MikeN Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 From my understanding, sales of the legacy CDs didn't just wane; they totally plunged off the cliff. Makes sense. Generally, it would stand to reason that someone looking for a copy of a particular year's CD likely has only a few shows in mind, not the entire top 12. Offering them as individual digital downloads is a far superior (IMO) method of maintaining and selling this kind of catalog. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyDad Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Yes. When the Nazis bombed Pearl Harbor, what was the first thing they did? HH Thank you, John Belushi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 It's like everything else with the forward procession of technology: You can still buy every year of audio recordings, but it's now as full-show downloads onto your computer. The Download of the Week, over the course of 40 weeks, offers special discounts on audio and video downloads. For example, this week's Download of the Week is the 1979 Blue Stars. When you click on the link for the audio package at the bottom of the article, you're taken to this site for the audio downloads. For this week, you can purchase all twelve of the 1979 Finalist corps as a package for $15.99, a savings of $4.00. Next week, the year of the featured corps will also be on sale for $15.99 for the entire collection of Finalist corps for that year. (That comes out to $1.25 per corps.) As I mentioned earlier, I present every year over the course of the 40 weeks, giving fans a chance to download the audio bundles for whichever years they wish. They can also download the video bundles at a reduced rate for that particular week. Having been one who has no plans to convert his CD collection to mp3 format, I'm somewhat distressed to read that some auto manufacturers are already starting to not offer CD players as standard equipment in lieu of mp3 players that people can directly plug in their iPods. But that's the reality of the day and it's not going to ever move backwards, (despite LPs making an unexpected comeback in some circles). Translation: I feel your pain. Too bad not everyone uses iPods or iPhones to plug into their car. I'm great with technology advances, but I don't like it when they push customers towards a particular, proprietary product like apple. mp3 are wonderful though. I've been converting my audio to .mp3 to play on my Android in the car, and that works well with a cassette adapter, but it would be nice to be able to plug a line into the car directly from any device such as a iphone, android, or Windows Phone 7 device... Some cards have this, but others do not... I'm good as long as it's open standards either way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 A quick look at Fan Network clearly shows that DCI is representing their past by including video & audio of everything DCI has in their archives. I would stipulate that DCI stopped manufacturing the legacy CD's due to waning sales, and have instead made all recordings available via Fan Network. You don't have to be a member to purchase mp3's of the shows so you can burn your own CD's but you do get a discount if you're a member. Okay, I just got excited for a minute and checked out the fan network because you said "DCI is representing their past by including video & audio of everything DCI has in their archives." That's incorrect. They have the top 12 of each of the years in their archives. They have much more material in their archives that they aren't showing use for whatever reasons they aren't showing us... Oh well, I was excited for a moment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Thank you, John Belushi Thanks indeed. I just hope that a quote that was once so popular isn't now arcane. Would be seven years of college down the drain. HH PS: Of course purists would remind us that it was the Germans, not the Nazis, who bombed Pearl Harbor. And if you're not sure you know what HockeyDad and I are referring to, don't even bother to attempt to correct us. We're so right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Too bad not everyone uses iPods or iPhones to plug into their car. I'm great with technology advances, but I don't like it when they push customers towards a particular, proprietary product like apple. mp3 are wonderful though. I've been converting my audio to .mp3 to play on my Android in the car, and that works well with a cassette adapter, but it would be nice to be able to plug a line into the car directly from any device such as a iphone, android, or Windows Phone 7 device... Some cards have this, but others do not... I'm good as long as it's open standards either way! As far as I know CD-burners have been standard on computers for over a decade. Chances are good you can download any of the Fan Network audio files, burn them to a CD, and then enjoy them in your car, stereo, etc. Or, after burning them to CD, then copying them to audio cassette if you prefer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutMello Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 What is the quality of the APD's? The FAQ simply says they're MP3 files, without any mention of bitrate. Losing the ability to buy CD's would be a shame if the APD's aren't of equivalent quality. Aside @ jjeffeory: None of the audio you get from the iTunes store is in a proprietary format or locked in any way. (The AAC format is the MPEG-4 specified successor to the MP3) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 As far as I know CD-burners have been standard on computers for over a decade. Chances are good you can download any of the Fan Network audio files, burn them to a CD, and then enjoy them in your car, stereo, etc. Or, after burning them to CD, then copying them to audio cassette if you prefer They're not quite standard, but pretty close! I don't use tapes anymore, but I have a CRV with a CD and tape player and no line-in input. I mean, jeesh! I have to use one of those cassette player adapters to get a line-in from my Android phone. All the hoops I have to jump through to be in the 21st century! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 What is the quality of the APD's? The FAQ simply says they're MP3 files, without any mention of bitrate. Losing the ability to buy CD's would be a shame if the APD's aren't of equivalent quality. Aside @ jjeffeory: None of the audio you get from the iTunes store is in a proprietary format or locked in any way. (The AAC format is the MPEG-4 specified successor to the MP3) Thanks! I know, I just hate that Apple has spear headed it.... I have an iPhone and an Android. Both of them use AAC, but .mp3 seems like a more pure format, as I haven't come across a DRMed mp3 file, but I HAVE come across a DRM AAC file... Apple likes to embed personal information into their DRM-free AAC files... https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/05/apples-drm-free-aac-files-contain-more-just-names-and-email-addresses So, yea, I'll take the more open and generic format every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 What is DCI trying to do, dump their history? I just went to see if the Historical CD collection was still available. It isn't. Is DCI trying to say that Drum Corps didn't exist before 1999? You can't find musical CD's from them before that time. You can get DVD's, What's up with that? They sell the downloads on the fan network instead now. It's just like when they phased out DCI records for DCI CDs. Actually, it's just like what the whole music industry is starting to do. Whats the matter? You don't have an ipod or MP3 player. (just kidding with you) Truthfully, I think the downloads are much more convenient anyway and you don't have to wait for them to ship it. Go on the fan network and scroll down through the 70s and it's all there at your fingertips and with one slide to "cart", you own the file for Blue Devils 1976 within less than a minute. No waiting for shipping. Heck, if I'm not careful, I could spend serious $$$$$$$ downloading DCI audio files. I currently have a collection of DCI records dating back to 1972. FULL top 12 (and some below finals). Eventually, I want to own all of the MP3 files instead. I love the records (and cherish their old charm) but I just can't get them to sound good on that tiny record player I still own (that amzingly still works). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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