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Posted at 9:36AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

I think the real beauty of buying music through iTunes (or any other online store) will be once record labels have their entire catalogues available. Being able to browse into the Flying Nun category and order chronologically would be excellent.

I don't see the point in buying it through iTunes when I can easily walk down to the shops and buy it for a couple of dollars more. I can see huge potential in buying either out of print music, or obscure stuff that would cost $40+ to get imported.

Posted at 10:11AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

speaking of backups, HDs etc.

I was thinking of ripping my entire CD collection to iTunes (via an alias folder) onto a external FW drive.

This way I could have all my music that I have on CD accessible to iTunes and portable (usable at home or work).

I would not get rid of my CDs.
A) I like CDs and have spent years collecting them.
B) If the drive got toasted I'd be screwed.
C) CDs have the full artwork.

Anyway, if I used a 350GB drive for this and AAC 192 as the compression format, do you think I could fit 1300 odd full CDs onto to one drive with room to spare?

Posted at 10:47AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Anyway, if I used a 350GB drive for this and AAC 192 as the compression format, do you think I could fit 1300 odd full CDs onto to one drive with room to spare

Should fit, 192 VBR AAC seems to be about 7MB/5min,

if you assume and average of 50mins an album, you get 70MB *1300 Albums= 91GB, so with a 350GB drive you have heaps of leeway for the longer albums/higher encoding rates if you liked.+ a bit for the cover art image to be imbedded,

Posted at 11:04AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Cheers. I'd like the extra room for future music - ie. ITMS, original compositions as aiffs etc.

Off to TradeMe then...

Posted at 11:24AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Okay - probably time to get alarmed ...

New Copyright Bill published ...

It contains what at first glance looks like a major change in direction on Technical Protection Measures:

“amend the provision relating to technological protection measures--- so that the prohibition against the making, importing, hiring, and selling of devices, services, or information designed to circumvent "copy protection" be expanded to cover devices, services, or information that circumvent technological protection measures that protect all rights provided to copyright owners (including communication, not just copying)”

And ...

“introduce an offence (carrying a sentence of a fine not exceeding $150,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both) for commercial dealing in devices, services, or information designed to circumvent technological protection measures:”

What, like region-free DVD players?

The goes against the direction of previous MED discussion papers and I wonder if it’s a quid pro quo for the introduction of the format-shifting exception.

And apart from anything else, it appears that I’d potentially be criminally liable for some of the comments in this thread!! I'm looking at you, Damian ;-)

Fuck that.

Not happy. I'll post on this tomorrow.

Cheers,
RB

Posted at 11:33AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Yup, looks like it's time to get emailing people! Here's my take on the whole affair, plus a copy of my email to Judith Tizard.

Scary times.

Posted at 11:44AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

What?

Did I say I was copying my CD collection to a HD?

It wasn't me - honest.

<:/

Posted at 11:56AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

First: Whee! At last. I've been waiting with not exactly baited breath, but looking forward to an NZ iTunes store nevertheless. So I got in last night and had a rummage around. Bit disappointed that you can't really 'browse' the store and that there's sod all NZ content there but found the purchasing process went pretty smoothly. Hopefully more NZ content will come on stream over time - well maybe not, cos I'd rather have that at the best quality I can get it (see below). But in the meantime I'll stick with amplifier or my local Real Groovy for that kind of thing.... Nothing like having a collection of NZ discs, is there?

Second: I was a bit nonplussed to discover the bit rate of the tracks available at iTunes is 128kbps AAC? What the...? Isn't that just a bit low? Is there anyone out there that can offer a qualified judgement on whether this is a bit sub standard or not? I mean, if I'm going to be paying for this stuff, should I not be able to get it at CD quality? Isn't the iTunes store meant to be an alternative to a physical store?

A friend sent me a link to a petition to Apple on just this issue: it's at http://www.petitiononline.com/apple128/petition.html

Anyway it was kind of fun to rumage about in the store and re-acquire some old faves that somehow I'd lost all those years ago when I took the plunge and let my vinyl collection go (Wish I'd kept all those pre-label flying nun discs I'd collected though).

