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Buy.com to Challenge Apple's iTunes Music Store
- Thread starter pretentious
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nagromme
macrumors G5
Competitors are immediately good for Apple in one way: another round of publicity. Granted, some journalists will take pleasure in claiming that Buy.com will be the first to sell music this way, ignoring what Apple did, but most will mention Apple in their articles.
Meanwhile, if iTunes has a better interface, then later on when people try it out it will be an easy switch for them. Let Buy.com build the interest, so Apple can come along and do it right.
Meanwhile, if iTunes has a better interface, then later on when people try it out it will be an easy switch for them. Let Buy.com build the interest, so Apple can come along and do it right.
a HUGE maybe
this is a HUGE maybe, so bear with me...
what if the buy.com offering is, in fact, the iTunes Music Store for windows? apple has been selling ipods there and plans to have some of their computers there, so apparently apple and best buy have been talking.
we all know a lot of people scoff at macintosh without even knowing the full story. so what if buy.com is just a front so people don't write it off as "some stupid thing from apple that i already don't want just because it's from apple"? then, a few months down the road, WHAM, the cat is let out of the bag. "see guys? look how cool apple's stuff is."
i don't see best buy as a technologically advanced company. sure, they sell technological items, but they don't make any. who better than apple to step in with the brains, while best buy provides the brawn of it's established customer base?
like i said, this is just a "what if" kind of thing. i don't even believe it myself--it's just something i thought of.
carry on, as you were..........
this is a HUGE maybe, so bear with me...
what if the buy.com offering is, in fact, the iTunes Music Store for windows? apple has been selling ipods there and plans to have some of their computers there, so apparently apple and best buy have been talking.
we all know a lot of people scoff at macintosh without even knowing the full story. so what if buy.com is just a front so people don't write it off as "some stupid thing from apple that i already don't want just because it's from apple"? then, a few months down the road, WHAM, the cat is let out of the bag. "see guys? look how cool apple's stuff is."
i don't see best buy as a technologically advanced company. sure, they sell technological items, but they don't make any. who better than apple to step in with the brains, while best buy provides the brawn of it's established customer base?
like i said, this is just a "what if" kind of thing. i don't even believe it myself--it's just something i thought of.
carry on, as you were..........
Jerry Spoon
macrumors 6502a
Hey, Steve...Hurry up already!
If for no other reason than it might stop me from seeing another half naked picture of Tommy Lee.
If for no other reason than it might stop me from seeing another half naked picture of Tommy Lee.
why do you all think the buy.com service will suck compared to itunes. is it out of the realm of possibility that it could be BETTER then itunes?
Jerry Spoon
macrumors 6502a
..and I have more info:
Will be browser based
30 second preview of all songs
128 bit WMA files that are DRM wrapped
so now the battle begins.....iTunes vs. WMP....
Will be browser based
30 second preview of all songs
128 bit WMA files that are DRM wrapped
so now the battle begins.....iTunes vs. WMP....
Re: a HUGE maybe
buy.com is not bestbuy.com, but i see were you are going with this. They (buy.com) do currently sell ipods and mac software, but apple hasn't said anything about partnering with another company to do the music store for windows.
buy.com is not bestbuy.com, but i see were you are going with this. They (buy.com) do currently sell ipods and mac software, but apple hasn't said anything about partnering with another company to do the music store for windows.
this will be interesting....
It looks like Buy.com's biggest competitor is Amazon.com, and Buy.com is looking to trump Amazon by being the first to offer this service. It's a complete departure for them, in terms of logistics and the building of the service. Now, with that in mind, I would be willing to bet that it is a rushed project. They better be careful, they could really screw this up, and in a way be a service to Apple, showing the record companies that doing this kind of stuff isn't as easy as they made it out to be. Who knows, but I think it's more important that Apple gets their product to Windows when it's ready, not a buggy version that could end up building a bad rep in the long run, which could hurt them (or buy.com) IMMENSELY. We shall see!
It looks like Buy.com's biggest competitor is Amazon.com, and Buy.com is looking to trump Amazon by being the first to offer this service. It's a complete departure for them, in terms of logistics and the building of the service. Now, with that in mind, I would be willing to bet that it is a rushed project. They better be careful, they could really screw this up, and in a way be a service to Apple, showing the record companies that doing this kind of stuff isn't as easy as they made it out to be. Who knows, but I think it's more important that Apple gets their product to Windows when it's ready, not a buggy version that could end up building a bad rep in the long run, which could hurt them (or buy.com) IMMENSELY. We shall see!
