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eric_a MusicFan
Joined: 29 June 2005 Location: United States
Online Status: Offline Posts: 442
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Posted: 16 November 2007 at 10:00pm | IP Logged
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Are any of you in radio/press finding the same phenomenon that I am? Over the past 6 months, we've gotten more and more promos burnt as CD-Rs. These often without catalog numbers or other useful info. It seems as though the labels might be burning these in small quantities, with mix/listing changes possible at any point along the run.
It makes sense, of course, if it cuts costs. So does the use of disc-free digital servicing. At the same time, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would mourn the loss of hard-copy promos. Anyone else have any observations?
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aaronk Admin Group
Joined: 16 January 2005 Location: United States
Online Status: Offline Posts: 6513
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Posted: 16 November 2007 at 11:01pm | IP Logged
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What really disappoints me is that not only are they using CD-Rs, but often times the source is mp3 quality. I can't tell you how many promos we've recently received that sound even worse than what you can download from iTunes. There's just no quality control anymore, and nobody seems to care (or even understand the difference). It's kind of funny how everyone is very concerned about "high definition" television, but the average person could care less about great sound quality.
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Brian W. MusicFan
Joined: 13 October 2004 Location: United States
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Posted: 17 November 2007 at 12:01am | IP Logged
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What's even worse, I read an article (I think linked from BSN) that said, more and more, commercial CDs are actually mixed so they will sound good as 128kb MP3s... and to hell with how they sound on a good stereo system.
Edited by Brian W. on 17 November 2007 at 12:03am
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eric_a MusicFan
Joined: 29 June 2005 Location: United States
Online Status: Offline Posts: 442
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Posted: 17 November 2007 at 12:40am | IP Logged
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Brian W. wrote:
What's even worse, I read an article (I think linked from BSN) that said, more and more, commercial CDs are actually mixed so they will sound good as 128kb MP3s... and to hell with how they sound on a good stereo system.
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Wow - it's an audacious step backwards for fidelity. I guess it's the way Motown mixed record to boom out of an AM transistor. It's a shame.
The teenagers on my staff have no concept of why their grungy mp3s hurt my ears. They just figure that anyone over 25 is old.
And yes, some recent releases have had terrible compression and artifacts. The acoustic mix of "Lips Of An Angel," for example, sounded terrible on Promo Only, but then I found it was equally bad on our promo single. For shame.
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Todd Ireland MusicFan
Joined: 16 October 2004 Location: United States
Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219
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Posted: 18 November 2007 at 9:54pm | IP Logged
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eric_a wrote:
Are any of you in radio/press finding the same phenomenon that I am? Over the past 6 months, we've gotten more and more promos burnt as CD-Rs. These often without catalog numbers or other useful info. It seems as though the labels might be burning these in small quantities, with mix/listing changes possible at any point along the run.
It makes sense, of course, if it cuts costs. So does the use of disc-free digital servicing. At the same time, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would mourn the loss of hard-copy promos. Anyone else have any observations? |
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I'd certainly miss factory-pressed promo CD singles from the standpoint that it would likely make it more difficult for Top 40 music collectors to document official radio edits without having any catalog numbers to reference!
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