Why are HD downloads so expensive?

Your question has been answered. The fact is that your obnoxious attitude towards companies like HD tracks is probably shared by enough people that it will never become a mass market success and prices will necessarily remain high because volumes remain low!

You get what you pay for, IMHO, HD tracks is not a ripoff!

Although it may seem like a ripoff if you steal your music online!

Shadorne....obnoxious! What the hell does that mean? And why are you making this so personal? Do you work for HDtracks or something?
If they charged less then it would be a bigger success .... or I am I missing something.
If my obnoxious attitude is enough to cripple these companies then they are the ones doing something wrong.
What's with all these hostile posts here. Can't a person have an opinion without all this flaming?
And as for your accusation that I am a thief.... only an idiot would say a thing like that to a complete stranger.

Mauidj

Consider this a very non hostile post....

I was paying about $15 a month for Rhapsody, and buying quite a bit of music from them. The quality of the download doesn't match the quality of my system. Cancelled Rhapsody.

Over the past two years, I spent about $2300 buying music from iTunes. Their download quality was about the same as Rhapsody...I didn't know what a mistake I was making till I put together the system I have now. I don't live near a town that really has a good selection of music for my taste, so I can sit in my office with a highball and shop with HD Tracks, without driving to a store (I live in Lake Tahoe, Reno is an hour drive each way and $35 of gas) or waiting for the postal system to deliver it to me. So, I am willing to pay what HD Tracks offers, and I am thankful I have the choice. Listening to the high quality HD Tracks downloads has made it almost unbearable to listen to my library of the purchased Rhapsody and iTunes downloads. I have looked for any competition HD Tracks has, and I just don't see the selection available.

Peace to you Brother, I do not think you are a thief or obnoxious. However, you may be a Communist.

:)

And as for your accusation that I am a thief.... only an idiot would say a thing like that to a complete stranger.

I stated that it may appear to be a "ripoff" to those who steal music (illegally by downloading it for free from peer to peer and other such digital file sharing tools)

iTunes charges a buck a track for highly compressed lossy audio! So please explain why should HD tracks which has to go to the extra mile to get high resolution 24/96 should match their price or be cheaper?

Or is iTunes a complete ripoff too?

You are the one with the "rant". You want a free ride.

I am simply sticking up for a company in the small niche business of offering higher quality music to audiophiles. I am actually proud to support the better quality music offered by this company (through my purchases) in a world dominated by illegal downloads of compressed crap. I have no affiliation with HD Tracks.

I too am surprised that there is apparently no competition yet. Why is that? It's like an electrical company: take what you are offered or have no electricity. There is a difference of course. However, in some segments of economics there is very little or no open competition.