danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

What are you trying to pull, Deutsche Grammophon?

I see that DG, one of the most prestigious classical music record labels, has begun offering MP3 downloads at their website, including recordings long out of print on CD.  I also see that they charge a variable rate per track on some recordings, depending on the length of the track.  This becomes a terrible deal, however, on shorter tracks, where you can pay $1.29 for one minute, four seconds of music.

This is the case with the newly released Mahler Symphony No. 8 conducted by Pierre Boulez.  This new Symphony of a Thousand marks the completion of Boulez’s Gustav Mahler cycle, which I have been collecting for years. As you can see, however, downloading the complete symphony would cost $22.99.  Or, you can buy a physical disc, in superior sound, which you can play on any CD player on earth for $5 less.  Which do you think I will do?

Filed under: Cost of Living, Music, Technology on December 10th, 2007