No animosity or ridiculing here. I understand you guys. But, what I don't understand is the resistance to newer technology.
Of course they are! Who said they weren't digital?Quote:
First of all, CD’s ARE digital. They drummed that into us back in the 1980's when CD’s were first introduced. They were either AAD [[Analog Recordings remastered digitally which includes Motown recordings); ADD [[for which I don’t recall), or DDD [[all digital recordings). Classic Motown released in download format is no more "digital" than the analog CD reissues are.
Well, how come you couldn't have burned your own discs? It's so easy that a five-year-old kid can do it!Quote:
Now that Universal is forcing us to settle for download-only reissues, a whole new problem has cropped up. After listening to the 20-or-so Motown downloads that I hired my neighbor to download and burn to CD on my PC for me a few weeks ago, three of them have skips. I don’t think it’s the fault of the download; I’m pretty sure it’s the defective blank TDK CD’s that I’ve had problems with in the past. This means that I will now have to hire my neighbor to re-burn them to CD for me, and then I’ll have to take the time to play each one back over again – note-for-note – until I’m able to achieve a perfect copy without skips. This is very frustrating and time-consuming, not to mention total bullcrap – especially in this day and age! I shouldn't have to be going through this. To my knowledge, CD’s still have the potential for offering the best sound quality possible if given the proper remastering process.
The reason many of us quit burning CD-Rs is because they are unreliable. Also, the process isn't perfect. You have to burn the blank at the speed recommended by the manufacturer, and the burner has to be capable of proper burns. The computer itself has to be up to snuff. The computer has to have adequate power, memory, and space. The CD-R must never be exposed to sunlight or excessive heat, and always be stored in jewel boxes. One must never, ever use paper labels or write on the label side with anything but a water-based sharpie, preferably in the areas where do fata was written. These are among the many reasons many of we digital music lovers moved on to hard drives and servers to store our digital music, be they ripped CDs or downloads. Hard drives are MUCH more stable and robust than CD-R. And, if you're worried about a hard drive going belly-up, you just make a couple of copies. So, if one drive dies, you still have two backups!
I agree with you in one area: you don't usually get recording notes and credits, essays, or track info, but you can get album cover graphics embedded into the files.
It's not just teenagers, you know. People middle-aged baby-boomers have been downloading just as much as the younger folks. I get tired of everything being blamed on "the kids". The kids are often less computer literate than their parents.Quote:
What really burns my butt is the fact that many of us have supported Motown faithfully and heavily for 50+ years, yet we seem to have lost all credibility and deserved consideration. Instead, Universal has chosen to release our Classic Motown music in download format only, in order to satisfy the demand of today’s 15-year-olds who are perfectly happy to be on the go while enjoying a pocket-full of their cheap, tinny-sounding music playing through their little portable transistor-radio-quality speakers/earbuds while not giving a rat’s ass about photos nor learning all that they can about Motown recording sessions. They probably aren’t even buying classic Motown.
I am one of those middle-aged boomers that have their computer permanently hooked up to their stereo system. I've had it that way since 1998, and I still enjoy CD quality sound, or studio sound in the form of hi-rez. I will still buy CDs, but I embrace newer technology and can never go back! I have my music on a server and can access it anywhere in the world on demand.
You don't need interact with a computer! Just get a D/A stereo component that will connect to the server with wi-fi. You never even have to see a computer component! All you do is scroll through your music library with a remote control, tablet, or even your smartphone. So many people live on nothing but their phones today, anyway. You can let your family or even friends and neighbors have access to your collection.Quote:
I have no problem in getting up off my butt long enough to take a CD out of its jewel box, popping it in my portable CD player with studio-monitor headphones, and pushing "Play" as I enjoy top-notch sound while perusing the enclosed booklet with its photos, graphics, and informative track-by-track annotation. Simply pushing a download "play" button from a remote control for a jukebox-type cueing system located somewhere off in another room with nothing to look at and learn from seems mighty cold, impersonal, and sterile to me. No thanks! Save the "future"-istic stuff for The Flintstones! I like some soul with my music without having to rely upon a computer.
The only technology that is more backward than the CD is vinyl! You not only have to get up every twenty minutes or so, you have to clean the record and cue the stylus. But, you do get the biggest graphics.
It's not about trying to attract the teenagers. It's about the realities of the marketplace.Quote:
Totally disappointed here that Diana’s "Baby It’s Me" [[Expanded) is available in download format only. The teenagers will be thrilled, though, I’m sure!
When Napster was new and popular, and the record companies were still blindsighted on the new popular way of getting music, I knew more middle-ages adults stealing the music than teenagers. Record labels don't like to print CDs unless they think they can sell at least 500,000 units. It's also cheaper to offer downloads.