Nice to see New Order's 1988 Substance compilation there. I also saw they had The Cure's 1984 live Concert album. I wonder if it still sounds as cool as it did in the mid 80's when I was a wide-eyeliner-eyed-psuedo-goth just starting uni....? Actually, I never wore eyeliner and i was never a goth, but I did like that album.

I thought it was great that you can now buy (Product) RED iPod Nanos at the Apple store too. If you buy one of those apple will donate money to get help desparately needed medicines into Africa to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The red nano's look cool and don't cost any extra, but it helps make a difference.

Posted at 12:09PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Tomorrowpeople, you're golden. That's the key thing that the new amendment caters for: format shifting.

Just don't try to format-shift your DVDs, because that's circumventing copy-protection mmkay?

Posted at 12:15PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Seems they want to let you watch out of zone DVD's

The focus of section 226 will continue to be on the link between circumvention and copyright infringement, and on the making, sale, and hire of devices or information rather than on actual circumvention. While actual circumvention may not be prohibited, any unauthorised use of the material that is facilitated by circumvention will continue to be an infringement of copyright. Consumers should, however, be able to make use of materials under the permitted acts or view or execute a non-infringing copy of a work. This is consistent with New Zealand's position on parallel importation of legitimate goods, for example, genuine DVDs, from other jurisdictions. New provisions are introduced to enable actual exercise of permitted acts where TPMs have been applied.

But as always the nitty gritty is what is in the legislation clauses,

Although one glaring red alert was that the format shifting will expire after 2 years, unless renewed. [Clause 44, new 81 (3)] WTF!! So I make a copy legally, and then parliament gets cold feet and it becomes illegal 2 years later, great!

Time to get out the tin-foil beanie and black helicopter detector.

Posted at 12:16PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Oh no wait, I'm confused: I'm allowed to circumvent DRM, but I'm not allowed to sell stuff to circumvent DRM?

mummy?

Posted at 12:26PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Thanks Ben.

Um - DVD Regions?

What are they?

;)

Posted at 12:35PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

If anyone thinks introducing anti-circumvention measures is a good idea, no matter how carefully worded they are, take a read of this document.

"This document collects a number of reported cases where the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA have been invoked not against pirates, but against consumers, scientists, and legitimate competitors. It will be updated from time to time as additional cases come to light."

Posted at 12:43PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Jeremy wrote:

Being able to browse into the Flying Nun category and order chronologically would be excellent.

Only if you're not interested in the hiss/noise component, which is quite an important aspect of the older stuff recorded with a more lo-fi aesthetic. Noise and digital compression don't play nice with each other. I have some German dub-techno stuff (Rhythm & Sound, if you're wondering) that's built largely from drum machines and analog tape hiss and it completely refuses to encode in a way that captures what it's about..

Russell: you're joking, right? Whereabouts does it talk about that?

Posted at 12:56PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Although one glaring red alert was that the format shifting will expire after 2 years, unless renewed. [Clause 44, new 81 (3)]

Man that is so pathetic. I had no idea the music biz was so influential in New Zealand. They obviously have Judith in their pocket.

Posted at 1:18PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

I was a bit nonplussed to discover the bit rate of the tracks available at iTunes is 128kbps AAC? What the...? Isn't that just a bit low?

When AAC was introduced by Apple, they claimed that a 128kbps AAC recording was equivalent in quality level to an MP3 of twice that bitrate, ie 256kbps. The thinking seems to be that to an average listener, a 128kbps AAC recording is not distinguishable from the original CD, especially not through those decidedly average Apple earbuds. But an audiophile with a good pair of monitor headphones will most certainly be able to tell the difference. I suppose it depends on where within that spectrum you fall.

Posted at 1:26PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

192kbps AAC sounds pretty good.
Noticeably better than 128 but a lot less room than 256 and hard to tell the difference.
Depends if space is an issue.

Posted at 1:35PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

I don't see the point in buying it through iTunes when I can easily walk down to the shops and buy it for a couple of dollars more. I can see huge potential in buying either out of print music, or obscure stuff that would cost $40+ to get imported.

thats my problem, there are no obscurities. I've never really looked at iTunes before and really expected more.

Maybe my required obscurities are more obscure than most...

Posted at 3:52PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

thats my problem, there are no obscurities. I've never really looked at iTunes before and really expected more. Maybe my required obscurities are more obscure than most...

