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Records, CDs, or MP3s?


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On 11/14/2021 at 5:56 PM, Dead1 said:

Records are almost universally over AUD$50

In another thread, I said "I doubt I could thrive in Oz" this is a great example as to why. I am trying to open my own record store, I cannot deal with $37US for a record, unless it is a Nokturnal Mortum one that I am importing from Osmose. That's just obscene.

Your guys COL is way too high there. Granted you probably make more money than we do for doing the same jobs & have national healthcare as far as I know, but seriously now...

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3 hours ago, NokturnalBoredom said:

In another thread, I said "I doubt I could thrive in Oz" this is a great example as to why. I am trying to open my own record store, I cannot deal with $37US for a record, unless it is a Nokturnal Mortum one that I am importing from Osmose. That's just obscene.

Your guys COL is way too high there. Granted you probably make more money than we do for doing the same jobs & have national healthcare as far as I know, but seriously now...

 

 

Actually a lot of stuff Australia is overpriced and the marginally median higher incomes don't really make up for it  

Australian retailers price gouge, hence we buy a lot of stuff online where possible.  I've literally found it cheaper to import things  from NZ or UK than buy local.

 

https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/finance/news-finance/why-everything-is-more-expensive-in-australia/

Literally there is little or no competition and the government actively promotes that but then doesn't subsidise/limit prices.

 

 

And basic necessities are getting more and more expensive whilst wages have been largely stagnant since 2008.

 

Median house price is now US$720,000 yet median income is $34,735 (under $30,000 for women).  US is $31,112 so not a great difference (this is where purchasing power parity kicks in).  Median rental is close to US$362 a week ($9,412 per annum) but cheaper than US.  Homelessness is increasing

Modern houses are garbage - I just brought one that's 7 years old and it's literally falling apart - floor tiles, all electricals including power switches, fittings, crumbling concrete, the render.

 

Petrol is $5.19 per gallon though where I live it's $5.92 and rising every week,    US median is $3.76 per gallon

Things like education are very poor - Australia's functional illiteracy rate is 40-% and over 50% where I live.  Yet education is getting more and more expensive.

https://theconversation.com/yes-adult-literacy-should-be-improved-but-governments-can-make-their-messages-easier-to-read-right-now-164621

 

Australian internet costs are average compared to rest of OECD but it's the 4th slowest internet in the OECD which means it's price is too expensive.  No plans to fix this - government funded a National Broadband Network that still relied on copper cables for part of the delivery!

 

We still have some subsidised health including hospitals but it's declining - as mentioned my family paid out $3000+ and only got $133 in government subsidies.

 

A lot of stuff is hidden - eg unemployment is low but underemployment is massive and rising as working as low as 1 hour of paid work makes you employed..  They don't count people who are in employment but working 0 hours due to COVID or business stress.

 

Oh and this one - Australia is the biggest producer of natural gas on the planet YET gas prices are hideously high and there are increasing shortages!  Yay for free trade.

 

 

US GDP purchasing power parity per capita is $63,000 whereas Australia is not even $49,000.  So Australians can buy a lot less with their money than Americans.

 

 

 

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I used to have a HiFi system and about 300 CDs but that was before the pandemic. Since then, I live in a small room, I don't have my CDs within listening range.

So, now I buy my records on Bandcamp, preferably in FLAC format. At home, I listen to my music on a Shanling Q1 audiophile player with Beyerdynamics DT-770 PRO headphones and when I'm on the move, my music is in my smartphone, streamed in LDAC on my Soundcore Liberty PRO in-ear monitors.

I come from a forum where users called me a jerk several times, because I didn't listen to my music on a HiFi system, I didn't read the lyrics, I was a jerk talking about WAV or FLAC formats, LDAC codec, etc.

I hope to find more leniency here.

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I rip all my CDs to FLAC. I also buy FLAC from Bandcamp. Other lossless formats would also work.

The only concern I have about the lack of physical medium is that if I ever have children they cannot inherit the digital files AFAIK.

