[78-L] copyright

[Kristjan Saag]

Jack Palmer wrote:
> I hate having to download music and then not getting a
> decent sound when I do.  I want a nice CD that I can play on my CD player
> downstairs, my computer upstairs and in my auto.  Just because ,these
> youngsters and technocrats are taking over, does that mean we have to give
> up our music.  I love my 78s but they certainly won't play in all the 
> places
> I am wanting music.
--
It's easier than ever to check sound quality on a recording you buy. You 
don't have to sit around in the record shop, you can do it in front of your 
computer and scan through the samples. Some dealers offer you the whole tune 
as sample and with some  practice you can tell the difference between crap 
and quality, even if the sample is presented at 28 kbpm.

Most of the material offered as downloads is still the same that has been 
available on CD. What we lose, in sound quality, between the linear sound on 
CD and the 320 kbps or so of a mp3 file is a minor problem for 78 rpm 
recordings.

It takes you five minutes to download an album and another five minutes to 
burn it onto a CD that you can take downstairs or upstairs. Those ten 
minutes wouldn't have taken you halfway to your nearest record store, I 
guess.

Give up your music? No, you've just started to share it with a larger 
audience who has other priorities as to distribution and retail. And thanks 
to the youngsters and technocrats we can now get hold of, practically, any 
piece of music that has been recorded. Need a sound file of Hanka 
Ordonówna's "Milosc Ci Wszystko Wybaczy"? I'll send it to in a jiffy.

Besides: the CD never was a sexy medium. Neither was the cassette. Files 
aren't either. But as complement to vinyl and shellac: much better. They 
don't clatter. There's no plastic film around them that you have to struggle 
with. And if you're lucky you can buy one track at a time, discarding the 21 
dull tunes on the "Best Of..." album and get the 22nd one that you like.

So let's look at the bright side of downloads and start to work for better 
sound quality. We're only in the beginning. Remember the sound of early 
CD's? Today "CD quality" means the highest quality for most people.
In a few years time broadband space will allow us to deal easily with wav 
files instead of mp3s. Some dealers already offer music in wav format. As 
customers we should ask for this opportunity every time we buy. That will 
enhance the overall standard of downloads and facilitate demands for decent 
transfers.
Kristjan