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Apple Announces Changes to iTunes Store
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Does anyone else have music they have purchased and is now available as iTunes+ but doesn't show up as being available for upgrading? I have a sizable amount of Queen music (as in almost every studio album), all bought from iTunes (I was young and didn't know better). But none of it shows up when I click "Upgrade My Library." Is this just Apple's servers being slow, or will we not be able to upgrade every song we bought before to iTunes+? There are plenty of songs I could care less about upgrading, but Queen is one of my favorite bands and I would upgrade it all in an instant if I could.
Also, on another note, has anyone noticed albums from some bands disappearing today? iTunes now only offers 2 Def Leppard albums and a single, and only 1 album is iTunes+. What happened to Pyromania, Hysteria, etc? Hopefully they will show back up by the end of the quarter, but it is very disconcerting. Def Leppard is another band I would upgrade in an instant, yet I can't even buy the albums anymore!
Also, on another note, has anyone noticed albums from some bands disappearing today? iTunes now only offers 2 Def Leppard albums and a single, and only 1 album is iTunes+. What happened to Pyromania, Hysteria, etc? Hopefully they will show back up by the end of the quarter, but it is very disconcerting. Def Leppard is another band I would upgrade in an instant, yet I can't even buy the albums anymore!
this will just break amazon. itunes was already ahead of the pack now with these prices and DRM free music will kill amazon and every other service that tries to come its way
I'm guessing they are currently uploading all of the new iTunes Plus content and stuff can appear/disappear from the store while they are doing this.
8+ million songs is a ton of data to update, even in a huge datacenter that has access to the latest servers. Keep in mind that there isn't just 8 million files to update, there is probably multiple copies of each song on multiple servers for redundancy. Let's say that have 100 million copies of songs on their servers (so about 12+ copies per song)...you get the idea. Huge undertaking to say the least.
I would not want to have to deal with the data storage that the iTunes Store must have. We aren't even getting into when it comes to SD and HD video.
Since Amazon sells songs in MP3 format, it will have a lot of customers who have players that don't do AAC. I know, that isn't too many. But it's some. There will also be the "I hate iTunes" crowd that doesn't use iTunes because it's the market leader. Amazon has a lot of good deals, so I'm hoping the two will co-exist as competitors. IMO, Amazon helped push this because they were a semi-legit competitor to iTunes.
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!
One way around this problem is to create a new library, add the songs you want to upgrade to that library, upgrade them, then re-import them into your old library.
It's a pain, but it works. I have a couple thousand tracks myself, but I'm not going to upgrade all of them.
Apple's FAQ states they haven't been provided all tracks in the new format yet. Keep checking.
Clearly Apple caved to the record label's demands for higher prices. BOO!!
To upgrade my library to iTunes Plus will cost me $348. WTF???!?!11?/1!!?!?
DRM-Free is good. The pricing and forcing to upgrade your entire library to Plus is a very bad decision. Amazon will be happy to see this, it makes their service appear even cheaper and more attractive.
Bad move, Apple.
To upgrade my library to iTunes Plus will cost me $348. WTF???!?!11?/1!!?!?
DRM-Free is good. The pricing and forcing to upgrade your entire library to Plus is a very bad decision. Amazon will be happy to see this, it makes their service appear even cheaper and more attractive.
Bad move, Apple.
I agree, but it raises some other questions:
What is the cost to the player manufacturer for MP3 decoding vs. AAC ?
Can I convert the new "+" tracks to MP3 like I can do to something I rip from a CD? If so, the MP3 argument isn't that strong, but again it relies on technical ability and understanding.
The fact that we've now gotten away from, "but iTunes is DRM'd" arguments to "Amazon is cheaper" arguments means that the people will now decide where to make their digital download music purchases just like they would with other products. I think this will be good for competition.
Either that or they tried not to cave in. I'm glad I didn't purchase a lot of music on iTunes ($2.70 for upgrade). I think the reason why you can't select individual songs to upgrade is because it's a "Special Offer" so maybe this will go away by April? Meaning the DRM'ed music you'll have will be forever DRM'ed. I don't think the upgrading would impact Amazon in any way (who would go spend another $1 for a DRM free instead of upgrading). In the long run, the record labels might think twice about the pricing on Amazon... they might get nailed.
