Wednesday, June 17th 2009
Blogs: Street Sweeper Social Club
A Quick Point
Later this week I intend to publish a review of Street Sweeper Social Club’s new self-titled album. First, I wanted to make a quick point about the new models of legal consumption of music, using my acquisition of the SSSC album as an example.
I was aware of the impending release of this album, though not necessarily watching the clock. Yesterday, I was reminded of its availability by an announcement that a 256kbps DRM-Free MP3 version was $4 on Amazon. I clicked the link to purchase it, and was told I’d need to download and install an Amazon “downloader” application I’d never heard of to continue.
I closed the window, and two clicks later, it was downloading in iTunes. I paid more for a more convenient experience, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think my behavior nor my expectations are particularly unusual.
What I mean to illustrate is that it’s the experience that makes or breaks an available means to acquisition- whether it’s illegal or legal, free or not. The most responsible praises of torrent sites and P2P phenomena articulate not their free-ness, but their efficiency and convenience.
I know you- our readers- already know this. But we consider it our duty as certified sons of bitches to needle the industry from over here in the back of the class, every single time they slip up.
pretty retarded dude, the amazon downloader is tiny and takes about 5 seconds to download and install and runs right out of the browser. id much rather deal with that and get actual MP3s for cheap, than overpriced AACs in bullshit itunes.
i gave it another chance, and hit that download button… it annoyed the shit out of me. i think it’s installed, i didn’t want to quit my browser when it asked me to.
but even with the downloader app thing aside, itunes is just way more convenient. one click and shit is downloading. that’s why it’s selling more than amazon despite being more expensive.
a lot of people do care about the format. i care more about bitrate, as long as it’s drm-free. it’d be nice if itunes sold mp3s, but itunes’ 256k aac is totally comparable to amazon’s 256k mp3, if not better.
bandcamp is better than both though, in my opinion. it’s a click or two more than itunes, but you have your choice of format and it gives you a .zip file straight up, with no extra software required.
you’re wrong here man. They are equally convenient, except one usually has DRM-free cheaper. The Itunes install is MUCH more cumbersome, you just had it already because you use a Mac. For those of us on windows and Linux, AmazonMP3 >>>> Itunes. Cheaper, lighter, faster, and from a company that annoys me less.
just to reaffirm my point, I just got it installed and got back to the Buy page in less than 60 seconds, from the time I selected my address bar and typed Amazon Mp3
well i maintain that itunes is outselling amazon because of its convenience. but yes, itunes is far more convenient to people already using it to play their music, than to people using other means.
the itunes vs. anything else debate starts to sound like the mac vs. pc debate real quick, and i don’t care to get into that kinda thing. though i prefer to think i use itunes because of its features, and not because i use a mac- i run itunes on windows as well.
but i appreciate the counterpoints… all very valid.
rhapsody sucks a dick though, amirite?
I tried to post my hatred for itunes and you wouldn’t allow it. You must have your hand in their pocket because it fucking sucks. I will NEVER use itunes for several reasons.
who wouldn’t allow it? strange… try again? i’ve got no issues with disagreement or shit talking on stuff i dig. i think the only filter i have set on comments is one that sets off the spam alert when a certain blog network that rhymes with splogbot is mentioned, as spammers with sites on it were getting through the other defenses.
i’ve been listening to digital music for a long time, since before itunes existed… i’ve got about 200gb of stuff, and i’m so damn anal the organization of my music is almost as important to me as the music itself- that’s how i came to prefer itunes, with all its id3 tag editing & file organization “features.” i understand why lots of people hate it though- especially windows users. it’s very mac-like. it’s best if you like things automated and done for you, but some folks despise that on the other hand. you can turn off almost every single one of the annoying settings that are set by default when you first install the program, but out-of-the-box, i admit it’s even more hate-able to certain types of users as the alternatives are to me.
it’s not a windows vs. mac thing. For example, the iTunes bitrate is awful. Even if you go into preferences and switch it to “apple lossless” it’s still not nearly as deep as if you were to burn a mp3 or even wav to a cd rather than importing it to iTunes. The login feature is fucking retarded as well. Why should I get a login prompt for every 6th track I check out? It’s beyond tedious. And when previewing a track it’s insanely difficult to get a proper representation of the track. For example (and I know it’s not GNR) but listen to the sample for Miranda Lee Richards track Early November. It’s an amazing track but the sample makes me cringe. And even further, back to bitrate. Who’s to say that certain classical tracks deserve a higher bitrate than a track off Drukqs? It’s pretentious to say the least. The entire experience, while convenient, I liken to cable t.v. Sure it’s there but you’re also paying for shit shoved down your throat.
i don’t have any of those issues. and i completely disagree with that statement about apple lossless. the format is truly lossless- what you hear is exactly what was on the cd you inserted. if you take an apple lossless file, invert the phase, and play it alongside the source with equipment that can do such things, they cancel each other out 100%, proving that they are identical bit for bit. just like flac, ape, and wma lossless.
invert my ass. I tested TheFutureEmbrace, Drukqs, In Utero and Benji Hughes 320 kbps imported to itunes and the same 320 kbps files burned to CD. I have an iPod port in my Toyota with a Pioneer stereo and Pioneer speakers. The difference is night and fucking day. And because of this there are certain bands, such as Skinny Puppy, that I absolutely refuse to import to my iPod. I love Skinny Puppy to death but I refuse to dumb down their efforts by listening to their tracks on my iPod. It’s ear fucking death. I get that what you are saying may be technically sound on paper but I have head the difference and I use iTunes under protest.
and holy hell, to compare a flac to an mp3 on your ipod is laughable.
