The Official "Apple Digital Masters / Mastered for iTunes" Thread*

I think it's great. I have no idea what to go after when it comes to what to buy. I have however bought nutcracker and one or two more which of course are MFiT.. However, when watching a movie and they play a classical piece I very often like it, but don't know who and what is playing.

Tchaikovsky: 1812 was very powerful on DVD Audio when I had back in the days, but it's not MFiT and that's a shame.. I have it on my wish list though.

 

Nice! Is that the Gulda/Abbado recording?

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 21 by Friedrich Gulda, Vienna Philharmonic & Claudio Abbado

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Also, by way of contrast with the DG classical stuff, I've been enjoying the Parliament Mothership Connection in MFiT quality

Mothership Connection by Parliament

 

A selection of new album releases in MFiT format this year so far include:

Nils Frahm "All Melody" (Jan 26th)
Kendrick Lamar, etc. “Black Panther The Album - Music From and Inspired by Kendrick Lamar; The Weeknd; SZA” (Feb 11th)
US Girls “In a Poem Unlimited” (Feb 16th)
Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet “Landfall” (Feb 16th)
David Byrne “American Utopia” (March 9th)

....and these are coming up soon:

Janelle Monáe “Dirty Computer” (April 27th)
Arctic Monkeys “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino” (May 11th)
John Maus “Addendum” (May 18th)
Courtney Barnett “Tell Me How You Really Feel” (May 18th)

Obviously, there are a lot more than these...classical and jazz are getting a lot of titles added weekly along with new Top 40/pop releases...it's not over yet, however I do agree that quite a few new titles are now not getting the MFiT badge.

 

A few more older titles I have recently seen MFiT, that I hadn't seen before, so may not be new:

J. Geils Band - Freeze-Frame
Montrose - Montrose
Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves (20th Anniversary Edition)
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese (Deluxe Edition)
Mother Love Bone - On Earth As It Is: the Complete Works
Nico - Chelsea Girl
Horace Silver - Blowin' The Blues Away

The Primus in particular sounds most excellent.

 

Can anyone confirm the Pink Floyd "Essentials" album is made up of MFiT tracks, or the original remasters?

 

Looking at the tracks included in the Essentials playlist and cross referencing them back to the albums in Apple Music and then to their equivalent in the iTunes store, I'd say they are MFiT versions across the board.

 

Thanks!

 

Probably not recently added but most Pantera albums are available as MFiT.
As often the case you have to scroll down at their page to get to the MFiT versions.

Also noticed Nat "King" Cole - Español as MFiT with (c) 2018.

 

Was waiting for the new re-issue of Suede debut, hoping that this time it would be MFiT. It's not and not even on their page here (!) had to search for "suede 25th" to even find it...
So yeah, priority is clear.

Latest from the click bait/rumor mill.
Apple Is Shutting Down iTunes Music Downloads on March 31st, 2019, Sources Say

 

Next time there is a supermarket sale on iTunes cards I’m going to have to load up and get buying. WHilst I don’t expect Apple to simply pull the rug out from underneath us all with iTunes music purchases, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see a long term future for the store given the success of Apple Music. I’ve got a fair few albums added to my iCloud Music Library in Apple Music that I’ve been meaning to buy (SO many albums!), albums I’d hate to lose access to.

It would be interesting to see some third party assessments of how digital sales of music vs digital subscription have faired since Spotify, AM, Tidal etc have all started to gain serious traction.

 

According to this link, digital downloads (single+albums) revenue is only 22% compared to that of streaming subs in US 2017. ($1275 to €5664 Million.)
Digital music revenue in the U.S. by type 2017 | Statistic

Here in Sweden (where spotify started of course) digital downloads revenue in H1-2017 stood for only 1.5% of that of streaming subs, so it´s more or less only me that buys (7,2 MSEK compared to 475MSEK)

 

Sounds like you’re practically performing a national public service there!

With streaming only set to grow I can only see the purchased downloads figures looking worse and worse with each successive year.

I’m nearly at the end of my third year of a six year distance learning degree course and get sent student discount offers all the time. The organisation (Unidays) are the means authenticating student status for both Spotify and Apple Music and they are VERY aggressive in pushing student memberships for both services. Anyone at university for the first time is being courted for one service or the other from day one.

SImilarly my mobile carrier here in the UK (EE) has a 6 months free Apple Music membership with 6 months free AM data, followed by phone contract billing. Apple & EE really are going out of their way to foster and encourage the streaming habit.

My £14.99 GBP family membership for AM still represents astonishing value for money to me, given the amount I listen to. However the idea that purchase once, listen forever digital music might be on the cusp of being a ‘historical thing’ concerns me greatly.

 

Is MFiT still a thing?

 

New releases are often MFiT, catalogue rereleases are often MFiT (ie recent Def Leppard iTunes reissues). From that point of view its still a thing, and with the odd exception noted in this thread, releases with the MFiT badge tend to stay that way in the store.

 

A couple of Eurythmic's albums are MFIT.

 

Strangely I noticed non-MFiT version of "Pink Floyd - The Wall" is available in the store at approx €5 lower price than the already existing MFiT version.
It is also marked with (c) 2011 and not 2016.

 

Neil Young Live at the Roxy is up.

 

Seeing the same in the UK store. Artwork is the 2011 Discovery version with the D sticker in the top left hand corner. No MFiT badge and £8.99 price point whereas the 2016 version is MFiT and is £13.99.

 

Same here in DK

 

Ravi Shankar Ali Akbar Khan In Concert 1972 @ $9.99 MFiT

 

"Dirty Computer" by Janelle Monáe is up today in MFiT and 24/44.1 at HDTracks and Qobuz.

 

For fans of Felt, their albums have been remastered and reissued as MFiT's.

 

Letter to Apple on importance for artists that they keep offering downloads AND adding Hi-res!
We got your back Rosanne Cash & Co

Apple Formally Asked Not to Kill iTunes Music Downloads

 

A beautifully written letter, clearly staking out the positives for keeping paid downloads alongside streaming option for artists and consumers alike. In particular, as a consumer & regular purchaser of paid downloads from the iTunes Store, the following expresses my own sentiments perfectly:

From Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy game soundtracks to the Beatles US Albums set & BBC albums, MFiT Star Wars soundtracks, MANY classical albums along with Zep, Floyd, Maiden etc, the iTunes Store has had many unique digital purchase options simply not available digitally elsewhere. I'd hate to see my running total in just how much I've spent within the iTunes Store on music (not counting films) since it became available in the UK in 2004. After the great DRM removal/iTunes Plus exercise of 2007, every single one of those purchases continues to be available to me and plays back on every device I own.

Apple Music continues to be astonishingly good value to me but I'd hate to lose the ability to buy and own forever. Many forum members who aren't keen on non-physical music carriers often talk of the need to own the CD/vinyl - I feel exactly the same about my iTunes purchases.

Lets hope the letter carries some weight with Apple. The sentiments expressed in it deserve just that.

 

I've long said that if iTunes offered even redbook (44.1/16) quality downloads, I would never buy music from anywhere else. I love the MFiT sound. I love the exclusives. I love the ease and ability to delete and re-download whenever. I only wish there was a lossless option. So I really appreciate the letter's suggestion that Apple not only keep its download store, but that it expand it to include options for lossless and hi-res purchases.