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Apple in Talks for On-Demand Streaming Music Service, Considering Android iTunes App

Kariya said:
Android iTunes app NEEDS to happen.
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No it does not. As a long time Android user iTunes is a convoluted hot piece of trash. Nothing beats drag and drop and if you need streaming services there's plenty of options on the market.
All I want from Apple is a iPhone running stock Android with a unlocked bootloader. Otherwise Apple can keep their ideas to themselves.
 
Rogifan said:
But how does it sell more iDevices? I saw this story on The Verge and several people said if Apple did this they could finally go Android. I doubt that's what Apple wants. That's why I can't see iMessage or FaceTime going cross platform I either.
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Well, first Apple would have to know why would their customers want to switch to Android. Is it because of their big sized screens? More open OS? It can easy fix the first one and make multiple sized iPhone's (most likely happening this year) and also Tim specifically himself have said that we are going to see Apple being more open. At the moment, the only temptation I have to move on Android is for slightly bigger screen (maybe 4.7")! I am happy with iOS right now and there is little to none on Android OS that would make me consider the switch.
 
Does ITunes still require you to connect your phone to your computer to sync your music? Can you just buy and then download and/or stream your music to your phone from the cloud?

Google play all music is all through the cloud. You have the option to either download your music or just stream from the cloud....What is ITunes these days like?
 
screensaver400 said:
Apple released iTunes for Windows to sell iPods to Windows users. The iTunes Store has never been a meaningful business on its own---it's always existed to sell Apple hardware.

I doubt Apple is seriously considering iTunes for Android, because it would completely undermine the whole point of iTunes. More likely is that a music executive proposed the idea in negotiations, and Apple agreed to consider it. If Apple does release iTunes for Android, it will signal a major strategy shift: away from hardware, and toward services.
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If you buy that guff I have a bridge I need to sell. If it didn't make them anything it would never have happened. As for being used to sell Apple hardware that's always been a load of crock as well.

People don't look at the iTunes store and think this is great and then go and buy an iPod etc, you get the device then use the store.
 
Mockenrue said:
I have to wonder if Apple would lose more customers than gain if they launched iTunes on Android.

How Apple users have been tempted to try Android, but continued to buy Apple because they have a huge iTunes collection?

How many Android users who already have a music ecosystem would switch to iTunes on Android?

I'm guessing the first would outnumber the second... As someone who switched from iPhone to Android, I wouldn't have done it if I had a bunch of media in iTunes.
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I am pretty sure all music purchased on iTunes Store are DRM free. Meaning you could literary copy all your purchased music then transferred to Android phone. Same as videos I think. Only thing that is matters is the apps.
 
I still won't use it if it doesn't scrobble to my Last.fm account. That's the one thing that keeps me using Spotify instead of iTunes Radio.
 
It already exists...

Yogomi said:
Enough with the streaming music services. We need a streaming television service that includes AMC, Comedy Central, the likes and premium offerings similar to HBOGO.

-Y.
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The video content providers are not in love with Apple because they don't want to loose control of their content as the recording industry did with theirs. I suspect the video content providers are looking for an agnostic solution rather than pitch their tent in the Apple camp. There is Amazon and, of course, Netflix that are just two potential competitors to Apple in arena. And with Netflix creating some great content of their own (like the incredible series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black), they may just say WE are the ecosystem of choice for video content. Competition is good for us consumers. Monopolies are not...unless you are of the mindset that there is only one type of content and that is Apple-based content.
 
B2k1977 said:
Yep, Mr. Jobs is rolling in his grave.
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Why? iTunes (during the PC era) was written for the PC platform to increase market share (since 90% of the world's computers ran Windows). All this was done with Jobs at the helm of Apple.

Now Android-based devices in all their flavors have a much larger share (and growing) of the post-PC environment than Apple so it makes perfect sense to open the iTunes ecosystem to Android devices to increase market share and increase revenue. I bet there are very few Apple shareholders that have a problem with android devices having access to iTunes.
 