For physical medium CDs have only 3 flaws - expire over time, too big in size to comfortably carry around and use in walkman-style players, and don't have a casing to protect them from scratches and other damage.

M-Disc in mini-disk format and casing would solve the problem - but such a thing doesn't exist :-( , and creating and popularizing one nowadays just wouldn't work. If it has to by physical and popular - it's ubiquitous CD, or something with big printed pictures (looking at you Vinyls).

 

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8 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Yes they can. Upload onto an external drive and Bob's your uncle. I give my son all the music I have acquired each year for his birthday this way.

Physically it's doable of course, but legally?

If you check user agreement - for services like iTunes store the rights are non-transferable. E.g. if you buy some album in iTunes store - only YOU get the right to listen to it.

You can copy the files to whomever you want, but this is not legal. It is against the agreement, and thus can be treated as piracy.

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2 minutes ago, MVMn said:

Physically it's doable of course, but legally?

If you check user agreement - for services like iTunes store the rights are non-transferable. E.g. if you buy some album in iTunes store - only YOU get the right to listen to it.

You can copy the files to whomever you want, but this is not legal. It is against the agreement, and thus can be treated as piracy.

If you buy from Bandcamp it's yours. The iTunes 'agreement' is unenforceable and fuck them anyway.

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7 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Well, there's always cassette tape 😜 (I will never understand how this caught on again)

Well, I guess there are still a ton of tape players available. But yes, I don't understand it either.

The booklet is even smaller than the one on CD :-)

I would really like for all this to get replaced with M-Disc (AKA Millennial Disc) - this one has 1000 years durability or so.

The only downside I see is the form-factor - same as CD. In my opinion, MiniDisk did it better - the small size is doable in terms of data storage amount, and the casing (or cartridge, or call it whatever - a box) will make it last. If you have a disc that lasts for 1000 years if untouched - but can get scratched on day 1 of usage - this kinda defeats the purpose.

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3 hours ago, MVMn said:

I would really like for all this to get replaced with M-Disc (AKA Millennial Disc) - this one has 1000 years durability or so.

I hadn't heard of M-Disc but Wiki says it is discontinued. 

3 hours ago, Thatguy said:

If you buy from Bandcamp it's yours. The iTunes 'agreement' is unenforceable and fuck them anyway.

I have never read the bandcamp user agreement but presume it will say somewhere that your collection is for personal use. Traditional media was also for personal use and cassette tapes were exempt from liability from copying on the basis that you are legally allowed to make a copy for personal use/archive purposes.

I would take the pragmatic view that you could legally pass on your bandcamp collection (i.e. hard disk/cloud storage access of downloaded content) to your kid (singular) but not make multiple copies for multiple kids (notwithstanding environmental consequences of having excessive children - drown all infants beyond the first two please).  

Just as you can't magic into existence an extra copy of Sgt. Peppers first press LP to be inherited. You just have to choose your favourite child like everyone else.

That's why I only have one kid. It's a risk from the perspective of passing on genes but she should be pretty comfortable when I'm gone. She complains sometimes about being an only child but I just say "this way you don't have to share your inheritance with anyone else." She smiles and cartoon dollar signs appear in her eyes, and so greed wins out because, at our heart, all humans are selfish pieces of shit.

....Except for the fact that society and the 1s and 0s of my bank account will have evaporated by then. 

How to get from a discussion about preferred media to societal collapse in three easy steps.

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58 minutes ago, JonoBlade said:

How to get from a discussion about preferred media to societal collapse in three easy steps

Always the way to go when we are going over old ground yet again.

I have two kiddies, but only one is interested in my music so that works well. I agree that copying multiple times is unfair to artists, but one or two copies for backup and for sharing is OK I reckon.

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36 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

I have two kiddies, but only one is interested in my music so that works well. I agree that copying multiple times is unfair to artists, but one or two copies for backup and for sharing is OK I reckon.

"only one is interested in my music," but that one is definitely not the favourite though *wink*.

