I've been browsing the Amazon MP3 download service to build up a list of tracks to buy. I've been on a blues kick lately but so many classic blues artists are sold in overlapping "Best of" compilation collections -- this will let me build my own compilations. Then again, I really can't go wrong with prices as low as $7 for an entire album.
Amazon's new music downloads trumps Apple in one huge regard for me: they have Radiohead. Amazon had to concede the right to sell all of Radiohead's songs album only, with the exception of two singles available on compilation CDs. Strangely, even the tracks on singles are available album only, which calls into question Radiohead's artistic argument.
Comments (6)
Annoyingly, the Amazon Downloader app gives me a C++ runtime error, so I've bought some stuff, but I don't have it yet, either. Customer support left something to be desired and I'm waiting for a callback at this point. :(
Posted by glynn | September 25, 2007 12:29 PM
Posted on September 25, 2007 12:29
Oops, sounds like it shouldn't have left beta yet. I remember similar problems when the iTunes store launched. Strange that Amazon, in all its experience selling digital downloads, can't get this right.
Posted by kwc | September 25, 2007 12:59 PM
Posted on September 25, 2007 12:59
I wouldn't be bothered by the glitch except the amazon support page for the new download service is basically non-existent. Little information and a cumbersome trouble-ticket system seems like a bad plan for a big beta release. It was hard to hunt for relevant technical information (I found basically none) and I could not find a discussion forum where other users with more expertise may be able to help me. I was also frustrated when the support folks couldn't understand my letter-by-letter spelling of my email address due to non-native English challenges.
Contrast this with my recollection of the iTunes for Windows release. There were a bunch of issues (and some misconceptions about iTunes behavior), but there was a robust support page in place. I recall that the support discussions for the Windows iTunes outnumbered the much older Mac iTunes section in only a brief time. Sure, Apple didn't reply to all or even many threads (let alone promptly when it did) but other users pooled knowledge and it helped me out with some things.
Posted by glynn | September 25, 2007 10:46 PM
Posted on September 25, 2007 22:46
My Windows iTunes experience didn't go as well -- the first iTunes for Windows went fine, but later versions started occasionally nuking the entire library file. As for iTunes 7, this was still happening and the discussion boards (even that many versions later) were pretty poor for it.
Posted by kwc | September 26, 2007 10:37 AM
Posted on September 26, 2007 10:37
I nuked my own library once switching hard drives, but never had iTunes do it for me.
Anyway, Amazon problem is "resolved." You can't target downloads at a network drive at this point.
Posted by glynn | September 26, 2007 12:13 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 12:13
Is that a feature or a bug? i.e. are they trying to intentionally prevent you from immediately loading onto a network drive?
Posted by kwc | September 26, 2007 12:50 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 12:50