American Idol Performances on iTunes

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Apple announced (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/02/18americanidol.html) today that they have partnered with Fox Broadcasting Company to provide performances from Season 7 of the American Idol (http://www.americanidol.com/) show on iTunes one day after airing:
"We've created a special section on the iTunes Store for 'Idol' fans with an incredible array of music and video performances from television's most popular show," said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. "We think 'American Idol' viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download 'Idol' performances from iTunes." Music will be available for $.99 and video for $1.99. American Idol is a popular U.S. television singing competition reality series.

Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/18/american-idol-performances-on-itunes/)

[Macmaniac]

They should add gag reals of all the awful people, those would be the only ones I would buy;)

[davester]

Slow news day at macrumors.com ...

[Sky Blue]

How is this news? I would struggle to see the relevance as a Page 2 item...but main page??

Maybe 'Steve Jobs had pancakes for breakfast' will show up in my RSS feed soon.

[jonnylink]

Music will be available for $.99 and video for $1.99. American Idol is a popular U.S. television singing competition reality series. Is there really a place in the world where people can read English and not know what this show is? And how do I get there?

[jonnylink]

How is this news? I would struggle to see the relevance as a Page 2 item...but main page??

Maybe 'Steve Jobs had pancakes for breakfast' will show up in my RSS feed soon.

He did?! Were they blueberry pancakes? Does he use Maple syrup or the fake stuff? Please don't leave us hanging! Mac enthusiasts world wide are dying to know.

[spot1701]

"We think 'American Idol' viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download 'Idol' performances from iTunes."

Purchase? Oh, I thought they were going to pay us to watch it.

Surely that's the only way it's going to work?
:p

[Peace]

iTunes would have to pay me before I watched that fabricated crap.

[Yves Creebs]

and we care why........

where's the new MPPros?

[dambrosir]

Why would anybody in their right mind buy this crape is beyond me.

[burnhamish]

I heard somewhere that since tomorrow is Tuesday, there is a strong probability there will be new MBPs announced along with a fix for 10.5.2. Woo-hoo! The wait is over!

<edit>
Oh, and who cares about American Idol.

[MrCrowbar]

Is there really a place in the world where people can read English and not know what this show is? And how do I get there?

I hear you. I live in Germany and read/hear about it all the time. Lucky I haven't seen that show yet, the ones we got in germany are bad enough. Namely "Popstars" and (translated) "Germany is searching for the Superstar".

Anyway, it's nice seeing iTunes getting more content.

[ppc_michael]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A93 Safari/419.3)

Ew. Hooray for upcoming BBC shows though!

[bug67]

The end is nye! All I can say is 12/21/12 can't come soon enough!

[2bcool2]

the new MBP will be my american idol ,

thats the only american idol i'd buy from apple


by the way, new MBP aint comin tomorrow, steves cancelled tuesdays untill further notice ..

ummmmm..roll on wednesdays ?????

[FightTheFuture]

How is this news? I would struggle to see the relevance as a Page 2 item...but main page??
i don't really get the idol following either. but for the past few years it was the most watched show on television. maybe not this year - but people eat this stuff up. now i can imagine that a lot of younger iPod owners are idol watchers so this could be considered big news for apple + iTunes. remember the led zeppelin box set (http://www.macrumors.com/2007/10/23/apple-itunes-offers-led-zeppelin-digital-box-set/) was front page news as well.

[yg17]

I hear you. I live in Germany and read/hear about it all the time. Lucky I haven't seen that show yet, the ones we got in germany are bad enough. Namely "Popstars" and (translated) "Germany is searching for the Superstar".

Anyway, it's nice seeing iTunes getting more content.


