Originally Posted by Arkudos:
“Just have to look at TV for even worse examples, (HD) recordings are on torrent sites within minutes of the TV airing but even months later there is no digital retailer other than iTunes, cutting off millions of possible buyers.
Bloody crazy.”
Yup - only it's worse. What Dave Clark has done is reinvent the 1940s Speed Wars.
Back then, there were 3 physical record formats and players. Most people initially had 78rpm turntables.
Columbia roll out the 33rpm system, RCA Victor release the 45rpm kit. Each have their own players. However, at least most *content* was dual-released on the proprietary kit and on 78rpm for backward compatibility.
Today's equiv for TV? Digital release on iTunes, but backward compatible on DVD/Bluray.
Today's for audio? Digital release on iTunes, or Amazon, or We7 or Spotify (more often many). Backward-compatible on CD.
What does Dave do? Sole release on iTunes. This is like ONLY releasing on RCA Victor 45rpm. This means a barrier to entry for a niche release. People would have had to buy an RCA turntable in addition to the bloody record.
In my case - this is "buy a new computer, download iTunes client, register, then buy" One hell of an outlay of cash and time. And for a smaller market.
Took the record industry about 12 years to shake this one out IIRC - and availability of multispeed turntables. (33rpm for LPs, 45rpm for singles). Is it going to take this long for a STANDARD PRODUCT to be available from everywhere?
Oh - and the probable cost of the album - £15 quid?