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Interesting Amazon MP3 development

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40hz:
^Agree. Which is why I personally think it's mostly a rumor right now, and a possible long-term strategy at best.

I'd also guess that the economics of manufacturing and distribution figure as more significant considerations than any anti-piracy concerns - if the decision is ever made to completely abandon all hard media.

All DRM gets broken eventually. And any digitized data is successfully duplicated sooner or later. Whether it resides on hard media or soft, the outcome is the same.

xtabber:
The idea that anyone would buy a CD from Amazon just to get the music as an MP3 and sell the CD as new, strikes me as beyond ridiculous.

To begin with, you'd need to have a buyer lined up for the CD, unless you already had a music store (remember those) where you could sell it - in which case, you wouldn't be buying from Amazon in the first place.

The simple explanation is the Amazon makes money selling CDs, and that providing buyers with the music they have legally purchased in MP3 format gives it a way to compete with iTunes, Google Play and music subscription services.  Nothing wrong with that.

Carol Haynes:
It is quite possible to buy a CD from Amazon and then list it for sale again on Amazon (which costs nothing until you sell it). Anyone can sell on Amazon. I often buy stuff on Amazon that is new but slightly cheaper from a third party seller.

xtabber:
It is quite possible to buy a CD from Amazon and then list it for sale again on Amazon (which costs nothing until you sell it). Anyone can sell on Amazon. I often buy stuff on Amazon that is new but slightly cheaper from a third party seller.
-Carol Haynes (June 30, 2013, 10:59 AM)
--- End quote ---

Sounds like a quick route to bankruptcy.

Amazon has your cash until someone else comes along and buys your CD, at which point you will still be out the shipping charges both ways. You'd also have to sell it for less than Amazon to get someone to buy from you rather than Amazon, since you won't be offering the free MP3/streaming version that Amazon does.

BTW, I mostly listen to classical music and Jazz and am very picky about sound quality, which is why I always buy CDs (or flac) and rip my own MP3s for listening on players.  Amazon's rips are actually better than most (they use a relatively high bitrate VBR), but ripping them myself gives me complete control over quality, size and tagging.

Many newer CDs have been remastered at higher bitrates, so the sound is much better than older CD versions of the same music. CDs themselves are limited to 16 bit 44,100 Mhz reproduction, but the improved quality of the mastering makes the sound noticeably better. The highest quality MP3 rips are in practice indistinguishable from the CD and preserve the benefits of the remastering.

The same is NOT true of  DSD sound on SACDs, which can deliver vastly superior sound to anything you can get from a regular CD, if you have the proper playback equipment.  DSD cannot be ripped to regular digital formats, although most SACDs also incorporate a CD (Redbook) layer, which can be, albeit without the 5-1 surround and higher definition of DSD.

tomos:
Got a mail today from Amazon.de offering downloads of two CD's I bought at Christmas (last time I bought new CD's).
All mp3's I have bought from Amazon were also available for download/playing.

I *had* to use/update Amazon mp3 downloader (booh!)

Otherwise I'm happy.
It might encourage me to buy more new CD's (I tend to buy second-hand, or mp3's).

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