Who actually pays for music downloads?

Timalay

I've started using Spotify Premium since I've got an Android phone. That does me for all my music needs.

almillar

jayme1 - I agree with the sentiment (see above, I'm CD only) but you're a bit behind I think with the online stuff. iTunes for one will sell you lossless music, but it does cost more of course.

googler

jayme1 wrote: »

no way would I pay for music downloads, for one you are paying for a lossy mp3 or aac format, whereas if you buy a CD you get lossless, which I then rip to lossless, meaning I can convert it to any format I like without any loss in quality (say if a device can't play the lossless file)

in 5-10 years time when nothing uses (ie) mp3 format any more the people who have bought mp3 music will have to pay again to 'upgrade' to the right format or convert it at great sound quality loss.

I buy all my music in CD format, I would only pay for music downloads if they were in a DRM free lossless format (ie ALAC/FLAC)

You can get downloads in DRM free lossless format already - but they're more expensive than the mp3 downloads.

In 5-10 years, when 24/96 or 24/192 downloads are commonplace, and CDs are seen as a relic from the past, you'll probably be paying again to upgrade from 'CD quality' ......

jayme1

googler wrote: »

You can get downloads in DRM free lossless format already - but they're more expensive than the mp3 downloads.

In 5-10 years, when 24/96 or 24/192 downloads are commonplace, and CDs are seen as a relic from the past, you'll probably be paying again to upgrade from 'CD quality' ......

yep you can, but it is mainly only Classical and Live music being sold lossless (unless you have a link to store with a greater selection, which would be much appreciated)
7digital has a modest wider selection in FLAC (just looked and it even includes N-Dubs! :rotfl:)

It depends who you talk to but I personally am very dubious of 24/96 and 24/192 they are (maybe) mostly a 'gimmick' as the human hearing is not able to hear a step up in quality from the 16/44.1 of CDs,
but I totally agree as data bandwidth becomes ever larger and as storage space becomes gigantic (2TB microSD one day) that I would very much like the digital download at the absolute highest quality, if only because there would be no reason not to

almillar wrote: »

jayme1 - I agree with the sentiment (see above, I'm CD only) but you're a bit behind I think with the online stuff. iTunes for one will sell you lossless music, but it does cost more of course.

no they don't, all the music is in DRM free 256kbs AAC, 7digital is the only 'mainstream' store to sell lossless,
I am more than happy to be proved wrong though, how would I get to the lossless store in itunes?

sharpy2010

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I would hope that the only free downloads people are getting are the legal ones.

How naive.

Torry_Quine

sharpy2010 wrote: »

How naive.

Well I'd rather be naive than cynical!:rotfl:

sharpy2010

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Well I'd rather be naive than cynical!:rotfl:

A good point

Sometimes being a bit "worldly-wise" also means things can seem less magical, which is a shame really.

You've a good point :-)

adonis

I have been downloading the free tracks with Becks Beer, but sometimes the track might not be the version I want and I didn't have the option of hearing the whole track before buying.

Also some artists won't sell one track just the whole album, but if there is only one decent track on it and I am not allowed to buy that track alone then don't complain when when it gets ripped for free.

prowla

I don't consider downloads to be "real" copies of the music, and I tend to pick up on freebies as disposable items, but if I really want an album they I will buy the CD.

However, there are now some genuine high-definition downloads available that exceed the CD spec (not just CD quality ones remixed with no increase in resolution), and that might lead me to reconsider.

But to take advantage of the hi-res audio, I would then need a higher quality reproduction system (DAC), which (a) would have to be good, (b) I could afford.

unsure

" Who actually pays for music downloads" -- honest people who believe artists are entitled to earn a living from their creativity, I count myself among that number. Theft is theft whether it is likely to be prosecuted or not.