Consumer Trust?
Would consumers trust Buy.com? Does anyone even really know it still exists? What is their marketing strategy? Where will they place ads? Will there be media coverage? Page 1? Will anyone care? How many other music "services" are all ready out there but are so lost in the sea of Windows software that consumers are confused by it?
At least Apple has a small advantage there. Since Apple users tend to be more brand loyal, it wasn't difficult to get the word out a little, and let word of mouth continue the advertising. Does Buy.com know the best place to reach potential customers? When to reach them? Will their service be so much different from other Windows only music services that people will want to "linger"? We'll see.
Would consumers trust Buy.com? Does anyone even really know it still exists? What is their marketing strategy? Where will they place ads? Will there be media coverage? Page 1? Will anyone care? How many other music "services" are all ready out there but are so lost in the sea of Windows software that consumers are confused by it?
At least Apple has a small advantage there. Since Apple users tend to be more brand loyal, it wasn't difficult to get the word out a little, and let word of mouth continue the advertising. Does Buy.com know the best place to reach potential customers? When to reach them? Will their service be so much different from other Windows only music services that people will want to "linger"? We'll see.
snahabed
macrumors regular
Ugh I think is so bad.
An advantage of the browser system is that the WIndows user can choose his preferred jukebox. It is just like the old browser wars. Windows users will use what they have, whatever icon is on their desktop, regardless of what is better.
Convincing them to change to iTunes, after competition beats it to the market, will be monumentally tough.
a little OT, but I found a similar site called FightForRock.com (it's new & doesn't have much content yet) that sells MP3s (no DRM) and it focuses on indie bands (whereas iTMS is all major labels for now).
cspace
cspace
regardless of buy.com's implementation of an iTMS clone, one thing they're doing which apple is not is...
ADVERTISING.
if iTMS enabled you to download gold nuggets it would be meaningless unless you knew about it.
ADVERTISING.
if iTMS enabled you to download gold nuggets it would be meaningless unless you knew about it.
rueyeet
macrumors 65816
C'mon, we all knew that once Apple had done the hard work with proof-of-concept, everyone and their uncle would want to jump on this bandwagon.
Buy.com's success will depend on a bunch of things: how the DRM allows the downloads to be used, how good the catalog ends up being at launch, and whether it ends up being fundamentally different from the other WMA-based services in anything but the delivery model.
Apple seems to already have them beat on catalogue, and with the indies in on the act, that'll only get better.
And I don't put it past the combination of RIAA and Microsoft to screw up the rest, but we'll see. If this turns out as unrestrictive as FairPlay, then it'll have a definite lead over iTunes for Windows.
Their ads, however need work. I am going to go wash out my burning eyeballs now. 🙁
Buy.com's success will depend on a bunch of things: how the DRM allows the downloads to be used, how good the catalog ends up being at launch, and whether it ends up being fundamentally different from the other WMA-based services in anything but the delivery model.
Apple seems to already have them beat on catalogue, and with the indies in on the act, that'll only get better.
And I don't put it past the combination of RIAA and Microsoft to screw up the rest, but we'll see. If this turns out as unrestrictive as FairPlay, then it'll have a definite lead over iTunes for Windows.
Their ads, however need work. I am going to go wash out my burning eyeballs now. 🙁
I disagree. iPod for Windows is a big seller. All those people are not going to be able to use WMA files sold by the other online music stores. But they will be able to use AAC from ITMS.
Apple needs to be out within a few months of any serious contender. But there is a period where it simply won't matter because of the large installed base of Windows iPod users.
Re: a HUGE maybe
best buy is not (to my knowledge) related to buy.com
best buy has their own site (named, amazingly enough, bestbuy.com)
best buy is not (to my knowledge) related to buy.com
best buy has their own site (named, amazingly enough, bestbuy.com)
ITMS succeeds because it is compact and includes the player nicely in the package. It also uses a common interface between the song list in the player and the song list in the store. It is elegant because it makes very efficient use of space and is easy to get around.
buy.com won't really be able to integrate the player or the library into their store. Sure, they can use WMP embedded in the page to listen to samples. But it's not likely to be as sleek as the list with a single line per song.
