Why on earth do high quality music always cost more?
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19
  1. #1
    Tech Mentor decon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    205

    Default Why on earth do high quality music always cost more?

    I am the only one tired of this bullshit? Say I want a track in wave I often have to pay twice the price than if I were to buy a crappy 192kbps mp3 version. Where is the logic in this? It probably takes more processing power to actually make the 192kbps mp3 file than just releasing the raw wave file!

  2. #2
    DJTT Infectious Moderator photojojo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Sherman, TX
    Posts
    13,925

    Default

    Because the server space and the bandwidth used by larger files costs more.
    Chris Jennings FHP

    Podcast - Soundcloud - Mixcloud - Beatport Charts - x

  3. #3
    Tech Wizard
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    X1A
    Posts
    56

    Default

    i want to understand this more can someone please elaborate on the difference in quality for a mp3 and wav

  4. #4
    DJTT Infectious Moderator photojojo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Sherman, TX
    Posts
    13,925

    Default

    Wav is uncompressed, it's essentially all the data for the file available. MP3 is compressed at different rates, 320 kps being the highest available. The act of compressing the data can make the file lose some quality. In my opinion the larger file size, extra cost in purchasing and extra cost in storing are not worth the better sound that in most cases are not perceivable.
    Chris Jennings FHP

    Podcast - Soundcloud - Mixcloud - Beatport Charts - x

  5. #5

    Default

    Maybe long time ago but disk space is cheap and bandwidth nowadays is also pretty cheap so it's just an excuse for the companies to make more money. Maybe one could pay $0.10 more for a WAV release, that might reflect reality, not $.50.

    And then you have companies like frugal Amazon that figured out that they could save pennies by going away from 320k fixed MP3 to VBR 260 and below formats. Now, Amazon is targeting consumers who would not know the difference.

    PS: I purchase critical files for my 'digital create' in WAV as I think whatever system I use, it is important to always provide the best possible quality. But I can't avoid the case of good SoundCloud material that is mostly in 320k....

    PS: I requested Beatport in the early days to start selling uncompressed long time ago (you should have seen the private email thread going back and forth where they said DJs don't care about WAV files...) , but my request was to use FLAC and charge a tiny amount extra. However they went with full WAV and much higher pricing, oh well.
    Last edited by ksandvik; 09-08-2011 at 04:53 PM.

  6. #6
    Tech Guru Liambo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    N.E. Scotland
    Posts
    726

    Default

    It's basically all been mentioned above..

    But i don't see why people complain about the price of music now a days, you can download and DJ with music for free from soundcloud etc or buy releases from beatport for £1+ compared to in the 80/90's when you had to buy records.

  7. #7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Liambo View Post
    It's basically all been mentioned above..

    But i don't see why people complain about the price of music now a days, you can download and DJ with music for free from soundcloud etc or buy releases from beatport for £1+ compared to in the 80/90's when you had to buy records.
    Yep. And in many cases when you had to special order records you didn't even know how they sounded until they arrived.

  8. #8
    Tech Mentor Louie_V's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Chicago, Il
    Posts
    411

    Default

    mostly because its higher quality....

    why does a porsche cost more then a cobalt...

    although i see where your coming from... they both are digital files so its not like it cost more to make a 320K vs a 192k (may cost more to make a 192k if you make a 320k first) but a 320 is a bigger file so it takes more room and bandwidth when peeps download...

  9. #9
    Tech Guru Liambo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    N.E. Scotland
    Posts
    726

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ksandvik View Post
    Yep. And in many cases when you had to special order records you didn't even know how they sounded until they arrived.
    And if they were warped to shit it was your problem to sort it out..

  10. #10
    Tech Wizard
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    X1A
    Posts
    56

    Default

    ok so how would one check the quality of a mp3 simply by the size?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •