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Apple to Launch Subscription iTunes?
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Two things are needed for Apple to have a chance of winning the online video war:
1) subscription based service (or rentals)
2) HD content (at least 720p)
It is so blatently obvious that a subscription model is needed for video that I would be amazed if Apple were so stubborn to not seriously consider it. Its what people are used to. We have cable services already and the amount of television we consume using it probably greatly exceeds the amount of stuff we watch on DVDs we have purchased. Whereas with CDs, we purchase them because music is inherently more replayable.
1) subscription based service (or rentals)
2) HD content (at least 720p)
It is so blatently obvious that a subscription model is needed for video that I would be amazed if Apple were so stubborn to not seriously consider it. Its what people are used to. We have cable services already and the amount of television we consume using it probably greatly exceeds the amount of stuff we watch on DVDs we have purchased. Whereas with CDs, we purchase them because music is inherently more replayable.
At first glance, giving consumers more options seems like a win-win situation: some will stay with the current choices, some will go for a new subscription model, if this rumor is true.
The risk to Apple is in turning something that was very simple into something more confusing and complicated for many consumers.
The iTunes (Music) Store used to offer songs and albums for purchase - that's all. With the addition of movies, TV shows, games, "Complete My Album", DRM-free music with a choice of quality (soon), and now possibly a subscription service, they are giving us more choice, but also the increased complexity that comes with more choice.
The risk to Apple is in turning something that was very simple into something more confusing and complicated for many consumers.
The iTunes (Music) Store used to offer songs and albums for purchase - that's all. With the addition of movies, TV shows, games, "Complete My Album", DRM-free music with a choice of quality (soon), and now possibly a subscription service, they are giving us more choice, but also the increased complexity that comes with more choice.
While it wouldn't work for me for music, I would definitely pay a monthly fee for TV and movies. Up to $30/month for myself. But I don't have cable, just rabbbit ears.
rental
I would personally NOT use this type of service, but for Apple to offer both, is a good idea, it gives people a choice. However, I sincerely hope that we are not ending up in situations with "rental only" titles, and vice versa, I would realy hate that with a passion.
Alternatively, I am not a big TV head, so movie rentals, and music purchases as a combination may work for me. Just let me buy my music, I don't want to rent that! Movies, I rarely watch them more than once or twice, music I listen to a lot, and several songs over and over.
I would personally NOT use this type of service, but for Apple to offer both, is a good idea, it gives people a choice. However, I sincerely hope that we are not ending up in situations with "rental only" titles, and vice versa, I would realy hate that with a passion.
Alternatively, I am not a big TV head, so movie rentals, and music purchases as a combination may work for me. Just let me buy my music, I don't want to rent that! Movies, I rarely watch them more than once or twice, music I listen to a lot, and several songs over and over.
I'd sign up for an iTunes music subscription service as soon as it came out. Not as a replacement for buying music, but to supplement it. To allow me to experiment. I haven't listened to music radio for years and have developed my own little musical taste, explored purely by experimentation.
It's a difficult thing to achieve. But imagine such a thing with a full, freely accessible iTunes Music Store. Fancy hearing more of a band? Download their entire back catalogue. What you like, you buy to get full access and CD burning, what you don't, you trash. Continue to experiment, keeping the stuff you like, trashing what you don't.
I don't believe this story because Jobs seems dead set against it, but if it did, I'd whip my credit card out instantly for a £10-15 monthly iTunes subscription.
It's a difficult thing to achieve. But imagine such a thing with a full, freely accessible iTunes Music Store. Fancy hearing more of a band? Download their entire back catalogue. What you like, you buy to get full access and CD burning, what you don't, you trash. Continue to experiment, keeping the stuff you like, trashing what you don't.
I don't believe this story because Jobs seems dead set against it, but if it did, I'd whip my credit card out instantly for a £10-15 monthly iTunes subscription.
Give people the choice. It'll do Apple no harm in offering a subscription service and keeping the existing system.
If you don't like a subscription, don't use it, keep using iTunes as you do now.
Subscription won't work without DRM. Perhaps this a strategy to keep iPod tied to iTMS, since DRM is losing its appeal for music companies.
Some one asked 'why use anything else after using itunes because iTunes is so much easier'.
Answer:
Because other stores offer music that iTunes doesn't.
Just like the reason why I would go to multiple brick and mortor stores.
If you don't like a subscription, don't use it, keep using iTunes as you do now.
Subscription won't work without DRM. Perhaps this a strategy to keep iPod tied to iTMS, since DRM is losing its appeal for music companies.
Some one asked 'why use anything else after using itunes because iTunes is so much easier'.
Answer:
Because other stores offer music that iTunes doesn't.
Just like the reason why I would go to multiple brick and mortor stores.
Nooo! I really hope this isn't true and Steve sticks to his "you buy it, you own it" strategy. All these subscription services getting annoying as it is...
I dont understand... what does the introduction of those things have to do with anything? Is there a link that I'm missing here??
What???
Sorry, but who said anything about renting??? Why not just pay a fee every month and keep the content you get? That would be awesome for all media types.
Sorry, but who said anything about renting??? Why not just pay a fee every month and keep the content you get? That would be awesome for all media types.
Some brainstorming...
After some IM brainstorming, a friend and I (he reads MR articles, but, to my knowledge, doesn't read the forums,) have come up with a couple conjectures:
1. This is only for movies. Music will remain as-is. This will become a NetFlix-like on-demand service of full
tv quality (720p) movies. Pay your $20 a month, and download three movies at a time, for watching on computer, iPod, or tv.
2. The move to DRM-less higher-quality music could be where the PURCHASED music is going, and the lower-quality DRM-laden music will remain for this subscription service. i.e. Rent lower quality, or purchase higher-quality DRM-free.
Obviously, the possibility of both of these options is not dependent on each other, either one, or both, could be true.
After some IM brainstorming, a friend and I (he reads MR articles, but, to my knowledge, doesn't read the forums,) have come up with a couple conjectures:
1. This is only for movies. Music will remain as-is. This will become a NetFlix-like on-demand service of full
tv quality (720p) movies. Pay your $20 a month, and download three movies at a time, for watching on computer, iPod, or tv.2. The move to DRM-less higher-quality music could be where the PURCHASED music is going, and the lower-quality DRM-laden music will remain for this subscription service. i.e. Rent lower quality, or purchase higher-quality DRM-free.
Obviously, the possibility of both of these options is not dependent on each other, either one, or both, could be true.
Help my hard drive is out of space!
AppleTV and iTunes are crippled without a subscription model. Sure, people buy movies on DVD, but it's expensive but more people rent. So, until Apple provides a rental model they will limit the appeal of AppleTV. I think they will have to offer it, and soon.
They will also need to offer HD. We all want it. So, consider the new inititive with iTunes music and DRM. What is Apple doing here. They are offering higher quality downloads without DRM. I believe they will do something similar with HD media. Soon they offer HD, but it will be accessible with a monthly subscription service. There are several reasons for this.
First, there is demand. Apple has stated that they sell music because people want to buy it not rent it. But the oppisite is true of movies and tv, people want to rent it not buy it. So, if Apple is basing their business model on what people want then offering movie rentals is what they have to do.
Secondly, HD takes up a lot of space; even the lower quality downloads Apple is offering now take up a lot of space. How are you going to back all that data up? How much will it cost you to back it up? How are going to move it around? How long will it take? And how long before your iTunes library wont fit on the hard drive in your computer? Very soon the size of your iTunes library will become unmanageable. Renting will solve this. Apple will have to offer this because we will demand it or we will stop buying downloaded movies and tv shows.
Why is the AppleTV hard drive so small? Think about it.
You download a limited amount of HD data to your hard drive and you don't have to worry about backing it all up or moving it around. You just replace what's in your que and keep going.
This is both convenient and practical, and ultimately I believe inevitable.
And once your consuming all your video media with a rental model, adding music to it will seem like a no-brainer.
AppleTV and iTunes are crippled without a subscription model. Sure, people buy movies on DVD, but it's expensive but more people rent. So, until Apple provides a rental model they will limit the appeal of AppleTV. I think they will have to offer it, and soon.
They will also need to offer HD. We all want it. So, consider the new inititive with iTunes music and DRM. What is Apple doing here. They are offering higher quality downloads without DRM. I believe they will do something similar with HD media. Soon they offer HD, but it will be accessible with a monthly subscription service. There are several reasons for this.
First, there is demand. Apple has stated that they sell music because people want to buy it not rent it. But the oppisite is true of movies and tv, people want to rent it not buy it. So, if Apple is basing their business model on what people want then offering movie rentals is what they have to do.
