iTunes Store Sets New Record with 25 Billion Songs Sold

[Musicophile]

I know, the "Audiophile" downloads secion may be the wrong place to post this, but I think it is a useful number to remind us that all our FLAC vs. WAV etc. and 24/192 vs. 24/96 discussions etc. are comfortably ignored by the vast majority out there.

 

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/02/06iTunes-Store-Sets-New-Record-with-25-Billion-Songs-Sold.html

 

Especially, since if you believe Apple their AACs are "virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings".

[Boris75]

Thanks for this entertaining post. This is a very elastic use of the word "virtually". Then, I have to say that I am a daily user of 256kbp AACs which are very fine for me on my daily trips to and back from the office with my iPhone and Bose QC15. The combined effects of the noise generated by the underground train and the noise-cancelling DSP of the Bose are such that upgrading the source to lossless redbook makes no audible difference, at least to me. I tried a couple of times, using a Colorfly CK4, but then dropped this as I could not hear a difference and do not find it convenient to carry a DMP in my bag in addition to my iPhone in my pocket.

[PewterTA]

I have yet to hear anything off itunes that sounds close to as good as I can get it from a CD or a vinyl rip. But then again, I care more about the quality than the convenience of getting files quickly and saving space...

 

I'm sure the recording industry will still tell you that they are eating scraps off the floor of a dirt hut due to how little they sell... *rolleyes*

 

People are buying music... they are just not buying full albums because most artists (nowadays especially) can't make a full album worth listening to. It's almost all "one-hit-wonders" just multiple times over. Yeah it's great you put out 8 albums... and have 8 good songs.... I remember groups back in the day would call 8 good songs an album...because there were 12 songs on it...and 4 you didn't like. lol

[baxtus]

That means that at least 25 billion pieces of music have been listened to at least once and that has to be a good thing because music is very good for us.

[SimmoW]

Yes, iTunes has to get credit for increasing the popularity of music downloads and to some extent reinvigorating music sales.

 

As a relative newcomer to high res downloads and decent equipment (currently enjoying my Grado PS500s) though, I wince every time I hear my AACs at home. Yes they're fine for iPhone listening on transport etc, but yeuck, they sound so brittle at home! Oh well, at least we can feel smug when thinking of the sound when we get home.

[Snowmonkey]

If Steve Jobs was still alive, I think he would be steering iTunes in the direction of CD quality downloads (or higher). Compression was necessary when iTunes started - to fit lots of music on an iPod hard drive and to download tracks reasonably quickly. With hard drive capacities and internet bandwidth increasing exponentially, the day must be approaching where a lot of consumers will think "why not have higher quality sound". You don't have to be a dyed in the wool audiophile to want your music to sound good.

[labjr]

...McDonalds used to keep track on their signs "XX Billions Served"?

 

Well, quantity doesn't equal quality.

 

Apple needs iphones and ipods that will playback 24-192 and DSD files. And The high-rez market will multiply by a million fold. That would be good for audiophiles.

[wgscott]

I think what is kind of interesting is that this shows most people would rather pay to download from a convenient source (iTunes store) rather than steal music.

 

Most people don't even know there is a difference between compressed AAC files and lossless files, and if you tell them there is a difference in quality, people are skeptical or just tell you that you are full of shit. (I didn't less than 3 years ago. I never gave it a second thought.) I still often struggle to hear any difference.

 

Anyone who thinks that Apple is going to embrace high resolution music is in for a world of disappointment.

[wdw]

this

[Snowmonkey]

Anyone who thinks that Apple is going to embrace high resolution music is in for a world of disappointment.

Well maybe not Apple, now they've lost their visionary leader, but if not them, it'll be someone else (?HDTracks ?Qobuz). The history of computers is of capacity expanding according to Moore's law and of software (in this case music) expanding to fully utilise that capacity. The question is: Once the storage and bandwidth are cheap and available, why compress? And once the CD is consigned to history, why stop at 16/44? I remember, just a few years ago, scouring the internet for (legally) downloadable music. It's just a better way to buy music (unless you're enraptured by the aesthetic of physical vinyl discs). Now, there's a veritable explosion of websites offering high quality downloads and no reason to believe the trend will do anything but grow.

[baxtus]

I think what is kind of interesting is that this shows most people would rather pay to download from a convenient source (iTunes store) rather than steal music.

 

Most people don't even know there is a difference between compressed AAC files and lossless files, and if you tell them there is a difference in quality, people are skeptical or just tell you that you are full of shit. (I didn't less than 3 years ago. I never gave it a second thought.) I still often struggle to hear any difference.

 

Anyone who thinks that Apple is going to embrace high resolution music is in for a world of disappointment.

 

Agreed

[Snowmonkey]

Just came across this article in The Guardian:

Neil Young has claimed he was working with the late Apple boss Steve Jobs on a follow-up to the iPod. Young said he and Jobs were developing a new device for listening to "high-resolution audio", which would download content "while you're sleeping".

"Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music, but when he went home he listened to vinyl," Young said during an interview at the D: Dive Into Media technology conference. He and Jobs were apparently both concerned with the dearth of high-quality listening formats for audiophiles, and the two men met to work on new hardware that could store the large music files Young prefers. Since Jobs's death in October, Young complained, there is "not much going on".

 

Neil Young: Steve Jobs and I were working on new iPod | Music | guardian.co.uk

 

[wgscott]

[Snowmonkey]

Is that how you always refute evidence that contradicts your preconceptions?

[InfernoSTi]

I have noticed that HDTracks is doing a LOT more first release material in high res (Nataly Dawn's new album, for example). This is a good thing even though many of us are still looking for reissues of old (classic) music. The world is turning our way, however slowly...

 

John

[Julf]

I have noticed that HDTracks is doing a LOT more first release material in high res

 

I just wish more of it would really be hi-res, and not just upsampled or up-padded CD material...