Howdy!
How many of you regularly purchase downloadable music content via an online service such as iTunes or Nokia Music? Although it's somewhat convenient, I've never been a big fan of the idea in practice due to irksome DRM restrictions, territory distribution limitations and sloppy publishing practices.
Over the last couple of weeks I tried out Nokia Music S.A. and using their OVI Player software, I purchased and downloaded a few albums which weren't available from the local Musica. Normally I would default to ordering the CD's (or DVD's) from Kalahari.net, Take2 or sometimes Look&Listen because I prefer having a CD at the end of the day, but online purchases do have the ability to provide "instant gratification" (depending on your download speeds, of course). Now, apart from a few minor software usability issues, I managed to buy my music at a cheaper price and have it available in a matter of minutes, BUT playing it back proved to be an unanticipated frustration thanks to DRM. Playback is limited to a few media-players that don't seem to care about DRM (WinAmp being one of them), but my networked digital media-player simply refused to play my music. No surprise really
Now there are several ways of circumventing this [insert suitable expletive] copy protection, so again it begs that question "what's the damn point?!" But, I suppose it's just one of those profit generating things that will never go away, like the common cold.
My method for converting my legitimately purchased music to DRM-free is to simply write it to a virtual CD, and then rip it back. Naturally it doesn't sit well with me to convert a compressed audio file in this manner, as it is analogous to making a copy of a copy (compounding errors), but a thorough listen on a pair of quality headphones doesn't reveal any noticeable difference to the original, so it works out OK (apart from the knowledge of has been done, which remains a niggle).
Apparently Apple iTunes Store allows one to purchase DRM-free tracks for a small additional fee, but I've been unable to verify this as the iTunes store has kindly informed me that I can't purchase any music from them because my credit card was issued in South Africa. ??? I don' get it. I don't own an iPod, but certainly ZA iPod users do purchase music content online, don't they?
Amazone.co.uk is also a popular destination for DRM-free music, but again I'm not allowed to buy any music from them because I'm from South Africa!
So, do any of you regularly purchase music online (and where)? Or do you also still prefer good old CD?
How many of you regularly purchase downloadable music content via an online service such as iTunes or Nokia Music? Although it's somewhat convenient, I've never been a big fan of the idea in practice due to irksome DRM restrictions, territory distribution limitations and sloppy publishing practices.
Over the last couple of weeks I tried out Nokia Music S.A. and using their OVI Player software, I purchased and downloaded a few albums which weren't available from the local Musica. Normally I would default to ordering the CD's (or DVD's) from Kalahari.net, Take2 or sometimes Look&Listen because I prefer having a CD at the end of the day, but online purchases do have the ability to provide "instant gratification" (depending on your download speeds, of course). Now, apart from a few minor software usability issues, I managed to buy my music at a cheaper price and have it available in a matter of minutes, BUT playing it back proved to be an unanticipated frustration thanks to DRM. Playback is limited to a few media-players that don't seem to care about DRM (WinAmp being one of them), but my networked digital media-player simply refused to play my music. No surprise really
Now there are several ways of circumventing this [insert suitable expletive] copy protection, so again it begs that question "what's the damn point?!" But, I suppose it's just one of those profit generating things that will never go away, like the common cold.
My method for converting my legitimately purchased music to DRM-free is to simply write it to a virtual CD, and then rip it back. Naturally it doesn't sit well with me to convert a compressed audio file in this manner, as it is analogous to making a copy of a copy (compounding errors), but a thorough listen on a pair of quality headphones doesn't reveal any noticeable difference to the original, so it works out OK (apart from the knowledge of has been done, which remains a niggle).
Apparently Apple iTunes Store allows one to purchase DRM-free tracks for a small additional fee, but I've been unable to verify this as the iTunes store has kindly informed me that I can't purchase any music from them because my credit card was issued in South Africa. ??? I don' get it. I don't own an iPod, but certainly ZA iPod users do purchase music content online, don't they?
Amazone.co.uk is also a popular destination for DRM-free music, but again I'm not allowed to buy any music from them because I'm from South Africa!
So, do any of you regularly purchase music online (and where)? Or do you also still prefer good old CD?
