FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

Disques Cinémusique is now dedicated to digital releases available only on the Internet. Won't you come back to the physical support now that the vinyl is in fashion?

 

No way. While downloading and streaming music was first aimed at casual consumers, this option is constantly gaining popularity among all categories of music lovers. They appreciate the greater flexibility of listening allowed and they don’t feel the need to keep their favorite music in a physical medium. This trend proves to be irreversible, we have been one of the first specialized label to understand it.

 

What about the sound quality of the audio files available online?

 

Most music sites online offer a basic free service which provides low quality MP3  files for millions of albums. You have to pay a small  monthly subscription to get a better, decent sound. Only YouTube provides fine quality videos, including tons of music albums, for free but with a large amount of publicity. However, you can get rid of it with a $10 monthly subscription. 

 

For a little more money, 7digital, Deezer, Tidal and Qobuz offer their catalog - including all DCM releases - in 16-bit FLAC format, known as lossless, which is equivalent to CD sound quality. For another extra charge, some of these stores offer some albums in 24-bit FLAC, the highest quality, since these files are consistent with the original ones provided by the labels before the manufacturing process on CD. However, since the vast majority of music lovers cannot perceive the difference between a 16 and a 24-bit version of the same recording once it is properly mastered, we don't recommend this more expensive option.

 

On a few downloading sites, some of your digital releases are available in two versions under different covers, but the musical content seems to be identical. What justifies this practice?

 

These were long playing albums at first, offering more than 75 minutes of music. They had to be divided into smaller programmes to comply with the price structure of some boutiques. So you may find both versions – long and short - on some sites like iTunes.

 

For some of your releases you use recordings that are in the public domain (PD). What does it mean for your label based in Canada?

 

In January 2016, the Canadian sound recording rights protection period was extended to 70 years to align with legislation in most other countries. We can continue to freely use the recordings produced before January 1, 1965, whether or not they have been edited by other companies. After that date an agreement with the recordings owners is necessary. 

 

Public domain recordings are not totally free of charge for all that : royalties still have to be paid according by digital distributors, for the benefit of the publishers, as well as the composers for a 50-years period after their death.

less it is an absolute classic. Besides, master tapes are lost for many of the recordings that we release.