On a related note, The variable pricing scheme is in effect as of today. And it's a lot worse than I ad anticipated.
I thought; Old catalog at 0.69, New hit songs at 1.29, and everything in between at 0.99.
However, just go look at Supertramp's discography... it's a mix of the 3 price points... an absolute mess. This is gonna suck for everybody, very confusing for end users and all. I see no reason why Supertramp's entire discography shouldn't be at $0.69.
I was waiting for all my Protected Tracks to be available for iTunes Plus Upgrades before hitting the button, but it's stuck with several of the most important albums still not available for upgrade. Not impressed.
I have DRMd tracks in my library and I can see the iTunes Plus versions are in the store but I'm not being offered the opportunity to upgrade. Is there anything I can do to force it?
I called Apple about this, the person I spoke to said it had to do with the publisher/artist not getting around to making the plus upgradable. He said some are lagging their feet and some may not allow the 30 cent upgrade at all, he said didn't know for sure, it was up to them, not Apple. He unofficially suggested waiting another month for straggler artists/publishers to make their plus songs available for the 30 cent upgrade price. The only way to force it is to re-purchase the songs at full price (this is stupid if the publishers think people will pay full price for songs they've already purchased, 30 cents is better than nothing).
I already own the music! Since the DRM-free version is not (& may never be) available via iTunes, I am forced to get it from different avenues (without wasting a CD & importing it back). Seconds versus 10 minutes to burn & reimport.
Geez, bite my head off with personal slander.
You don't really "own" the music of course. You bought a version of it with DRM and agreed to those terms and conditions when you bought it (which of course you could have purchased on CD or elsewhere if you didn't like them). Just chill out until the studios get their acts together and the tracks show up in the new format. P2P isn't the way to go.
I hadn't thought of this being the reason. Some songs are missing. I found them, looked later, but they not were there.
Clarence Carter - Strokin'
Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom
There are some songs that artists just don't want to release for electronic sale. If they think this is going to force people to buy a CD, they are probably wrong. They are missing a lot of easy money!
Apple did sent out a warning it would remove all protected songs wich where not replaced by the labels. All labels got a mail in januari asking to upload all songs that where encoded with the early versions of iTunes Producer. If a song or album has been removed this means the labels didn't upload it again. I myself have still a few albums that are pulled of because I still need to get hold of the master copy to upload it again.
Quote:
After March 31, only content in the iTunes Plus format will be available for purchase on the Store. Please check your catalog status report within the Catalog Reports module. This report will list in detail the existing format of your content in our system as well as current iTunes Plus clearance settings. PLEASE NOTE: Older catalog audio may need to be updated to iTunes Plus - it is important that you inspect the current status. You can download these reports via iTunes Connect. Please pay special attention to Column K (entitled All Tracks in iTunes Plus Audio Format) for details. A TRUE status means that the audio has already been delivered in iTunes Plus format. A FALSE status means that the audio needs to be re-encoded and redelivered.
If your content is already in the correct audio format for iTunes Plus indicated by the TRUE status in your iTunes Plus report but contains an "N" for your territory products, this means that you will need to mark the respective content as "Cleared for iTunes Plus" in iTunes Connect. PLEASE NOTE: Any content that is not marked as "Cleared for iTunes Plus" will no longer be sold on iTunes after March 31.
I've been upgrading because Apple announced iTunes would be 100% iTunes plus. Now I find that 1/3 of my iTunes store library has not been upgraded as of today. Additionally, 1/4 of those that have not been upgraded have been pulled altogether. So I have about 430 songs in limbo. I'm outraged at this "unsaid, unspoken" story Apple has refused to tell.
Here's some of what has been pulled altogether from the store:
ARTIST/ALBUM
*electronic, twisted tenderness
*gotan, la revancha del
*sakamoto, 1996
*various, The Bach Collection
*various, Baroque Brass
*various, The Company
*various, The complete mozart edition
*?, Cornbread and Cabbage Greens
*Alfredo Rodriguez 1, Cubanismo
*Elfman, Serenada Schizophrana
*Jesse Cook
*various, Mento Madness
*The Greatest ? Moments ever (several albums)
And again, I have over 400 other songs that have not been upgraded. All of which are listed as iTunes plus songs.
Pretty disappointing, one of the albums in my cart went away but it's still available DRM free on amazon.
And I have seen VERY little at $.69, I have a ton of really obscure stuff on a possible buy list, and not a single track is $.69. Is there anything remotely recent at that price?
Also, it looks like there are a bunch of artists where they have exactly ONE song from that artist at $.69 and the rest are $.99 or more, pretty lame and it sure looks like they are trying to get away with as few at that price as possible.
Any way to search the database and see how many there are at the 69 and 129 price points?
