Music Industry must adopt a "Digital First" Strategy says Gartner - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

hugh · 2008-12-23, 01:41 PM

In a report entitled “Christmas 2008: The Last Year of the Retail CD”, research firm Gartner concludes that in the next year, the music industry must move away from the retail CD as its primary revenue generator and focus on online distribution.

M_Guy · 2008-12-23, 02:01 PM

While I haven't bought a physical CD in about 7-8 years, I still see that the major online music retailers (iTunes) still falls short in the music that they sell in the area of audio quality.

In general, most of the music that is sold on iTunes is fairly low audio quality. For listening on an iPod with ear buds it's more than adequate but I really didn't notice how bad most of the music was until I attached my iPod to my home stereo. The audio quality becomes much more apparent and I had myself wishing for the original CD for many songs.

While I agree with the Gartner report that the music industry must move to a "digital first" strategy, they also need to address the audio quality issue as well and sell a product that is at least as good as CD audio.

hugh · 2008-12-23, 02:04 PM

I agree. I have some digital music but most of my purchases are still CD's because of DRM issues and I want the ability to have lossless audio for my home stereo and lossy for the media player.

NeilN · 2008-12-23, 02:16 PM

They also need to ditch the DRM. Buying a CD doesn't force me to use a certain CD player to listen to it. Buying a digital track shouldn't force me to use a specific program/OS/digital device. After watching the Microsoft and Walmart fiascos with DRM why would any consumer trust a corporation to control access to their purchased music?

mark · 2008-12-23, 02:32 PM

I haven't bought any Itunes music so far, because of the compression. I have however purchased a few lossless FLAC albums from Nettwerk.

reddwarf · 2008-12-23, 05:00 PM

That's what I'm waiting for, CD quality downloads either in WAV or FLAC format for the home stereo then I can make MP3s of varying quality for the various devices I have.

My other requirement is cheap prices. The current $1+ for singles is too much and limits my purchases greatly to music I really want. I'm not prepared to take a flier on any unknown or marginally interesting musician/band at that price. For 25c or less I'd even download a Britney Spears song.

The same goes for the pricing of downloadable content on Rock Band and Guitar Hero. On the Wii platform each song works out to $2 so I only buy the songs I really, really want and won't bother with any marginal songs.

thegiffer · 2008-12-23, 06:30 PM

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll be sad to see the CD go, for the audio quality issues noted above. A WAV/FLAC site with a deep catalogue like Itunes would be wonderful. My CDs sit in storage, taking up space, long since moved onto a hard drive.

I've been cherrypicking iTunes for the last few years, trying to upgrade some of my lower quality MP3s (some of them are 64 kps, some are 96 kps, so even 128 kps is an upgrade). With few exceptions, the CDs I buy now are reissues that are true remasters (from source tapes) of albums I know I will listen to a lot over time (e.g. some of the Van Morrison reissues). Last year I bought five.

Recently I've been using Aeroplan points to download from their music site - MP3s, but 320 kps usually, so a bit better than Itunes. Not as deep a catalogue, but surprisingly broad. No DRM on Aeroplan MP3s http://music.aeroplan.com/default.aspx

FLACer · 2008-12-27, 03:50 PM

Depending on your musical tastes, HD Tracks might also be worth checking out. They offer DRM free downloads in your choice of CD-quality AIFF and/or FLAC as well as 320 kbps mp3. Every once in a while they'll put up an entire album for free download too.

thegiffer · 2009-01-06, 02:14 AM

Thanks for the tip to HD Tracks FLACer - interesting site, reasonable price for the quality.

2008-12-23, 01:41 PM	#1
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	Music Industry must adopt a "Digital First" Strategy says Gartner In a report entitled “Christmas 2008: The Last Year of the Retail CD”, research firm Gartner concludes that in the next year, the music industry must move away from the retail CD as its primary revenue generator and focus on online distribution. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

2008-12-23, 02:04 PM	#3
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	I agree. I have some digital music but most of my purchases are still CD's because of DRM issues and I want the ability to have lossless audio for my home stereo and lossy for the media player. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

2008-12-23, 02:01 PM	#2
M_Guy Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 110	While I haven't bought a physical CD in about 7-8 years, I still see that the major online music retailers (iTunes) still falls short in the music that they sell in the area of audio quality. In general, most of the music that is sold on iTunes is fairly low audio quality. For listening on an iPod with ear buds it's more than adequate but I really didn't notice how bad most of the music was until I attached my iPod to my home stereo. The audio quality becomes much more apparent and I had myself wishing for the original CD for many songs. While I agree with the Gartner report that the music industry must move to a "digital first" strategy, they also need to address the audio quality issue as well and sell a product that is at least as good as CD audio.

2008-12-23, 02:16 PM	#4
NeilN Veteran Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: North York Posts: 1,620	They also need to ditch the DRM. Buying a CD doesn't force me to use a certain CD player to listen to it. Buying a digital track shouldn't force me to use a specific program/OS/digital device. After watching the Microsoft and Walmart fiascos with DRM why would any consumer trust a corporation to control access to their purchased music?

2008-12-23, 02:32 PM	#5
mark Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bolton, ON Posts: 643	I haven't bought any Itunes music so far, because of the compression. I have however purchased a few lossless FLAC albums from Nettwerk.

2008-12-23, 05:00 PM	#6
reddwarf Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Toronto Posts: 817	That's what I'm waiting for, CD quality downloads either in WAV or FLAC format for the home stereo then I can make MP3s of varying quality for the various devices I have. My other requirement is cheap prices. The current $1+ for singles is too much and limits my purchases greatly to music I really want. I'm not prepared to take a flier on any unknown or marginally interesting musician/band at that price. For 25c or less I'd even download a Britney Spears song. The same goes for the pricing of downloadable content on Rock Band and Guitar Hero. On the Wii platform each song works out to $2 so I only buy the songs I really, really want and won't bother with any marginal songs.

2008-12-23, 06:30 PM	#7
thegiffer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Vancouver Posts: 204	I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll be sad to see the CD go, for the audio quality issues noted above. A WAV/FLAC site with a deep catalogue like Itunes would be wonderful. My CDs sit in storage, taking up space, long since moved onto a hard drive. I've been cherrypicking iTunes for the last few years, trying to upgrade some of my lower quality MP3s (some of them are 64 kps, some are 96 kps, so even 128 kps is an upgrade). With few exceptions, the CDs I buy now are reissues that are true remasters (from source tapes) of albums I know I will listen to a lot over time (e.g. some of the Van Morrison reissues). Last year I bought five. Recently I've been using Aeroplan points to download from their music site - MP3s, but 320 kps usually, so a bit better than Itunes. Not as deep a catalogue, but surprisingly broad. No DRM on Aeroplan MP3s http://music.aeroplan.com/default.aspx

2008-12-27, 03:50 PM	#8
FLACer Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 432	Depending on your musical tastes, HD Tracks might also be worth checking out. They offer DRM free downloads in your choice of CD-quality AIFF and/or FLAC as well as 320 kbps mp3. Every once in a while they'll put up an entire album for free download too.

2009-01-06, 02:14 AM	#9
thegiffer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Vancouver Posts: 204	Thanks for the tip to HD Tracks FLACer - interesting site, reasonable price for the quality.