The Next Death of the "Original Cast Recording"- Page 2

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:34pm

There are plenty of reasons to dislike iTunes's store (just passable bitrate, AAC protection), but after you download a song to your hard drive, you absolutely should be able to edit the genre information in iTunes. I think people are way too obsessive about the term cast recording anyway, but that's another story.

I don't need them called "Cast albums." Label them Show tunes, Musicals, hell even Movies & Shows. But not "soundtracks." Even movie albums are for the most part no longer taken from the film soundtracks. The term has been incorrectly used for at least 30 years now and I for one would like to see it eliminated completely.

SONY - which now controls the Columbia and RCA Victor catalogs has recently lowered the list prices of most classic OCR's to $7.98 to $9.98. Hit shows (KISS ME KATE, SOUTH PACIFIC, KISMET, MY FAIR LADY) as well as flops (GOLDILOCKS, PIPE DREAM, ALLEGRO)
which should make these atractive to those on a budget.

Updated On: 8/19/09 at 01:34 PM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:26pm

I was never impressed with stores' selections of cast recordings. When they were around, I hated Circuit City's selection and had to go to Best Buy. Forget stores like Target and Wal-Mart - their selection is pretty non-existent.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 3:44pm

frontrowcentre, you can't change iTunes track information on your iTunes for some reason, but you can change it once you transfer it to your iPod.

I usually copy it to my iPod, change the information to the format I like, and then use a program called iPod2Computer (ipod2computer.com) to transfer it back to my computer, with the new information. Then just delete the first copy of the song from your hard drive.

Yeah, it's irritating. But it's possible.

However, the only time I ever get music from iTunes is when that is the only way to get it (bonus tracks, digital-only releases, etc.). I love owning the physical CD and even if I get a copy from a friend, I eventually purchase it.

[Craww]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:06pm

iTunes lets you change any track information after purchasing the songs. I have all my musicals listed under genre "Showtunes", which is certainly not the original track information on most of them. I don't like buying cast recordings on iTunes because I think the orchestrations tend to require better bitrate, but not using iTunes because of the genre classification is ridiculous.

It's not just cast albums that get weird genres assigned to them. I can't tell you how many folk CDs I have that say "Country" or how many Pop/Rock CDs I have that say "R&B" or "Hip Hop" just because the artist is black. The latter is certainly much more worrying to me than the silly old debate over people calling cast recordings "soundtracks".

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:16pm

Yes once I purchase the recordings from itunes, I change the genre to OBCR, and I often change the artists names so the cast recording doesn't get all split up when sorted by artist. For instance, I deleted all the individual names of the Hair Cast and replaced it with HAIR Broadway Cast.

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:33pm

You know, if you set Album Artist to, say, Hair Broadway Cast or whatever, you can organize things that way and not have it split up.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:47pm

frontrowcentre, you can't change iTunes track information on your iTunes for some reason, but you can change it once you transfer it to your iPod.

Of course you can. You just simply click on it and type what you want. I don't even understand what it is you say you do. How would you change the information while it's on your iPod? You can only change it in iTunes itself.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:55pm

Once Virgin went, I get mine thru Amazon. A bit of a pain but options are getting limited.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 7:00pm

I went to Barnes & Noble the other day and was surprised with their collection of cast recordings. They only have one copy of each, but they had every Les Mis recording except the 10th anniversary concert. I usually buy on iTunes, though, because it's cheaper. I do usually like having the lyric book. Sometimes, iTunes has a "digital booklet" that has the lyrics (they have it for WSS revival, In the Heights, and the Wedding Singer), but they usually don't. The Company revival was more expensive because of the packaging, and iTunes decided that although there is no packaging, they would charge $17 instead of a standard $10, so I bought that from Barnes & Noble. I like how, at least at the store I go to, they have movie musicals right next to cast albums. Of course, the selection wasn't huge and most CDs were from this decade with the exceptions of shows like Rent and Les Mis, they had a lot larger of a selection than I thought. At Target, however, they only had Jersey boys, Chicago (movie), Wicked, Shrek, and West Side Story (movie).

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 7:29pm

Yes folks want to have a huge selection of cast albums. at a low price, with frequent sales. It would be nice to have a knowledgeable salesperson on duty in that area at all times.

That's what put Tower out of business.

[binau]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 11:30pm

" and iTunes decided that although there is no packaging, they would charge $17 instead of a standard $10,"

yes, because iTunes really "decides" doesn't it?


(No, the submitted chooses the price. Blame NONESUCH)

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 12:38am

thank goodness that Amoeba Music is still around... they have TONS of CDs!!! if that store ever goes away.. i will be deeply sad! if any of you are ever in Hollywood or San Franciscon and I think Berkley... i highly suggest you guys go to the store... i used to spend hours in that store and always ended up buying some CD or DVD!

[Spawn220]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 1:57am

I know what you mean about 9 to 5. I have bought and returned 6 copies that I have seen around from Las vegas to Hollywood to LA. I dont get whats wrong! They all seem to have glue or a scratch on them from the company that is putting them together. If I dont find a good copy soon, I will be forced into buying it on iTunes and that makes me sad because I love the books and seeing all the pictures.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 11:04am

Of course you can. You just simply click on it and type what you want. I don't even understand what it is you say you do. How would you change the information while it's on your iPod? You can only change it in iTunes itself.

Yeah, I didn't explain that very well.

When I download a song from iTunes, it will not let me change the track information. Maybe it's just my version of iTunes, but it will not let me. If I drag the import the song to my iPod, then iTunes will let me change the information in the track that's on my iPod, but I still can't change the one that is on my computer. The program I mentioned lets you copy songs from your iPod onto your computer, so I use that to move the edited track back onto my computer, then delete the original version that I couldn't change.

I don't know why iTunes doesn't let me change the information until it's on my iPod, but that's how I have to do it.