Even after day to settle down, the iTunes Store seems a hell of a mess to me. Try clicking the "Quick Link" marked "browse" on the home page, or any other page. WTF?

I still haven't worked out a way to browse, say all the available rock releases, as opposed to just the ones iTunes is directing my attention to.

The page from the "Local Sounds" link or banner only contains one album, by Frontline. But if you scroll down the home page, you see a whole lot more in "Just Added - New Zealand".

Using eMusic as a point of comparison, iTunes seems surprisingly clunky and not as much fun. I've bought several things (that exclusive Flaming Lips EP was hard to refuse) but I don't think I'll be giving up my eMusic sub.

Posted at 7:46PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

It's as if someone forgot to flick the switch to enable the other two million songs that the media constantly mentions. Having a look at the Australian store shows a lot more music and the actual ability to browse. To wait or to start using the request page...

Posted at 8:40AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

Still a bit underwhelmed. It's nice to have legal downloads on tap, but the selection is poor and I've already had one incorrect song sent through after it was mislabelled in the store.

My main complaint at this point - where the hell is all the cheesy early to mid nineties hip hop? I just hope they aren't assuming our tastes are the same as those in Australia and that this is a temporary glitch.

No De La Soul, no Salt n Pepa, no Helluva by Brotherhood Creed, no Young MC. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to relive the awkwardness and humiliation of school dances without them. Although props for having Freak Me and No Diggity on there - should tide me over until the rest of the content is up.

Posted at 9:02AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

I've been window shopping on the US and UK stores for months, so I know the music I want is available, but not from here. It does seem a bit odd - if I want to buy a track from a US artist it's not going to be coming from a New Zealand server is it?

I don't need to get NZ music - that's easy to source from any music store. I'm looking for the stuff that would otherwise be a $40+ import from Marbecks.

Posted at 9:35AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

I agree - after surfing the US site for quite a while (previewing tracks, searching etc) the NZ ITMS seems 'broke'.

What gives.

Posted at 9:41AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

I have nothing constructive to add, other than that I was actually listening to "Helluva" as I read Dr. Huxtable's quote. Respect.

Posted at 10:51AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

I found this discussion up on the Apple support site. Apparently it's known that the NZ store is broken and that it's not an easy fix. :-(

Posted at 11:00AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

hhmmmmm.

oops.

Posted at 12:29PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

I've also discovered that music you may want to buy that is highlighted in the NZ iTunes section of the Apple iTunes web pages is often unavailable in New Zealand. <sigh>

iTunes suggests, in the case of "The Saints are Coming" (Green Day and U2) of changing to the US store as the item is not available in the NZ store. It doesn't help the customer experience when stuff they highlight on the NZ web page ain't available in NZ!

Still, being able to get stuff like Fat Freddy's Drop Hope for a Generation means I can put up with the teething problems!

Posted at 12:44PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

No De La Soul, no Salt n Pepa, no Helluva by Brotherhood Creed, no Young MC. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to relive the awkwardness and humiliation of school dances without them. Although props for having Freak Me and No Diggity on there - should tide me over until the rest of the content is up

Actually the selection of soul and hip hop is appalling...the only Motown stuff is a few hits albums. I want Eddie Kendricks and The Originals and the late Motown Jackson 5. That sort of thing. Black music, aside from Jazz and the more contemporary urban stuff, is treated really shabbily.

You want Young MC?....eMusic has all the Delicious Vinyl catalogue

Posted at 2:04PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

Thanks for the heads up. My next port of call will definitely be eMusic.

The lack of hip hop and soul is certainly disappointing, and perhaps points towards a misjudgement of our muscial tastes, and the preference for greatest hits collections over actual albums is galling. Having said that, I have managed to pick up some early Stevie Wonder and Jackson 5.

Still missing Helluva though: "She looks more better so I wanna more badder", etc.

Posted at 2:31PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

No De La Soul, no Salt n Pepa, no Helluva by Brotherhood Creed, no Young MC.

I feel your pain, Dr H. I could do with some Young MC right.

And in this vein, I checked out some others. iTunes only has the Jungle Brothers' "Done by the Forces of Nature" and only has A Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight Marauders" (and that's a "partial album" - WTF?!).

But most importantly (for me, anyway) - no Justin and no Robbie. What is going on here?!