Thread

Long tracks not for sale as singles on iTMS

MacNN Troubleshooting 22 posts Jul 17, 2004 to Jul 18, 2004

#1 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 10:51 MacNN

Has anyone else noticed that long tracks on albums are only available when you buy the whole album?

I wonder why this is, it's not like they do it to make you buy the whole album, it just seems to be tracks above 7 or 6 minutes.

Any ideas?

#2 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 12:00 MacNN

I have noticed this. Sucks.

#3 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 12:04 MacNN

Timeline please.

#4 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 12:09 MacNN

IIRC, it's one of the concessions they made to the record companies.

#5 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 12:16 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by wataru:
Timeline please.

What?

#6 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 12:28 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by Parky:
...it's not like they do it to make you buy the whole album...

I think that's exactly it, and it's not unreasonable. I have a couple of CDs that are only 1 or 2 (long) tracks. Those CDs are still the same price if you buy them in the store. If the individual tracks were still available for .99, you could get the whole album at a tiny fraction of its legitimate cost.

The 9.99 album/.99 track model really only works when it would cost the same or more to buy the whole album track-by-track than to buy the album, and so the 7-minute thing is meant to solve that problem. But it is a pretty blunt way of dealing with the issue, because there are some cases where one 7 minute track exists on an album for which purchasing the tracks separately would still cost more than the whole album.

#7 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 12:58 MacNN

Well, you can find some deals. The Vacation Concerts from Widespread Panic are available for $14.99. That's for 51 tracks and like 3 hours+ of music.

#8 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 13:00 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by Parky:
What?

Huh?

#9 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 13:10 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by wataru:
Huh?

What?

#10 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 13:15 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by velodev:
What?

Juh?

#11 Sat, 17 Jul 2004 - 13:33 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by wataru:
Timeline please.

In before Peter�.

#12 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 11:48 MacNN

There are some long ones out there. During the Pepsi promotion I scoped 'em out to get the most bang for no buck.

Here are the longest singles for 99� I found:
An American In Paris (Gershwin) - 18 minutes, 29 seconds
Totentanz (Liszt) - 15 minutes, 25 seconds

#13 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 11:52 MacNN

Sorry, but Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew" beats all of those at 27 minutes. Plus it's actually good! There are a number of 20+ minute tracks on that album and on The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions.

#14 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 12:45 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by wataru:
Sorry, but Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew" beats all of those at 27 minutes. Plus it's actually good! There are a number of 20+ minute tracks on that album and on The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions.

Well, I didn't say they were the longest singles on the store, just that they were the longest I found - and my search criteria was somewhat limited.

#15 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 13:55 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by Oneota:
Well, I didn't say they were the longest singles on the store, just that they were the longest I found - and my search criteria was somewhat limited.

True, it's not a contest. But let's make it one! Let's try to find the longest single on the iTMS.

#16 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 14:20 MacNN

There are Audiobooks that are over 75 minutes long in one track. Of course, they're not 99 cents.

#17 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 14:26 MacNN

31:54, O.D.O.O. by Fela Kuti in the World Music section.

#18 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 14:37 MacNN

Turnpike - 13:08

Rhapsody in Blue - 16:27

All Blues - 11:35

-------------

Hint: Jazz/Classical

#19 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 14:48 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by hyperb0le:
13:08, 16:27, 11:35

Ha! You'd need all three to pass my offering.

#20 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 17:44 MacNN

I've got the best track here. It's 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 35 seconds long. Price: Free.

#21 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 18:36 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by BRussell:
I've got the best track here. It's 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 35 seconds long. Price: Free.

Bor-ring </homer>

#22 Sun, 18 Jul 2004 - 18:38 MacNN

Wow. And below the accurate and descriptive title, ITMS lists the Narrator as Unknown and the Category as Classical