Apple iTunes Music Store's tracks are only 128kbps. We demand more!

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The Apple iTunes Music Store sells music tracks for $0.99 each that are AAC files encoded at 128 kilobytes per second (also known as "bit rate"). With the RIAA's brash legal actions taken towards the file-sharing community, the public is left with little other alternatives for legally finding music in a digital format.

128 bit rate is the "bare minimum" that could be even be considered to approach "CD quality". Infact, with most consumer level sound equipment, a vast degradation of sound can be heard at this bit rate. Clicks, pops, and spectral flattening are symptoms of compressing a sound file to this extent. Bass level frequencies are blanketed instead of punchy, and high frequencies are not crisp.

Since Apple is marketing the iTunes Music Store as a viable online replacement to the traditional music store, it must be assumed that Apple's paying customers should be able to play their music files at the same tonal quality that they would had they purchased a physical compact disc. Apple's marketing also shows people from all walks of life enjoying tracks purchased from the iTunes Music Store, yet a significant portion of the target audience who would be considered audiophiles would not find this quality acceptable for purchased music. An even more significant portion would atleast be savvy to the difference in perceivable quality. It is unfair to offer a file with quality that is considered sub-average by an average consumer, and to do so without any clear notification of the quality of the file prior to the purchase.

We ask that Apple raises the standards of the quality of its iTunes Music Store tracks, harnessing the full potential of compressed audio, or gives us a choice of selecting the most appropriate bit rate for us (offering alternative rates higher than 128kbps), considering that we are paying for it, just as we would a physical compact disc.

530 Signatures

  • Bobby
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Mark Meyer
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Carson
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Evolution
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Eli Ensor
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 200
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • bryson holland
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Stephen McKay
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Mike M.
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Chase
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
  • Wayne Reibold
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • KJ
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • ?)128
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • ?)128
  • Ted Wood
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 256
  • Archangel
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Patrik Johansson
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 160
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Matt
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Brent Anderson
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Gary Naylor
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 192 or higher
  • Simon Ollerenshaw
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 230
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Brian
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192kbps
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 168
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
  • Dan
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • John White
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • loseless wav
  • Brian Austin
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 512 kbps
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 64 kbps
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 1024 kbps
  • SigmaHex
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Zachary Dant
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 64
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 512
  • Alexis Kronheim
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Simon Cheung
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Jason Adams
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 92
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Show Tune Singer
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 1,000,000
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Tim St. Onge
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • Apparently outselling other popular music download sites in it's first two weeks, a portion of the profits could be redirected into augmenting the bitrate, no?
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192 kbps
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 224 kbps
  • t. boyd
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 64
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • best possible
  • Zackary Warren Young
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • more
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Robert Wardle
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 224 kbps (VBR)
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 160 kbps
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320 kbps
  • Michael-Luke Jones
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 160
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 256
  • Sami Elgahmi
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Owen Marmorek
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • matt heman
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 256
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 512
  • Mike Cooper
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Anthony Fabic
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 224
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Craig Gathercole
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • David King
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
  • john davis
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Whitney Snyder
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 160
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
  • Brian Campbell
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Stephen Claypool
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Roger Theaker
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Bill Anastas
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Jaka Racman
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320 min
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Dale Runkle
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 320
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 128
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 320
  • Naveen Neelakantam
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192kbs, VBR
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
  • Edward Concar
    • Your preferred bit rate: (###)
    • 192
    • Should Apple offer multiple bit rates upon purchase?
    • No
    • If yes, lowest bit rate: (###)
    • 160
    • If yes, highest bit rate: (###)
    • 256