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Apple Announces Changes to iTunes Store
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dont suppose the video will be drm (fingers crossed REALLY tight)
i really really wanna buy programmes, and then wack them on my ps3!
video,as in tv and movies, will still be protected. that's a different group to deal with and they are not budging at this point.
But there is no way in hell I'm upgrading my current library at 30% of cost of a new track.
so you really wouldn't want to have to just re purchase the tracks. at full cost.
That is what Apple could have done. Not given you a discount of any kind and made you have to buy the tracks at full price. Give them some credit for trying. Yes it sucks that you can't pick individual items but perhaps if enough folks ask they will add it. I should say ask nicely. Rather like when you are in a store, if you get mean they aren't going to want to do you any favors. and since this upgrade option is already a favor, getting nasty with them isn't going to make them jump to do you another one.
bingo. finally someone that gets it. Apple doesn't have the power in this game. The labels do. And the labels wanted the pricing choices plus the DRM. Apple was able to play a tit for tat. We'll give you the pricing choices but you have to be willing to let go of the DRM, especially since it's pretty bogus anyway. someone that wants to pirate your songs will find a way to remove the DRM. It's not that hard if you really want to figure it out.
And finally the labels agreed.
Plus we don't know how this game will work out. Just because they have the option doesn't mean everyone will take it. Plus they could do like the book publishers who offer up deep discounts on the opening couple of weeks because they know that to some degree readers are sheep. The average book buyer will pick up whatever is on the NYT Bestsellers list assuming that because it sold well, it must be fantastic. The average music buyer might be assumed to be the same way. So offer that new Nickelback album or single cheaper (say .99 for the track instead of 1.29 and 9.99 for the album instead of 13.99) for pre-orders and the first week of actual release so that the 'top' number is high. then after that, go up to the higher price for 2-3 months or whatever. if the downloads drop sharply they could switch back to the lower price sooner than they might have. especially if they fear a rise in other sources.
Ok now let's think about this...with the exception of the drm-free music (which is huge i agree), was anyone else disappointed in the keynote?
not at all. I suspected that there was no issues with Steve taking a holiday because there was nothing that big and new to announce. so why not let this be the first try at showing the world a Steve free keynote. One where hopefully the products would be the star.
there were no photos and such like we've gotten in the past, of boxes, parts etc so it wasn't so much rumors and hoopla and wishlists.
my only disappointment was that the media once again, made it more about the speaker than the products. That to me is the epic fail. I have seen more talk about Phil being a piss poor presenter and not Steve Jobs than I have see comments about what was announced. I've even seen comments that 'based on Phil's lack of presentation skills, I sure hope he's not the next in line for the company. If so, Apple is doomed'. Which to me is insanely stupid. the guy was doing his first solo keynote with a lot of pressure because it was the first without Steve around. some stuttering and fumbling (and he really didn't do that much) is not a shock. give him some practice and in a year he'll be fine. At least he didn't try to go up there and act and talk like Steve. Toss out the big Steveisms, wear the Steve uniform etc. That would have been a very bad move. Instead he was just Phil and he did fine in my book
yep. it is my understanding that you are buying the song all over again, in the new format, with a discount. And the list is based off your purchase history, not your actual library. so you would be able to restore accidentally deleted songs, on a discount and even get a better file.
try doing 'check for available downloads' off the store menu. if the system recorded and charged you for the buy and you didn't download everything yet, that should start it back up.
if it doesn't, contact customer service.
Apps pricing is not set by Apple but by the creators of the App. So anything is possible in the future.
no they are not the same song in the same format. they are the same song in a higher bitrate and without copy protection.
to use your analogy. when you buy the LP you paid the current price. when you wanted the CD, you couldn't go in with the LP and say "hey I have the songs already but I want them in this new snazzy, supposedly better format but I don't want to pay full price." You paid whatever the current price was for the CD.
and yet here you have a store saying 'we get that you already have the song, so here you can have it without having to buy it at full price again'. yes it blows that it's all or nothing but at least they are trying to help you out. if you don't like their deal, you can go buy exactly what you want again -- at full price.
Apple: Let us selectively upgrade songs
There are plenty of benefits to the iTunes Plus format, and I've been buying them when I can since they were first introduced. As a reminder, songs in iTunes+ form cost the same additional 30 cents when they first became available. After a few months the cost dropped from the 1.29 to the 99 cents consistent with non-plus files. I've occasionally upgraded my library and the process works OK, though there are problems with large downloads, and I seem to remember having issues where I had changed the meta data (album artist, composer, etc) and that data was lost when the Plus versions replaced the originals.
My problem, like many of you, is that doing all my tunes at one time will be costly, and if there are any issues with the replacements I will have headaches for days. Today I am offered the opportunity to drop $232.80 upgrading 783 songs, but unfortunately that will still leave over 800 more Protected AAC files to be upgraded as they dribble into the store.
Like several other posters here, I have tunes that I purchased for my kids, for one time events, by mistake, that I don't like, etc, and I just can't see upgrading all of them. And let's not forget the files are about double in size, so if you're close to a full iPod like I am it will cause issues there too.
I guess if it is all or nothing, I'm going to have to choose nothing. Apple, if you're listening, please rethink this policy and come to the rescue of your best customers. After all, that's how we built up those big libraries.
