I've commented extensively on this topic and I agree that low-quality audio distribution is a very 
large minus to the whole "evolution" away from packaged media. I think ARSC list postings are 
google-searchable so one could refer to past discussions on this topic. It would be interesting to 
see a group like ARSC take a stand on the topic but I doubt it would matter as long as people 
continue to pay for and not complain about inferior-quality downloads.

One group I've been surprised hasn't taken a stand on this is Consumer's Union. It seems to me that 
they'd be all over iTunes, Amazon and others for charging $10 (the street price of most CD's) for an 
album's worth of very much inferior-sounding format downloads, plus no album art or booklet. It's a 
genuine ripoff from my perspective, but (legitimate) downloading is now a $2+ billion business, 
according to one report (see today's NYT). Billboard reported last issue that overall music sales 
were at a 25-year low last year because CD sales are down much more than legal downloads are up. I 
would suggest part of the problem is rampant stealing by morally-challenged folks (no doubt spurred 
on by Big Music's stance of treating customers as criminals -- lack of respect breeds contempt both 
ways), but another big part of the problem is that a sensible consumer likely doesn't see good value 
in a $10 crappy-sounding download album. So the answer might be sell CD quality downloads for $10 
per album and have album art/booklets downloadable as PDF or some other printable format, or to sell 
the inferior-grade downloads with no album art and booklets for much lower prices. Perhaps the 
typical iTunes 128kbps AAC file should be a free loss-leader item since it is only of marginally 
better audio quality than a free online stream from a radio station. Some free podcasts downloadable 
through iTunes are of higher-resolution (though not many). Finally, I think the biggest problem in 
the music business is lack of compelling and well-marketed product that sells itself.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Lindner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 8:54 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] The "dumbing down" of Downloaded Recordings


> Is it just me who wonders about this? With the hundreds of articles I  have been reading on the 
> changes in media distribution (literally  hundreds and is this a REALLY big surprise??) I have not 
> read one -  not one - that makes any mention of the fact that the quality of the  recordings being 
> distributed by download are significantly compressed  and poorer then those distributed on media. 
> Of course it does not  have to be this way - there is no reason why .wav files could not be  being 
> downloaded instead of AAC or MP3 - but no one seems to care -  at all.
>
> I figure that if anywhere - the members on this list should care. I  don't get it - why aren't 
> people complaining? Has our benchmark for  quality become Apple Ipod earbuds? Tell me it isn't so. 
> While people  are spending untold thousands on Krell's and esoteric speakers what  we are 
> witnessing here is a recording media and quality implosion and  I for one am concerned that 
> getting a recording that is of the former  relatively high (ok we can debate that but this is not 
> the real  point) quality of recordings on CD will become an impossibility in  the not too distant 
> future. How come there aren't a bunch of  audiophiles - or professionals - or both - speaking up 
> and saying to  the downloading public and to the distributors - hey wait a minute -  if I am 
> paying the same prices for downloading as I am for physical  media - the least you can do is give 
> me the same quality.
>
> All I hear is - silence. To me this is a HUGE threat - even short  term - to what you are going to 
> be able to listen to, and the quality  of what you will be able to listen to.
>
> So, members of ARSC - I ask you - to discuss this - and - OK I will  say it - as an organization - 
> take an actual position on this subject  - let the world know that this is a BIG issue. That is 
> right - I am  actually advocating for standing up and talking out loud - not to our  group but to 
> the rest of the planet. If we are not going to take a  stand on this -  what will we take a stand 
> on? Get some manufacturers  behind you - you know the Krell and "monster cable" kind of folk that 
> have lots of marketing smarts - because there really isn't any point  in spending thousands of 
> dollars on esoteric gear when the quality of  the recordings will not let you hear it anyhow. They 
> have allot to  lose also. What we are talking about here is the dumbing down - the  AAC'ing of all 
> distributed music and I for one think this is an  issue. Does anyone agree?
>
>
>
> Jim Lindner
>
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
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