Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 9/20/2004, 6:36 AM
In Audio, have you turned off "Import at project tempo?" I don't know if that's it for sure, but MP3's have metadata that Vegas might be interpreting as ACID information.
MarkFoley wrote on 9/20/2004, 6:51 AM
Unchecked the project tempo box...but no joy. I'm beggining to think there is a glitch in the file itself. Winamp only sees it as the smaller file like Vegas....
johnmeyer wrote on 9/20/2004, 7:42 AM
If this is an MP3 file downloaded from someone else, then all bets are off. The web contains an unbelievable array of junky MP3 files, ripped with goodness-knows-what software, by people that don't understand anything about how to use the advanced controls on their encoding software (e.g., most people don't know that there are controls in their encoders that can make a bigger difference on quality than can encoding rate).

There are also many MP3 files that have been intentionally screwed up by RIAA and then uploaded in order to discourage music "sharing."
Spot|DSE wrote on 9/20/2004, 8:08 AM
"There are also many MP3 files that have been intentionally screwed up by RIAA and then uploaded in order to discourage music "sharing."

John, please provide some evidence of this? As a local RIAA representative, I'd really like to be able to take this to a conference. I keep hearing about these, no one in the organization knows anything about it. But, I highly value your words, so would appreciate being able to demonstrate this at conference.
MarkFoley wrote on 9/20/2004, 8:29 AM
No this was my own recording with an archos recorder...was finally able to get the entire (wedding) loaded...but I had to re-record it through another unit. Final recording is fine....

Still can figure out why vegas only see part of the recording while windows media player sees the entire file....hmmmmm
BJ_M wrote on 9/20/2004, 9:43 AM
it may be a variable bit rate mp3 .. convert it in some other app to a wav file ..

note - not ALL vbr mp3 have problems in vegas - just some -- it may be that there is at least 4 different (or more) ways to do vbr mp3 but i really don't know and/or looked into it ..

it may also have a corrupt header at some point (like a bad frame) -- again -- convert it to wav

besweet or cdex are both very good for this ..

as for "seeding" , it does happen in the movie industry and i have heard reports of it happening in audio - but not by the riaa but by the artists themselves (or agents) or some studios .. i really have no idea and frankly don't care - even though it is legal to download songs in Canada and we do pay a royalty for each blank CD and DVD (though it seems as if that money doesn't really go to anyone in particular and getting answers on how it is collected and where it goes caused a huge brick wall in gov relations)

i really don't blame the riaa for much of anything as they are for the most part just puppets doing their mandated job (and do mean well i am sure - they are just people) .. but generally pissing everyone else off as well as making themselves good late night talkshow monologue fodder ..

two-three weeks ago the big three just posted their yearly profits (and i am a stockholder in most if not all) and they are through the roof -- one of the most profitable years yet (other than servicing self debt (buying other companies) in some cases) ... yet on the other hand crying a blue sunday that they can't make any money -- yet keep raising prices on Cd's to unheard of levels (it costs often between 20-24$ a CD in Canada for something in the top 40) - when most people now only want one song ..

i cheer apple and other download services as a wave of the future and i hope they do well - people should realize that downloading services have a big problem of price gouging from the studios - who want a larger cut than from a CD or want other things in the contract.

the artists are certainly getting no more money on the CD sales or downloads (except in a few small isolated cases - read: BIG NAME) - but it should be realized that the huge majority of new artists make no money anyway, this is true.

do i have any answers ? nope ///

other than stop and smell the roses - the world has changed and learn how to flow with it and make money off it , but not with gestapo type actions ..
johnmeyer wrote on 9/20/2004, 2:45 PM
johnmeyer said: "There are also many MP3 files that have been intentionally screwed up by RIAA and then uploaded in order to discourage music 'sharing'."

Spot: I'll admit that this is anecdotal, mostly from listening to my teenage daughter's friends when they come over. They complained about music that had been "cracked," a term I usually associate with software piracy, but they were talking instead about 0 dB white noise that is inserted into many downloaded MP3 files that they have downloaded through various public file sharing networks.

It doesn't take much research to turn up what is going on. I just typed:

"riaa cracked mp3"

into Google, and one of the first hits was this:

RIAA's corruption VS. Mp3 Shielder

Like most articles and posts on this subject, it doesn't show much concern for IP rights.

My opinion is that if the RIAA isn't doing this (flooding P2P networks with audibly corrupt versions of their songs), then it should. It is a very clever way to make illegal file sharing look far less inviting than the legal downloading alternatives.

johnmeyer editorial comment follows:

The key to reducing music piracy down to its traditional level prior to the Internet (when kids copied albums onto reel-to-reel, and later cassettes) is to offer quality and convenience alternatives. This would include providing a CD-burning service, whereby I could designate which songs I want, and then the service would burn and deliver the final CD, complete with a professional CD label, cover art, liner notes, embedded lyrics, etc. Even young, un-employed kids don't have the kind of time that it takes to do all of this, and some of them appreciate these extras (of course, some don't). Such services could also include DVD Audio versions.

If I choose to download the song (instead of having the service burn a CD with all my chosen songs), then I would get a professionally encoded version. If I had the service put it on a CD, then it would come from the original WAV file, preferably from the original audio (which I think is better than 44 kHz sampling, yes?).

I can go on. If you are interested, we could chat offline at some point.

I think the music industry -- RIAA included -- has been amazingly stupid over the past five years and has missed incredible opportunities (for example, they should have bought Napster instead of shutting it down). The way they are going now, they are even starting to alienate an increasing number of their own artists. There is an amazingly good story about this in today's Wall Street Journal, on page B1, entitled "This Compilation CD Is Meant to be Copied and Shared." It talks about how artists are working with a non-profit group called "Creative Commons" to license their music to be intentionally shared online, even when these same artists are signed to music labels. While not mentioned in this article, a few artists have said that they want to share ALL their music for free, and use this as a promotional vehicle for their performances, which is where they will make their money.

One last comment. The middlemen in this industry (Wherehouse, Tower Records, etc.) are toast, and there is nothing that can be done about this, except to put a flower on their grave. While the record labels and the recording associations are not as directly threatened, if they are not careful, they are going to find themselves in the same position as the big network news organizations, which as we have seen the past four months are flailing, beaten by cable news in many markets, and ultimately threatened by Internet news outlets, both legitimate, and grass-roots.