I’ve come to the conclusion that DJ mix House music, my favorite style, is better purchased on physical CDs rather than through online services like the iTunes Music Store. Here’s why:
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Selection is pretty poor. I can count on one hand online service, mixed products that are new to me that I’ve really enjoyed.
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Even if I find a mix I might like, it’s often delivered as one big MP3 or AAC wad. No track separation or playlist information, just one big song. Granted getting an hour+ of music for $0.99 radically increases the amount of music you get per dollar, but a mix is not just one song.
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To top it off occasionally there are tracks of the mix that aren’t available through the service. That might be fine for a traditional album where the track was a stinker, but the absence sort of puts a big pothole in the middle of a mix.
Instead I’ll use the iTMS to reconnect to my mid 80’s to mid 90’s Hip-Hop roots and build a library of nostalgic singles and then progress into the modern era. In this case, I’m much more singles oriented making for a better match with the iTMS. Cherry picking the best one or two tracks off of any Hip-Hop album seems to be a good strategy. Even better is the fact that the iTMS seems to have captured a lot of the B-sides and special releases of the era.
For example, Ice Cube’s Amerikkka’s Most Wanted is a Hip-Hop classic. On the iTMS, the “album” has 23 tracks, five more than the original vinyl and CD albums. More importantly the bonus tracks include Jackin’ For Beats, which only appeared on the relatively rare Kill at Will, ep. Jackin For Beats is a straight up 3 minute romp through some of the classic beats of the time, covered by one of Ice Cube’s better rhyme stylings.