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stuffradio said:
3.5" is perfect! No, now 4" is perfect! Wait, 4.7" or 5.5" is very nice. Apple always innovates in mobile device sizes!

Excuse me while I go laugh.
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There is a 4.7"+ iPhone?

Oh wait, thank god there isn't.

Excuse me while I go & ROFLMAO.
 
a0me said:
Was the Zune ever available outside of the US? Apparently Xbox Music is now available in a couple of countries were Xbox is, but streaming is not, yet.
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Yeah, I didn't consider that. Zune Pass not being as widely available as iTunes was a huge crying shame, and yet another example of MS sitting on something great and not doing anything with it, then panicking when everyone else suddenly goes that extra mile with the same idea.
 
elgrecomac said:
The video content providers are not in love with Apple because they don't want to loose control of their content as the recording industry did with theirs. I suspect the video content providers are looking for an agnostic solution rather than pitch their tent in the Apple camp. There is Amazon and, of course, Netflix that are just two potential competitors to Apple in arena. And with Netflix creating some great content of their own (like the incredible series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black), they may just say WE are the ecosystem of choice for video content. Competition is good for us consumers. Monopolies are not...unless you are of the mindset that there is only one type of content and that is Apple-based content.
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I don't care if it's Apple that starts a video streaming service. My point was there are already plenty of music streaming services available. There's your healthy competition right there; at least in that area. The closest thing right now to a real streaming video service is Hulu.

Netflix is not what I'm referring to and I'm not sure why people keep bringing that service up. It's apples and oranges to what I'm suggesting; they're both fruit, but taste and look different. Not to mention the movie selection is just awful. There are more low rated movies than quality films. I'm willing to bet there's a statistic that shows that.

Here's the issue: Netflix does not show NEW content; not to be confused with ORIGINAL content. Hulu does, sort of, but not enough to cut the tether from satellite or cable services. Channels like AMC and Comedy Central have no real platform to stream. Hulu won't show new episodes of some Comedy Central shows until 25 days after they air. That is not ideal. Then some of the shows just get pulled from the service with no notification.

I mentioned HBOGO in my original post. That's an excellent platform to follow. New shows are updated online the day they air and you still have a library of movies and other shows to watch as well.

And I know the whole story about why HBOGO is not a standalone service. Please trust me that I already know and don't need an explanation.

The monopoly is in TV (Time-Warner). That's where I think streaming needs to step in and shake things up. Networks won't leave cable because of...well, like I said, I know why HBOGO is not a la carte.

In music, outside of iTunes, Rhapsody, Google Play, Amazon, and MANY others, you have Spotify, Pandora, Beats, Rdio, etc. Clearly something is working. People truly have choices.

Time to shift the attention to TV content to provide those same choices.

It can be done. Just my opinion.

-Y.
 
I will continue to buy music. I like a bunch of stuff that isn't popular, and it vanishes from stores after a few years or more. I usually buy something, listen to it to death, put it to the side, then revisit it months after or years after. It's always years after that I can't find it because it's been removed from online stores or out of print.

I would trust subscription services fully if content was NEVER deleted. It should just remain available forever. I'm sure there can be an overhead argument against this idea, but I believe it's mainly industry contracts that remove content just because, and I think that is plain dumb when we have the technology to keep content around for a long time (or forever).

Nostalgia can be fun at times. :)
 
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I hope they do this.

This and a larger screened iPhone would probably get me to go back to an iPhone. I do not like spotify because I do not like how music is categorized by playlists, but I use google all play. An iTunes based service like all play would have the potential to be amazing. My only problem with all play is that the UI is not as good as iTunes and I do not like that the only client for my Mac is a web browser based client.
 
If they started providing some higher quality files to download i would use it more, i hunt far and wide to see if i can get an HD version first and as a last resort use iTunes. Spotify plays a 320kbps i wonder what Apple would grace us with?
 
melendezest said:
That's called getting old. :p

I've built a large enough collection of music to keep me happy until I die.

