So, EMI just announced that they would allow Apple to sell their music without DRM. 'Wow' everyone's saying. I say it's just another scam that's being tested by the mainstream music-product machine. It's been at least a year since I first heard rumblings of the majors wanting to up the price per track to $1.29. They hadn't done it yet because the response was so negative to such an idea. That was then, this is now. With the bate being DRM-less music and "higher quality", they think they can now justify a higher price. With no duplication, distribution or marketing costs, they think they can sell ONE track for the price of what a 45rpm single went for in the 80s and a cassette single went for in the 90s. Usually, those formats also contained a B-Side track, so you were actually paying for two songs. Digitally, all the costs incurred to distribute and market the music are gone or are a fraction of what they used to be, and it costs twice as much??? Is that logical?
By all the positive press that they've received for this announcement... it looks like the public at large has taken the bate. Just keep this in mind, you're still paying 30 cents more for what you should have gotten in the first place. Plus, you're still not getting LOSSLESS/CD-Quality audio for that price. This announcement slyly glosses over the "higher quality" audio details. Higher quality could mean as little as a 1kbs addition in quality for all we know. This unknown entity is being passed off as a benefit of a higher price.
Sorry, but I'll pass. I want prices LOWER than .50 cents per track, CD-Quality audio and COMPLETE album/disc art with the purchase of a complete album. Anything else is unacceptable. Oh yeah... I almost forgot... I also want GOOD MUSIC!
That's the end of my soap-box moment.
In case you're wondering where that extra feature is, I'm working on it. It's taking a bit longer than I expected, but it's on its way soon.
UPDATE: It seems that Apple has just made it's formal announcement and they fill in some of the blanks regarding the "higher quality" audio. Tracks will be encoded at 256kbs instead of the previous 128kbs. A step forward, but still NOT CD-Quality.