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Dealing with Digital Music and Vendor Lock-In?

Posted by Cliff on from the what-to-buy dept.

rahuja asks: "Buying and using digital music is a far from easy decision today - there are various competing and incompatible formats, stores and players out there in the market, primarily Apple (AAC + iTunes + iPod), Windows (WMA + various stores + WMA-compatible players), and Sony (Atrac3 + Connect.com + Walkman). How do you then ensure that the music and player you buy today will not be incompatible with your player, online store or the OS?" "Burning to audio CD and ripping back is always possible, but it is a painfully slow process and all tag information (song, album, artiste) is lost in the process.

In the past, I've used Sony Connect [Ed: IE 5.5+ only] (thanks to a $10 card I got with a Sony CD Walkman), which locks you in to Sony-only devices, and later, WMA with MSN Music and a Creative Muvo Micro N200. My player just died, and I'm too scared to lock myself into a new player/format/store now. iPod doesn't have an FM tuner yet, and my WMA tracks will be useless if next year I switch to Mac once the new x86 Powerbooks come out. I'm not sure how real Real's Harmony is, and JHymn doesn't support iTunes 6 yet.

In an ideal world we'd all have OGG-based players with FM tuner, and access to DRM-less music, or at least a universal, compatible format.

How are you dealing with this issue? Or is it just me?"

23 of 612 comments (clear)

  1. Duh... like... by MouseR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I burn an audio CD out of iTunes and voilà?

    No worry there.

    1. Re:Duh... like... by callipygian-showsyst · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Almost! Except for cheaper-than-iTunes, I buy USED CDs, and have an original, uncompressed copy that sounds better than any iTunes 128Mbps-compressed tune.

      And the types of music I listen to (Classical, "Western Art Music", Jazz, Opera) aren't served well by iTMS anyway.

      --
      Best Buy can have you arrested
    2. Re:Duh... like... by PeterChenoweth · · Score: 4, Informative
      WAV-encoded CD's are less efficent than MP3's, that's for sure, but I think the point the original author was trying to make is that you use the CD's as a temporary medium. In my case I just use a CD-RW, so there's no ongoing media cost. I tend to purchase an artist's entire CD at one time, rather than just a few tracks, that makes things much easier.

      1.Buy & Download from Napster|iTunes|whatever.

      2.Use their software to burn a CD of what you just bought, put the tracks in the same order that they are on the real CD. Napster likes to reverse the order, so you have to manually adjust that before you burn the CD. iTunes usually keeps them in the correct order.

      3. Rip all of the music back off the CD using your favorite CD-ripper & encoder.

      4.If you bought all of the tracks from a specific CD, and if you set up tracks in the right order, most of the time your ripping software will pick up all of the Artist & Track information automatically from CDDB or Gracenote, so you don't have to manually tag everything. Otherwise, you now have to re-tag/re-name files.

      5.Erase CDRW.

      6.Enjoy your DRM-free audio files.

    3. Re:Duh... like... by belly917 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Simple.. do your research to live in a DRM free environment

      Digital Audio Player
      I researched around for an non-cripled (no DRM) player that would mount as a hard drive, allowing access to the music files without the use of any software.

      Result:iRiver iHP-120 (which has better audio fidelity, plays more formats, and has many more options than the iPod [digital optical out/input, FM radio, etc.]) Not to mention I'm running rockbox on it so it's a wonderful experience

      Music purchases
      I buy CDs! I can rip everything in the FORMAT & BITRATE that I choose, and if, God forbid, I lose or destroy my DAP (& the duplicates on my computer) I can re-rip something. Also, if you search around, you can get CD's online for cheap & without tax.

    4. Re:Duh... like... by bluephone · · Score: 4, Informative

      Except your end product has now been twice compressed, and thus has lost even more data, and sounds worse than the DRM copy you originally bought - er, licensed. While I did exactly what you describe for the "Come And Get It" EP that I was allowed to download for free when buying Liz Pahir's self-titled album a couple Januarys ago (It came as one big WMA, so I had to DL the WMA, burn to CD, import as WAV, chop it up, then re-encode it), I was still displeased about the lack of MP3 or OGG support, and would never have paid money for the WMA. The only reason I went through that process is because it was free, and the music was good.

      --
      jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
    5. Re:Duh... like... by bobdinkel · · Score: 4, Informative
      Second of all, use your brain, open the preferences and set the importing prefs to 160 kbps or greater.

      I think he was referring to the iTunes Music Store. And to the best of my knowledge the iTMS only offers 128Kbps AAC files.

      --
      A publicly traded company exists solely to make profits for shareholders.
  2. compact discs by Frymaster · · Score: 4, Insightful
    i buy cds.

    solution provided.

    --

    2 1337 4 u!

    1. Re:compact discs by dslauson · · Score: 4, Insightful
      "i buy cds. solution provided."

      Yeah, but if you like listening to CDs on your computer, you're going to be butting heads with DMA before long.
    2. Re:compact discs by BushCheney08 · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...you're going to be butting heads with DMA before long.

      That's why I use PIO. : p

      --
      Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
    3. Re:compact discs by crimoid · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Even better, buy used CDs. Same music, 3/4 to 1/2 of the price AND you can almost always sell it back (although at a lower price).

  3. Easy by Eightyford · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just buy a digital audio player that supports mp3 or ogg, and don't buy from the vendors that lock you in.

    --
    Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
  4. How is this different? by mtec · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Than buying an 8 track and then they come out with tape, CD etc?

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
  5. Buy /Borrow CD, rip CD by gatzke · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Unless you keep everything as a mp3 or some other format without DRM, you are doomed.

    You want it easy(iTunes, DRM whatever) you get locked in. Eventually, things will go south and you will lose that investment.

