iTunes Music Store "Upgrades"

Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store has been a huge success that has changed the music business. iTunes Music is Apple's popular digital download music store where for a small price, people can buy some or all of their favorite music tracks from millions of digital record albums.

When the store first started, they only sold music. The music Apple sold were from the major labels but encrypted with Digital Rights Management (DRM) copy protection. DRM sets limits on how customers can use the music they purchased. With DRM encrytion, tracks purchased from the iTunes Music store could only be used on up to 5 Macintosh or PC computers the customer owned. Tracks could only be burned to a limited number of CDs in a certain order. Tracks could be played on an unlimited amount of iPod music players, but only on the iPod. If you had something else, you were out of luck.

All that changed last year when Apple began offering DRM-free tracks from EMI / Capitol Records and a number of independent labels. A year later most if not all of the tracks offered at iTunes are now DRM free. The changeover came with a price. Tracks without DRM can be played on an unlimited amount of computers and digital music players that support the AAC format or devices supporting MP3 after the AAC files are converted. An unlimited number of CDs can also be made off of various music mixes and albums.

For customers who bought DRM encrypted tracks Apple offers an upgrade of 30 cents per track. When the upgrades were first offered, it was an all or nothing offer. So if you bought like dozens of DRM encrypted tracks and 2 years later offered the upgrade, you'd have to buy all of them again at 30 cents each. The offer sounds cheap but if you have a large library, can become quite expensive.

What I found to be a problem was there are tracks I did not want to upgrade. Between the time I first bought them on iTunes in their DRM format, I had gotten the same tracks on Compact Disc (CD) and ripped them to iTunes as MP3s. I did not need the upgraded tracks. I did not take Apple up on their upgrade offer until very recently.

After not checking the "upgrade to iTunes Plus" option for awhile, I looked at it again. Lo and behold I was surprised to find that the upgrades are now "ala carte". I can now pick and choose which songs I want to upgrade and leave the rest. This is good. I started to upgrade some of the tracks that I don't have in other non-DRM formats.

The downside of iTune's move to DRM-free music is that the greedy record labels forced Apple into accepting a tiered pricing scheme at iTunes Music. Previously all individual tracks available for sale were priced at 99 cents each. The music industry pushed many of the prices higher to $1.29 each track. That bites.

There are supposed to be tracks selling at 69 cents each at iTunes, but I have yet to see any. The higher priced tracks are not surprisingly, the latest top 40 hits through the different music genres. Some old tracks such as Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" sell for $1.29 each. What's up with that?

Needless to say, I'll tryto avoid the $1.29 tracks for as long as I can. Many of iTunes tracks are still on sale for 99 cents each.

There are also other digital music stores online. My favorite alternate digital music store is Amazon.com, where many of the tracks are priced at 79 and 89 cents each in addition to the 99 cent ones. But like iTunes, the music industry bullied Amazon into increasing the prices on some of their tracks to $1.29. Is this price fixing or what?

There are some price differences. Just today I noticed a new Green Day song called "Know Your Enemy" on iTunes. That advanced track from their upcoming new album is selling for $1.29 at iTunes. When I looked at Amazon.com, the same track is selling for 99 cents. I bought the 99 cent track even though I know that on or after May 15, I'll probably get the entire album in CD format. It seems like good old fashioned competition may be keeping Amazon to price many more of its top 100 digital tracks for 99 cents, or in some cases less. It pays to shop around.

All of this price adjustments and DRM makes me want to go back to good old fashioned vinyl 45s where for the same prices you pay for 1 digial song, you almost always got 2 songs cut on to one single disc. I miss B-sides.

MEL'S WEEKLY TOP 20 - April 12 to 18, 2009

This Week Song Title Artist Last Week

1. Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 2
2. No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 1
3. I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - 6
4. California - Shannon Hurley - 7
5. Magnificent - U2 - 3
6. People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 4
7. Time Lapse Lifeline - Maria Taylor - 5
8. Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - 10
9. Natalie - The NuRu - 11
10. Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen - 8
11. Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects - 9
12. Please Believe Me - Darrin Kohavi - 15
13. Halo - Beyonce - 16
14. Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs - 14
15. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 18
16. Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - 19
17. The Show - Lenka - 20
18. The Rake's Song - The Decemberists - 12
19. My Lucky Day - Bruce Springsteen - 13
20. Focus - Cyndi Harvell - NEW


MEL'S TOP 10 OLDIES OF THE WEEK
As submitted to Plannine's Classic Top 30

1. Oh Boy! - Buddy Holly
2. Jennifer Eccles - The Hollies
3. My Hawaii - The Rascals
4. New Year's Day - U2
5. Nights Are Forever Without You - England Dan & John Ford Coley
6. Orinoco Flow - Enya
7. Revolution - The Beatles
8. Mirror Star - Fabulous Poodles
9. Guilty of Loving You - Jerry Fuller
10. Don't Ever Leave Me - Connie Francis

Graphic: Modified screen shot of iTune Plus upgrade screen.

