Buying "Stealing Fire"

Joe Wilcox | May 11, 2004, 09:09 AM

This morning, I did something quite unthinkable even just a few months ago: I repurchased as digital download music I already own on CD.

I'm an early-adopter and so not indicative of what the typical consumer would do. But, my decision, weeks in coming, demonstrates the threshold a new technology must pass to truly be successful. That point is where consumers will take what they already invested money in and replace it with something else. The more the investment, the greater the threshold.

CDs and DVDs are the classic examples. The digital formats delivered so superior an experience to vinyl records or VHS tapes consumers were willing to go out and rebuy content they already owned.

JupiterResearch surveys don't suggest digital downloads offered by iTunes Music Store, Napster or other online operations are anywhere near that threshold--at least for the masses. But, there are also some crazies out there like me who perceive a different kind of value.

For me, there's convenience. Taking Apple's store as an example, I can search for music fairly easily, and the operation makes discovering new music easy, too. JupiterResearch surveys do show that kind of search capability to be a high priority with consumers shopping online music stores. I'm also able to buy what I want right away and so listen to it immediately. There, I'm typical again, as consumers rate listening when they want as a high priority for music they own.

But, spending 10 bucks for something I already own probably isn't typical. The album: Bruce Cockburn's "Stealing Fire." The iTunes Music Store offered a deluxe, remastered version that in sampling, and later in listening, sounded better than what I had ripped from my CD. And the new version included two songs not found on the original. I could have purchased just the two tracks, but I liked the album enough to spend the extra $7.

Colleague David Card is the JupiterResearch authority on music--and a good one, too. I'll have to ask what he thinks the impact of newly remastered albums will have, if any, on CD sales. I've done some casual comparisons and notice significantly better audio fidelity on remastered albums compared to the originals. But, I'm not the typical consumer and probably care more about "the sound" than most folks.

Circling back to Bruce Cockburn for a moment, today the iTunes Music Store added his music video, "Put It in Your Heart."