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Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

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Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#21

Post by nirvdrum »

jerf wrote: post #14
netcan wrote: post #12

My immediate reaction to stuff like this is skeptical. The whole concept of "owning" a "cd" seems so artificial now.

Amazon is selling MP3s. Anyone interested in "owning" the album should simply make their own backups of the MP3s in question, which have no DRM on them. I do. Their cloud service is nice and all, but MP3s can still be removed from it. If Amazon can remove it from my personal hard drives and backups, I've already lost anyhow. Amazon's doing it right, here; if you want convenience, OK. If you want to manage the MP3s yo…

You could always download it from their service, too. I routinely download tracks on my phone so I have something to listen to when I have poor mobile service.

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#22

Post by WillyF »

k2enemy wrote: post #3

If only the publishers would let them do this with books!

I've always thought that there should be a startup that both sells used books and "rips" books for you. You buy the used version for a couple of bucks, pay a couple of bucks for them to "scan" it, and you get a PDF and they destroy the book. I would think that destroying a hard copy for every PDF distributed would offer some sort of legal protection, but I doubt that would stop the publishers from suing the company into bankruptcy.

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#23

Post by rgbrgb »

AustinGibbons wrote: post #16

A lot of comments about how no one owns a CD, its a waste of resources yada yada yada For me, I own a car from 2001 so CDs are great. I buy CDs at concerts/shows, as I've long surpassed the appropriate number of t-shirts to own. I like supporting the artist, particularly if the artist is doing a signing. My girlfriend buys CDs, from Amazon, just because she likes having a physical things. She has been griping that it…

Maybe you should try buying MP3's directly from the artists via http://bandcamp.com/ or their websites. Artists make way more cash that way (oftentimes tremendously more) than they do when you buy a CD, especially if they're independent. You could probably install an auxiliary adapter to hook up an mp3 player in your car for around $100 and you'd be saving the planet too. In my old car I have a $10 tape adapter that works great with my iPhone.

For me personally, having less "stuff" is the biggest bonus of the digital age. I can't really argue with your girlfriend who "likes having physical things" except by saying that the stuff those physical things are made of is really terrible for the Earth. Buying CD's just seems socially irresponsible if you have an alternative.

Edit: Here's a little support for my carbon footprint case http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/the-carbon-case-fo.... The additional thing to note is that when you buy a CD, that carbon cost is spent upfront. With an streaming mp3, the cost is distributed over time with technologies that are continuously improving in efficiency.

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#25

Post by res0nat0r »

elbelcho wrote: post #13
quadhome wrote: post #5

"Available to US customers only."[0] That sucks. "MP3 versions of tracks from CDs purchased from Amazon since 1998 and that are eligible for AutoRip will be delivered to your Cloud Player library." That rocks. [0] http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=...

The page goes on to say that the first time you log in to your Cloud Player account they will "scan" your purchases and provide the MP3's for any eligible albums. It turns out the only album that I purchased on CD that was eligible was an album I bought as a gag gift for a friend. Here I was expecting some awesome free* MP3's but instead I got Barry Manilow.

What other music did you buy? I just logged in and many discs I've bought in the past have shown up. Also were your past purchases that aren't showing up purchased directly from Amazon, or from 3rd parties?

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#26

Post by res0nat0r »

rgbrgb wrote: post #15

I wonder how many people both buy CD's and care about CloudPlayer? I guess I don't know anyone from either party so there's a chance of there being some overlap. To me this seems like an utter waste of resources. How about offering a Spotify-like streaming service? How about making CloudPlayer free for the first 20,000 songs like Google Play? How about making a web player that doesn't make me feel like I'm in Target?…

This sounds like a win-win for me. Currently am using iTunes Match, which I switched to after using Spotify Premium for a year.

I still like buying discs from artists I like and collecting them on the shelf, and having this auto-import music is nice. If you don't like the disc version, then buy just the mp3 version for a few bucks less and you will still have it show up in your cloud drive. This auto-import is just a nice bonus now.

Also the CloudPlayer free tier gives you 250 songs free to import. Pay $25/year and you get 250,000 available to import.

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#27

Post by rgbrgb »

induscreep wrote: post #20

Why can't they just offer FLAC and eliminate CDs altogether?

Because most people don't want FLAC. It's huge and incompatible with the most popular players for no noticeable benefit to the vast majority of listeners.

AIFF or WAV would be much better candidates if we were going down the lossless digital music route because they are more widely compatible (though a 320 kbps mp3 is the most I'll ever need).

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#28

Post by ubercow13 »

On clicking through to the eligible CDs many of them seem to cost less to purchase than buying the MP3s to begin with. Isn't that a bit silly? If you just want the MP3s it's sometimes cheaper now to just buy the CD anyway.

Edit: am I right in thinking the difference is that this offer only nets you the tracks in your cloud player account whereas buying the mp3s means you can download them too and do what you like with them? If so it seems silly that you wouldn't also be given DRM free files with this offer as it would just save you the hassle of making them yourself.

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#29

Post by BennyMcBenBen »

This is great, but how did Amazon manage to pull this off? Are we effectively buying three products when we buy an AutoRip CD? (1) The physical CD, (2) The streaming rights for Amazon cloud player, (3) The MP3s which you can download from the cloud player. Is this a legal way to purchase a CD and gift it to a friend or resell it and still maintain the streaming/MP3 rights? Or does the RIAA have a problem with that?

Shrink-wrapped CDs I have gifted friends and family years ago are now showing up in my cloud player. I have to admit that feels a little weird. How is that different than if I opened the CD and burned it before gifting it?

Re: Amazon to Provide CD Buyers With Cloud-Based MP3s For Free

#30

Post by Samuel_Michon »

radiosnob wrote: post #19

When this is available in Germany (or basically outside the US), they got me. This is how to make things easy.

iTunes Match [0] does the same thing and is already available in dozens of countries, including Germany [1].

It works for all kinds of music, not just tracks you bought from Apple. Ripped CDs, Amazon MP3s, other sources -- and if the quality of your tracks is less than a 256Kbps AAC file, the service downloads better versions from iTunes.

[0] http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

[1] http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5085

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