i-tunes pro's/cons

Carcharodon

This thread in no way promotes illegal downloading.

I am currently thinking about only using i-tunes to download music and stop using sites like torrentz.
This is due to two reasons, one, I am able to afford it now and feel a certain responsibility to pay for an artists work and will probably make me more selective on what I download. Although I still might feel peeved that I could get it for free.
Two, I think that these other downloading sites are really slowing down my computer and causing a lot of damage.
I was wondering what sort of damage can downloading from network sharing sites and such cause.

I really just want to hear the benefits of i-tunes so I will be more motivated to use it and the negatives of other sources.

lordgoat

Carcharodon wrote: »

This thread in no way promotes illegal downloading.

I am currently thinking about only using i-tunes to download music and stop using sites like torrentz.
This is due to two reasons, one, I am able to afford it now and feel a certain responsibility to pay for an artists work and will probably make me more selective on what I download. Although I still might feel peeved that I could get it for free.
Two, I think that these other downloading sites are really slowing down my computer and causing a lot of damage.
I was wondering what sort of damage can downloading from network sharing sites and such cause.

I really just want to hear the benefits of i-tunes so I will be more motivated to use it and the negatives of other sources.

Not the right forum for this.


i-tunes is just like a big music/tvshow store, you search for what you want, download it and play it.

Carcharodon

lordgoat wrote: »

Not the right forum for this.


i-tunes is just like a big music/tvshow store, you search for what you want, download it and play it.

Sorry, this is just the forum that i always read and find it informative, could this be moved appropriately

The Pontiac

I don't get the whole buying music from itunes thing at all. You're buying an album in MP3 format for around $10, when you can buy the actual physical cd itself in wav format for around the same money, or even less at lot of the times.

If you really need to listen to music through your PC then you can just rip the cd to the hard drive in a lossless format through FLAC, as well as always have the option to listening to the cd through a player in the future if you wish. I'd highly recommend a Dac Magic if listening to music from your PC, it'll bring MP3 up to CD quality as well as making other formats sounds great. Connect it up to a NAD or Cambridge Audio amp (lots on ebay) and a good pair of speakers and you're sorted.

The only advantage I see to downloading music is if you're getting it for free, which is illegal 99% of the time anyway.

Spiritoftheseventies

Pros- Easy to use, good selections, flexible price range, plenty of features
Cons- Discourages users from buying full albums by making single songs available from album.

H8GHOTI

If you have an iPod, it's the easiest, fastest way to get the songs into the correct location, into your library & onto your iPod.

Any other method (illegal downloading/burning CDs) can be awkward & time consuming e.g. changing the details of each song so they have the correct title/artist/album name etc........

me-skywalker

have to say I havnt bought one thing from them. I rather buy the physical album itself as plenty of the artistry is also put into the sleeve and album art. Also having the cd makes it easier for playing in different parts of the hosue or sessions or parties or nwo wit hthe summer bbq's. Yes i knwo you can do this with ipod speakers and pc speakrs but nothign beats the quality of a surround sound stereo system on a summers day with the burgers sizzling in the garden.

Plus you can always put a cd onto your computer in less than min and then put it into your library.

Chairman Meow

Cons -

Its ****
Its DRM is ludicrous
Bloated
Crap
Better off buying a full album form any other downlaod site so its not tied to an itunes account
VLC/WMP ****s all over it
Mostly used by people who have no clue about proper music software

Pros -

....it's free?

Mr E

I was an itunes hater for a long time, but I've come to appreciate the size of the collection they have (in the Store). €8.99-€9.99 is very competitive for an album and they have lots of hard-to-find albums in there.

One thing I always do after downloading is convert the files to MP3 for portability.
I also use Media Monkey to manage my MP3 collection - I don't use iTunes for that at all.

johnny_ultimate

I use Itunes regularly, if only for the fact that it is so easy. The are plenty of times I want to pick up an album late at night, and Itunes will usually have it. Easy, and since I only really play music on my Ipod and Macbook, handy. Also, the quality is generally of high standard.

That said, the DRM is a significant drawback (although making MP3 versions using Itunes is very easy) and I really don't like the anti-competition stance Apple are taking at the moment.

I have an emusic account, which is a cheaper, consumer friendlier download service with a monthly subscription. You usually get albums for a fiver or so with no DRM, so it is a nice place to discover new bands. That said, they have a much smaller catalogue (only independent labels), so sometimes Itunes is amongst the only legal alternatives. If you can't find the physical copy, I'd still prefer Itunes to the illegal downloading approach.

H8GHOTI

iTunes is DRM-free now. So the songs downloaded are not tied to one account.
And as others have said it's very easy to convert to MP3 afterwards.

lordgoat

Chairman Meow wrote: »

Cons -

Its ****
Its DRM is ludicrous
Bloated
Crap
Better off buying a full album form any other downlaod site so its not tied to an itunes account
VLC/WMP ****s all over it
Mostly used by people who have no clue about proper music software

Pros -

....it's free?

