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Apple Considering Dramatic Overhaul of iTunes to Address Declining Music Downloads
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I've never bought a song from iTunes. I'd consider it if they offered DRM free lossless quality until then I'll keep buying physical media or buying from other sources that do provide lossless.
I'm sure there are all manner of agreements in place with the record companies that prohibit it, but from a technical standpoint Apple could easily create a "free market place" for the discovery of new talent, using exactly the same model as the thriving App Store. Where real talent emerges and goes viral (the people getting what they want, rather than the record companies giving us what they want us to listen to), the artists could then decide what to charge for their music (Apple could create an algorithm for projected growth vs. revenue over time at different price points).
The main issue as I see it is the legacy of fat-cats in the record industry. iTunes is a way they can cling to a more open world that should be devoid of them. Streaming thus far has seemed like a clever way of bypassing this.
But frankly, rather than price fixing charging for records based upon market demand is surely the way to go.
I remember back in (April 2002??) when the iTunes store was launched, one of the justifications of the "Apple Margin" was the cost of downloads... I'm certain the individual cost has gone down greatly since then.
The main issue as I see it is the legacy of fat-cats in the record industry. iTunes is a way they can cling to a more open world that should be devoid of them. Streaming thus far has seemed like a clever way of bypassing this.
But frankly, rather than price fixing charging for records based upon market demand is surely the way to go.
I remember back in (April 2002??) when the iTunes store was launched, one of the justifications of the "Apple Margin" was the cost of downloads... I'm certain the individual cost has gone down greatly since then.
3 - 5 years? I sincerely hope it doesn't take Apple that long to simply come out with a subscription streaming service. They are already behind. Spotify has tons of subscribers. Rdio has a good amount. Google already came out with their streaming service/backup service last year. I'd be hoping Apple unveils a service this year. All they did last year was make a pandora.
The iTunes interface is horrible, as horrible is its search engine. As horrible is the Apple Mail search engine and the Apple Finder search engine. They should bring back the great Sherlock search engine of Mac OS 9 or the one of HoudahSpot with the possibility to search non-indexed volumes like EasyFind.
iTunes needs to offer at least CD quality music, prefer HD music!
iTunes needs to offer at least CD quality music (16 bit, 44.1kHz), although I prefer they would offer HD music files (24 bit, 96khz or 192kHz)!
Why not, at least offer better quality music for those that want it?
If I want to own the music I rather go through the small hassle of buying the CD and ripping it into iTunes as an Apple Lossless format. Going that route is not even more expensive, just more work.
iTunes needs to offer at least CD quality music (16 bit, 44.1kHz), although I prefer they would offer HD music files (24 bit, 96khz or 192kHz)!
Why not, at least offer better quality music for those that want it?
If I want to own the music I rather go through the small hassle of buying the CD and ripping it into iTunes as an Apple Lossless format. Going that route is not even more expensive, just more work.
I think the main reason music downloads are declining has almost nothing to do with streaming services, or even pricing...
The main reason music downloads/purchases are declining is because, at this point, most people have already filled-in/built-out their core music libraries. All their CDs have been ripped and gaps filled in with online downloads. All that's left for most people to buy anymore is new stuff, which, let's face it, is mostly crap.
The main reason music downloads/purchases are declining is because, at this point, most people have already filled-in/built-out their core music libraries. All their CDs have been ripped and gaps filled in with online downloads. All that's left for most people to buy anymore is new stuff, which, let's face it, is mostly crap.
sadly, this is true. they were so convinced they didn't need to enter that world because they knew it would hurt sales. never mind that it left the market there ripe for others to enter and monetize.
iheartradio will always be a player because they control the actual radio stations and they'll force the music industry to accept their terms.
what's funny about this as others allude is that the subscription sites are not exactly rolling in money. once subscription sites started, sales were going to go down...what did the music industry think was going to happen? it's not apple's fault...they licensed the music to pandora, spotify, and others...
What's really overdue is an architectural overhaul...
...and not iTunes alone... if you stop and think about the model Apple has been using for like, ever, it's a monolithic model where everything is stored in a single file container.
As a result, the bigger your monolithic file, the slower the performance you get:
- iTunes (try loading 20,000+ songs on your iTunes Library, and then browsing/searching on Apple TV, your iPhone, or God forbid, your iPod Classic 160GB)
- iTunes Match
- iWeb (now defunct)
- iPhoto
- iMovie
- GarageBand
...and not iTunes alone... if you stop and think about the model Apple has been using for like, ever, it's a monolithic model where everything is stored in a single file container.
