I don't understand the implication that iTunes isn't that profitable? Why not? Its just software and servers and bandwidth (plus a relatively small staff of people). And who else can charge $.99 per 5MB of data transmitted?
the stock would go way down if this happened
and 90% of the people b!tching about DRM never put their music on anything but Apple products and only listen to their music in iTunes...
...Also people that keep saying low quality.. 128 is fine and 320 is over kill...
The money goes to the record companies and artists. Supposedly very little makes it back to apple once their overheads are met. The iTMS was originally set up to sell iPods (and did so awesomely. I'm not sure how the figures stack up these days with the volumes iTMS sells - they likely run healthily in the black.I don't understand the implication that iTunes isn't that profitable? Why not? Its just software and servers and bandwidth (plus a relatively small staff of people). And who else can charge $.99 per 5MB of data transmitted?
Of course not. Why would your music expire?So if they close the ITMS are we going to lose all of the songs we've bought? I've spent hundreds of dollars in the ITMS over the years, and I know plenty of people who've spent far more than that. If all of that music were suddenly expired I would be outraged, to say the least.
True, but think about the falling costs of bandwidth and hardware?? Huh! So they may be making more money now then 5 years ago because the price of technology drops.As for Apple, I think they operate the iTMS at a near break-even point. Digitally, they bear the burden of higher costs as more songs become available(in the form of bandwidth and hardware).
Songs from iTunes have been $.99 a long time. It isn't unreasonable to see Apple increase the cost for a song to offset the increase in royalties.
.... And who else can charge $.99 per 5MB of data transmitted?
So if they close the ITMS are we going to lose all of the songs we've bought? I've spent hundreds of dollars in the ITMS over the years, and I know plenty of people who've spent far more than that. If all of that music were suddenly expired I would be outraged, to say the least.
Those kits are probably more idiot proof than your typical PC/Mac is.
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Of course not. Why would your music expire?
Not the record companies:Its an incredible act of greed by the record companies, who CONTINUE to try and find new ways to disenchant themselves with the public.
Macrumors said:According to Fortune, the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington D.C. is expected to rule on Thursday about a request by the National Music Publishers' Association to increase royalty rates for downloads from online music stores such as iTunes. The request asks for an increase in rates from 9 cents to 15 cents a track. It should be noted that this group represents the copyright holders of songs and is distinct from the record companies themselves.
Because that's exactly what happened to people who bought DRM protected music downloads from Walmart.
That's not how the iTunes store works. You buy music from it and it's yours. Forever. iTunes can die and go away but you'll always have the music you bought from them and it will always work on your iPods. Sure, there might be some DRM stopping you from giving it to your mates for free, but it's not subscription-based DRM that calls home every time you want to play it.
who cares about artists?
I was under the impression that the artists are essentially employed by a record label, and subsequently the copyrights are owned by the employer, the record label, or that the copyright is under license to the record company.
Either way, its the record companies or the publishing companies that own the rights to sell the songs, and as a result dictate the price or royalties?
On the CDs i have, a few said the sound recording was owned by the record company, some said it was under license to the record company but most said nothing at all about copyright, or just that the rights were reserved.
That depends on the quality of your playback equipment. Are you listening to the music on an iPod with Apple brand ear buds or on a pair of $2,000 speakers? Is the listening environment quiet or are you listening at the gym? If you do have a good listening environment and equipment you can hear defects even in the studio recording equipment let alone the huge effect of compression to MP3 or AAC.
Given that Apple has sold 6 billion songs via iTunes, even if the store closed they'd be in for a world of pain if they stopped the music playing which people had bought.
stick it to the consumer, apple!
consumer is used to getting shafted anyway, $.99 or $1.5 makes no difference....