Wow, comprehensive list there. Bloated, maybe we could get it some fibre for its' diet.

oh and WMP is the biggest pile of crap ever.

nommm

I use it to arrange my library on my ipod. I don't buy anything off it. I hate paying for something and not actually getting something for your money. I'd rather pay a few extra euro for a physical copy.

flynnduism

I loathe iTunes.

It eats RAM, slows down your computer, seems to require bigger and bigger updates every second week (trying to force extra apple software like Quicktime, Safari and Bonjour on you)

As mentioned above your downloads are linked to your account, so trying to access them on another computer can be a right pain, which shouldn't be the case with something you've paid for

iTunes artist payments are mediocre. Of each album/track you download, less than 10% goes to the artist themselves (see this comparison chart). Much better to use servcies like CD Baby for downloads, or even go to a store and buy a CD - you can rip it to mp3 and you'll have a physical product that will live long after your hard drive goes up in smoke!

The iTunes store has a huge selection, but it's not like it's the only place to find music, there are always other sources available. I understand that people like to use it out of convenience, but it's become quite a monopoly!

If you have an iPod, then iTunes is sadly a necessity.

If you don't, then run a mile from it. Check out MediaMonkey, Songbird, Winamp and lots of other free music managers that are less limiting and won't try to force a software suite and business model onto your computer.

Spiritoftheseventies

flynnduism wrote: »

I loathe iTunes.

It eats RAM, slows down your computer, seems to require bigger and bigger updates every second week (trying to force extra apple software like Quicktime, Safari and Bonjour on you)

iTunes artist payments are mediocre. Of each album/track you download, less than 10% goes to the artist themselves (see this comparison chart). Much better to use servcies like CD Baby for downloads, or even go to a store and buy a CD - you can rip it to mp3 and you'll have a physical product that will live long after your hard drive goes up in smoke!

The iTunes store has a huge selection, but it's not like it's the only place to find music, there are always other sources available. I understand that people like to use it out of convenience, but it's become quite a monopoly!

If you have an iPod, then iTunes is sadly a necessity.

If you don't, then run a mile from it. Check out MediaMonkey, Songbird, Winamp and lots of other free music managers that are less limiting and won't try to force a software suite and business model onto your computer.

What link would that be. Not a great graphic there to be honest. All I saw was three purple circles there

Ghost Train

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

What link would that be. Not a great graphic there to be honest. All I saw was three purple circles there

zoom in on it or view at 100%

Spiritoftheseventies

Ghost Train wrote: »

zoom in on it or view at 100%

Not sure if I buy those stats. Im on Email list for the National and the band have listed I Tunes as one of its distributors.
As its probably going to be the album where they are likely to make the breakthrough I'm assuming they would not endorse it if it affected their sales.

flynnduism

Of course they list iTunes - it's become the main way for people to buy music, most bands use it. Bands have to use iTunes to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Being the biggest does not mean it's the best though. A lot of it comes down to individual needs and preferences, iTunes is ideal for lots of people but it annoys the heck out of me.

Spiritoftheseventies

One big advantage that I Tunes has over CDS and other hard copys is the quality . Nothing more annoying when a CD skips etc.

AnonoBoy

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

One big advantage that I Tunes has over CDS and other hard copys is the quality . Nothing more annoying when a CD skips etc.

Yeah but it takes a few minutes to make a digital copy of your CD when you've bought it so I wouldn't rate that as an advantage of CDs. First thing I do is throw a CD into my laptop and rip it while I have a listen.

pickarooney

flynnduism wrote: »

you can rip it to mp3 and you'll have a physical product that will live long after your hard drive goes up in smoke!

I'd say pretty much the opposite is true. CDs have a terribly short life expectancy.

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flynnduism

Fair points all of the above, but I still prefer to spend my money on a physical product when I can rather than on mp3s (whether via iTunes or not).

Anyways, if the OP is looking for good legit download sources, I'd recommend CD Baby and eMusic as worthy alternatives to iTunes

MilanPan!c

Just to add, you don't HAVE to use iTunes if you have an iPod; I don't.

iTunes, the store, is pretty cool for a few weeks... Impressive even... But it wears off...

Now I only use it for stuff I can't get elsewhere easily, like podcasts.

eclectichoney

7 Digital is a much better site / service than iTunes imo.

Spiritoftheseventies

Have no issues with I tunes. Always buy off them.

Carcharodon

eclectichoney wrote: »

7 Digital is a much better site / service than iTunes imo.

Just looking at that site there, looks pretty good and price of some albums is half that of i-tunes, will the quality be ok if I transfer it to my i-tunes library.

On the buying the CD as some people suggest, I used to like having the CD but it just adds to the amount of physical crap I have and I am not settled in one place.

Also just looking into eMusic, seems like it is probably better value if you use it regularly.

sprinkles

Chairman Meow wrote: »

Cons -

Its ****

Great insight there.

