Napster to limit bitrate of mp3s to 128kbps

[DefRef]

Labels have been cutting back severely on the amount of singles they've shipped lately and many times they don't even release the hit as a single, so as to force people into buying the whole CD.

I worked in a record store the Christmas that Vanilla Ice was hitting it big and the reason he sold so many albums was because there was no single. People just wanted that stupid "Ice Ice Icy" song, but had to pony up the $10 for the whole tape to get it instead of the $3 that a cassingle would've cost.

Also, today's singles are ~$6 which makes it a lousy buy. I remember buying 45s (yeah, I'm old) for <$1.50 with picture sleeves. Those were the days.

 

[GL]

Well, I'd like to download Free (as in freedom) music instead of free (as in beer) music. What the heck does it mean? Mp3s are a much more convenient format for me than CDs. I would like to have the freedom to choose which format I want - and in this day and age thats absolutely possible. I have an Mp3 portable CD player - 150 tracks to a CD at 192kbps. Moreover, I use my computer to listen to a lot of music because my SBlive, Altec Lansing ACS-48s/Sennheiser headphones is a better combo than the cheapass stereo I have. Mp3s make more sense to me.

My complaints against RIAA are twofold:
1. CDs cost way too much. Unless you're buying the absolute latest albums, most CDs here in Canada are >$20. Sorry...considering DVDs are about the same price and DVDs I consider to be harder to produce, and of better quality, then I'm just not going to budge.
2. Mp3s are more convenient as I mentioned above.

I will pay for a service that charges a reasonable amount of money to provide music in the format that I choose. If CDs dropped to CDN$10 a pop, I'd probably just buy them and rip my own MP3s. But if CDs stay at the current prices, then I'd like an alternative music format - MP3s at $5/album or $0.50 a track. That's not out of the question for me to pay.

Don't fall into the hype: Yeah people are generally cheap but they're not out and out theives either. RIAA is not providing a service that people want. Add this into an overpriced market for CDs, and that spells trouble. The RIAA likes to label its own customers as theives because if it doesn't, the government won't help the RIAA retain a monopoly hold on the music distribution industry. If the government had any sort of cajones, they would have told RIAA that yes they're copyrights are being infringed but for a reasonable reason - mainly being that they aren't catering to their market. They should have forced the RIAA to work with Napster (give the RIAA a 50% cut of the company Napster as restitution) to start a legit distribution system, but they haven't. It's like Microsoft with standards...if the RIAA doesn't set the distribution standard, then the standard must be evil and it won't put up with it.

-GL

 

[pdiddy]

didnt the gov. force the price of cd's to drop

 

[JellyBaby]

<< RIAA is not providing a service that people want. >>

Only because they want absolute control over content, price, distribution and how you can use the music. Nothing outrageous or anything.