I was wondering what happened to my iTunes cart! I lost about 15 songs that I'd intended to buy, but I can always find them someplace else. I wonder why they didn't warn us, it would have been the decent thing to do. I will definitely be spending more with Amazon instead of iTunes, but I have gift cards that only work with iTunes. Yesterday I bought the songs I would have been most upset if they'd disappeared- those that still remained that is. Thanks for the story.
Difference is minor, most people wouldn't notice it/don't care.
It's a legitimate issue. Many will notice and do care.
Quote:
I don't know about your country, but CDs (or some other physical medium) will be around for many years to come.
CDs are also subject to be scratched and damaged. Also, CDs are not considered archive quality. Storing them on disk and making backups is a much better procedure.
Quote:
There is still a lot of music not available legally online, and the problem is worse for things like movies, books, etc. But more or less, it's true. Which can be quite frustrating, given that people who buy CDs often pay extra. \
While I don't advocate piracy, the operative word is "legally" online. People have different means of reconciling their actions. For many, if the product is not offered legally on-line, then obtaining it illegally isn't actually a missed sale.
Galley wrote:
Quote:
Difference is minor, most people wouldn't notice it/don't care.
Have fun paying the full CD price for those one hit wonders...
malax wrote:
Quote:
Just chill out until the studios get their acts together and the tracks show up in the new format. P2P isn't the way to go.
Generally speaking, P2P isn't the way to go. However, I do have to admit that P2P is responsible for much of the positive change in the music industry. The labels wouldn't have allowed Apple to distribute their music if it wasn't for the need to fight P2P. The music industry wouldn't allow the sale single songs if it weren't for P2P, and certainly not at the 99 cent price. Finally, the music industry wouldn't allow DRM free distribution if it weren't for the threat of P2P. In many ways, P2P downloads serve as a means of keeping the record labels in check. If they get to greedy (as they've done in the past), they'll again be faced with a backlash from consumers.
CDs are also subject to be scratched and damaged. Also, CDs are not considered archive quality. Storing them on disk and making backups is a much better procedure.
I doubt that hard drives are considered archive medium, so saying that you don't think CDs are archival sounds like a convenient omission or doubletalk.
Optical discs can get scratched, though it usually takes abuse to get irrecoverably scratched. Out of maybe a thousand pressed optical discs that I own, I think I've maybe lost one due to disc damage. There's even less risk as CDs are rarely used, imported once and then filed away in a safe place.
On a related note, The variable pricing scheme is in effect as of today. And it's a lot worse than I ad anticipated.
I thought; Old catalog at 0.69, New hit songs at 1.29, and everything in between at 0.99.
However, just go look at Supertramp's discography... it's a mix of the 3 price points... an absolute mess. This is gonna suck for everybody, very confusing for end users and all. I see no reason why Supertramp's entire discography shouldn't be at $0.69.
Licensing schemes vary by country-- in the US the entire catalogue is .99¢
Comments
I have been waiting for Trapt - Headstrong to be upgraded to iTunes Plus before I purchase...
This song is now no longer in the UK store
CDs have no upgrade fees, which is why I will be sticking with them.
You will receive free upgrades to better quality releases, such as Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio etc.? Lucky you!
Or is it that you are confused with the concepts involved here. CD is a recording. AAC file is a recording. Both have upgrade paths that cost money.
I thought; Old catalog at 0.69, New hit songs at 1.29, and everything in between at 0.99.
However, just go look at Supertramp's discography... it's a mix of the 3 price points... an absolute mess. This is gonna suck for everybody, very confusing for end users and all. I see no reason why Supertramp's entire discography shouldn't be at $0.69.
Why not just use Requiem?
It's not just about DRM free. 256 from 128 is a welcome and noticeable difference in sound quality.
I have DRMd tracks in my library and I can see the iTunes Plus versions are in the store but I'm not being offered the opportunity to upgrade. Is there anything I can do to force it?
I called Apple about this, the person I spoke to said it had to do with the publisher/artist not getting around to making the plus upgradable. He said some are lagging their feet and some may not allow the 30 cent upgrade at all, he said didn't know for sure, it was up to them, not Apple. He unofficially suggested waiting another month for straggler artists/publishers to make their plus songs available for the 30 cent upgrade price. The only way to force it is to re-purchase the songs at full price (this is stupid if the publishers think people will pay full price for songs they've already purchased, 30 cents is better than nothing).
I already own the music! Since the DRM-free version is not (& may never be) available via iTunes, I am forced to get it from different avenues (without wasting a CD & importing it back). Seconds versus 10 minutes to burn & reimport.
Geez, bite my head off with personal slander.
You don't really "own" the music of course. You bought a version of it with DRM and agreed to those terms and conditions when you bought it (which of course you could have purchased on CD or elsewhere if you didn't like them). Just chill out until the studios get their acts together and the tracks show up in the new format. P2P isn't the way to go.
