The problem, CPNHook15 and MusicMoose, is not the medium, but its use:
- releasing music in very restricted way, for a specific software, specific players, and literally two or three specific regions of the world, is a lot more unfair than a 1000-unit release, where everybody has a fair chance of getting it
- the source & remastering are not at fault; many times, all that remains of a score or a track is an acetate copy or a damaged tape or the movie's sound effects & score mix; there is nothing the producer can do.
In this case, despite technical difficulties, Mr Thornton had a good source, and certainly did a great job, but then, the whole thing was compressed. It is definitely not a matter of "that's all there is, there is no other way to have this music".
The real issuse is that choices are made by people who do not care; see how the Disney Company has evolved throughout the years: traditional animation has been shut down because someone decided CGI was the future and was what people wanted; Disneyland Paris has been "Frenchized" because someone decided that was what people wanted; (the following point is not exclusive to Disney, but still valid) CDs contain songs unrelated to the movie, and several cover versions of the same song, thus cramming out the actual music.
And now the same kind of people once again disregard the top quality of the material they have (movies, Parks, music) and decide that people want music releases to be restricted to one player in one country and in one compressed format.
Granted, film & Park music collecting are highly specialized and concern only a few thousand people worldwide; but it you seek their business by releasing something, once you have paid for restoration and remastering, you should go all the way and provide what those people want, rather than go stingy right at the end of the process.
To take an analogy further, I am not asking for silk & satin everytime; plain cloth will do if that is really all that is left; but if there is a perfectly fine suit in stock, and the tailor has made the necessary adjustments, why should I accept to see the cashier tear it to shreds when I am checking out?
As stated earlier, I am very well aware Mr Thornton is not responsible for this, as he has already done a great deal for the preservation of Disney music, and that a few messages here may not be the magical solution.
I just hope they can be more useful than an Internet petition no one will read, by seizing the opportunity of one member being directly involved in the production to let the people in charge know that everybody is not satisfied, that the reasons are sensible, and that the Company is missing many sales (on this and future releases) by trying to save a bit, when the amount saved (CD, case, booklet, design, ...) would more than cover the costs for a better digital release (more server space for uncompressed file, on a server that is definitely not limited).
Some film music lovers have already stated they will seek a bootleg copy (which has been available for a long time-- nope, I do not have it), and even those willing to pay for a digital release are barred from it by the technical & country restrictions, meaning they, too, will have to get a CD-R (thus another form of bootleg) from someone with access to the files (and who will certainly not pay for another, duplicate download), judging it the only way to circumvent such outrageous discrimination.
livier