Its DRM is ludicrous

The fact that you think it still has DRM is ludicrous.

Bloated

?? Bloated? I find it incredibly easy to use and you can customise it to suit your style.

Crap

Again, great insight there.

Better off buying a full album form any other downlaod site so its not tied to an itunes account

Have you bought music from it recently. First of all not all music was tied to your iTunes account, there were only a few labels that imposed that. Secondly there's no DRM now.

VLC/WMP ****s all over it

WMP is awful and imo far more bloated than iTunes... but I suppose it's horses for courses.

Mostly used by people who have no clue about proper music software

Another widely inaccurate statement :rolleyes:

<Ollie> wrote: »

I don't get the whole buying music from itunes thing at all. You're buying an album in MP3 format for around $10, when you can buy the actual physical cd itself in wav format for around the same money, or even less at lot of the times.

I actually find the opposit the truth. New albums are nearly always 9.99 on the iTunes store and more often than not they're 15.99 + in HMV and the likes. That said if iTunes has done anything for the general consumer it's pushed the price of CD's down.

However you are right when it comes to older music, iTunes is slowly catching up on this regard but you can still find better bargains in the brick and mortar stores.


Personally I use iTunes all the time for many reasons. (I still buy the odd record in music stores - esp artists that don't feature on iTunes - Beatles etc)

I can download music on the go (on my iPhone)
It's automatically organised for me
It's relatively cheap compared to the HMV etc
I can buy music out of store hours - this is a biggie for me as I generally read about music on blogs etc at night, check out their stuff on myspace or whatever and I can then purchase the album right away.
I also find it great for podcasts

The Pontiac

sprinkles wrote: »

I actually find the opposit the truth. New albums are nearly always 9.99 on the iTunes store and more often than not they're 15.99 + in HMV and the likes. That said if iTunes has done anything for the general consumer it's pushed the price of CD's down.

However you are right when it comes to older music, iTunes is slowly catching up on this regard but you can still find better bargains in the brick and mortar stores.


Personally I use iTunes all the time for many reasons. (I still buy the odd record in music stores - esp artists that don't feature on iTunes - Beatles etc)

I can download music on the go (on my iPhone)
It's automatically organised for me
It's relatively cheap compared to the HMV etc
I can buy music out of store hours - this is a biggie for me as I generally read about music on blogs etc at night, check out their stuff on myspace or whatever and I can then purchase the album right away.
I also find it great for podcasts

I haven't bought an album from a brick and mortar store for around 10 years. This is a new release (only out a few days) and can be bought new on Amazon market place from £6.88 (+£1.30 post), which roughly equates to same price itunes charges. I can't see any reason for buying it on itunes in MP3 format when you can get the cd in wav, much better quality for the same money. You then have the option of doing what you what with the cd - rip it with FLAC, listen to it in a proper separate setup with a proper stand alone cd player for awesome sound quality etc. It's a no-brainer for me.

I wasn't criticising the itunes programme itself, but purchasing stuff from itunes store. Also, older releases on cd can be bought for peanuts now too.

A V A

i bought from itunes a few times and iv paid 8.99 and 9.99 and i got the digital booklet with the albums i bought its just like a hard copy but digital

a point was made a bout nothing beating the quality of the surround sound hi fi and having the hard copy to play around your house but now adays there is rca cables and things for you to connect your ipod to your hi hi or speakers ,thats what i do i connect my ipod to my studio monitors and when im in friends houses having a few socials or at a bbq i use the rcs cable and the sound is the same and you dont have to keep changing the cd or what ever the case maybe those ipod docking stations are just aloud of sho*te

i really dont like buying from itunes because the artist is getting barely nothing from it atall you know well thats what iv been told

Miguel_Sanchez

Let's remember to keep this discussion civil people.

sprinkles

<Ollie> wrote: »

I haven't bought an album from a brick and mortar store for around 10 years. This is a new release (only out a few days) and can be bought new on Amazon market place from £6.88 (+£1.30 post), which roughly equates to same price itunes charges. I can't see any reason for buying it on itunes in MP3 format when you can get the cd in wav, much better quality for the same money. You then have the option of doing what you what with the cd - rip it with FLAC, listen to it in a proper separate setup with a proper stand alone cd player for awesome sound quality etc. It's a no-brainer for me.

I wasn't criticising the itunes programme itself, but purchasing stuff from itunes store. Also, older releases on cd can be bought for peanuts now too.

Fair enough, for me I like the immediacy of it - I have bought from CDwow/Amazon etc in the past but I have very little patience.... I need my music now Add to that I am lazy and I generally end up forgetting to rip my CD's

Also I find the sound quality of the tracks from iTunes great - obviously they are inferior to what you can get off a CD but I can't hear the difference!

@Jeff_Lebowski - not sure if that was directed at me, I don't think I was being uncivil, just pointing out that CM's post was wildly inaccurate and offered no real insight.