that's interesting Andrew, so the rise in legal digital downloads does not make up for the fall in CD sales. Can't say I am entirely surprised, overhearing my students' music discussions, legal purchases don't seem to be overly popular with the undergrad crowd.
The_Lhc
Well-known member
Helmut80 said:
I think it's more that legal downloads give the consumer the ability to pick and choose which tracks they want from an album, rather than simply buying the entire CD (although generally speaking beyond a certain number of tracks it's probably cheaper to buy the album). It would be interesting to see what the figures looked like if partial album downloads (for example if someone bought half the tracks on a CD) were counted towards album sales. Someone downloading an album of 12 tracks but leaving off one track because they don't like it may not register as an album sale but for all intents and purposes it is. That might skew the figures a little.
Paul.
Well-known member
Apparently Apple have over 150,000,000 individual credit card details on file in the iTunes store. That's got to be a pretty big slice of the singles market at least.
Paul Hobbs said:
I am assuming this figure includes anyone with an iTunes account, even if you don't use it? I don't think you can have one without putting in debit/credit card details, even when it's just for free apps
Helmut80 said:
You can have a iTunes account without a credit/debit card if you use an iTunes voucher. You can even set one up to to rip a digital copy of a movie from a bd combo pack. I have a US iTunes account which was set up using the digital copy of The Watchmen which came with my US version of the BD. I can get free apps and all the iTunes freebies with no problems. They sync with my iPad and Touch fine.
Paul.
Well-known member
It doesn't include free accounts, but that is a relatively new addition in it self. Obviously there will be a percentage of non users, Just as spotify will have. I have a spotify account which I set up and never used. I tend to leave the mrs account left logged in.
I think spotify is a great tool for discovering new music, but I would never pay for a spotify account since the artists make next to no money out of it. It's barely better than bit torrent or buying second hand cd's.
I think spotify is a great tool for discovering new music, but I would never pay for a spotify account since the artists make next to no money out of it. It's barely better than bit torrent or buying second hand cd's.
manicm
Well-known member
1. Granted, he's not Mr Popularity right now, but barely a month after Bryan Ferry's CD Olympia was released on Amazon it went under 5 quid. And after a month since release many other CDs fall under 10 quid at most.
2. That Apple is considering higher quality music must count for something. 7Digital as well.
3. If the RIAA had any common sense they would look out for the customer or meet halfway to prevent piracy. And with with rapidly declining music sales their very reason for existing would cease. If the RIAA's job is to protect the industry they're not doing a very good job right now.
4. It's gratifying to know people like Radiohead are taking matters into their own hands, I'd wish more artists would do this.
5. If 'there's no requirement for Amazon and iTunes to offer anything else' then piracy wins and the industry has lost already, and this matter of falling CD sales, or downloads for that matter is moot.
2. That Apple is considering higher quality music must count for something. 7Digital as well.
3. If the RIAA had any common sense they would look out for the customer or meet halfway to prevent piracy. And with with rapidly declining music sales their very reason for existing would cease. If the RIAA's job is to protect the industry they're not doing a very good job right now.
4. It's gratifying to know people like Radiohead are taking matters into their own hands, I'd wish more artists would do this.
5. If 'there's no requirement for Amazon and iTunes to offer anything else' then piracy wins and the industry has lost already, and this matter of falling CD sales, or downloads for that matter is moot.
The_Lhc
Well-known member
manicm said:
I'm not sure how you work that out, CD sales are falling but download sales aren't, that implies that the consumer is happy with the quality they're getting, if download sales start to fall and the reason is found to be due to quality issues then you'd see bitrates shoot up pretty quickly but that isn't the case.
The_Lhc said:
I disagree. It doesn't necessarily mean that consumers are happy. I know quite a few people who are not into hifi but still not happy with legal download quality. It is just that convenience still trumps everything else.
i wonder how much you tube has been a factor in less cd sales, illegal downloads are already old news and have been replaced by the free jukebox that is youtube.
if big record labels think tackling illegal downloads is still a main issue, they are still behind the times.
go to any student party and you will see youtube on, with people taking turns in picking a tune, its pretty social, and free. there are even programs to copy the music strait off youtube, and even ones to mix 2 youtunes together.
the choice is far greater than free illegal downloads. try and find a torrent of a recently released drum and bass tune and it is difficult, and a lot of effort to find what you want, but everything is on youtube, most of them posted by the artist/label themselves (not including main stream music). youtube is also great for finding new songs, by looking at random peoples playlists ect.
if big record labels think tackling illegal downloads is still a main issue, they are still behind the times.
go to any student party and you will see youtube on, with people taking turns in picking a tune, its pretty social, and free. there are even programs to copy the music strait off youtube, and even ones to mix 2 youtunes together.
the choice is far greater than free illegal downloads. try and find a torrent of a recently released drum and bass tune and it is difficult, and a lot of effort to find what you want, but everything is on youtube, most of them posted by the artist/label themselves (not including main stream music). youtube is also great for finding new songs, by looking at random peoples playlists ect.
It is obvious that with all the digital devices out there that downloading will end physical cd's. Since the advent of the MP3 quality to the masses is irrelevant as between 254 and 320Kbps the sound quality is ok, which to the average punter is all they really need.
As for me the future is starting to look better. I am a person who wants as high a resolution as I can get so, with Rush and Brian Eno recently making High Res versions of music available, there is a chance that high Res downloads will widen in choice.
I see 24 bit downloads gaining in popularity and considering the cost of having them available in comparison to physical media is a no contest I believe I will have to accept the future but also believe that my wish for high res will be catered for.
Technology is making it easier and more accessable to do things on the fly, I accept that and by buying high res downloads along with others who like high quality, the providers will keep us satisfied.
Also I hope that they then release catalogue items in this format and they will have me buying again. CD's will not die out completely rather like vinyl hasn't but they will not last for much longer considering the pace at which the download market is growing.
Rather as Andrew put it earlier the consumer buys enough of something in a particular way then the providers will find the cheapest and most profitable way to meet that demand.
As for me the future is starting to look better. I am a person who wants as high a resolution as I can get so, with Rush and Brian Eno recently making High Res versions of music available, there is a chance that high Res downloads will widen in choice.
I see 24 bit downloads gaining in popularity and considering the cost of having them available in comparison to physical media is a no contest I believe I will have to accept the future but also believe that my wish for high res will be catered for.
Technology is making it easier and more accessable to do things on the fly, I accept that and by buying high res downloads along with others who like high quality, the providers will keep us satisfied.
Also I hope that they then release catalogue items in this format and they will have me buying again. CD's will not die out completely rather like vinyl hasn't but they will not last for much longer considering the pace at which the download market is growing.
Rather as Andrew put it earlier the consumer buys enough of something in a particular way then the providers will find the cheapest and most profitable way to meet that demand.
Paul.
Well-known member
basshead said:
I installed Airfoil on my girlfriends macbook, and she constantly listens to really nasty quality music from youtube on my system, makes my ears bleed!
Paul Hobbs said:
i hate the quality too. a few years ago i used to try and get my mates to play music off our laptops or cd's for the quality..... i got some funny looks. most people i know havent even noticed the quality difference, it's not that they dont care or value other things more, they just dont notice. too busy listening to the music rather than the quality i guess.
i'm quite jealous of them.
manicm
Well-known member
The_Lhc
Well-known member
manicm said:
Source? Sales of albums as discrete units might have but that doesn't take into people cherry picking tracks from albums.
Alec
Well-known member
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