You've heard of American Idol in Germany? Damn, that's another country I need to remove from my list of countries to live in before I die :D

[offwidafairies]

Idol is a joke and gives musicians a bad name

[rockosmodurnlif]

Wait a minute. iTunes partnerships with NBC, Comedy Central, Paramount, damn near anybody who releases stuff on iTunes is front page news. Oh, oh, wait, you guys don't like American Idol so this sucks and isn't relevant ... well sometimes things you don't like or don't care for are newsworthy. It's an Apple press release, it's news.

[tothelimit]

how about an announcement that they will be expanding the available HD content to be rented on the :apple:tv ... in a hurry. (please!?!)

[tadunne]

I'd pay 2.99 for them not to appear in my store!?

[Small White Car]

Remember how much press 'The Office' got when it was on iTunes? All that stuff about how iTunes saved it and it was such a big deal?

Its ratings have been around 6-9 million people on TV.

Now, American Idol has generally been around 25-30 million people. (And once up to 42 million.)

So what we have here is a story about how Apple has found a new way to PRINT MONEY for themselves, and you all can't see the newsworthiness inthat?

Good god. News means "it's imporant." It doesn't mean "you would buy this." Get over yourselves.

[RollTide]

The end is nye! All I can say is 12/21/12 can't come soon enough!

Yeah the Mayans may have been right.

[IndiaPaleAle]

American Idol viewing is going down the drain, why does Apple think we will want to pay to see this crap?

[skinnylegs]

Can we create a single thread for bitter, sarcastic types who piss and moan when news items that have nothing to do with hardware/software updates from Apple are posted?

Lighten up Francis!

[ckurowic]

I thought this was supposed to be a rumors site, not a lets restate news that every other web page already has.

[jayducharme]

i don't really get the idol following either. but for the past few years it was the most watched show on television.

Its appeal is the same as that of state lotteries. Spectators see many of the winners as undeserving. And in the back of the spectators' minds is the thought, "That looks so easy; I could do that and be a winner too." With losers, the spectators can feel smugly superior. But yet the spectators take no chances. American Idol, just like the lottery, allows the unwashed masses to live their dreams vicariously.

That's very similar to the PC users who live their dreams of owning a trouble-free computer by reading the postings on MacRumors. :D

[Small White Car]

I thought this was supposed to be a rumors site, not a lets restate news that every other web page already has.

Whoah. So when the Macbook Air came out and Macrumors posted all those articles and reviews about it...

...you didn't like that?

That's taking the "rumors" part of the title a little too far. It's a Mac news site, despite the name.

[jessica.]

They should add gag reals of all the awful people, those would be the only ones I would buy;)

I agree. Well, I wouldn't buy them and frankly something like this should be free as it takes people like us to vote for people like them. Maybe it is free and I didn't read. Either way, I hope some of the money goes to the singers, they may be unsigned but they're still artists.

[eastcoastsurfer]

Why would anybody in their right mind buy this crape is beyond me.

I agree. The show is basically one long advertisement. Why would anyone pay to watch the advertisement again is beyond me.

[jettredmont]

So, again, I don't get the American Idol obsession. Mediocre singers vying for a booby prize of a single contract singing pre-fab pop pap.

Still, I think the main thing wrong here is that American Idol is an hour-long show, and they want to sell 3-4 minute segments of that for $1.99? That's insane. You can't compete with "free" (YouTube, torrents) with that kind of ruthless profiteering! The entire show for $1.99, or perhaps individual "performances" for $.99. That's still a bit beyond what I'd be willing to pay for this crap, but I could see that working for them. Why anyone would listen to these "performances" in audio only is beyond me ... they sound worse without the high-school theatrics to distract you. So, in my proposal: the audio-only single option gets dropped.

I'm sure Fox thinks their out-of-tune croakings are worth as much as a well-produced single or music video. I definitely do not concur.

[pyramid6]

So American Idol is first page news, but BBC is second page? Unfortunately, this is what our society has become.

Yes, I know one is news, and the other is rumor, but it is MacRumor.

