So it is confirmed that the lossless music announcement is for streaming/downloads from Apple Music only - songs purchased through the iTunes Store will continue to be offered only in 256kbp AAC. Clearly Apple has the lossless masters so why not offer ALAC download from the iTunes music store? I'd even been willing to pay a premium over current prices for lossless downloads. I understand that Apple's focus is on streaming but there are plenty of people who prefer to own their music rather than rent it. Especially those that need to use their music files outside of Apple devices for editing, mixing, etc.
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Apple Music Lossless only for Apple Music streaming, not iTunes purchases - why?
- Thread starter bscheffel
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Yea, that's a hard one to get my head around...if you want to buy, why not allow one to purchase a lossless or Hi Res lossless version?
its really silly for Apple to make me to go Bandcamp, Qobuz, 7Digital, Beatport, etc. to buy the lossless file and then manually add to iCloud Music Library - missed opportunity for Apple to make this seamless in iTunes Store.
Streaming lock in.
I think they want to totally discontinue the ability purchase/own/download the source files and push as much of their user base to perpetually paying them for the same music.
We all get distracted by the shiny hardware, but Apple is well on the way to being a company that primarily collects monthly subscriptions from everyone.
I think they want to totally discontinue the ability purchase/own/download the source files and push as much of their user base to perpetually paying them for the same music.
We all get distracted by the shiny hardware, but Apple is well on the way to being a company that primarily collects monthly subscriptions from everyone.
Yep. Not to mention the iTunes Store is barely selling anything. They want to push people to streaming. I feel like the iTunes Store is ending in a few years.
Could be that their original agreements/contracts with record companies stipulated the file compression for purchases.
Personally i have 0 interest on paying for an ALAC file, i know i can transfer it to FLAC but no thx.
Having said that last night i bought my Radio Futura lossless box:
www.hdtracks.com
Having said that last night i bought my Radio Futura lossless box:
HDtracks | You can hear the difference. Listen on the go in master studio quality.
HDtracks is a high-resolution music platform for music lovers to download their favorite tracks in master studio quality. Join us today for the ultimate listening experience!
www.hdtracks.com
Apple seems to do everything in a slow step by step kind of way. Then again that's what upgrades are for, lol. The amount of time to get all this to work everywhere and on everything has to be a wowser.
I would venture to guess this is entirely a marginally complicated rights issue they’re unwilling to sort out for the amount of revenue it’d drive. I personally am fine with streaming-only HD as I don’t purchase music I can stream when I have no intention of ever not having a streaming service.
That said, I listen to a great deal of live music such as Phish where I’m purchasing HD versions of shows from LivePhish, and while I love that I can dump those into iTunes/Apple Music and have them always available in the same library, it would certainly be nice if I could have those HD versions available in the cloud as well given I already own the rights to them. I suspect we’ll continue to be limited to 256 AAC however, but I can dream.
That said, I listen to a great deal of live music such as Phish where I’m purchasing HD versions of shows from LivePhish, and while I love that I can dump those into iTunes/Apple Music and have them always available in the same library, it would certainly be nice if I could have those HD versions available in the cloud as well given I already own the rights to them. I suspect we’ll continue to be limited to 256 AAC however, but I can dream.
Problem also is those with previously match libraries are automatically getting the lossless versions. You have to delete the matched version and then find the streaming version. Tried this on it tunstells Eye of the Telescope. It’s almost a deal breaker
I don't know you guys but i'm personally planning to stop buying aac lossy files from the Apple store, i don't find the use anymore. I'm a guy who still buys cd's and i used to buy aac albums before the cd's arrival, i see 0 point now with lossless out now, except for the songs that i'm not planning to buy on cd.
It's a mess but now i see acc as a pointless format. Wish qboz was avilable worldwide.
LOL even iTunes for Windows is kind of pointless right now (no lossless streaming). Better subscribe to Amazon Music HD.
It's a mess but now i see acc as a pointless format. Wish qboz was avilable worldwide.
LOL even iTunes for Windows is kind of pointless right now (no lossless streaming). Better subscribe to Amazon Music HD.
I plan to keep building and maintaining my personal library, alongside the use of streaming, forever.
One of my most prized digital assets in life is my music library and very specifically the order of the songs and all the various playlists I've made for decades that match up with times in life.
The specific order I've acquired songs in is something I've hardcoded into the metadata actually, as it instantly can transport me to where/what was going on in life at that time just with the specific songs I discovered then.
I could never drop my personal library. For me streaming will always be "another way to listen to music".
A supplement - but never a replacement.
One of my most prized digital assets in life is my music library and very specifically the order of the songs and all the various playlists I've made for decades that match up with times in life.
The specific order I've acquired songs in is something I've hardcoded into the metadata actually, as it instantly can transport me to where/what was going on in life at that time just with the specific songs I discovered then.
I could never drop my personal library. For me streaming will always be "another way to listen to music".
A supplement - but never a replacement.
I feel you, although my main goal is to eventually own the streaming songs if I like them enough, i've noticed that over the years some songs just become unavailable which is motivation to purchase the song before it disappears forever.
The unavailable songs thing is totally real.
Over time I have upgraded versions of songs that I got a long time ago and it is incredible along the way how many songs I am fortunate just to have a copy of at all.
I have come across many that I can’t find on any streaming platform or anywhere to purchase other than some sort of physical disk off of eBay or something. A lot of times it is just an interesting radio cut or a particular remix also.
Just the threat and thought of that makes it that much more compelling to make sure I always have my own library of stuff I have loved
It's my motivation!!! I was just cleaning out my library and found some songs that were grey out, definitely a bummer but a not a deal breaker since I can find it somewhere, I just take a picture of the song before deleting it from my library.
With that said I had that happened to me recently, I had to purchase a cd for 85bucks because the song was gone, was nowhere to be found except through the cd and had to find a good bargain in decent condition just to add it digitally back to my collection haha. i'm so glad itunes still has the cd rip function.
Seems iTunes purchases do upgrade to Lossless with the same consistency that Matched tracks do - random
the entire app is bugged
edit: seems all or most of my itunes purchases are upgraded to lossless (within the app, not like it's giving me files i can export to another program or service)
I dont own a lot but I did buy Back in Time once (lol) and immediately got lossless
I then another album I bought back in the day, you can see below Purchased / 256kbps AAC
I remove and re-download and...Lossless
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