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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

#101

Post by k2enemy »

SG- wrote: post #9
k2enemy wrote: post #3

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

I'm sure they will in 5-10 years. The ebook/ereader market is rather 'new' compared to the digital audio market, at this point everyone has likely already purchased a digital version of their music or pirated it so there won't be any lost sales (same idea for iTunes match and other matching/cloud services). It's interesting to see the music industry keep moving forward and allowing this type of stuff to happen (and t…

> It's interesting to see the music industry keep moving forward and allowing this type of stuff to happen (and the itunes match/etc services). The other two big industries are so far behind.

There is also a big difference in how easy/legal it is for a home user to convert the physical good to a digital good. Ripping CDs is trivial and legal. Ripping DVDs is illegal due to the DMCA, and ripping books is physically challenging. The larger the barrier to ripping, the more publishers can charge people to own both formats.

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

#102

Post by ghshephard »

Raphael wrote: post #82
ghshephard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A significant majority of the time when I want to purchase MP3s from iTunes it is cheaper for me to purchase the CD from Amazon and have it shipped to me, then iTunes match it. I've got about 80 or so CDs I've done this with. I don't know if I'm exploiting a loophole or not, but I figure because I have the physical CD at my desk, it's legit. I'm still uncertain if this is shady behavior on my part or not - but I save…

You are making a trade-off in time, since you have to wait for the CD to ship and then you have to go to the trouble to rip it.

Right - the vast majority of these CDs are classic releases from the 70s, 80s - definitely not time sensitive. Amazon just tends to have them for super cheap, whereas iTunes keeps the price high. I figure now I have the best of _three_ worlds. Physical CD, Itunes Match syncs it across all my gear - and now, presumably, it will stay in my Amazon Locker forever.

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

#103

Post by ssebro »

dalore wrote: post #96
chimeracoder wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish that they'd do this for books. The biggest thing keeping me from buying more ebooks is that they're usually the same price as the physical book - and, in some cases, more expensive than the physical book. At that price, I'd just as soon buy the physical copy. On the other hand, it would be nice to know that, when I buy a physical copy, I also have access to a digital version if needed. In the case of technical…

In the UK one of the reasons that digital copies don't come with books is that if they did that it would mean that it's now VAT chargeable. Books normally don't have VAT but digital goods do.

I would imagine they would give the digital good away for free, and add it as a separate line-item in checkout, so vat would be 15% of $0.

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

#104

Post by alanctgardner2 »

dalore wrote: post #98
alanctgardner2 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting, but the prospect of having them go bankrupt and not only lose digital files, but also physical disks, is a bit disturbing. Also, no word on whether disks are fungible... if I send you my autographed maroon 5 boxset, will I get the same boxset back? Or just an equivalent product feom the warehouse?

Why would you send your valuable autographed boxset?

It was hypothetical; why would I own a Maroon 5 album to start with? Jokes aside, I mostly mean that if they treat the disks as fungible you don't know what condition you'll get it back in, which might matter for certain albums.

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

#105

Post by Samuel_Michon »

smackfu wrote: post #87
Samuel_Michon wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't need to. iTunes Match doesn't care about where you purchased your CDs. If you want to continue buying CDs at Amazon, that's fine. Rip them in iTunes, and iTunes Match will keep them in the cloud.

If iTunes Match requires ripping, and this just uses purchase history, it's pretty fundamentally different.

I recommend you read the post I responded to. For someone who bought CDs in Germany through Amazon, their new service is of no help. However, if you bought music at Amazon's site in Germany, iTunes Match will serve you as well as Amazon's site does in the US.

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

#106

Post by voltagex_ »

smackfu wrote: post #73
majormajor wrote: post #63

This is pretty awesome, but I can't help myself see it rather cynically in that I don't expect it to expand to books or movies any time soon. Especially not books. Ripping a CD is so trivial and such an old practice at this point, and so many MP3s can fit on a portable device, that buying a CD already de facto gave you the MP3s for free (except for the bit where you'd have to pay to get more Cloud Player storage if y…

Well, it is here for movies. A lot of them come with a digital copy.

Wait 6 months to a year.

Try to use your digital copy.

It won't work - this is a useless disc.

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

#107

Post by dangravell »

induscreep wrote: post #20

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

Ripping to FLAC is the only reason I still purchase CDs.

That said, I do transcode to MP3 for portable players, so a cloud player that linked to MP3s from my phone would be useful.

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

#108

Post by vincentkriek »

mellamoyo wrote: post #60
WillyF wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 i…

I've used this to great success, it does just what you're talking about, including OCR if you'd like: http://1dollarscan.com

The digital output, is that a decent book or just a plain scan with (a lot of) faults?

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

#109

Post by whattttttttt »

chimeracoder wrote: post #67
majormajor wrote: post #63

This is pretty awesome, but I can't help myself see it rather cynically in that I don't expect it to expand to books or movies any time soon. Especially not books. Ripping a CD is so trivial and such an old practice at this point, and so many MP3s can fit on a portable device, that buying a CD already de facto gave you the MP3s for free (except for the bit where you'd have to pay to get more Cloud Player storage if y…

I wish that they'd do this for books. The biggest thing keeping me from buying more ebooks is that they're usually the same price as the physical book - and, in some cases, more expensive than the physical book. At that price, I'd just as soon buy the physical copy. On the other hand, it would be nice to know that, when I buy a physical copy, I also have access to a digital version if needed. In the case of technical…

Already own the physical book? Pirate the ebook.

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

#110

Post by desas »

ceejayoz wrote: post #35
joemaller1 wrote: post #34

When do we get Kindle copies of the books we bought?

I'd happily send Amazon my physical books in exchange for the Kindle versions.

I wonder how often the shipping cost works out to be more expensive than just buying the kindle version.
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