Boycott Beatport! Selling some MP3 files as Wav/Aiff and refuse to issue refund...

[userb420]

Todd Edwards - End This Hate (12 Inch Extended Version)
Todd Edwards - Oohhh Baby (Todd Edwards Dub Version)
Todd Edwards - Oohhh Baby (Todd Edwards Remix Version)
Todd Edwards - Feelin' Lonely (12 Inch Extended Version)
Todd Edwards - Love Will Make Things Better (12 Inch Extended Version)
Armando - Here We Go (Original Mix)
Armando - Simple Minded (Original Mix)
Armando - Robotics (Original Mix)

Purchase some tracks as aiff on Beatport obviously expecting lossless files and received MP3s labeled as Aiff. This is a very shady business practice to say the least and I demanded a refund immediately. They refused and responded in then the most asinine way possible saying the following...

"Thank you for contacting us. All of the files which are available on the site are not normalized, re-mastered or engineered by us in any way. However, as the standards of quality differ for all labels, so will the music they produce. Releases available from prominent artists and labels are generally mastered well as they are more likely to have the resources to do so.
Just to make sure that there was not an issue with your download I have reset these tracks for you and it’s now available in your download library. Please be sure to delete the old version before you attempt to re-download.
Please feel free to contact us again if you run into any more issues.
Kind Regards,
Jamie
To find answers to your questions please check out our support page at:
http://support.beatport.com
Jamie | Customer Care"

This is not what I said whatsoever! I said they are knowingly selling these tracks as lossless, for a premium might I add. If the producer did not provide wav or aiff it is Beatport's responsibility to their customers not falsely advertise these files as lossless. I'm most certain that the practice of selling MP3 as "Aiff" is illegal.

It is easily demonstrated that these are in fact MP3 files labeled as Aiff because I can solo the side channel of the audio and hear the lossy compression. The frequency response also shows they are clearly mp3 files see the brick wall at 16k.

Has anyone else has experienced this? f**k YOU BEATPORT!

[userb420]

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[Numanoid]

Todd Edwards - End This Hate (12 Inch Extended Version)
Todd Edwards - Oohhh Baby (Todd Edwards Dub Version)
Todd Edwards - Oohhh Baby (Todd Edwards Remix Version)
Todd Edwards - Feelin' Lonely (12 Inch Extended Version)
Todd Edwards - Love Will Make Things Better (12 Inch Extended Version)
Armando - Here We Go (Original Mix)
Armando - Simple Minded (Original Mix)
Armando - Robotics (Original Mix)

Thanks for the heads up, but those tracks are crap from the get go aren't they.

I would never buy sub-standard garage.

[userb420]

dude...not the point, this is a crappy thing for a company to do to it's customers surely you agree that this is an unacceptable business practice?

[userb420]

These tracks do not sound this way on vinyl, I will take a screen shot of the frequency response of my friends vinyl next time he's here. It will show that there is no brick wall at 16khz and I've solo'd the side channel and none of the zippy bleeps like on an MP3. Lol but of course this is not what you are saying you are saying the songs are shit anyway and I can actually agree in some sense but I like using some songs that I think are shit sometimes in a Dj set when they work well.

Anyways Let's stay away from the subjective and back to what I'm sure everyone can agree. SELLING MP3 AS AIFF AND CHARGING THE CUSTOMER EXTRA FOR LOSSLESS FILES IS CRIMINAL.

[chk071]

So, MP3's generally have a high cut at 16 kHz... you never cease to learn on KVR.

[userb420]

yeah lol might as well have ripped it off youtube...

[ghettosynth]

How long have you been buying off of Beatport? Lossless has a $1/track surcharge there and it was pretty clear to me in the checkout process the very first time that I purchased tracks from them.

[userb420]

Thanks for the reply ghettosynth. I have been for a while and am aware of the surcharge. The problem is I payed this surcharge and received MP3 files labelled as Aiff...

It would seem that the record labels for these tracks never provided lossless files and beatport still allows customers to pay the extra money for nothing which is reprehensible.

[chk071]

The way i understood it, the OP thinks that the AIFF files are converted MP3 files. MP3 files of course don't have a 16 kHz high cut per default, but, i guess you can't (or can) argue about the audible artifacts. Hard to say without actually listening to the files yourself.

I never had an issue with Beatport BTW. And i don't think this is a general thing either. Maybe the party at fault here is the source they got the respective music from.

[ghettosynth]

Thanks for the reply ghettosynth. I have been for a while and am aware of the surcharge. The problem is I payed this surcharge and received MP3 files labelled as Aiff...

It would seem that the record labels for these tracks never provided lossless files and beatport still allows customers to pay the extra money for nothing which is reprehensible.

Sorry, I misunderstood. That's total bullshit if they are actually converted MP3s. I would call my credit card company and contest the charge. That said, how are you sure that they are converted?

If a label doesn't provided lossless files then Beatport should not offer that option. What kind of shit label doesn't provide lossless files?

In any case, I would still call my credit card company and tell them that I wasn't satisfied with the quality.

[userb420]

Yeah, I agree, I suspect Beatport is not fully aware either and it may be the labels at fault but it is easy to test and I believe they need to have a better system in place to prevent this because in the end the customer is the one who gets screwed. Oddly enough though I have purchased other tracks off Beatport from the same labels by the same artists that are legit lossless files. Either way I believe I am owed a refund and was wondering if anyone else experienced similarly poor customer care from Beatport as well.

[chk071]

Either way I believe I am owed a refund

Yeah, i believe so too. They really should look into it.

[userb420]

In all likeliness these are not the only MP3s being sold as lossless. This problem doesn't only apply to people looking for aiff/wav either. If there is zero quality assurance then they could be selling iTunes/Amazon quality MP3s with unnecessary markup instead of their promised 320kbps.

https://support.beatport.com/hc/en-us/a ... IFF-files-

[metamorphosis]

What proof do you have? A cut off at 16khz could be part of the master the company made for digital distro. Nothing about vinyl will prove otherwise, as vinyl reproduction generates high frequency harmonics.