Jim Barraud

In my previous post about the new Nine Inch Nails album I mentioned it was purchased using iTunes “craptastic pre-order mechanism”. Let me explain.

This was my first pre-order through the iTunes store. I did so since I was going to purchase the album anyway, and if you pre-ordered it you would receive a bonus track. Another advantage of pre-ordering was when you placed your order, the current single would automatically be downloaded. You would be charged 99 cents for the single, then charged the remainder when the album was available. So I figured why not.

I was notified via email when the album was available for download. Upon downloading the album I noticed something strange. Then entire album was being downloaded except for track 3. Which was the previously downloaded single. Not a huge deal, I could just update the ID3 tags of the file so it had the correct album name and more importantly, the correct track number. It’s current track number was 1 since it was the single that was previously downloaded. Updating the album name and track number would put it in the correct track listing order, or so you would think. No matter what I updated on the file, what should be track number 3 would always be listed last. And after searching Apple’s support forums, it turns out I wasn’t the only one.

But there was something else strange. iTunes has a feature where it places an arrow next the selected track, artist and album. Clicking this arrow takes you to that particular track on the iTunes store. At least it should. Clicking the arrow on these tracks produced the error “Year Zero will be available in the store on April, 16 2038”. So obviously something was wrong.

I sent an email to Apple support explaining the track listing issue. Which essentially boiled down to the following. You can sort by Track Number and everything is peachy. But if you sort by album, the previously downloaded track is placed at the bottom of the track listing. The iPod sorts only by album, so it would never be listed in the correct order on my iPod. Apple support promptly responded with a suggestion of creating a custom playlist to sort the tracks correctly. To which I responded that this was not an acceptable solution. That something was obviously wrong with the file and explained the date issue upon clicking the track arrow. Apple support then responded that something was indeed wrong with the files and apologized for the fact. I had expected them to just give me the ability to re-download the album, but they actually provided me with a refund for the album. I have to give them credit that they exceeded my expectations in resolving my issue. Will I pre-order an album again? No. First impressions are the most important. And while the support response was great, I still wouldn’t risk having the issue happen again. But I would by more tracks from the store, I’ve purchased plenty already. They just won’t be pre-ordered.

You’d think I would have just turned around and repurchased the album on iTunes. But no, I didn’t. With all the cool things I’ve heard about the packaging and the heat sensitive label, I went out to my local Target and purchased the CD. I then ripped it at a higher bit rate then what’s currently available on the iTunes store. And I have the freedom to put those tracks on any device I choose. I also have the ability to share this great album with friends who may not have discovered it on their own, <cya>not that I would do that of course</cya>. Maybe that EMI company is on to something.