It may seem that in the future most music will be sold via the Internet.
Gone will be the days of browsing bins in the stores, to be replaced by
browsing at a PC.

Although personally I like to go into a store to hand-browse, listen
if possible, and buy, this is becoming harder and harder to accomplish,
what with stores reducing their classical sections, or even deleting
them entirely.  For expample, Tower in London used to have a fair
selection.  Last time I was in, it had been sold to Virgin and the
classical section was but a shadow of what it had been.  Fortunately I
still am able to stock up at Tower in New York on my infrequent trips.
The question is: For how much longer?

Having bought a number of CDs from Amazon and other Internet sales
outlets, I can see that this option could be the solution for some
collectors.  The problem here is that as a result of our browsing and
paying, we do not, at the end, have anything tangible in our hands.  We
even have to wait days if not weeks to have the satisfaction of being
able to hear the music.  For those of us that like to tear the (annoying)
plastic wrap off, as soon as we get home, and start listening to our
purchases, this indeed is the biggest drawback to internet shopping.

The solution to this problem is now a reality: On Line Music.

I have had my first contact with the new Apple Music Store using the
iTunes 4 application that Apple gives away with their computers.  Getting
music online has now become simple to the extreme.  One can download
entire albums or single tracks, paying just for what you download.  What
you get is the music in AAC format which you own and with which you can
do what you want i.e.  Copy to a portable player, burn a CD, etc.

The problems, of course, are the lower fidelity of compressed music and
the lack of a booklet.  This can be solved by having the the option of
having the CD (or SACD) sent to you in addition to the download.  In
other words, instant gratification and no compromise on long term quality
and information.

The Apple music store may appeal immediately to the consumer of pop music
than to those of us who want classical music.  Indeed, Apple has very
little classical music in their store at this time.  They are promising
more.  And, if they are also able to provide the hard copy after the
download, I think we may truly be facing the future of music distribution,
especially for niche markets such as ours.

Philip Jongeneel