There are plenty of benefits to the iTunes Plus format, and I've been buying them when I can since they were first introduced. As a reminder, songs in iTunes+ form cost the same additional 30 cents when they first became available. After a few months the cost dropped from the 1.29 to the 99 cents consistent with non-plus files. I've occasionally upgraded my library and the process works OK, though there are problems with large downloads, and I seem to remember having issues where I had changed the meta data (album artist, composer, etc) and that data was lost when the Plus versions replaced the originals.
My problem, like many of you, is that doing all my tunes at one time will be costly, and if there are any issues with the replacements I will have headaches for days. Today I am offered the opportunity to drop $232.80 upgrading 783 songs, but unfortunately that will still leave over 800 more Protected AAC files to be upgraded as they dribble into the store.
Like several other posters here, I have tunes that I purchased for my kids, for one time events, by mistake, that I don't like, etc, and I just can't see upgrading all of them. And let's not forget the files are about double in size, so if you're close to a full iPod like I am it will cause issues there too.
I guess if it is all or nothing, I'm going to have to choose nothing. Apple, if you're listening, please rethink this policy and come to the rescue of your best customers. After all, that's how we built up those big libraries.
Attachments
Maybe you can only upgrade songs you've bought on the last two years or something like that.
Don
I had a chance to read some more of the thread and see others are having the same problems. Hopefully this will work itself out in the coming weeks.
This whole DRM-free discussion brought something else to my attention. I checked the music I have been ripping of my CD's into iTunes, and all of them are at 128kbps. Apparently that is the default in iTunes and you can change that to import CD's at 256kbps. Had I known that option existed before... I can see myself now re-importing all CD's (they are not that many, but still).
My question is, will there later be an update to iTunes and songs will be encoded at 512kbps? (and was this option to import CD's at 256kbps always there?).
My question is, will there later be an update to iTunes and songs will be encoded at 512kbps? (and was this option to import CD's at 256kbps always there?).
Yes.. it has always been there. If you go under the custom setting you can go up to 320.
How long is the upgrade promotion going on for?
So to stop my confusion, if I upgrade to + will it take all the songs in my library(even the one from limewire and other sources) and make me pay for them as well? Or does it just hit the ones I bought from itunes?
The upgrade on iTunes plus will only apply to songs you've purchased through the iTunes store, and then only for those that have upgrades available. Anything you've ripped from CD's you own or downloaded from other sources will not be flagged for upgrades.
I'm going to have to go with the 'nothing' option on this as well as I don't feel like paying $50 to upgrade a bunch of songs I purchased a few times already (some I had to purchase to use as ringtones, which I don't need to upgrade, some were pre-releases that then got re-purchased when I bought the entire album...and am now expected to purchase/upgrade multiple times now as well). Not to mention the fact that some are albums that I didn't end up liking and have deleted from my library...
The analogy that this is like upgrading from LP to CD doesn't hold, btw, as this is equivalent to forcing me to upgrade all my LPs, even if I only want to upgrade one or two. I'd be more than happy to pay to upgrade the 5 albums or so of the 15 that I like and care about. But the other 10...aren't worth it.
The analogy that this is like upgrading from LP to CD doesn't hold, btw, as this is equivalent to forcing me to upgrade all my LPs, even if I only want to upgrade one or two. I'd be more than happy to pay to upgrade the 5 albums or so of the 15 that I like and care about. But the other 10...aren't worth it.
That didn't just happen today/recently. All but the most recent Def Leppard content was pulled from iTunes over a year ago. No one knows why.
iTunes is losing my respect. I was becoming increasingly unhappy with iTunes so I decided to give some other players a shot. I found one that seemed nice, but when I tried to play certain songs they didn't play because they were DRM protected. So I did what I used to do, I tried to burn the DRM music to a CD than rip them so there'd be no DRM but it said it couldn't burn the music because it had DRM! The only way to get around this is pay 30 cents per song, and I can't choose what song I want and don't want to upgrade to DRM-free! If I want to upgrade Disturbed or something, I have to upgrade all the songs I have deleted including songs from my pop phase.... Now when I try to open iTunes it says I need to "restart my computer" for changes to take affect, what changes?!. Any program that requires I restart my computer gets immediate uninstallation as I can't stand restarting my computer, but iTunes gets an exception.
Sorry, I just had rant.
Sorry, I just had rant.
Only $651 for me to upgrade my library!!!
I hope they change their policy and allow me to upgrade just a few at a time versus all or none as that ain't NEVER gonna happen!
you already can. For full price.
The discount was set up under the notion that there are users that would want to rebuy all the songs not in 'plus' and that would be a huge cost. So if one was doing all their songs, why not give them a discount.
Because that is what you are doing. you aren't playing 30 cents for the DRM fairy to come and bless the files already on your computer and make them 'real boys'. You are getting a second, higher quality file. I'm sure if you ask the labels, they aren't real happy about this library upgrade discount. They would likely rather you have to pay the full price all over again. So Apple is likely eating a lot of their side of the money to do this. As a favor, for you.
If you don't like the offer, then you can rebuy whatever you want, when you want. At full price. Just like those that don't want to buy MobileMe when they buy a new computer can't come back in six months and demand the $30 off. Or right now, you can get $30 off iWork '09 if you are buying a computer. But if you say no, you can't demand that discount after the fact.