Secondly, HD takes up a lot of space; even the lower quality downloads Apple is offering now take up a lot of space. How are you going to back all that data up? How much will it cost you to back it up? How are going to move it around? How long will it take? And how long before your iTunes library wont fit on the hard drive in your computer? Very soon the size of your iTunes library will become unmanageable. Renting will solve this. Apple will have to offer this because we will demand it or we will stop buying downloaded movies and tv shows.
Why is the AppleTV hard drive so small? Think about it.
You download a limited amount of HD data to your hard drive and you don't have to worry about backing it all up or moving it around. You just replace what's in your que and keep going.
This is both convenient and practical, and ultimately I believe inevitable.
And once your consuming all your video media with a rental model, adding music to it will seem like a no-brainer.
I wouldn't mind a pay per view model like Comcast offers,
we use that all the time. Only problem with Comcast's
offerings is their releases lag WAY behind the dvd release.
If apple goes with a rental/subscription deal for movies/tv,
I want same day as DVD releases, otherwise, I'll stick with
Comcast.
This would definately get me to buy an tv or mac mini
for the living room...
we use that all the time. Only problem with Comcast's
offerings is their releases lag WAY behind the dvd release.
If apple goes with a rental/subscription deal for movies/tv,
I want same day as DVD releases, otherwise, I'll stick with
Comcast.
This would definately get me to buy an
tv or mac minifor the living room...
if it was for music i'd buy it..assuming i could put the music on the ipod too. Considering I buy roughly 20$ of music a month, if it were subscription i could get the music possibly cheaper and i wouldn't feel compelled to limit my purchases. For instance, instead of buying a single song in a cd, i'd download the whole cd...i mean..why not?
I believe they need that to keep the Apple TV working, other wise it will accumulate dust if you do not feed it with content constantly. Better strategy is to keep the users suscribed for thei favorite show.
The problem will be... where people are going to storage all that content later on? video takes too much room.
The problem will be... where people are going to storage all that content later on? video takes too much room.
Movies studios want control
Just to elaborate on my previous post.
Why is Apple not offering HD content? I think there are two reasons for this.
1. The amount of data is huge. My MacBook Pro is filling up fast and I only have a few TV show seasons and no movies. If I keep downloading, soon I will be out of space and will have to manage my iTunes library by removing some files and putting them elsewhere. How am I going to do this? If I delete the files from my iTunes folder and move them to an external hard drive my library will still think they are local. This will become a mess and almost certainly mess up my iTunes library. I will be forced to upgrade my hard drive or stop downloading content. If the movies and TV shows were all in 720p this problem would become a problem sooner than later. At any rate, soon your iTunes library will not fit on the hard drive in your computer. Apple is most likely still prepping a subscription service and smaller file size is buying them time.
2. The movie studios most likely want assurances of copy protection before allowing the downloading of their movies in HD. Apple can have even more control over this content using a subscription service then just using DRM. So, I think downloads are lower quality because the movie studios are demanding tighter control over HD, even if it's only 720p.
Just to elaborate on my previous post.
Why is Apple not offering HD content? I think there are two reasons for this.
1. The amount of data is huge. My MacBook Pro is filling up fast and I only have a few TV show seasons and no movies. If I keep downloading, soon I will be out of space and will have to manage my iTunes library by removing some files and putting them elsewhere. How am I going to do this? If I delete the files from my iTunes folder and move them to an external hard drive my library will still think they are local. This will become a mess and almost certainly mess up my iTunes library. I will be forced to upgrade my hard drive or stop downloading content. If the movies and TV shows were all in 720p this problem would become a problem sooner than later. At any rate, soon your iTunes library will not fit on the hard drive in your computer. Apple is most likely still prepping a subscription service and smaller file size is buying them time.
2. The movie studios most likely want assurances of copy protection before allowing the downloading of their movies in HD. Apple can have even more control over this content using a subscription service then just using DRM. So, I think downloads are lower quality because the movie studios are demanding tighter control over HD, even if it's only 720p.
For TV definitely
Movies would be nice. TV shows would be very nice. Maybe the iTV would be of some use if this actually happens.
Movies would be nice. TV shows would be very nice. Maybe the iTV would be of some use if this actually happens.
I dont understand... what does the introduction of those things have to do with anything? Is there a link that I'm missing here??
Because currently the Apple TV doesn't really offer anything worth using. If I could subscribe to a netflix type of service and even better, a cable subscription service [all I can watch tv shows], then they really will have a cable/tv replacement. That will change the entire industry hands down.
No subscription = an extremely niche product