P6

[SilentLoner]

Can we create a single thread for bitter, sarcastic types who piss and moan when a news items that have nothing to do with hardware/software updates from Apple are posted?

Lighten up Francis!

I agree!


Bloody miserable people, anyways when the new mbp's are released you will all moan about them "dropping the ball etc"

[DCSMAC]

i agree that many of the singers on American idol are not great (to say the least), but there are a few of them who are extraordinary, such as David Archuleta, Michael Johns, and the unfortunately unlimited, put EXTREMELY talented Josiah Leming.

[Chrispy88]

Remember how much press 'The Office' got when it was on iTunes? All that stuff about how iTunes saved it and it was such a big deal?

Its ratings have been around 6-9 million people on TV.

Now, American Idol has generally been around 25-30 million people. (And once up to 42 million.)

So what we have here is a story about how Apple has found a new way to PRINT MONEY for themselves, and you all can't see the newsworthiness inthat?

Good god. News means "it's imporant." It doesn't mean "you would buy this." Get over yourselves.

Exactly. Regardless of the viewing habits of people in this thread, American Idol is watched by 30 million people - every single week - making it the number 1 most watched show every year.

How is this not front page material?

[Sandfleaz]

My life is now complete!

[aprilfools]

I am a professional working musician and longtime (1988) Mac enthusiast. American Idol is an insult to real musicians. Lack of talent amateurs get instant recognition and do not deserve the popularity/exposure they receive as result. This system is wrong. I wish these reality shows would disappear forever. I am so sad to use Apple and American Idol in the same sentence :(

[elppa]

Will they sell iEarPlugs as an accessory?

[twoodcc]

this is probably a good idea. so many people watch that show.

[skinnylegs]

American Idol is an insult to real musiciansLast I checked, AI doesn't showcase people who play musical instruments. :rolleyes:

[aprilfools]

Last I checked, AI doesn't showcase people who play musical instruments. :rolleyes:

True. Good singers are a dime a dozen and found at any Karaoke bar. The concept of American Idol is sickening. Musicians on the other hand, are a different breed and usually have actual talent. If all you do is sing, than you had better be one hell of an entertainer!

[skinnylegs]

I freely admit that I enjoy American Idol. I like it because it's fun. I don't sing and I don't play a musical instrument but IMHO there are some really great singers on the show. Yeah, they get mixed in with a bunch of wacko's but that makes it even more fun. :)

[BornAgainMac]

I think the worst singers would sell more. They are so funny. If only that podcast was available of Steve Jobs eating pancakes available on iTunes for only $1.99. I bet people would download it!

[ayale99]

American Idol viewing is going down the drain, why does Apple think we will want to pay to see this crap?

You won't, I won't, but all the sheeple will.

[BrownManUPS]

Slow news day at macrumors.com ...

How is this news? I would struggle to see the relevance as a Page 2 item...but main page??

Maybe 'Steve Jobs had pancakes for breakfast' will show up in my RSS feed soon.

Hahahaha if I could "digg" these two comments I would.

Seriously though, hooray for Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=american+idol+performances&search_type=).

[GSMiller]

Oh joy, now I can ignore Idol on TV and iTunes.

[SciTeach]

OMG....
How lame is this? :apple: actually encouraging American Idol to continue on. I hope the series rots away (IMHO). When we start caring more about the country's issues (or the world's) than some stupid two-bit show maybe we might be able to get something accomplished.

*** Gets off soap box ***

[rockosmodurnlif]

I am a professional working musician and longtime (1988) Mac enthusiast. American Idol is an insult to real musicians. Lack of talent amateurs get instant recognition and do not deserve the popularity/exposure they receive as result. This system is wrong. I wish these reality shows would disappear forever. I am so sad to use Apple and American Idol in the same sentence :(
I shed a tear for you.

[chr1s60]

Why is American Idol still on tv? It was ok the first year or two, but now it is just stupid. This is just one more thing for me to ignore on iTunes.

