KVR Audio

munchkin · Post by **munchkin** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:53 am

If you buy a song for iTunes you are only able to play the file on iPods as they are encoded in iTMS and are protected AAC files.

You can convert to mp3 but that will result in further loss of quality. Full story:

Apple sued over iTunes lock-in.

progfusion74 · Post by **progfusion74** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:37 am

That's always been the case, expect for the time that RealAudio could handle AAC. I believe the latest iPod/iTunes software disabled that ability.

I do believe that you can rip an audio CD and get it into another device or format, which is a pain in the neck

rollasoc · Post by **rollasoc** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:26 pm

I would like to purchase stuff from iTunes, but I'm unwilling to buy the hardware dongle (i.e. iPod) for the songs, since I already have another MP3 player that I'm very happy with.

Rollsoc

realmacgeek · Post by **realmacgeek** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:41 pm

sorry folks but no one forces you to use iTunes.

Also other online music stores provide only .wma .rm or whatever which in turn cannnot be used on the iPod and other mp3 players..no store has plain mp3s unfortunatly. the ipod isnt a dongle as you can freely burn the songs purchased on itunes or play them on your computer and others where itunes is installed (upto 2 or 3, not sure here).

dont get me wrong, i find iTunes music store completely useless as its totatly overpriced for what you get in comparison to regualr audio-cds. but to mark Apple as the big bad guy here IMHO is wrong, since they have at least the most unrestricted licence scheme of all stores.

9b0 · Post by **9b0** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:45 pm

wma and even ogg is supported by a lot of mp3 players, while acc is by iPod only.

Emerald Tablet · Post by **Emerald Tablet** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:47 pm

It seems like a perfect cool protection.
I wouldn`t like motherfuckers stealing my product when i bring some cd out. While its still possible to download i do download cool 70`s and 60`s songs
if theres a good protection i will not be able to.

i mean mp3 and downloadprograms to a music freak
are like 56 horny virgins stuck in a room with someone like me. You shouldn`t touch them but theyre in the same room ....

just leave them outside my door
www.afternapster.com

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:47 pm

@realmacgeek

but I'm sure if it were Microsoft they'd be paying out millions already

the fact is that "oh-we-are-so-nice-and-our-products-are-soooo-great" f**king Apple are just as big a (if not bigger) bastards than Microsoft who really don't give a rats ass about their customers.. only $$$$

putte · Post by **putte** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:17 pm

spaceman wrote:the fact is that "oh-we-are-so-nice-and-our-products-are-soooo-great" f**king Apple are just as big a (if not bigger) bastards than Microsoft who really don't give a rats ass about their customers.. only $$$$

i see it the same way, being a longtime mac user.

putte

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:34 pm

why would you pau for online music when there is kazaa

J/k

Honestly- I would *maybe* purchase a uncompressed wav format of music from an online vendor, but paying for something that has been encoded in a format like Mp3 is ludicrous to me. Really it just proves that most people who listen to music dont really give a shit about it. The would rather have a hard drive full of what people say is the "latest and greatest" new shite than taking the time to research and find some music you really like...

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:35 pm

Solution: Burn to an audio CD or a virtual audio CD and re-rerip them.
A PITA, I know. That's why I don't use iTunes at all. And never will. It's too expensive too.

declassified · Post by **declassified** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:49 pm

S_A_P wrote:Really it just proves that most people who listen to music dont really give a shit about it. The would rather have a hard drive full of what people say is the "latest and greatest" new shite than taking the time to research and find some music you really like...

Yes, i think iTunes is even more pop-friendly than buying records in a shop. I saw some screenshots of the software and it was full of "Walt Disney Records", "Britney Spears", "Avril Lavigne" and "Maroon 5" advertisements you wouldn't find in such an extreme way in a record shop.
But if someone opens iTunes and there's a load of advertisements, why should he use the search button to look for something else.
There are no "music maps" or something like that on iTunes. Although music maps are categorization, they would offer a possibility to expand ones musical interest at least to the related styles of your favourite music.

Jafo · Post by **Jafo** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:03 pm

Well, there's always emusic (http://www.emusic.com), but I find allofmp3 (http://www.allofmp3.com) to be far superior.

CypherOne · Post by **CypherOne** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:05 pm

it seems to be yet another way to narrow our choices rather than broadening them.

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:10 pm

CypherOne wrote:it seems to be yet another way to narrow our choices rather than broadening them.

and then they sue Microsoft for not supporting their formats.. some extra cash

Shane Sanders · Post by **Shane Sanders** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:18 pm

Jafo wrote:Well, there's always emusic (http://www.emusic.com), but I find allofmp3 (http://www.allofmp3.com) to be far superior.

I'm fairly sure that this site is illegal for the most part. Some research I read some time ago showed that people were claiming that since it is a Russian-based business that it had a right to license anything that was released in Russia via a label.

But there have been accusations that the site is actually based in Israel and if you check out some of their stuff, you may find that an album has tracks ripped at different rates. Little things like that may be clues as to the original source for the track.

They also used to charge, and may still, by the megabyte rather than by the track. Perhaps it is just a new business model, but given how royalties actually are supposed to work, I'm betting they don't keep track of what was downloaded and pay ASCAP or BMI anything at all. I've never gotten any info from BMI that they were tapping into this source of revenue.

I could be totally wrong on this, however, so take my observations with a grain of salt.

Beware iTunes!