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Apple to Launch Subscription iTunes?

ariza910 said:
With a subscription service you loose the 'lock-in' factor, as soon as someone stops their subscription they loose all their music
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This is not the only type of subscription model in the marketplace. There are subscription services where you pay a monthly fee for a set number of downloads - this is completely different from the music rental models. I believe that people want to buy music to keep and that Apple would not go for a music rental model. I do think, however, that they could very well introduce a '25 tracks for a tenner' type of service.
 
You know, I always hated the subscription model for music, mostly because I like to put music on CDs.

I'm wary of it for movies, but I'm a lot more receptive. I like to KEEP my movies...but I do rent movies often, and if a movie subscription isn't much more expensive than a couple rentals a month, I would love to be able to pay a subscription fee for unlimited movie downloads that expire if I stop paying. I'd load my iPod up with tons, watch them, and delete them.

In fact, if my TV supported it, I'd buy an Apple TV just for it. Unfortunately, my TVs have no component inputs, so Apple lost a sale.
 
nagromme said:
That lock-in may be more myth than reality: by some industry estimates, iTunes DRM music makes up less than 5% of what people have on their iPods. Most of it's already DRM free because most people still buy music on CDs--not to mention their accumulated CD library they already owned.

"Locking people in" is not actually what drives iPod sales.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...es_seen_spurring_demand_for_apples_ipods.html
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It's always been a myth. Anyone with iTunes music DRM can burn their music to a CD and it's a normal CD with no DRM.
 
Macrumors said:
According to the blog, Les Ottolenghi, CEO of INTENT MediaWorks, has had meetings with Apple and believes that they will be launching a subscription service for iTunes in the next six months:
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heh. Even if Apple was considering such a partnership, they won't now. Jobs hates it when partners reveal Apple plans ahead of time. (Just look at the nVidia oops from a couple years ago.) The fact that this CEO made a public comment assures that any phones calls he makes to Apple headquarters will be met with perma-hold.
 
ariza910 said:
With the current iTunes scheme if you decided to sell/break your iPod you are more likely to buy another iPod because of all the DRM music you have purchased from iTunes.

With a subscription service you loose the 'lock-in' factor, as soon as someone stops their subscription they loose all their music and they are free to move on to the next service and mp3 player.

From a business point of view I dont know why Apple would want DRM free music or a subscription service - since you loose that 'lock-in' factor that keeps people buying new iPods.
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Hasn't Steve recently said that this 'lock-in' factor doesn't exist? I seem to remember that the number of people whose music collection consists primarily of DRM iTunes files is very small.

And anyway, at the announcement the other week with EMI, it was pointed out that all you have to do to remove the DRM is burn your music to a CD and import it back into iTunes. That's why Steve had no problem with the idea of getting rid of DRM for purchased music altogether.
 
i want a monthly subscription to rent movie from itunes, then i would buy an :apple: tv so i could watch them! Renting movies from itunes would hugely boost :apple: tv sales
 
what type of subscription?

I wonder what kind of subscription they might be thinking about?

There's the Magazine model in which you receive the newest every montyh. This would be ideal for TV shows which are serialized.

There's also the Podcast model, in which you also receive the latest episode, but there's an option in it where you only keep the unplayed episodes. This could be appropriate for movies.

And then there's the Netflix model, which sends you 3 movies for a monthly fee and you keep them as long as you want (and pay the subscription). This should be perfect for all types of video content. just pick the next movie in your queue and itunes can erase one of your previous downloaded movies in it's place.
 
frank781 said:
I wonder what kind of subscription they might be thinking about?



And then there's the Netflix model, which sends you 3 movies for a monthly fee and you keep them as long as you want (and pay the subscription). This should be perfect for all types of video content. just pick the next movie in your queue and itunes can erase one of your previous downloaded movies in it's place.
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Yeah i think that mode would be great for apple to use. That way you don't have a ton of movies of theres and they don't expire after you watch them once.
 
About time. The only downside about subscription is if you want to jump ship to another service. So how many of you don't use itunes or want to leave itunes? because i haven't gotten anything from anywhere but itunes. So it sounds perfect.
 
If they did one for TV shows, say $30/month and you can watch as much as you want (and had some 720p stuff too). I would give up cable TV and just use iTunes. Being able to watch all my favourite shows, without adverts, whenever I wanted would be great. :D

But of course I doubt they would do it.

Most likely they will offer a $15/month unlimited music download service where you had to pay an extra $0.50 or so to keep the track permanently. Plus maybe a possible movie rental service (although you will probably have to pay per download).
 
boxandrew said:
Hasn't Steve recently said that this 'lock-in' factor doesn't exist? I seem to remember that the number of people whose music collection consists primarily of DRM iTunes files is very small.
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Right. The real 'lock-in' factor with the iPod is the ease-of-use and cultural hipness of the device and all the marketing behind it. Once you use it once, why use anything else?

:apple: could have a huge competitive advantage with any kind of movie rental setup -- aside from the ease of downloading through iTunes (which is huge, of course). They could do package deals: 3-at-a-time movies PLUS 5 free song downloads per month. Or offer discounts on soundtracks if you dl the movie. Once they get the studios on board, they will have a lot more than just movies to offer to subscribers. I agree that a music sub won't work, but the huge music collection could supplement and add value to a movie subscription service.
 
It's very interesting how they phrased it... that Apple is considering even though they'd tell you otherwise.

