OT, but needs atention!!!

[IXQY at aol.com]

 Paul Harding Writes:
>    The downside to all these dumb format wars is that the record 
>  industry is now controlled by about five major corporations which are 
>  only interested in Profit,so they really play it safe and tend to 
>  release safe predictable music wherever possible.This is what bothers 
>  me most about the whole subject not their profits or any of that 
>  stuff.. No wonder so much music is 'dumbed down' right now.Anything 
>  new and original tends to get picked up from independent labels (who 
>  struggle to get their records in the shops against the majors ).This 
>  is what bothers me most about the whole subject not their profits or 
>  any of that stuff. Soon there will probably be only one or two global 
>  record companies left,though hopefully the internet and MP3's can 
>  change things.i hope so.......
>  
>  Paul harding 
>   (wishing new technology made music sound better not 
>  worse)


 Ah, the format wars... 

 Ever since DAT was originally scheduled to be released here in the States I 
dreamed of being able to record my music with "super extra great" fidelity.

  Of course all the legal battles with copyright issues held this format back 
for quite some time.
 By the time it did arrive on the consumer market, DAT was still a pretty 
high ticket item. CD prices had dropped (well, at least the "Super Saver" 
CD's were available for budget prices), Dolby S was around for analogue 
cassettes (which already sounded good enough for the masses anyway), and 
Philips' DCC was around at that time as well.  

 Now for the consumer and pro-level market we have minidisk, stand-alone 
audio component CD-R recorders (made by Pioneer, Philips etc.), computer CD-R 
setups, DAT, recordable MP3 (for the computer, internet and walkman style 
portables) plus there is recordable DVD and "Super Audio CD" (so will this 
give me "super extra great" recordings finally? :) ) on the horizon. All 
these different formats confuse me!

 I know to have choices can be a good thing, but in the case of a standard 
recordable digital format I believe the industry is hindering, not helping 
their profits. If they were to concentrate their efforts on improving one 
format and then support it with *affordable* and widely available software I 
would think that it would be a success. Maybe they'll do this with recordable 
DVD.....NOT!

 Ranting and raving performed by:
 Andrew Sanchez