I prefer iTunes over all the other services. Plus Apple is still implementing iTunes plus, so that will help with sales when implementation is complete.
Don
It's not like Apple can proceed further with iTunes Plus or they're in the middle of upgrading their music database as they are NOT. They CANNOT make DRM Free music available if the record companies won't cooperate with them and they are NOT cooperating to make DRM Free music available to Apple (save Capitol and its affiliates and a few independent labels). The music industry has made a concerted effort to bring Apple down a few rungs on the ladder and they are clearly using DRM Free music to do it by giving it to others and not to Apple.
The record companies know full well some of us will NEVER EVER buy music from iTunes UNLESS it's DRM Free (I refuse to be in a situation where music I buy may not be playable some day in the distant future due to DRM or not be able to play it on my car stereo which can handle AAC because it's DRM once again) and so they are trying hard to make us consider alternatives like Amazon and Pandora. Personally, I still buy CDs because I not only insist on DRM Free, but I want uncompressed digital as well when possible. Bandwidth is plenty high enough these days that we SHOULD be able to buy fully uncompressed music online as a direct alternative to buying and then ripping compact discs for those of us that want lossless libraries and/or something like DTS multi-channel music, which requires losslessly compressed or uncompressed distribution formats to function properly.
Some of you may be happy buying DRM protected 128kbit AAC, but I am not and never will be. I want a bare minimum of DRM Free 256kbit AAC or preferably lossless 16-bit or even 20+ bit tracks in my library and that leaves iTunes out of the equation save for its comparatively minuscule iTunes Plus offerings.
Really, to me, this is the reverse of the Psystar thing. Music retailers should have to offer their wares equally to all retailers. A music company should not be able to say they will sell their albums to say Best Buy but NOT Circuit City because they're in cahoots with Best Buy to put Circuit City out of business. So why should someone like Sony or Universal be able to say they will offer DRM Free to Amazon but not Apple? Because they don't like Apple? Can they discriminate on race, age, nationality, etc.? So why can they discriminate on market position? So just like I believe Apple should not be able to monopolize its own operating system market in terms of hardware, I don't believe other companies should be able to monopolize DRM Free music in order to try and reduce or eliminate companies they think are limiting their ultimate capital. Even a free market system needs to have rules to keep thing fair, especially for the consumer. Maybe I don't want MP3s, but want AAC. So I'm stuck with Amazon when I'd rather use iTunes (to get AAC) but can't get DRM Free so I end up back at Best Buy buying entire albums to get a couple of good songs off a given album? That's not really fair to the consumer.
You'd think they would have learned by now if they want the consumer to play fair with them (i.e. buy the music online instead of using something like Limewire to grab it for free) then they should be fair in return and offer the music in formats the consumer wants to buy them in. Given compact discs have been unprotected uncompressed digital since the early '80s, what possible excuse do they have to limit our choices when they are the ones that want us to buy their new song-by-song format instead of just downloading them? I saw a CD at Best Buy the other day that also had a card you could buy instead for like $1 less that entitles you to download the album when you get home. It's like, WHY would I want to forgo having an uncompressed digital archive, have to take the extra step of going online and entering some code and then download an inferior quality version to save a lousy $1??? Geeze, I guess that really is what a CD is worth to them at cost since that's all their willing to discount to sell you an inferior download as opposed to a full quality CD that also acts as your archival backup. It'd probably take no more time to rip the CD into iTunes than it would to download that album and add it to iTunes. Where's the convenience? No, I think CDs will be around for some time to come when that's how the record companies think.
Personally, I was hoping for something BETTER than CD quality, not worse to replace the CD, but clearly the consumer isn't interested in DVD-Audio or SACD when they clearly prefer lossy MP3s.
