Channel 4 have been showing this promo for their radio service. I spotted it on Monday night before and after “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (great film, BTW). They certainly seem to be keen to show that this is a serious commitment on their behalf; this can’t have been a cheap commercial to make. And maybe it keeps the pressure up on OFCOM (see earlier blog posts). Maybe regulators like quirky films too.
Jack Schofield has posted a blog item on Guardian Unlimited about the difference in audio quality between Windows Media Audio files at 128kbit/s and aac at 256kbit/s. It’s in response to a blind sound-test challenge that PC World are running.
What struck me about this post, and the comments left on it, is its reasonable, balanced approach to sound quality, in stark contrast to the apparently parallel debate about sound quality on DAB radio. Jack mentions DAB in his article towards the end, and infers that it is those people with SACDs and hi-end sound system how are most disappointed when “DAB radio turns them back into mush”.
The majority of the comments left by people are also generally in support of “the quality’s good enough for me” approach, which is encouraging. After so much relentless blugeoning of the sound quality issue by a small number of people, it’s heartening to see a different view and one that seems to be more representative of the mainstream of music consumers.
I’ve certainly thought about mounting a blind-test challenge for various bit-rates of MPEG2 encoding, and far more importantly, different brands of MPEG2 encoders (which can have a far more significant impact on audio quality than the bit-rate). Maybe I’ll set that up.
I am convinced that DAB is suffering from a positioning problem which persists 12 years after the launch. DAB was launched (in Sweden and the UK) as a quality audio proposition. It bombed. There simply aren’t enough people sufficiently concerned about audio quality to invest £600 in a high end receiver to sit alongside their Nakamichi SACD player and their £3,500 turntable. DAB was implicitly repositioned in the late 90’s with the launch of DigitalOne (11 stations) and the expansion of the BBC in 2002. It was emphatically the variety of new services that stimulated the mass market.
MP3 has always had the position of being all about variety. The P2p networks which drove early adoption of file-based music had rotten audio quality (cascaded 64kbit/s MP3) but the attraction was choice and free music. People simply didn’t care how bad it was as long as it was listenable to. I think MP3 (at al) are going to find it difficut to upsell people to “quality” audio for exactly the opposite reasons that DAB is getting brick-batted for being “bad audio”.
It’s hard to see how to make the repositioning of DAB in the UK more explicit; it would be counter-productive to run messaging saying “never mind the quality, hear the quantity” when most people think DAB sounds mighty fine. (I agree wholeheartedly. I just bought a new car with a very-built-in FM radio, and it sounds very soggy and mushy).
In the meantime, the weight of formal research supporting the “quality is fine” argument continues to grow and grow, which helps rebutt the brickbats even more effectively.
Here’s something that made me laugh this week. Say hello to “Wok & Roll“, which is a Chinese style (emphasis on “style”) food outlet at Pier C of Newark International Airport (EWR).
There’s so many connections between Chinese restuarant owners and Elvis Presley, that I was dying to find a boke dishing out special friend rice in sideburns and a white diamante jumpsuit. But I wasn’t in luck
It was, however, pretty good sushi and generous (American-sized) portions of Sweet and Sour chicken, which was just brill prior to jumping onto CO076 back to Bristol International Airport (BRS). Once at Bristol (6hrs19mins later) it was 45 mins from landing on the runway to being back at my desk, which is another darn good reason to use a regional airport rather than slavishly going to Heathrow.
I honestly thought it was an April Fool’s joke. This speculative report mentioned that invites were sent to the press on 1st April, which just sent king sized alarm bells ringing in my head. (I’ve been reading www.museumofhoaxes.com all weekend).
But apparently it’s genuine and true. EMI have listened to their customers, and agreed to start shipping decent quality audio without DRM. (Some confusion over whether it’s MP3 or aac).
Yes, it’s a significant move. It breaks Apple’s monopoly on music supply to the iPod, and would allow iTunes to sell music to Zune – it’s starting to look like a proper free market and putting cracks in the existing vertical model.
But looking beyond the headline, what can we see?
I’m pleased we’re seeing some movement, I just hope it’s genuine and followed up by other music download services and other music labels. (I’ll look forward to adding MP3 to www.hearitbuyitburnit.com).
UPDATE: (2nd June 2007) – James has picked up on the fact that Apple are indeed putting personal information into their DRM free files, but in a far from elegant way.
The applications for the UK’s second national DAB multiplex were submitted last week, and have been blogged already.
I’m mentioning it here because the two bids, regardless of their lineups, have very different styles.
Channel 4’s bid oozes enthusiasm and big ideas, whilst NGW’s is more business like in it’s approach. That’s interesting because OFCOM, a bit like a jury, are supposed to judge the facts and nothing but the facts. Any accompanying razzmatazz should be completely ignored, and the winner decided purely on the merits of some fairly unemotional measures in the application document.
That’s been the theory of licence application since it began under the Radio Authority in the early 1990’s. Indeed, it was specifically emphasised in the old RA applications that providing additional information was discouraged and could jeopardise an application.
The reality is though that OFCOM live in the real world, surrounded by the real media, and they can’t help but absorb the excitment / enthusiasm / bullsh!t (take your pick) generated C4. It certainly puts them in a position where there will probably be more questions asked if C4 don’t win the 2nd licence than if they do.
On balance, I like what C4 have done. They’ve invigorated the business of DAB by bringing exciting new ideas and an apparent commitment to deliver. DigitalOne, as the existing national mux, has got all tied up in knots and hasn’t done anything new for radio for a long time (handing over 400kbit/s of capacity to a struggling Mobile TV service doesn’t really help radio).
Even if OFCOM steadfastly ignores these issues, it’s out in the open now, and the expectations for DAB should be set higher.
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