September Event Rumors Leaked.

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/18215/

 

So nothing about Macbooks or MBPs?

 

I don't expect iTunes Unlimited. Its possible, but I don't expect it. Nor will I subscribe to it. I'm with the "own" music group, I don't want my music to disappear when I stop paying x a month.

Also, no surprise, September event, but I think its a little incomplete, I expect iPod refreshes along with that. Macs will probably be a separate event!

 

This was just information that was leaked. There was mention of new iPod refreshes, lower prices, higher capacities. But nothing positive. Also no mention of new macbooks either. If I had to guess I would say this was purposely leaked as a teaser.

 

iTunes Unlimited sounds really, really sweet. I think I'll sign up, if it's true.

 

I need an iPhone Nano! But as long as it's by christmas time, I'm good...

 

the idea sounds amazing. i will sign when the price is cheaper. they will get infinitely rich for doing this. this is how you save the music industry. you deliver quality that is AS GOOD as the pirates deliver, and you make it more convenient and better packaged than they do.

when music services deliver low quality 128kbps wma files, a shoddy selection of music, what do they expect but to fail miserably?

anyway, this version will work from a business perspective. more music and more money. again, i won't be signing right away, but i will when the price drops to about 4-5$ / month (if they ever did an academic pricing thing)

 

That's what I like about Apple, most of the time, if the product/idea isn't good enough, they just will scrap the whole thing and not introduce it. I find too many companies push "incomplete" products and wonder why it doesn't succeed.

 

You can find music that's encoded over 1000kbp/s in lossless formats, so it's not going to compete with audiophiles. I can hear a difference between 320kbp/s and 1000kbp/s lossless music with my Audio-Technica headphones. If Apple does this: LET US DOWNLOAD MUSIC OVER 3G ON THE iPHONE 3G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved having unlimited music on my Zune (before I sold it as money towards my first iPhone) because I could just download tons of artists and listen to them on shuffle to find which ones I liked and then flag the ones I want to download more of or delete. I found a few artists that way, and I haven't really found any more I like since. Nothing beats browsing through millions of albums and being able to download each one and find new artists, pirate sites aren't like that since it's too much of a hassle to find the names of artists and download new albums in good quality.

 

a) bit rate doesn't matter if its lossless

b) 256kbps is audiophile territory.

you have to keep in mind that you aren't hearing a bit rate. you hear sound. sound quality depends on the efficiency of the format, the bit rate, the quality of the encode. it also depends (hugely) on the speakers (or headphones) you use. at the end of the day, a v0 encode done properly is really high quality, any way you spin it. thats a 240kbps average vbr encode, between 220 and 260. that is basically the ideal mp3 encode for quality. its hard to argue against a 256kbps aac from an audiophile standpoint, if its done right. the fact that its using the more efficient aac (compared to mp3) is a bonus, and that the encode is being done by apple is a bonus. normally i wouldn't want a proprietary file format for my music, but if its being rented anyway it doesn't matter as long as it works. and thankfully, "it works" tends to hold true with apple.

so yes, a lossless format is better for audiophiles. and v0 should also work for most audiophiles. a few extremists will still be unhappy, but this will bring over MANY from the audiophile camp.

Flac can reasonably be anywhere from 400kbps to 1100kbps at any given time. Even lower and higher extremes are possible.

 

I'm going to be so pissed with Apple if they don't release new notebooks if they do this event in September.

I mean, do they still make computers? Or only iPhone crap?
Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but it's time for some new computers god dang it!

 

I'm with you brother. It's probably a generational thing, but as someone who grew up with stacks of albums and then stacks of CD's that could be played anywhere and anytime, I just can't warm up to any sort of restrictive DRM. I paid for Who's Next years ago. Why would I want to keep paying for it every month, or worse have to buy it again when I switch devices?

I'll buy from iTunes when they offer unrestricted MP3's like Amazon.

 

I'm just not gonna support a company like Apple with the iTunes venture when they publically state they want to reduce artist royalty payments from 13c to 4c. Steve Jobs gets even richer while the artists literally starve. Not in this lifetime. This service will have a new contract with the record companies in operation behind the scenes likely reducing royalties to struggling artists. No way in hell.