I must agree with the convenience thing. About two weeks ago I went to a music shop, where I spotted a QOTSA album, it just was there, enough reason for me to buy it. If it wasn’t available I wouldn’t request them to get it, I wouldn’t think about buying it in the first place. So I guess, when you see something you want, and it’s just one click (and a few bucks) away from becoming yours, you feel an urge to get it.
We also need to include one exception: no shit can stop a hardcore fan from getting his hands on the shit he wants.
As for iTunes, I don’t use it, but I guess that the reason it’s so popular is because many people are using iPods, and like all Apple products, despite being good, it’s overpriced. Now, on Windows 7, Windows Media Player really kicks ass.
sounds like you’re misdirecting your frustrations hairboy. consumer speakers sugarcoat the sound- especially car systems. it’s not itunes, it’s your system. i play everything through professional audio hardware and reference monitors, and everything sounds the same, whether it’s coming from the original cd, a high quality mp3, an ipod, my blackberry, or a lossless file, itunes, winamp, or vlc.
your car system is sugarcoating your mix- “deepening” the lows for the bros, probably at the the cost of dynamics you’re not noticing. whereas itunes is playing the audio as-is.
so my system is sugar coating the lower bit rate tracks I purchase off iTunes by adding digital pops? Hey! It’s the new vinyl!
i’ve spent over $1,000 on the itunes store, which i’m assuming is more than you have… i’ve never heard a single pop.
and i mean you’re saying that an mp3 sounds like shit, but then it sounds fine if you burn it to a cd and play it in your car. but if you want to blame itunes for that, be my guest, i’ll stop debating audio science with a newb.
I’m frustrated with the compression. let me translate this for everyone else…
“so mr. skwerl, is there anything else you’d like to add before we sentence you?”
“but, but, b…. see, I encouraged people to use iTunes!”
I’ll stick to second hand cd stores thank you very much
ha… first, you gotta understand that burning a compressed mp3 to a cd doesn’t “uncompress” it. though i don’t get the impression you even know what you’re talking about. your car system is affecting the audio, while itunes is not. what you’re calling “compression” is likely a lack of audio level compression, and eq tweakage.
second, i won’t be stuttering during my sentencing. while you were burning corgan’s shitty solo album to bump through your phat system, i was busy proving to the us government how completely full of shit riaa is.
hairboy, you’re silly, BUT I do love me some skinny puppy. that totally made my day.
Hairboy, you’re wrong, skwerl is right, your consumer audio gear is changing the sound of the shit you listen to. Apple Lossless, while retarded, is actually lossless. Don’t blame itunes because you’re too stupid to use it.
The real problem with itunes, for me, is that its extremely Ram intensive and slows down a system quick when you have a large library(ie file database), I dont like the way it automates things, i dont like the it constantly tries to include other BS from apple that I dont want or care about, I dont like that sometimes you cant get it without getting Quicktime, I dont like having to pay more for DRM-free files, and I actually think its Ipod management system is pretty weak, and prefer other stuff that treats it like a UMD-Mass Storage Device.
and yeah, this is kinda like the Mac Vs. PC thing, but there are lots of other options here instead of 3 like the OS fight, considering the surge in popularity of notebooks, and recent bump in corporate support, I consider linux a viable part of that debate, but thats a whole different conversation.
now see, that’s a completely valid argument why itunes sucks. i don’t disagree with any of those points.
I bought SSSC from Amazon, and I buy more often from Amazon than from iTunes. They ususally have a better price, and I got in the habit of doing it while iTunes had most of the shit locked under DRM. If you count the clicks through the process of a purchase on both places it has to be about even give or take a click, but who’s THAT lazy? I mean, it’s the tap of a finger. And when you buy from Amazon the files go right into the iTunes Library anyway. I’ve found it to be pretty painless.
I like this site and I feel bad now… for the court joke. I’m gonna buy a shirt.
i ain’t mad atcha. always appreciate discussion.
out of curiousity, what kind of programs do you guys use? I’m using itunes just because windows media players is pretty awful on my xp
There is no way that an mp3 sounds the same as an AAC as a FLAC through a professional audio system. Apple lossless and FLAC are probably similar, and both a lot better than any lossy format.