That sounds exactly like Apple, particularly Steve Jobs, to me. His mindset is such that he is pretty stubborn on getting certain concepts to market but if there is a better way to do it, he'll appear to stick to his guns while quietly contemplating the advantages of the other. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out they're exploring several avenues... that just makes sense. It doesn't mean this is THE way to go, it just means that they're doing the due diligence in exploring various business models for their potential.

The reality may be that they'll do this alongside purchases which would be ideal particularly for movies. It would capture a larger demographic... I don't entirely rent, and I don't entirely buy... I do a mix of both and I think a lot of consumers are the same way.

If it works like Netflix, i.e. "check out" x number of films and "exchange" for more films, it would be a killer app that could unravel Netflix and Blockbuster.
 
Subscription for TV shows and movies

This could be the movie rental plan. The whole thing could be implemented so that the user gets the videos to watch directly from AppleTV. No need for a computer. That is how it should be.
 
Apple TV would be much, much, more attractive if you could buy a subscription for unlimited video (TV & Movies), but also still buy the episodes and movies you really want. Unlimited subscription video on iPod, iTunes, and Apple TV, in addition to buying and keeping your music and the shows you really want.

Make that HD, and welcome to the end of discs.
 
I would gladly pay $35/month for UNLIMITED (as fast as my internet can carry me) movie downloads that I can keep on my computer as long as I pay the sub fee (such as Napster). With a quality selection, and promised HD content on the way (I'd meet them halfway for a 720p h264) I would pay the premium over netflix.
 
My Letter to Steve Jobs

I sent my quick letter below to Apple iTunes Feedback for the inspiration I had with this new topic. I hope Steve is indeed listening...

Dear Steve Jobs,

If you are indeed listening to your "sampling of users" as you indicated at the EMI Press Conference last week about the high demand for superior audio quality, then you should definitely be paying attention to the demand of having a subscription model too for iTunes.

Looking at the last 2 years + 4 months that I have have been using the iTunes Store, I have purchased $105.39 worth of music. If Apple would move towards a subscription option at $10.00 or $12.00 a month then you would pulling about $120 to $144 a YEAR off of me if I were to sign up.

The catch for me is I want to play my music on the go by playing my subscription music on my ipod so I can bring it to my car auxiliary input and my apple tv so I can play it on my home stereo/TV. I don't care to burn it to CD, because I don't personally use my car CD player now that I can use my ipod everywhere thanks to the success of iPod + iTunes!

I'm sure many, many itunes users feel the same as I do and those who don't can simply continue to purchase their music individually as the original option.

I hope you're listening Steve, because I personally want to subscribe to as much music as I can rather than search for select tracks by only purchasing what I feel is worthy of my single dollar. iTunes and iPod is the best combination available and I can't wait to sign up when Apple makes iTunes Subscription available for people like me.

Al the best to you and Apple, Inc.

Evan
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nagromme said:
What does DRM matter for rental files you don't even keep?
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Because without DRM, there's no such thing as "rental files." What would Apple do when you cancel your rental service..."OK, now please delete all the files you downloaded as part of your subscription"? Don't think so. ;)

--Eric
 
Just like a lot of others, I am NOT interested in a music subscription, but I am VERY interested in a TV Show subscription.

odedia said:
Steve made it very clear during the announcement of the DRM free music. He said "Music was always DRM-Free (CDs). Movies always had DRM (VHS with macrovision, DVD's, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray)"
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I think you're on to something there. This would make subscription viable for movies and not music. And they don't really need subscription with music, they already have a 90% market!
 
sportsfanMAW said:
i want a monthly subscription to rent movie from itunes, then i would buy an :apple: tv so i could watch them! Renting movies from itunes would hugely boost :apple: tv sales
Click to expand...

yes, if you could download the movies from the appleTV this would be a winner.

i would gladly cancel my netflix and switch to this service. apple needs to get a better selection of movies, though.
 
I would actually pay $20 - $30 a month to get access to *ALL* iTunes content on an unlimited basis.

My music to video (TV shows) purchase ratio is like 1:8 at this point. So, there would be little benefit for me for music. However, if it was $5 a month I might do it for my girlfriend. (For music)
 
Why so many 'negatives' ??

Why is the possibility of adding an option for the consumer viewed as being negative?!? I fully understand the subscription for music isn't a great desire, but this is clearly an addition and not a replacement. As stated early, this seems more applicable for TV Shows and movies and not music too.
 
Eric5h5 said:
Because without DRM, there's no such thing as "rental files." What would Apple do when you cancel your rental service..."OK, now please delete all the files you downloaded as part of your subscription"? Don't think so. ;)

--Eric
Click to expand...

I was responding re user objections to DRM.
 
nagromme said:
That lock-in may be more myth than reality: by some industry estimates, iTunes DRM music makes up less than 5% of what people have on their iPods. Most of it's already DRM free because most people still buy music on CDs--not to mention their accumulated CD library they already owned.

"Locking people in" is not actually what drives iPod sales.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...es_seen_spurring_demand_for_apples_ipods.html
Click to expand...

Totally agree that 'locking people in' doesn't currently drive iPod sales - great design and ease of use does.

The 'lock-in' will come into play in the future when the iPods hit that slump or when competitors finally catch up to the iPod.

By then iTunes DRM music will be a significant part of many users collections and could be a way for Apple to hold on to their customer base.

The iTunes music store is a major retailer of music I believe they are ranked in the top 5 just behind the likes of WalMart, Target, BestBuy and Amazon. That means there is a whole lot of music out there with FairPlay DRM - a lot of those customers will think twice before abandoning iTunes and their iPod
 
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