now been in Beta testing.
Has anyone tried this Amazon.com download service?
Doesn't this seem the best bang for the buck as far as quality and having the freedom to do what you'd like with the tracks you've legally purchased (and which implicitly benefit the artists financially)?
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Tiny Team Concerts
"Good music for nice people" |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Tiny Team Concerts |
Posted - 10/06/2007 : 16:30:25
I had forgotten that iTunes now offers those upgraded bitrate files for an extra fee (like I said, I never use this approach to buying music so I haven't really kept up).
I was just surprised that DRM free 256 KPS files could be downloaded legally from a major, establishment website for as little as 38 cents a piece (in the case of the 2-disc Best Of), and even more suprised that I hadn't seen much mention of this online.
I agree that the best option is to simply buy the physical CD, but in that case, you're still looking at buying it three times to get a physical copy of all 21 live tracks, and most everyone here has all the studio cuts on that comp, plus there's already been copious moaning about that set's lack of intriguing packaging...
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Tiny Team Concerts
"Good music for nice people" |
| NimrodsSon |
Posted - 10/06/2007 : 15:21:24
You do realize that for the price of the live tracks alone, you could buy the actual CD, with the uncompressed wav files, case, and artwork, AND the ability to convert it to mp3 yourself at whatever bit rate you want.
I just don't understand why people download music. It's almost always more expensive, and if you buy the CD, you get both the hard copy and the mp3s if you want them. I guess if you just want one or two songs... |
| champkind |
Posted - 10/06/2007 : 14:31:02
I'd like to believe that iTunes would have a lot of their albums in 320 kbps compared to Amazon's 256, buuut if you're not an audiophile that would be a much better deal. You could always just record internally to avoid DRM but you'd get some loss |
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