[Alex AMG]

Or you could watch them on youtube... :cool:

[Gasu E.]

Maybe 'Steve Jobs had pancakes for breakfast' will show up in my RSS feed soon.

Waffles next Tuesday.

[Gasu E.]

Last I checked, AI doesn't showcase people who play musical instruments. :rolleyes:

Check again. New rules this year; several contestants are accompanying themselves on instruments.

[chicagostars]

There is a market for this stuff, and Swanson TV dinners.

[caliguy]

I didn't mind too much reading about it, but wow:
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6339/picture2wg7.png

[japanime]

You've heard of American Idol in Germany? Damn, that's another country I need to remove from my list of countries to live in before I die :D

You can cross off Japan, then, too.

What's worse, Fox also broadcasts "So You Think You Can Dance" in Japan, where the show has been renamed "American Dance Idol."

Seriously.

[cyberjunky]

You've heard of American Idol in Germany? Damn, that's another country I need to remove from my list of countries to live in before I die :D

You do realise American idol is just the Americanised version of Pop Idol which began in the UK, seeing as Germanies so close and receives a lot of BBC programming i would imagine they do.

[remingtonhill]

the new MBP will be my american idol ,

thats the only american idol i'd buy from apple


by the way, new MBP aint comin tomorrow, steves cancelled tuesdays untill further notice ..

ummmmm..roll on wednesdays ?????

Or China Idol ?

[bigfirefighter]

Surely a sign of the impending apocalypse: The very worst of pop drivel infects Apple.

[Tilpots]

How sad you people are. Way to rally against a TV show you don't like. Most of you are whining louder than the peoople who got rejected from AI. They could make a show and call it "Weeping Fanboy!" I'd pay a fee to see the dramatic art of complaining played out on my HDTV, instead of just reading it on these forums. The pilot episode would be called "If only Steve listened to me..."

[SolRayz]

Oh my gawd are you serious...what a waist of bandwidth.

[jonnylink]

You do realise American idol is just the Americanised version of Pop Idol which began in the UK, seeing as Germanies so close and receives a lot of BBC programming i would imagine they do.

How many Germanies are there? One, I thought.

[iAlan]

Not an AI fan by any means, but it is a rather popular show after all.

And Fox used to offer the downloads for 99c from the AI homepage. I wonder if it was successful or not in terms of number of downloads? I am sure iTunes will be a bigger revenue stream and it will be interesting to see how the AI content could possibly enter the charts if iTunes is counted- don't know if iTunes downlads are included in say Billboard or other charts, can someone help out?

Could be scary if 100,000 teenage girls all download the cute guy...

[cyberjunky]

How many Germanies are there? One, I thought.

Its just a type, i meant Germany. I was up late but werent feeling well and hours not being able to sleep. had to find something to pass the time so thought id drop in here. I really dont get people who waste thread space with typo corrections...

[skeep5]

One of these um days i'm a-gonna git me on that ther 'Merry-can Idul, and I'll be sinnngggin', n' dancin.... and ya'll will watch me git down on iToons. YEEEHAAA!

Oh yeah and then i wud smak the holy snotcrap outta Simon.. YEEEHA!

[jestoten]

You can cross off Japan, then, too.

What's worse, Fox also broadcasts "So You Think You Can Dance" in Japan, where the show has been renamed "American Dance Idol."

Seriously.

[Manic Mouse]

With shows like Firefly, Veronica Mars and Arrested Development getting canned the existence of shows like this offends me. It really does. What kind of people gobble up this garbage? It's lowest common denominator TV of the worst kind.

/wishes the general public would suddenly develop taste.

[Gasu E.]

How many Germanies are there? One, I thought.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

[cyberjunky]

/wishes the general public would suddenly develop taste.

Sadly we live in a very sad world, with very sad occupants.

[methodmano]

I *might* entertain the idea of buying one of these for a quarter. But the same price as real artists? Crazy.