Wither Not Finetune

One of my favorite streaming websites is Finetune.com. I joined Finetune in the spring of 2007. It is a free service that up to this month, allowed users to build their own online jukeboxes or playlist utilizing the music available at the Finetune.com library.

They have more than 2 million songs available for inclusion to user playlists. The music available in the Finetune library is supplied by all of the major labels as well as a number of independents. Artists available for inclusion on playlists included everyone from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac to U2, Lily Allen, Carrie Underwood, Bruddah IZ, Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash, Enya, Timbaland, Britney Spears, Kitaro, The Four Tenors, Herb Alpert, punk rock artists, metal bands and hip-hop artists.... plus everything else in-between and obscure.

Users were allowed to build customized playlists utilizing the Finetune library of songs. I created more than 40 playlists that covered several genres including current top 40 hits, classic rock, 60s and 70s oldies, to popular standards, Hawaiian music, science fiction soundtracks and classic country. Each playlist contained a minimum of about 45 tracks before they became active. There was no limit on the amount of songs that could be included with each playlist. The only restriction was that no artist could have more than 3 songs each per playlist... so only 3 Madonna, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, tracks, etc., per list.

The small restriction did not limit user creativity to generate hundreds of playlists on the service. Finetune even employed a professional DJ to come up with mainstream playlists to cover many different genres. The service also allowed users to create playlists on the fly based on artists or songs they included in their own playlists.

One of the best features of Finetune.com was that it allowed users to embed playlists to their blogs and websites, much like how YouTube does with video. Users could also include custom icons for their playlists, post descriptions of each playlist, have other users become fans or comment on the playlist and listen to their playlist on supported mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone.

All that changed this month.

Finetune has apparently been throttled by the music industry, more than likely by the much hated (by music fans) RIAA. Finetune stopped users from editing or creating new playlists. No songs can be added to current playlists or new ones created using the present catalog or new music releases. The embed feature has also been disabled.

Finetune has been relatively quiet about this turn of events, not mentioning much to their user base unless inquired through email or found by luck on Twitter. So far the only thing that has been stated (as of this posting date) is:

"Playlist building and embedding is currently disabled. Sorry!

Dear Users - We're seeing all your feedback. We understand your confusion. Our reason d'être is in flux. More news soon.

Service changes doing what we expected... further changes maybe coming later this week, will update when we decide."

I hope this is not the end of the Finetune music site as we know it. I can hope that they work things out with the record labels and the RIAA and allow us to at least keep the playlists we built and allow us and other users to keep on listening to them. Finetune is a good way to share music without doing it illegally.

Music Tech: Sansa Slot Music Player

I bought a Sansa Slot Music Player in December and haven't used it as much as I do my iPods. It is a small, portable music player that is very affordable at just barely under $20. Slot Music Players are available at WalMart, Best Buy stores, and other retailers.

The Slot Music player was introduced in October 2008 as the device to support a new music media format called "Slot Music". The record industry allied themselves with SanDisk to issue complete record albums with DRM-free MP3 songs, bonus tracks, liner notes and album art on microSD cards. The microSD card is the heart of the Slot Music player.

THE HARDWARE

What makes the player attractive for me is its small size, affordable price, the use of a standard, replaceable AAA battery and the potential flexibility to haul around a rather large music library spread out over a few large capacity microSD cards that can fit in the palm of your hand.

The Slot Music Player itself is a bare-bones no-nonsense device that have 3 track control buttons (fast forward, play, pause, rewind), volume control and a headphone jack. The tiny earbuds that come with the player are adequate, but I prefer full size, standard headphones for better sound or connecting the player to an external audio device such as a car or home stereo. Still as a portable take anywhere device, the Slot Music Player is just as capable as the Apple iPod Shuffle or Nano.

The one thing that the Slot Music Player doesn't have is a clip or a lanyard that you can use to secure the player to your body or clothes. So it is best used as a pocket or purse device. There may be some accessories available that enhance the portability of this player.

The Slot Music Player runs on one standard AAA alkali or rechargeable battery. The battery life for a standard alkali battery is fairly long. You will know when the battery starts losing its charge. The player will beep and shut off while content is playing. Time to change the battery. Luckily since this uses a common battery, plenty are available almost anywhere on Earth.

File formats that are supported by the Slot Music player are DRM-free MP3 and WMA. The player does not support Apple's proprietary AAC format.

SLOT MUSIC MICRO SD CARD

The tiny microSD card is the size of a fingernail and can hold more than one complete record album as well as the aforementioned art and liner notes. Retailers are selling albums such as Sugarland's "Love on the Inside" and Abba's "Gold" in the Slot Music format for about $16.99 each.

Whether or not we need a new music delivery format remains to be seen. I don't think the Slot Music format is selling very well at least by looking at what is available at my WalMart store 5 months after launch.

User can purchase blank microSD cards and fill them up with more music than any pre-paid album could. The price for blank cards range from

USING THE SLOT MUSIC PLAYER

To use the player you press the play button once and wait for the tiny blue LED light to come on. Press play again and your music begins to play. Press the pause button and the music stops. You can press the fast forward to skip a track or press rewind to go back a track.