And as long as my favorite bands keep putting out music, even better:

Soundgarden (great new album), Tool, anything from Tom Morello, NiN, Dream Theater, Rush, Journey, Iron Maiden, Incubus, Interpol, RHCP, Alice in Chains, Metallica (without Bob Rock), Rollins Band, Helmet, Bush, Foo Fighters, Green Day, System of a Down, King's X, Nirvana, Pearl Jam (Ten), the Police, STP, Van Halen, the White Stripes, Matisyahu, Guns&Roses, Dave Mathews Band...each with huge catalogs, and that's just the American, english-speaking bands.

Ah, the 90s. All I need.
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Oh man, I'm 40 yrs. old and a younger guy called me Sir :(. Didn't know what to make of it……. A lady said, Mr. last name, ……. Damn! I'm more of an 70's/80's type of guy, especially the 70's, just love many of the artists from that time. My catalog is med size(?), not sure IF it will ever get large.
 
elgrecomac said:
Why? iTunes (during the PC era) was written for the PC platform to increase market share (since 90% of the world's computers ran Windows). All this was done with Jobs at the helm of Apple.

Now Android-based devices in all their flavors have a much larger share (and growing) of the post-PC environment than Apple so it makes perfect sense to open the iTunes ecosystem to Android devices to increase market share and increase revenue. I bet there are very few Apple shareholders that have a problem with android devices having access to iTunes.
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He's probably referring to Steve saying he was going "thermonuclear" on Android and that he'd spend ALL of Apple's cash hoard to destroy it.

In that context, yes, Steve is-a-rollin'.
 
Does Apple really think they may be able to win Android users over just by an app ?

apple is closed source, Android is open-source. i don't see how this could work.


But if anyone can pull it off... Apple can.

Go Team !!
 
I am sorry but this cloud storage and streaming services are absolutely terrible for consumers.
- streaming is unreliable (buffering, depends on a server connection, depends on your wireless carrier.
- streaming gives already greedy companies more power [they can remove as they please and jack up prices]
- streaming/cloud has blunted local storage capacity growth

I can't think of any benefit of streaming/cloud services over local storage except in situations you forgot to load a song of video and cannot get the file otherwise. I would hope people realize that they are giving these companies more power and they will most definitely love to charge you as much they can and manipulate the crap out of it.
 
Tech198 said:
Does Apple really think they may be able to win Android users over just by an app ?

apple is closed source, Android is open-source. i don't see how this could work.


But if anyone can pull it off... Apple can.

Go Team !!
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The core of Android is open-source, their apps are not. Google Play Music is not open source, nor the rest of the app suite. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is what is used for the Kindle Fire OS and is used extensively in China and now even by Nokia and that is what is open-source. But that AOSP portion of Android is barely what anyone recognizes as Android. The Google app bundle is 100% close-source.

----------
iEvolution said:
I am sorry but this cloud storage and streaming services are absolutely terrible for consumers.
- streaming is unreliable (buffering, depends on a server connection, depends on your wireless carrier.
- streaming gives already greedy companies more power [they can remove as they please and jack up prices]
- streaming/cloud has blunted local storage capacity growth

I can't think of any benefit of streaming/cloud services over local storage except in situations you forgot to load a song of video and cannot get the file otherwise. I would hope people realize that they are giving these companies more power and they will most definitely love to charge you as much they can and manipulate the crap out of it.
Click to expand...

The sweet spot is a streaming/cloud based service that lets you cache the files locally on your device. Google All Play, Spotify, and Xbox music all allow that for subscribers. There is a huge benefit with those type of services. I have 15 GB of music on my phone that is not from my own collection, I do not stream any of it because I am a subscriber, when I am within my wifi network I download any of the music that I choose from their collection to my device.
 
Spotify is the best thing that has happened to the music industry since the mp3 came along. Never been a fan of paying a dollar for every song I wanted.. Apple would be stupid not to try and make a Spotify type app. Now if we could only get something similar for movies, and I mean all movies, new releases too with great video streaming quality and DTS-HD audio quality.
 
Maybe Apple should worry about getting iTunes to work right on Macs and Windows first, before worrying about Android.
 
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