I wasn't a fan of iTunes until they finally lived up to their potential with iTunes Plus. With Plus, you get high quality versions of the tracks. Some of my Plus tracks show more detail than tracks on a CD. But let's be honest... nothing beats vinyl. No other format has as much warmth or personality.

Oh, and for those of you who don't want to use iTunes because you have a different mp3 player, tracks on Plus have no DRM protection. You can convert them to mp3 very easily.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I like my tangibles and I WILL buy CDs. If I want to download something, I usually don't pay for it.

In this case I will drop the cash in order to support the brothers, but what kind of value are we really getting here? Sure, the track selection is awesome, but 9.99 in Euros for 10 songs??? There is absolutely no supply overhead here. Why is it so expensive? Why is there no discount for getting the whole package? I'm not saying that 9.99 is too high but rather that 10 songs are not enough, especially since there are really only two songs that haven't seen some type of digital release before. Shouldn't we get more b-sides for the price? Couldn't they have at least thrown in the two new white label tracks in the album package?

My rant here is about the music industry, not the artists (the Chems or anyone).

I understand that CDs are out and downloads are in, but I also see absolutely no incentive to pay for something that is free for them to produce. I'll only buy to support the artists, but how much do they really benefit from this markup? If anything it has the potential to damage the goodwill fans usually show with their money.

These record companies wonder why I am stealing from them. I've got news for them...they've been robbing me blind for years!

I'm old. Get off my damn lawn.

well, assuming there is another volume of b-sides to be released, maybe after the second volume (or third, however many they plan to put out) they could put together a physical b-sides collectors set. However, I agree with Whirly. As much as I would love to see this Vol. 1 out in physical form, the whole process in releasing an album with just b-sides, isn't very cost-effective. But then again, the Gorillaz just released a B-sides album last week...

hahaha, satur8 - I'm old. Get off my damn lawn. :lol:

I definitely see your point. The music industry will always cash in, it always has and even at .99 per downloadable song, it will continue to do so. It's a good thing to support your favorite bands when and where you can - how much an artist truly makes in royalties isn't public knowledge. We may have read statistics somewhere or have an idea of what they are, but we really don't know the details of an artist's contract with their label. At least if you pay up artists you support, you know a little bit is going to the artist someway somehow. I've always been a bit on the fence over getting something for nothing (downloading). I understand why it's done in a stick-it-to-the-man sense, but it's not something I indulge in much these days. For me, music is a luxury and always has been in my mindset. I love the notion of instant gratification, but I certainly don't mind working for my luxuries. And it might be a bit shallow but I don't mind having something to show for my money when I feel it was well spent.

Anyway, for tangible goods, it's not just the money the industry gets, but when you factor in the mark-up to sell this stuff in a retail outlet, the end cost the consumer pays is staggering. There's quite a few jumps from production costs to unit costs to wholesale costs to retail costs and damn, a lot of money is involved with each jump.

Then again, I was at Amoeba records last weekend which is like this magical musical haven of epic proportions. It's always busy in there, with the sound of people digging in the bins, loud music playing overhead. The music is affordable and I've done a few happy dances in the aisles when I came across a gem I was searching for. You go in there and automatically think "digital down-whaaa?" No need to even think about digital downloads when you have a sea of music in tangible form to choose from that's affordable. That store goes to show that new and used music - in tangible format - *does* sell if the price is right.

I forgot what else I wanted to say but I've already gone off long enough on my windbag rant. :P

Amoeba really is an amazing place. I went to the San Francisco one back in early May and I spent hours rummaging through all the records. My cousin John had to drag me out of the store we spent so much time in there. The hardest part with Amoeba is not how much money you're gonna spend there, it's which albums do I want with the the money that I have in my wallet.

Ah, Amoeba... fond memories. First place on the SF tourist trail. Last time I was there I took a few colleagues who came out laden, one stunned that he could find a rare Vangelis collaboration CD.

Long live Amoeba!

1. 
   

   Bosco wrote:
   
   The hardest part with Amoeba is not how much money you're gonna spend there, it's which albums do I want with the the money that I have in my wallet.
   

   
   

Truer words have never been spoken!! I always go with stash and he has to pull me from the place, or our bank account will suffer the most dire consequences. He doesn't dare let me go in there alone. I bought my first piece of vinyl in YEARS last weekend, the Do It Again remixes. I almost bought a bootie of the Don't Fight Control but I had a stack of cd's I was already purchasing so I held off. Still though, buying vinyl was fun. Sort of dropping a lil' hint about wanting a turntable for the holidays or my birthday coming up. ;)

"I don't have iTunes, so i cant see the tracklisting, anyone care to post it?!"

Nude Night

Base 6

Clip Kiss

The Diamond Sky

HIA

Let Me In Mate

Prescription Beats

Scale

Silver Drizzle

Snooprah

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Wr-x1u8L0L4

Richard Branson on the Hour, First minute or two he gets in to talking about digital downloads and business. though big business wise.

Also gotta say I love the Hour, I love Strombo. Check out some of the other interviews on there. Some are just weird

1. 
   