    I have hundreds of CDs that I should be able to rip again and again. Maybe someday I will upgrade to 256k rips, or maybe I lose my HDs and have to re-rip... Either way, I own the CD and it is mine to do with as I please.

    Five copies and you can't move it again? WTF? Crazy that you even bought into that stuff.

  6. I don't buy music by davidwr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't steal music, but I don't buy it either.

    It's my way of sticking it to the RIAA.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  7. All of.... by wpiman · · Score: 5, Informative
    allofmp3.com allows you to pick whatever format you desire.

    I choose mp3 because it works everywhere.

    1. Re:All of.... by gurutechanimal · · Score: 5, Informative

      You know, all this talk of voting with your wallet is completely true. I was once a very large consumer of music; my CD collection stands at over 2000 legitimate, store-bought discs. But ever since the RIAA started taking a very aggressive, anti-consumer stance with their products, I have done a few things:

      1) I stopped buying new music discs from stores.
      2) I increased my used CD purchases.
      3) I increased my concert attendance to give my money directly to artists.
      4) I started downloading music.

      What does all of this have to do with allofmp3.com? In the last 3 months, I've spent over $250 of my money with them. They provide exactly the kind of service that I would expect from an online music retailer: large selection, choice of format, reasonable pricing. It has totally eliminated numbers 1, 2, and 4 from the above list. It's the perfect solution (although I still buy used CD's when I can't find them on allofmp3).

      People are bitching that allofmp3 is:

      A) Unethical because the artists don't get paid: Well, they don't get paid when I go down to mall to buy a CD, and they don't get paid when I buy a used CD. Speaking as someone who at one time was under a major-label contract, artists don't get paid from record sales, unless they're already huge.

      B) Run by the russian Mafia: the record industry here is run by the mafia, or at least run LIKE the mafia. No sympathy here; at least if allofmp3 is run by the mafia, they don't pretend otherwise. Here, our record labels act like they exist to serve the artist...what a load!

      Look, the bottom line is that allofmp3 has it right. LARGE SELECTION, FAIR PRICES, CHOICE OF FORMAT, and EASE OF USE. I know they're doing it right, because I'm finally buying huge amounts of music again. It's everything a music store should be. And its far out of the reach of US law, thank God!

      --
      Governments are not necessary.
  8. you don't go with any proprietary format by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    you pirate

    companies exist to serve the consumer, not visa versa

    until companies figure that out, you don't use them

    you pirate until the companies figure out that trying to own you is a turn off

    and if they never figure that out, then fine, they die

    the point is: you are the consumer, you are king

    don't agree to any arrangement that makes you subject to something proprietary

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  9. OT: Is Vorbis dead? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I drank the Ogg Vorbis Kool-Aid and ripped hundreds of CDs in that format, fully believing that it was the Format Of The Future (tm). I'm having a lapse of faith, though: you have to jump through hoops to play them in iTunes (like installing barely-supported Quicktime plugins), and forget about listening to them on an iPod or any random piece of consumer hardware.

    Does Vorbis still have a place in the world, or would I be better off re-ripping my music to MP3 - even if I still think Vorbis is technically superior?

    I know this isn't completely on-topic, but since we're discussing vendor lock-in, it feels like I've managed to lock myself into a Unix-only format.

    --
    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  10. Easy by Hatta · · Score: 4, Informative

    How do you then ensure that the music and player you buy today will not be incompatible with your player, online store or the OS?"

    Easy, only buy music from people willing to let you listen to it. Places like emusic and magnatune sell completely unrestricted music files. And shit, archive.org gives away thousands of hours of music for free.

    Vote with your wallet. If DRM is unacceptable, don't buy from people who would push it on you. There's plenty of music out there that's not DRM'd, and it's mostly better than the RIAA crap. Good musicians can afford to give music away, there's plenty more where that came from.

    If you were treated the same way in a physical store that Apple or Napster treats you online, you'd storm out angrily and never shop there again. Why should online stores be any different?

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  11. Magnatune by Gubbe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I buy from Magnatune, Audio Lunchbox or one of the many other sites that sell open, non-DRM music in MP3, OGG Vorbis and FLAC formats.

    Why should I buy things from people who don't have respect for me and my wishes as a customer?

    No major label will ever again get a single penny from me until they say "screw DRM" and mean it too. If they don't, that's just fine with me. They can just wither and die for all I care.

    Solution provided.

  12. Not technically legal, TOTALLY legal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They pay the fee for the music. The police in Russia checked their licenses in response to an RIAA complaint and they're all in order.

    Globalisation doesn't just work for corporations importing cheap shoes, it works for you too.

  13. pirating & civil disobedience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Personally, I own hundreds of CDs and all my iPod music is 100% legally ripped from them. Many of the CDs are used, many are greatest hits compilations, both of which save money, and I've purchased them over many years. I also buy my ipods when the new version comes out and the old version drops in price so I get a good deal.

    If you want to "pirate" to "make a point" the only caveat is this: any time you commit civil disobedience (breaking the law to embarrass the legislature into changing it) you have to be willing to face the consequences of breaking that law (fines and jail) in order to make your point. Remember, Gandhi insisted on being jailed (I think it was for making his own salt) in order to embarrass the government. In Canada, Mortgentaler went to jail repeatedly to uphold the right of women to abortion. In your own country, Doctor Death did the same.

    Otherwise you're not a crusader, you're just another whiny punk who wants everything for free immediately. Considering you could do what I do, there's an obvious alternative to pirating to avoid DRM.

  14. AllOfMp3.com by Trevahaha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    http://www.allofmp3.com/ lets you buy DRM-free music and instead of paying per song, you pay per bandwidth... you choose your format that you want and you choose the compression rate. It's pretty sweet. It's based out of Russia and is legal to buy from.