Album only song downloads, iTMS

archetypearchetype
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
I thought that Apple said that all songs avaliable on the iTMS had to be avaliable for individual download and that that was why bands like Metallica didn't want their music avaliable on the iTMS as the wanted people to experience the entire album, as it was a representation of the band at a certain point in time (or something to that effect)



when did this change? as tracks by opeth (which have been just recently added) are mostly only avaliable to download as an album (not individually)



I did notice all 'album only' tracks were over 10 min in length.



If the policy has changed and Apple now allows album only downloads does that mean that potentially bands like Metallica may be avaliable on the iTMS...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I think the cut-off is closer to 7 min than 10, mostly because the powers that be don't want the song sold for $.99. But some are album only for the money.



    Hate to say it, but in my opinion Metallica has unintentionally become the scapegoat/icon when it comes to "retaliation against P2P networks." Yea, we all saw "Napster bad, fire good" or however it goes, and with all that negative publicity they attracted at the time, it is only natural they should hesitate giving the evil internet their music. However, that was years ago. They could use a good flogging with a reality stick and get there stuff on the #1 legal music site* that directly competes with P2P networks. The best thing illegal networks have and legal sites don't is selection. By withholding their music, they are in a sense digging their own graves by giving illegal networks a reason to exist.



    PS: Nothing personal against Metallica

    *Just guessing, but it sounds right
  • Reply 2 of 8
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    There has been no change in policy.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ebby

    I think the cut-off is closer to 7 min than 10,





    It is not that simple. I thought the policy had changed because when I first looked at the iTMS all the tracks I found over 7 minutes where album only, but lately I have found several 8 or 9 minute tracks available as singles. In response to this thread I did a search on "Beethoven" (because it gives a range of track lengths). There are a couple tracks on Sir Colin Davis' recording of Fidelio that come in over 8 and 9 minutes available as singles (as is ELO's version of Roll Over Beethoven at just over 8 minutes). On the other hand there are a lot of other tracks just over 7 minutes which are album only.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Oh, huh. Than I don't know what is happening.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    I'm getting the impression that for tracks of 7+ minutes album-only status might be at the discretion of the publisher of the music -- optional, not mandatory.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Ebby is right, I've been saying this since iTMS came out. They are killing themselves by not giving people the opportunity to buy their music online. I completely understand that they don't want their music stolen, but not giving people an opportunity to buy it is probably the dumbest thing they have done in a while.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    kennethkenneth Posts: 832member
    Meanwhile, I noticed that those "partial albums" are annoying as well. I guess the record companies want users to buy the songs at 99 cents each vs. $9.99 per album. For example, the whole album contains 13 tracks, but they remove one track and make it an partial album.

    whole album costs $9.99 + sales tax vs. 99 cents x 12 + sales tax.



    Not to mention, some songs run for less than a minute or even less than 30 seconds.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    oniongirloniongirl Posts: 10member
    I've found some classical tracks that weren't all that long, but were album-only. I've been wondering if there's a pattern to this, but I haven't seen one yet.
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