   Gillenium wrote:
   
   But let's be honest... nothing beats vinyl. No other format has as much warmth or personality.
   
   
   

   
   

I know I'm completely threadjacking into off-topic territory, but I read an interesting article in our weekly Orange County rag about the format wars and how it plays out in the DJ scope. There are bits of elitism, but it's opinions and there are certain truths brought up about the pro's and con's of each format nontheless. The article isn't too long, only a couple of pages, and can be read here: http://www.ocweekly....ch-fever/28050/

I've been wanting to post this bit of literary genius regarding vinyl, but couldn't think of a good thread to put it in. Quite an elegantly eloquent statement if I must say so myself:

1. 
   

   OCWeekly wrote:
   
   ...Most vinyl champions resemble fire-and-brimstone fundamentalists, and many have sentimental attachments to wax that supersede its utility. Per the latter sentiment, Steve Fisch (DJ aDJective, who spins at Kitsch and Memphis Santora) gets all metaphorical about gatefold covers of cherished LPs, particularly Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

   
   

   “The brilliant Hipgnosis cover for that best encapsulates the essence of vinyl: That prism is a needle, and that rainbow isn’t only the light hitting the spinning black disc; it’s also the concepts and sounds that flow out of the groove.”
   
   
   

   
   

Vinyl is definitely the best format, quality-wise. Digital/CD is the most convenient. You have to pick based off of whether you're willing to sacrifice quality for convenience.

It's always been strange to me that Vinyl out-does CDs in the quality department. I mean.... we're three technologies (tape, CD, and mp3) ahead of the vinyl by now... shouldn't the quality be improving?

That's like the picture on TVs going from HDTV to plasma to standard..

The way it works is that vinyl has the imprinted waveform and digital just can't have the original waveform due to sample rates.

Yes maybe it more of a sound investment for the artists to release music digitally, but I don't care about what makes more money for the record companies. It's about the music for me, and the fans. Never will I pay for an .mp3

Convieniece cheapens music! With a double click I can listen to my favourite song where as before i'd have to go upstairs to me CD collection, find it, open it and place it into my CD player simular to the art of mating with a partner. Real sex is much better than cyb0r.

1. Real sex is much better than cyb0r.

I bet Silvester Stallone would second this :lol:

[addimage]http://img510.images...otoxlsansj0.jpg[/addimage]

Why do some images work and some not? I'm sure it's not the beer affecting me...

use phototbucket, always works

1. 
   

   NAME wrote:
   
   Yes maybe it more of a sound investment for the artists to release music digitally, but I don't care about what makes more money for the record companies. It's about the music for me, and the fans. Never will I pay for an .mp3

   
   

   Convieniece cheapens music! With a double click I can listen to my favourite song where as before i'd have to go upstairs to me CD collection, find it, open it and place it into my CD player simular to the art of mating with a partner. Real sex is much better than cyb0r.

   
   

   
   

   
   

Convenience cheapens a lot of things - (fast food especially comes to mind) and as far as music goes, this may hold true since the discussion is teetering on what format is best. But I think convenience does have its upsides for sure. I wouldn't say convenience is this evil thing that will forever be the downfall and cheapening of music, not necessarily all the time. Technology makes great strides all the time. I like the convenience of my ipod which is very convenient. Sure beats the hell out of carrying my old discman around, and it sure has hell beats my old walkman I lugged around with old ratty cassettes in my bag. I have my first generation ipod mini, still works great. It was a hand-me-down from my brother who has gone through several ipods since. :lol: I'm not in love with it, but it's fine for on the go, handy for the odd road trip where I don't feel like lugging around a sizable chunk of my cd collection, it's handy for taking my walks, perfect for when I'm at work. As for downloading I do enjoy the convenience of being able to think of a song at the odd hour, go to itunes and pay my .99 to download it at midnight. Not to mention, I do like the convenience of picking and choosing what song I want rather than plunk down a wad of cash on an overall shitty album with 1 or 2 good songs on it. There are certain pleasures of convenience and instant gratification that we're all guilty of, regardless of whether we stop to really think about its cheapening impact on our goods and services.

An unfortunate side effect of convenience is exactly that, though - this cheapening of goods and services. I do think the compromises made with quality vs. convenience always fluctuate on the balance. For the odd 80's song I think about at 1am that I have to download right then and there, the convenience outweighs the overall quality of the goods I'm getting. I don't mind, really. I put it on my ipod, and one day when I've got the shuffle going, I'll hear the song and go "oh yeah... I remember getting that song!" Still though, for me it doesn't beat hunting down stuff I *really* want in record shops or (if I could ever get stash to go with me) flea markets/swap meets. We all know that for something we think is quality, we're going to have to sacrifice conveniences - something I don't think many people really mind doing if they see their money is well spent.

I feel obligated to get an Ipod now that I have a Mac...

As for conveniences, it truly is a scary subject. Sure it's fascinating how we can get things done or what we want within in seconds, but like Whirly said it cheapens the product(s) and leaves us more vulnerable of being controlled.

I think a perfect example of conveniences completely taking over and in result "stupifying" people, is that movie "Idiocracy." (Funny as hell tho)

"we seem to be experimenting some technical differences"