Interesting news/reviews/deals from the portable audio market
Warner to experiment with ‘DVD album’ discs: these will feature:
stereo and surround mixes of the album
extras: ringtones, remixes, photos and video footage
pre-ripped digital music files. Warner is currently in talk with Apple to make those rips, so that they’re iPod-compatible and DRM’d (with FairPlay).
A handful of titles are expected in October, a “full-blown launch” next [...]
Why a music collector does what he does: words of wisdom from Volkher. The two last paragraphs are not to be missed (and man, do they hurt…).
2005: Music sales down 8%: that’s 2003-levels (and 4% lower than 2004). And we didn’t have a considerable digital music market back then (though this market too, shows signs of slowing down). That’s what you get for treating music lovers like criminals.
UPDATE: Cf: Do you hear what I hear? It’s the sound of the CD [...]
Review: Metronome Technologie Kalista: if you were looking for a device that makes CDs sound as good as vinyl, this is yours for the humble price of $23,000.
So. I was reading BusinessWeek’s article on “Stringer’s Sony Turnaround Plan”, trying to see if there was a quote on the company’s portable audio plans. There was none (HD, the PS3 and Blu-ray are the company’s main guns), but my crap-o-meter went nuts upon reading the following quote, courtesy of Sony CEO Howard Stringer:
“Why would [...]
A new format by Monster Music, you’re basically getting two discs when you buy a “SuperDisc”. Disc no.1 is the stereo mix CD meant for your CD player. Disc no.2 gets you the same music in the following flavors:
in files encoded at 320kbps/AAC, 192kbps/WMA, and Apple Lossless (PCM 48/16)
in Dolby headphone-encoded music files supposed to [...]