Assuming that the buy.com site will in fact be a website and not a program with a browser built into parts of it I just don't see it being as efficient a tool as iTunes.
windows users will only pick inferior CHEAPER option
The ad above already suggests buy.com won't be cheaper, and may even be more money.
Now, the thing is supposed to be browser-based. How is that going to compare with iTMS for Windows, which will be integrated with iTunes, the best jukebox program out there? I use eMusic and the thing I don't like the most about it is the slow, browser-based interface. Nothing like the speed of iTMS.
I guess if they get out there first, they could lock in some people with the format, who then could not switch to iTMS for Windows easily later. Even then, most people are not going to buy a huge number of albums in 5 months (before end of year when iTMS is on Windows). So switching would just involve burning to cd some number of songs and reripping.
Some poor dumb souls are already using WMA to rip CDs so the same "conversion" issue already exists to some degree for some windows users.
The ad above already suggests buy.com won't be cheaper, and may even be more money.
Now, the thing is supposed to be browser-based. How is that going to compare with iTMS for Windows, which will be integrated with iTunes, the best jukebox program out there? I use eMusic and the thing I don't like the most about it is the slow, browser-based interface. Nothing like the speed of iTMS.
I guess if they get out there first, they could lock in some people with the format, who then could not switch to iTMS for Windows easily later. Even then, most people are not going to buy a huge number of albums in 5 months (before end of year when iTMS is on Windows). So switching would just involve burning to cd some number of songs and reripping.
Some poor dumb souls are already using WMA to rip CDs so the same "conversion" issue already exists to some degree for some windows users.
NavyIntel007
macrumors 65816
The bad thing is most windows users are stupid. They'll go to buy.com, buy some music and try to play it on their ipod. When it won't play you know who they'll blame? Apple! because they won't understand the difference between WMA and AAC or MP3 because it's all the same to them and because it plays on their piece of crap computer why can't the ipod play it? but I paid $300 for it!!
The good news is, this newly disinfranchised person from the world of digital media is going to return to burning cds of the music (if it's even possible) and will probably never buy an MP3 player again.
I still have some doubts that many of the free p2p traders are going to switch over and go legal. There's way too many options for Windows users and many of the user base for things like kazaa is under 25, doesn't have a credit card, and/or doesn't have a job to pay for music. Does that mean that iTMS or buy.com's services are doomed? Absolutely not. They will appeal to an older market (with credit cards) that enjoy music without the filler and high prices.
I think Apple did their homework on this before they started their service. That's why upon it's first day opening you didn't see the boybands, brittney or Hip Hop. Sure, a lot of it is there now but they emphasized Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan... Apple knew that they needed to appeal to the parents and grandparents first, the ones with the money. Gradually, then parents let their kids pick songs that they want. Although there is a decent catalog for people in their college years to woo us away from file sharing.
Lets face it... buy.com... no record deals (but they got Tommy Lee... um... naked, no one wants to see that), they still haven't learned the "Fair Use" lesson because they're using WMA and honestly, most people have never heard of buy.com. I doubt that it would even be in headlines anywhere tomorrow.
The good news is, this newly disinfranchised person from the world of digital media is going to return to burning cds of the music (if it's even possible) and will probably never buy an MP3 player again.
I still have some doubts that many of the free p2p traders are going to switch over and go legal. There's way too many options for Windows users and many of the user base for things like kazaa is under 25, doesn't have a credit card, and/or doesn't have a job to pay for music. Does that mean that iTMS or buy.com's services are doomed? Absolutely not. They will appeal to an older market (with credit cards) that enjoy music without the filler and high prices.
I think Apple did their homework on this before they started their service. That's why upon it's first day opening you didn't see the boybands, brittney or Hip Hop. Sure, a lot of it is there now but they emphasized Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan... Apple knew that they needed to appeal to the parents and grandparents first, the ones with the money. Gradually, then parents let their kids pick songs that they want. Although there is a decent catalog for people in their college years to woo us away from file sharing.
Lets face it... buy.com... no record deals (but they got Tommy Lee... um... naked, no one wants to see that), they still haven't learned the "Fair Use" lesson because they're using WMA and honestly, most people have never heard of buy.com. I doubt that it would even be in headlines anywhere tomorrow.
