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selowitch · Jul 11, 2005, 12:27 AM

If iTMS doesn't have the song I want, what's my next, most Mac-friendly alternative source for purchasing music?

lavar78 · Jul 11, 2005, 12:33 AM

A record store.

Superchicken · Jul 11, 2005, 12:42 AM

Buy the CD probably... check the artist's site.

And yah iTunes is bad for sometimes not having some obvious choices but then having others. Oh well. The Canadian store is also bad for not getting what the American store gets which also sucks.

ManOfSteal · Jul 11, 2005, 12:43 AM

BitTorrent.

Wait...

GSixZero · Jul 11, 2005, 12:57 AM

http://www.amazon.com

mitchell_pgh · Jul 11, 2005, 07:49 AM

I would say "support your local record store" but the ones around me try to sell the newer stuff for $17.99 when I could buy online for $11.99... crazy.

ghporter · Jul 11, 2005, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

I would say "support your local record store" but the ones around me try to sell the newer stuff for $17.99 when I could buy online for $11.99... crazy.

Somehow it seems that the RIAA and music vendors just haven't "gotten it" when it comes to why people don't like to buy CDs. I like having CDs because they're durable, reliable, and work in a number of devices. But paying almost $20 for a disc with maybe one or two songs I'm interested in is stupid. Legal online song sales are the answer, but you have to find what you're looking for in order to buy it.

I like going to CD Exchange, a resale store that often has some very interesting discs-not just the top 40 and whatever some chain is getting a kickback for pushing. Oh, and while they can't do anything about them, the RIAA just HATES CD resales, so I get to tweak their collective nose when I buy something there, too!

selowitch · Jul 11, 2005, 09:26 AM

What I was hoping for is for a convenient way to purchase/manage songs bought at Napster (or buymusic.com or Walmart or whatever) using iTunes on the Mac. Is that possible?

lavar78 · Jul 11, 2005, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by selowitch

What I was hoping for is for a convenient way to purchase/manage songs bought at Napster (or buymusic.com or Walmart or whatever) using iTunes on the Mac. Is that possible?

No. None of those stores support Macs. Try eMusic or Magnatune. They have less popular stuff, but there's bound to be something you like.

budster101 · Jul 11, 2005, 10:00 AM

CDs are not durable according to some, and you can only really archive vinyl for sure. My oppinion? The format will change before your cd goes bad, but then what do you do? Remember the Cassette to CD transition? Not again.

[quote]hen again, Rothenberg says 5 to 59 years, which gives you an idea of the uncertainty here. Rewritable CDs are more uncertain still. Common wisdom is that CD-Rs will last 70 to 100 years or more, CD-RWs perhaps 30 years. But the technology is much newer. Even a casual glance at the literature suggests that extraordinary precision is required and that the different dyes used have different longevity and playback characteristics. Already I find that CD-RWs won't work in all CD players, and you have to wonder what will happen a decade or two down the road.[/img]

source

I've read elsewhere that they could last from 10 to 200 years, but nobody really knows, yet.

selowitch · Jul 11, 2005, 10:10 AM

I guess it would be very inconvenient and sound quality would suffer if I opened a Windows-based account at one of the other services and resampled the material as .mp3s that could be imported into iTunes on my Mac?

OogaBooga · Jul 11, 2005, 10:13 AM

I wish they had Tool on the iTMS. What's up with that?

selowitch · Jul 11, 2005, 10:21 AM

Yeah, all I want right now is a copy of Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin’ as performed by Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow. I'm not willing to do anything illegal to get it, but I also don't want to buy the soundtrack from the movie Duets for $18.95 or thereabouts. A 99¢ download would be so perfect for this.

ghporter · Jul 11, 2005, 10:27 AM

It would be GREAT if you could buy songs one at a time, and in WHATEVER FORMAT YOU WANTED. Unfortunately, Apple is probably not going to be happy with someone coming up with yet another source for protected AAC songs, after what they did with a company I will not name that "got around" their copy protection to offer songs iTunes didn't. Too bad.

lavar78 · Jul 11, 2005, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by selowitch

Yeah, all I want right now is a copy of Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin’ as performed by Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Sorry. Just listen to the original; it still sounds great.

wdlove · Jul 11, 2005, 11:17 AM

It's possible that A iTMS will eventually have the song that you are interesting in purchasing. There should be a suggestion procedure.

tavilach · Jul 12, 2005, 12:56 AM

Originally Posted by wdlove

It's possible that A iTMS will eventually have the song that you are interesting in purchasing. There should be a suggestion procedure.

There's the "Request a Song" feature, but I assume you mean something more robust?

selowitch · Jul 12, 2005, 01:22 AM

Originally Posted by tavilach

There's the "Request a Song" feature, but I assume you mean something more robust?

Yeah.

SomeToast · Jul 12, 2005, 02:55 AM

Originally Posted by budster101

CDs are not durable according to some, and you can only really archive vinyl for sure.

Shhhh! Some of my CDs are nearing their 20th birthdays -- they don't need to be hearing this now.