Why on earth do high quality music always cost more?

[DigitalDevil]

...higher quality...
...cost more...

Is it really that much of a mystery?

[Invoke]

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

you can't. you can guess that a big file is going to be higher quality but in all reality it could always just be some shitty transcode. best way to tell the quality of a file is to analyze the spectrals in audacity or a similar program... i had another program that did it a;l by itself but i forgot the name :/

[ksandvik]

In the early days, WAV and MP3 files from some labels on Beatport were done by ripping the vinyl and re-packaging it as digital. You could sometimes here the needle doing its work and I think I once got one where the needle was skipping. Those were the days...

[photojojo]

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.

Tell me about it. Just be glad you're not bitching about spending $20 on a record with four songs on it and you only want one.

[Kupujte_Pytle]

it's good question.

do you remember some Audiophile rants on theese boards? The pattern is actualy the same. Companies knows that some marginal community of DJs wants highest possible quality whatever it means. So if you make general rule that golden usb stick has for some reason better "shit" which leads to better reproduction some crazies out there are gonna spend a lot just to get 0.00001% difference...

ok.. i know, i'm bit extreme. But as Photojojo and many more (included me) said you don't really need to go above 320kbps mp3 on your typical setup and typical club soundsystem.

Much different question is, when you regularly play on large venues or on a top quality soundsystem (funktion-one for example) where the quality actualy does start to matter.

so taking above into consideration, companies and distributors sees profit in this demand. i would do the same if i was them.. also if i was to beat my competition i would launch huuuuge campaign that hypes the uncompressed files for proffesional use and sell those at same price as other's do mp3

[souldancer]

Well if you really need wave and your into edm music check this site track it down http://www.trackitdown.net/pro. you can become a member for 10 dollars a month and you pay 99 dollar cents per wave file and 79 cents for 320 kbs.

[mostapha]

it's good question.

do you remember some Audiophile rants on theese boards? The pattern is actualy the same. Companies knows that some marginal community of DJs wants highest possible quality whatever it means. So if you make general rule that golden usb stick has for some reason better "shit" which leads to better reproduction some crazies out there are gonna spend a lot just to get 0.00001% difference...

ok.. i know, i'm bit extreme. But as Photojojo and many more (included me) said you don't really need to go above 320kbps mp3 on your typical setup and typical club soundsystem.

Much different question is, when you regularly play on large venues or on a top quality soundsystem (funktion-one for example) where the quality actualy does start to matter.

so taking above into consideration, companies and distributors sees profit in this demand. i would do the same if i was them.. also if i was to beat my competition i would launch huuuuge campaign that hypes the uncompressed files for proffesional use and sell those at same price as other's do mp3

My headphones sound better than the Function One systems I've heard. Most of the time, they're still run by idiots…and by that, I mean DJs who don't know how to read level meters.

In general, you're right…and I don't think the OP should ever buy WAV files. I do…but I occasionally have access to really nice sound systems and know how to run a board…and I like my headphones.

Besides…a WAV of a popular, new track at beatport costs, what, $3.50? CHEAP!!!

[farhanashraf]

habve u heard of "u get what u pay for"?

[ksandvik]

Well if you really need wave and your into edm music check this site track it down http://www.trackitdown.net/pro. you can become a member for 10 dollars a month and you pay 99 dollar cents per wave file and 79 cents for 320 kbs.

Trackitdown is costly for anyone not dealing with pounds, i.e the US market.