DRM is going away in the download scene, but subscription fans are probably going to have to live with it for a while longer.

I agree with you on the sound quality issue, though… most downloaded MP3s (at 192Kbps or less) don’t sound too hot because of the encoders used. A lot of tracks from eMusic, for example, have skips or crackles in places because the CDs weren’t ripped carefully.

I’m still waiting for Apple to start selling Apple Lossless tracks! (MusicGiants already does WMA Lossless, but I’m on a Mac).

Ehh, digital music is terrible when you think about it. I like internet radio, but I would never spend money on virtual media. The quality of music MP3’s and AAC are significantly worse than CD’s. For the most part it is fine for the iPod. But anyone with a Playstation and a decent receiver can tell you how much better it sounds compared to the connected iPod. Probably the biggest problem I have with digital music is DRM (I think they have the right to protect the content, but not take it away), if I am going to spend the money I want ownership and something of value, that may appreciate, and will live longer then myself.

And to boot, Arbitron’s study indicates that Internet radio and satellite radio are not decreasing the amount people listen to over-the-air radio, at least in their 1855-person sampling.

Over-the-air radio will never die, just as CDs and vinyl haven’t gone away with the digital music revolution. But there will eventually be a turning point when the technology and infrastructure are there… and they will be soon.

Thanks for reading!

Hmmm, not sure about this, not crystal clear… at least anytime in the near future. This kind of commentary is what you get from someone who is a tech user, but has not stop to think about how the systems work under the covers.

Old fashioned broadcast radio still has a lot of life in it, if for no other reason than it is fairly spectrum efficient.

A few kilohertz of bandwidth (20 kHz for AM and 200kHz for FM) can serve tens (or hundreds) of thousands of customers. Yes, broadcast radio is limited in content, but it’s spectrum efficient. Satellite radio is even more spectrum efficient, heck a few MHz of bandwidth serves a whole country with tons of channels

If you really want to bring the wireless phone system to it knees than just allow everyone with a phone to “tune-in” their favorite internet broadcaster on their phone. The wired internet can handle that type of traffic but I doubt the phone system can. A million people during morning drive might select several hundred or several thousand different internet stations to listen to, good luck shoving that through the phone system with anything approaching quality. And this is assuming that the system can use a single channel to transmit the same Internet broadcast to multiple vehicles, I don’t think the wireless phone system is setup that way, or is likely to be in the near future.

The only thing that allows Vcast or the iPhone to do this sort of thing now is that so few people are using the system for this.

Same goes for WiFi / WiMax types of systems. I’m not holding my breath waiting for this scenario to happen.

http://www.slacker.com

“COMING SOON
Take your stations with you anywhere you go with the Slacker Portable Player. Your custom stations are automatically updated on the Slacker player, ensuring that your favorite music always plays when you want it to. The large 4″ screen displays album art, artist information and visualizations in vivid color, allowing you to get your Slacker online experience wherever you might be.”