And no mention of a new MBP or MB. Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!

 

Source? Because as far as I am aware it is the record companies that are reaping all of the profits from the Artists, and this is why many Artists have decided to begin selling their own music on their own websites because they keep nearly all revenue.

The only article I found that supports your claim (on digg) is being reported as "Inaccurate".

The RIAA are the real criminals. They operate as a front for music companies, filing frivolous unprovable lawsuits (over 20,000 to date, have only won 4, and have lost several). They wanted to reduce artists royalties to 9% a couple years ago for Internet Radio streaming. They tie up our courts and consider all MP3 player owners to be criminals until proven innocent. The RIAA and MPAA are basically corporate versions of the old Italian Mafia crime syndicate.

The RIAA has gone even further and is now trying to squeeze apple/iTunes by allowing companies like Amazon to sell DRM free music while forcing the likes of Apple and Microsoft to continue offering only DRM versions. (RIAA and MPAA have both blamed Microsoft in the past for the "rampant" piracy. And Jobs called out Music companies to offer DRM free music Last year, which didn't please the RIAA one bit).

I think your feelings on the matter are largely misplaced. THE RIAA, in this case, are the ones that deserve your indignation. If you really want to support your favorite bands, buy their music directly from their website, in this way they get the majority of the revenue generated. Going any other route and the majority of those funds get directed to the recording companies and the RIAA.

And Support EFF.org.

 

Hey, nice post BTW.

I got it here, I know its only Gizmodo but if you could direct me as to its legitimacy either way that would be appreciated.

http://gizmodo.com/352762/riaa-want...pple-wants-them-at-4-artists-just-want-to-eat

Also one from Arstechnica who I do respect

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...h-songwriter-royalties-for-digital-music.html

I honestly think the RIAA are detestable scum of the corporate world and agree with everything you mentioned regards frivolous litigation and fronting but I don't buy the 'Apple being forced to use DRM' idea at all. DRM is very advantageous to them in their iPod to iTunes closed ecosystem. It benefits them to keep it. I would also question how many people have paid over $20,000 to fill their $300 80gb iPod with legitimate music. We all know there is something to the argument that large capacity mp3 players by and large contain a proportion of pirated music, honestly. Its just that legally rather than realistically they are on thin ice.

I totally agree with buying from the artists website to cut out the record companies and middle-men like Apple and Amazon and make sure all the credit and money goes to where it belongs.

Just to promote this heres an article (bit heavy I know) that shows a breakdown of royalties and shows how little the artist really gets.

http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/dl_newmedia.htm

On another note if the subscription service is successful they may face anti-competition investigations from the EU. They are not very popular with the Commission at all, and with good reason.

 

I thought iTunes already offers some DRM-free music and was actually one of the first to start doing so. I believe Jobs had a goal of being 50% DRM-free by the end of 2007, although that was never reached. Does anyone have stats on what percentage of songs are currently available DRM-free in iTunes?

 

I believe its still only EMI and indie labels, because the other big labels are trying to weaken iTunes' stronghold on the market by all releasing DRM-free on Amazon MP3 to try and even the score. I think what they're doing is stupid, its not fixing the DRM problem but rather using the lack of DRM as a tool to ruin the one company that made them some profit online.

 

Is this an MP3 post, or information based on rumours of what apple is doing in september?

Where is the macbook update! i cant wait any longer.

 

I hope they have some new design for the Macbook, but I don't want it to look just like the MBP. Personally, I like the current look of the MB's over the MBP. I just hope they are lighter and a bit more durable...

 

I really wonder what they plan to do with the MacBook. Most likely, the MBP will get MBA styling, but since the MacBook and MacBook Air are in the same class of notebooks, I don't believe the MacBook can have MacBook Air styling, as it would be confusing.

 

What's to stop someone from just playing the file, and recording the output to a non drm'ed format and deleting the original ? I wish Apple would offer an option for losslessly encoded music, otherwise CD's for me.

 

I don't know, but other services do this now, and so far its fine . But I guess if you're recording the output...then its no different from recording off radio then.