There is a slot on the side of the player to insert and eject the microSD card. You press on the microSD card itself to eject it from the spring loaded slot.

All tracks play in the order loaded on to the microSD card. Store bought microSD albums will play in the order listed just like their CD counterparts. Music that you load to blank microSD cards will play in the order you loaded them. There are no shuffle modes or playlist display.

You can drag and drop entire albums or individual tracks to blank microSD cards (on your computer) and have more variety and albums than the store bought albums... and for a lot less. This is good if you have a large digital music collection that you want to take with you.

The beauty of the system is that you can make your music library as large as you want to by purchasing additional blank cards and loading all your music to each one.

The audio sound is adequate, though it seems the player does not max out its sound as loud as the iPod. With a good set of headphones and pushing the volume near the maximum level, you will get good sound playback. You can also connect the player to an external sound source such as a home or car stereo with the proper wiring.

To install and remove the battery you slide the external cover off. This reveals the inner workings of the player and the battery compartment. Just snap the standard AAA battery into place and slide the cover back on. The player is ready to go.

While the Slot Music Player is heavier than the iPod Shuffle, it still is a good portable player to slip into your pocket and take with you.

PROS

• Small
• Replaceable battery (standard AAA)
• Affordable - slightly less than $20
• Comes with 1 battery, earbuds, documentation
• Decent sound
• No DRM in pre-recorded, purchased albums available on micro-SD cards
• Music is transferable to computer, other music devices, cell phone
• Plays MP3 and WMA files
• MP3 files can be played on iPod and iTunes
  
• Availability of blank microSD card allows you to create your own, longer music mixes
• Drag and drop interface for computer and microSD card
• Does not require computer if you only go with pre-recorded microSD card albums
• microSD card can be used with other devices, audio player, cell phone, camera
  

CONS

• Small - can be lost or stolen
• Heavier than iPod Shuffle
• No display screen
  
• Plays content in the order loaded to media card only
• No shuffle mode
• Tiny microSD card may require adapter to use with your computer
• microSD card albums are expensive usually $16.99 for 1 single album
• very limited selection of available, pre-recorded microSD albums
• new music format - long term success as music format uncertain
• blank microSD cards slightly pricier than standard SD card
• microSD card very tiny, can easily be lost
• No support for Apple's iTunes, though non-DRM MP3 tracks can be dragged to card
• Does not play Apple AAC music files
  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & LINKS

• Sansa
• Sansa Slot Music Player
• Slot Music
• microSD card
  
• Article: SanDisk Releases Slot Music Player
• Article: Slot Music Player a new concept

Music Tech: iPod Shuffle

This post starts a new series focusing on music delivery devices: stereos, radio, media players, more. First up, Apple's iPod Shuffle.



A friend recently asked what kind of media player can one get for under $50. Coming quickly to mind is Apple's iPod Shuffle media player. The Shuffle is a no-nonsense, bare-bones player that plays music or audio content from a built in flash memory card to tiny earbuds or an external listening device. It is small, the newer ones "tiny" and is ideal for the active music fan who engages in walking, jogging, running and other activities. It is the perfect player to take with you almost everywhere.

The current models come with either 1GB or 2GB worth of flash memory, enough to hold 240 to 400 songs. All iPods come with a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery. The iPod Shuffle is the low end model and currently retails for either $49 or $69 depending on the flash memory size.

Being Apple's low end model, the Shuffle lacks most of the features you'd expect to find in the average media player. There is no screen to tell you what songs are currently playing. You cannot make more than one playlist. The list of songs you download from the required iTunes software is what you are stuck with until your next synchronization between the player and the software. The default play position is :"shuffle" which scrambles the play order of your playlist. Some people may not like this, for others this is fine.

The two iPod Shuffles I own are the white, first generation, chewing gum pack sized model (pictured at the top of this post). They came with earbuds that deliver decent sound and a USB cable for synching with your Mac or Windows XP or Vista PC. Leaving the unit plugged into the computer also recharges the built-in battery, which for this model lasts about 12 hours per charge. I'm not very sure. The iPod Shuffles sound great and give a nice in-ear or external audio sound performance. I'd recommend connecting good quality headphones to this or any other player to listen to the best sound your music can deliver.

My iPod Shuffles are aging gracefully and still holds a long charge to make them a practical on-the-go player. The first generation models sold for about $129 brand new. They are no longer available unless you buy one in the used market.

Today's 2nd generation models, shown above, are smaller, cheaper and come in a variety of colors.

Overall the iPod Shuffle is a good value for the money spent. You get a solid, bare-bones basic player that can play many songs.

Pros

• Small
• Long Battery Life
• iTunes software required - easy to use, load, manage playlists
• 2G models come in different colors
• Sounds good
• 2G model has built-in clip
• Affordable
• Music file formats: MP3, AAC, Protected AAC, WAV, AIFF
  

Cons

• Built in battery not user replaceable
• iTunes software required - cannot load device without it
• Small - can easily be lost or stolen
• No screen that displays songs
• No multiple playlists
• Earbuds tiny and may not be comfortable for some users