As a result, the bigger your monolithic file, the slower the performance you get:
- iTunes (try loading 20,000+ songs on your iTunes Library, and then browsing/searching on Apple TV, your iPhone, or God forbid, your iPod Classic 160GB)
- iTunes Match
- iWeb (now defunct)
- iPhoto
- iMovie
- GarageBand
I am still a fan of Apple products, but this is another example of how Apple has gone from creative industry leader to a traditional mega-corporation. They could have launched a Spotify-like service three or four years ago but they've kept the traditional iTunes model for an obvious reason, that it makes them lots and lots of money. Why does a person buy an album for $10 or a single for $1.29 or whatever from iTunes when they can have access to almost everything for a month for $10 on Spotify, even on a mobile device with no wifi or cellular connection? In my own case, I have kept using iTunes and buying music downloads (from eMusic, primarily) because iTunes is by far superior to Spotify in terms of library organization. Once a subscription service such as Spotify comes up with a method of organization that can mimic owning the actual mp3/AAC files, iTunes download purchases will essentially become obsolete. I would guess that 5-10 years from now iTunes Music downloads will be at about 20% of what they are now. Apple seems to prefer to cash in now rather than plan for the future.
This. I don't think Ecoute is particularly good, but at least its simple and unobtrusive. I'll only open iTunes to do iPhone stuff, and every time I'm horrified by just how horrifically cluttered, yet at the same time space-inefficient, it is.
Not that this matters. I'll continue to buy physical CDs because I like having physical CDs.
Re declining iTunes sales, is there any breakdown of those figures? Unless sales of 'current radio play' tracks have declined year-on-year I'd say it's not really a decline at all. It's natural (for digital music purchasers) to want to buy old stuff they used to own on vinyl or eight track or cassette, but those sales are going to decline year-on-year once gramps has bought his Temptations / Rolling Stones / Rod Stewart / whatever 'personal greatest hits album'.
EDIT...
Pah, I just said that
And the stuff about OS X's search 'functionality' is spot(light) on.
Pah, I just said that too.
This thread's moving way too fast for me.
Dramatic overhaul? Lower prices...
There are too many services out there charging $0.11 per song and at a much higher rate and without any restrictions.
They want more downloads? lower the price to $0.50
There are too many services out there charging $0.11 per song and at a much higher rate and without any restrictions.
They want more downloads? lower the price to $0.50
Apple Considering Dramatic Overhaul of iTunes to Address Declining Music Down...
They could wipe spotify out if they got a good app with their entire back catalog of music including new releases. But to be honest all it would take to stop me buying CDs, is to just provide ALAC lossless in the iTunes store.
They could wipe spotify out if they got a good app with their entire back catalog of music including new releases. But to be honest all it would take to stop me buying CDs, is to just provide ALAC lossless in the iTunes store.
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Yes, iTunes will make more money in the short term by creating a Windows, Android, etc. version. But that will hurt hardware sales long term.
Apple has to be careful not letting one department cannibalize another unless it's good for the company as a whole.
Yes, it's okay to cannibalize iPod sales if you make up for it in iPhone sales. But it's not okay to cannibalize iPod sales if you gain customers temporarily in a new service, and then they leave later.
Yea, Apple would have to offer something particularly good to take me away from Spotify.
Simply offering what Google, Spotify, etc won't be enough. (I'm happy with Spotify's platform agnosticism. Also the 50% for students is a nice add on. For 4.99, it's hard to beat Spotify)
Simply offering what Google, Spotify, etc won't be enough. (I'm happy with Spotify's platform agnosticism. Also the 50% for students is a nice add on. For 4.99, it's hard to beat Spotify)
iTunes radio sucks compared to Pandora. They repeat songs all the time and they play music that has nothing to do with your taste
Too many ads as well
I don't understand why Apple wants to patch into every business. Pandora has years of advantage and so does Google Maps for example.
Why not concentrate the efforts into making better hardware and improving iOS and Mac OS X
How about content more tuned to what I want to listen? I am sick of opening iTunes to be greeted by the same crap that the music industry tries to push on everyone. I don't have time to filter all that junk.
Apple already knows the tracks I've bought -- give me pages full of music to browse that matches my preferences. I'm not buying any Gaga tunes.
Apple already knows the tracks I've bought -- give me pages full of music to browse that matches my preferences. I'm not buying any Gaga tunes.