Comments on: Missing the Big Picture

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:30:14 +0000

I object to DRM out of principle but do have to admit iTunes DRM hasn’t caused me that many problems.

What has caused me problems (with all web music stores and sites like Hulu) is that after the US, the rest of the world is forced to wait whilst negotiations are held over how much we can be gouged.

By: Stephanie Guertin

Stephanie Guertin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:08:37 +0000

I think you might be mistaken about the DRM-free shops getting the “Apple haters and not much more.” I love Apple and my Apple devices – I’m on my third iPod, I’m typing this from a MacBook Pro, and I fix Apple computers for a living. It’d be very hard indeed to say I’m an Apple hater.
BUT.
I loathe DRM every bit as much as I like Apple, probably more. I will NEVER buy a DRM’d track from Apple or from anyone else – and I don’t care that it will play perfectly well on all my Apple devices. I will not ever pay money for any mp3 that has a limit on what I can stick it on, where I can listen to it, to what I can burn it. And yes, I am willing to pay more for it. I have I’m not alone, either, and many of those who think like me have very large music libraries (frequently managed with iTunes and listened to on iPods) indeed.

By: Stephanie Guertin

Stephanie Guertin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:01:14 +0000

By: Allister

Allister — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:54:19 +0000

You may well be describing the “big” picture, but you’re missing the “whole” picture yourself. I read very recently that Rhapsody would be selling music outright, in addition to their subscription model.

Well, yippe-kay-yay! Yet ANOTHER place I can’t buy my music. Why? Because I don’t live in the good ol’ US of A.

Hell, it took Apple a very, very, very, very long time to open up an iTunes store in New Zealand. But they did. I’m an anti-DRM zealot, so I will only buy iTunes Plus tracks from them and unfortunately that’s not much of a selection.

Most people here, however, will have iPods and will buy from iTunes because there’s really not much choice.

By: Partners in Grime

Partners in Grime — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:20:30 +0000

Must say iTunes makes it easy. Will have to take a look at Amazon. Thanks!

By: Petri

Petri — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:43:53 +0000

“You could get between four and seven songs for the cost of one iTunes song.”

Exactly. With a short experience with the russian stores I actually spent in total more money to buy music than at iTunes or on CD. If an album costs an euro or two, I will buy it without thinking that much. When it’s at 10 euros or more, I only buy the albums I really want — I don’t experiment with new albums that much.

I’m too lazy to look any torrents for music but I think a lot of that traffic would disappear if the labels would go for this kind of experimental pricing. Something like 256-320k MP3′s for $2, lossless for $5 — for a full album. I think at the end they’d earn a lot more than today with the sliding sales.

Just look at the magazine industry..

By: Galley

Galley — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:55:45 +0000

The only thing I like better about the Amazon MP3 Store is the ability to preview an entire album with one click.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:34:47 +0000

Like Joe, I’m a big fan of Amazon MP# too. In fact, it’s now my preferred way to purchase music. Being DRM free is a big plus, but they make it as easy to purchase music from them as it is from iTunes: Click a button, it’s purchased, downloaded and placed into iTunes. The main reason I’ve switched to Amazon is they make it compelling for me to check their site. There is a “Deal Of The Day” and easily half the time it is something I would buy. They have the Friday Five, where there are five albums for $5. They offer more free songs. While the individual songs are .99 or .89 cents, typically the whole album is cheaper on Amazon. They also don’t clutter up their MP3 store with videos or other items.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:24:45 +0000

I’m a big fan of Amazon MP3, and I don’t mind the price-point, personally. However, I am also more geek than mainstream, and you make a good point regarding what it would take to take down iTunes and DRM.

I think Amazon just about has it. With a little more work they could really cut into iTunes market. They price lower than iTunes at times (though barely), and they have a simple solution for importing your downloaded music into iTunes (for Mac, not sure about the Windows client). They even have a gimmicky, though potentially successful, marketing tool in that you can buy songs with Pepsi points.

Like you say, though, most people would prefer ease of use and don’t worry about DRM. The iPod+iTunes environment is pretty well enclosed, and I admit that I could probably return to buying songs from iTunes and never feel a difference, since my computer and my iPod/iPhone are my primary sources of music. However, it’s nice to know that if something better came along, I could switch over, and that I can burn a CD for a friend without worrying.