Pono Music Store online and out of beta according to report

[bmoura]

Pono Music Download Store Goes Online | http://www.twice.com

 

Still appears in beta to me.

 

Can any other non-Pono-owners get in?

 

The TWICE article says the Pono Store has more selections than HD Tracks? Seems hard to believe.

[bmoura]

Most of it from my casual inspection appears to be redbook, sold for about twice the price of the corresponding CDs on Amazon.

 

I took a quick look. Doesn't appear to have more titles than HD Tracks from what I saw.

[bmoura]

It seems like there is price fixing going on by the labels for digital downloads, so I would expect them to cost the same whether you are buying from Pono, Qobuz, HDtracks etc as long as they are not running a promotion.

 

Not in all cases. Check the price of Jazz at the Pawnshop in DSD 128fs on Native DSD ($28.76) vs. Pro Studio Masters ($44.99). Hardly the same!

[bmoura]

Not analogous. The idea here is that there is more or less a floor being set for the prices. Obviously if someone wants to try and charge more, they can.

 

With Jazz at the Pawnshop, there's also eOnkyo Music. They sell the album in Double DSD - and all other formats - for 2,800 yen which works out to $23.50. Even lower than Native DSD ($28.76) and lower than Pro Studio Masters ($44.99).

 

You'd have to ask the eOnkyo folks how they are able to offer the download at such an attractive price. Especially if there is the minimum list price in effect as some here have speculated.

 

The bottom line for music fans is it does pay to shop around a bit before buying. There is money to be saved.