"but one or two copies for backup and for sharing is OK I reckon" not only a solid reckoning, but legally sound also. I probably have at least three hard drives with bandcamp collection in various stages of back up. Of course practically, who will ever know? What user agreements should spell out is that buying a download does not give free license to broadcast or post on a P2P site.....or however, illegal file sharing works now. It's been so long since I was thieving scum. Now I am reformed and merely a piece of shit in other ways.

 

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I have thousands of vinyl and CDs. Tons of digital files. I buy stuff that makes me happy or provides me with some level of entertainment. All crap that my poor family will have to deal with when I go on to my reward. Most will no doubt get chucked in a bin. My daughter might pick through some of the more "normal" stuff, but that's not guaranteed. Personally, I don't care what they do with them. I won't be here to worry about it. Same way I feel about funeral planning. My wife asked me years ago what I wanted as it was fairly certain my time was due. I told her to do what made her happy. It's not like I was going to be around to complain. That's how I feel about my "stuff". Makes no difference to me. If I go soon, give it all to one of my buddies who's into the sick demented music I listen to or at least give them the opportunity to pick through the collection before it goes in the bin. If I outlast them, then donate it to the library or whatever. Certainly their collection of Archgoat and Satanic Warmaster vinyl is lacking.

 

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54 minutes ago, navybsn said:

I have thousands of vinyl and CDs. Tons of digital files. I buy stuff that makes me happy or provides me with some level of entertainment. All crap that my poor family will have to deal with when I go on to my reward. Most will no doubt get chucked in a bin. My daughter might pick through some of the more "normal" stuff, but that's not guaranteed. Personally, I don't care what they do with them. I won't be here to worry about it. Same way I feel about funeral planning. My wife asked me years ago what I wanted as it was fairly certain my time was due. I told her to do what made her happy. It's not like I was going to be around to complain. That's how I feel about my "stuff". Makes no difference to me. If I go soon, give it all to one of my buddies who's into the sick demented music I listen to or at least give them the opportunity to pick through the collection before it goes in the bin. If I outlast them, then donate it to the library or whatever. Certainly their collection of Archgoat and Satanic Warmaster vinyl is lacking.

Music is a bit more of a focused thing, so easiest solution may just be to give it to a friend - on condition that they take ALL of it. 

The bigger issue for many people is what to do with all the OTHER stuff. That third lawnmower you kept for parts, the collection of deck chairs under the house. Some people (let's be honest, most) just hoard. Dying and leaving a whole lot of shit for other people to deal with is poor planning and may leave a lot of stress. Aim to minimize and offload the excess while you can (can't account for freak accidents and sudden illness/death but in general there is always time).

Of course someone might not care at all since they're gone and, therefore, paying someone else to take it all to the dump without a second thought might not bother them. But that pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with the world. 

 

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9 hours ago, MVMn said:

Physically it's doable of course, but legally?

If you check user agreement - for services like iTunes store the rights are non-transferable. E.g. if you buy some album in iTunes store - only YOU get the right to listen to it.

You can copy the files to whomever you want, but this is not legal. It is against the agreement, and thus can be treated as piracy.

That's like saying if you buy a PPV event you must watch it alone, or if you buy a piece of art to hang on the wall only you can look at it. The idea that "they" could ever hope to control who shares what type of artistic content between family members or housemates or close friends is laughable. You buy it, it's yours, do what you want with it. If something is good then word will spread and people will want to have their own legit copies. How many people have bought the same album multiple times? I know I have. But I have never bought any digital content from iTunes, not even back in the old days when I used their desktop player to synch my iPod because fuck Apple and their whole universe of products.

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9 hours ago, Sardonicist said:

Clearly it requires attention and intelligence to operate cassettes correctly, too difficult for most people. 

There's tape hiss, squeaky rollers, they come unwound too easily, and they break too easily. It's a shit format. Maybe if they could make the actual tape out of something besides a .000001 mm thick stretched out ribbon of plastic film that breaks if you so much as fart on it they might hold up a bit better. They were good for the record industry pigs of course because they'd always need to be replaced bianually.

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