A friend emailed me this site recently, which looks at the state of online classical music stores. The author starts off by explaining that Itunes has launched an initiative to improve their classical offerings, and that the results can already be seen. They have an improved catalogue, with recordings of even the most obscure composers. On the other hand, sound quality is limited, albums are sold track-by-track, and the search features are shoddy. What is most interesting to me, is the figures for what makes the classical "top 10" in Itunes. Andrea Bocelli of course (does he even still count as "classical"?), and Rostropovich... but nothing with an overwhelming sales figure. Something is still not "clicking" in Itunes classical business model.
Alternatives are sites like classical.com or naxos.com, both of which offer streaming music for a flat monthly fee. Both sites also restrict sound quality to something less than CD quality, and I'm not a fan of either interface. The catalogues involved are impressive however, and it's worth a try for any classical music lover.
Where do you get your classical recordings? Do you just rip from your own CDs? Do you get them from your friends? Or do you have a favorite site?
As far as I can tell, the only way to get good, high quality classical recordings in digital format is to rip them from CD yourself. I have yet to find a service that really offers the convenience, price and catalogue that I am looking for.
Fri, 2007-05-11 19:05
I actually always thought iTunes offerred alot in terms of classical music.....I can always find what I'm looking for.
On another note, your validation thingie that shows the letters looking all disoriented now reads "Mavra".
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»Mon, 2008-05-12 22:04
My real problem with classical downloads is that the playback devices are designed for tracks or albums, not for works made of movements. What we invariably see for classical is: Allegro 1, Andante 2, Scherzo Allegro 3, Allegro 4. It drives me crazy! We need the movements associated with the work, played in order and together, with no unnecessary breaks. Which means software in the devices and in the media players that is specifically designed for that kind of grouping. Simple enough for the programmers to do - I'm a programmer, and it is simple. But Apple hasn't bothered, and apparently their competitors don't see an opportunity here.
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