And the labels caved to Apple's demand (and the consumers') for DRM-free music. And I guess you skipped over the fact that some music will actually be cheaper. I want to wait and see what happens to the prices after this spring.
You are not forced to upgrade your library. However, not being able to pick and choose which ones to upgrade is bad, I agree.
Not to mention the fact that there are some songs that I might not want to pay for an upgrade to. If I haven't listened to a song in years why should I have to pay to upgrade it just because I also want to upgrade some better songs?
Look for the labels to tug on Amazon's leash...
The interesting thing to watch is what's going to happen between Amazon and the music labels. Amazon was given favored status - better quality, cheaper prices, and - most importantly - no DRM by the music labels to serve as a competitive balance to iTunes.
Now that Apple has agreed to the variable pricing (idiotic, imho), I'd expect to see the labels try to put tighter controls on Amazon. The DRM horse is already out of the stable, but I'd predict variable pricing at Amazon by the end of this year, if not sooner.
The interesting thing to watch is what's going to happen between Amazon and the music labels. Amazon was given favored status - better quality, cheaper prices, and - most importantly - no DRM by the music labels to serve as a competitive balance to iTunes.
Now that Apple has agreed to the variable pricing (idiotic, imho), I'd expect to see the labels try to put tighter controls on Amazon. The DRM horse is already out of the stable, but I'd predict variable pricing at Amazon by the end of this year, if not sooner.
It is a good thing that the DRM is finally going away, but not allowing individual tracks to be upgrade to DRM-free is a bad, bad, decision. I'm not at home so I don't know how much it would cost, but I'm sure it would be over $100. I would convert, if I could spread out the cost by doing a few songs at a time. I won't convert if it is a all-or-nothing approach.
1) Most people don't put that much thought into it, which is why iTunes is still far and away the most popular music store. Most people know that it works with their iPod and/or iPhone and it is easy so they don't even look elsewhere.
2) Yes, it downloads a completely new copy of your songs.
I agree. AAC is a better quality but my car stereo doesn't play AAC, it plays MP3. Unless you are plugging your iPod/iPhone into your stereo MP3 is a much better choice.
And for every customer like you there are at least 50 customers who don't want to buy the entire CD every time. CDs are great, except for the whole paying for songs you don't want or need part. The single best thing about iTunes and the reason it became so popular was that it brought back the idea of buying singles.
Yes, because old technology is good to keep around for the sake of keeping it around.
Your statement implies that it isn't still in widespread use. Please list the number of NEW car stereos that play AAC files and then list the number of NEW car stereos that play MP3 files. Case closed. AAC may be better but you need a computer or an iPod/iPhone to play AAC files.
Trying to figure out how to cram more disk space in my MBP.
Seriously with all the releases today I have to wonder just how big of a hard drive I will have to upgrade to. The thing is iTunes Plus was what I limited myself to in the past, so this will open a huge library of new tunes. That and I'm more inclined lately to download movies and TV shows. All in all though the upgrade cost won't kill me as my iTunes collection is small at the moment. For you others I'd have to wonder if mass upgrading would make sense and offer any real advantages.
Due to this storage demand I'm looking for internal solutions for MBP. Considering both bigger hard drives and CD drive replacement. Of which the CD drive replacement seems to offer the biggest benefit. That is if the vendor can be found.
The other option would be a Drobo or similar unit to stash stuff in. That unfortunately only works at home.
Dave
Seriously with all the releases today I have to wonder just how big of a hard drive I will have to upgrade to. The thing is iTunes Plus was what I limited myself to in the past, so this will open a huge library of new tunes. That and I'm more inclined lately to download movies and TV shows. All in all though the upgrade cost won't kill me as my iTunes collection is small at the moment. For you others I'd have to wonder if mass upgrading would make sense and offer any real advantages.
Due to this storage demand I'm looking for internal solutions for MBP. Considering both bigger hard drives and CD drive replacement. Of which the CD drive replacement seems to offer the biggest benefit. That is if the vendor can be found.
The other option would be a Drobo or similar unit to stash stuff in. That unfortunately only works at home.
Dave