Clarence Carter - Strokin'
Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom
There are some songs that artists just don't want to release for electronic sale. If they think this is going to force people to buy a CD, they are probably wrong. They are missing a lot of easy money!
After March 31, only content in the iTunes Plus format will be available for purchase on the Store. Please check your catalog status report within the Catalog Reports module. This report will list in detail the existing format of your content in our system as well as current iTunes Plus clearance settings. PLEASE NOTE: Older catalog audio may need to be updated to iTunes Plus - it is important that you inspect the current status. You can download these reports via iTunes Connect. Please pay special attention to Column K (entitled All Tracks in iTunes Plus Audio Format) for details. A TRUE status means that the audio has already been delivered in iTunes Plus format. A FALSE status means that the audio needs to be re-encoded and redelivered.
If your content is already in the correct audio format for iTunes Plus indicated by the TRUE status in your iTunes Plus report but contains an "N" for your territory products, this means that you will need to mark the respective content as "Cleared for iTunes Plus" in iTunes Connect. PLEASE NOTE: Any content that is not marked as "Cleared for iTunes Plus" will no longer be sold on iTunes after March 31.
Here's some of what has been pulled altogether from the store:
ARTIST/ALBUM
*electronic, twisted tenderness
*gotan, la revancha del
*sakamoto, 1996
*various, The Bach Collection
*various, Baroque Brass
*various, The Company
*various, The complete mozart edition
*?, Cornbread and Cabbage Greens
*Alfredo Rodriguez 1, Cubanismo
*Elfman, Serenada Schizophrana
*Jesse Cook
*various, Mento Madness
*The Greatest ? Moments ever (several albums)
And again, I have over 400 other songs that have not been upgraded. All of which are listed as iTunes plus songs.
And I have seen VERY little at $.69, I have a ton of really obscure stuff on a possible buy list, and not a single track is $.69. Is there anything remotely recent at that price?
Also, it looks like there are a bunch of artists where they have exactly ONE song from that artist at $.69 and the rest are $.99 or more, pretty lame and it sure looks like they are trying to get away with as few at that price as possible.
Any way to search the database and see how many there are at the 69 and 129 price points?
Difference is minor, most people wouldn't notice it/don't care.
It's a legitimate issue. Many will notice and do care.
I don't know about your country, but CDs (or some other physical medium) will be around for many years to come.
CDs are also subject to be scratched and damaged. Also, CDs are not considered archive quality. Storing them on disk and making backups is a much better procedure.
There is still a lot of music not available legally online, and the problem is worse for things like movies, books, etc. But more or less, it's true. Which can be quite frustrating, given that people who buy CDs often pay extra.
While I don't advocate piracy, the operative word is "legally" online. People have different means of reconciling their actions. For many, if the product is not offered legally on-line, then obtaining it illegally isn't actually a missed sale.
Galley wrote:
Difference is minor, most people wouldn't notice it/don't care.
Have fun paying the full CD price for those one hit wonders...
malax wrote:
Just chill out until the studios get their acts together and the tracks show up in the new format. P2P isn't the way to go.
Generally speaking, P2P isn't the way to go. However, I do have to admit that P2P is responsible for much of the positive change in the music industry. The labels wouldn't have allowed Apple to distribute their music if it wasn't for the need to fight P2P. The music industry wouldn't allow the sale single songs if it weren't for P2P, and certainly not at the 99 cent price. Finally, the music industry wouldn't allow DRM free distribution if it weren't for the threat of P2P. In many ways, P2P downloads serve as a means of keeping the record labels in check. If they get to greedy (as they've done in the past), they'll again be faced with a backlash from consumers.
CDs are also subject to be scratched and damaged. Also, CDs are not considered archive quality. Storing them on disk and making backups is a much better procedure.
I doubt that hard drives are considered archive medium, so saying that you don't think CDs are archival sounds like a convenient omission or doubletalk.
Optical discs can get scratched, though it usually takes abuse to get irrecoverably scratched. Out of maybe a thousand pressed optical discs that I own, I think I've maybe lost one due to disc damage. There's even less risk as CDs are rarely used, imported once and then filed away in a safe place.
On a related note, The variable pricing scheme is in effect as of today. And it's a lot worse than I ad anticipated.
I thought; Old catalog at 0.69, New hit songs at 1.29, and everything in between at 0.99.
However, just go look at Supertramp's discography... it's a mix of the 3 price points... an absolute mess. This is gonna suck for everybody, very confusing for end users and all. I see no reason why Supertramp's entire discography shouldn't be at $0.69.
Licensing schemes vary by country-- in the US the entire catalogue is .99¢