Why is AAC forced?

Isn't it trivial to convert iTunes music to MP3? Last I heard, Apple was the one giving people instructions on how to do this.

MP3 sucks compared to AAC. Had I known that AAC is a better quality with a smaller file size (meaning I could fit MORE music on my iPod and it won't sound like crap) then I wouldn't be busy re-doing my entire library as AAC!

BTW, you have the option of ripping to MP3 or AAC in iTunes, it's not forced. Also, if MP3/AAC is selected as your default ripping method, you can convert an unprotected AAC file to MP3 and vice-versa.

Originally posted by phantasee:

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Isn't it trivial to convert iTunes music to MP3? Last I heard, Apple was the one giving people instructions on how to do this.

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Yeah but the more you convert, the lower the quality will become, because of the lossy compression. And if your source file is already a low bitrate one you won't get anything good out of it.

I'm glad Amazon will offer higher bitrate songs. This is an important step in the right direction.

So its EMI teaming up with Amazon. Not bad not bad at all. At least its a step in the right direction.

Well this looks like a step in the right direction. Now the only problem remains the price. If it drops over a period of time then it's all good BUT $1.29 is a bit pricey to me. After all you are removing the cost of a physical product from your bottom line and moving it to an electrical form. In this form it's faster to distribute and store on servers. The consumer now bears the cost of storing or moving the media to physical format such as a CD. Which I would dare say costs a customer more than the labels.

It appears as if Amazon is poised to become the next big online music retailer.

I like the policy, but not the price. At that price, I'll buy a hard medium & rip it at whatever bitrate I want into whatever format I want with no DRM. Why would I pay more than $0.75/song and not have a hard backup?

The lack of a physical product is what all the online retailers seem to be missing the point on. Usually, for less than the cost of the online version, you can get an actual disc, a case, and some cover art. Every now and again you get the nifty anti - piracy propaganda brochure with your purchase.