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iTunes Plus upgrades??
- Thread starter AeroBar
- Start date
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So you buy $.99 song today, then in a few months all the iTunes songs are DRM free. Now you have to pay 30% to get the music you purchased today to be DRM free. That makes the price of that song $1.28.
I would suggest everyone wait on buying anything on iTunes until DRM free is completed on everything there.
I would suggest everyone wait on buying anything on iTunes until DRM free is completed on everything there.
Not exactly. Apple stated that 8M+ songs are DRM-free for now and at the end of the quarter all 10M+ songs will be DRM-free. Starting in April 1, there will be a 3-tier pricing, 69 cents, 99 cents, and $1.29 per track.
I know what Apple said, but how would we know what songs we buy now are DRM free or not, without paying more than $.99 for them?
i also thing its wrong that there charging to make it drm free when now all those songs drm free are the same price i paid for them. but then again if i realy cared if my songs were drm free i woulda bought theme frome somewhere that has drm free songs then imported those into itunes 
i also thing its wrong that there charging to make it drm free when now all those songs drm free are the same price i paid for them. but then again if i realy cared if my songs were drm free i woulda bought theme frome somewhere that has drm free songs then imported those into itunes
That's true. However, iTunes Plus also provides higher bitrate tracks.
I did a few songs upgrade over the weekend, it wasn't easy. For some reasons, the meta tags were different on some titles, which I lost all the playcounts on my previously purchased DRM songs.
I understand the bitrate is double but Apple is charging us 30%, which means that 99 cent song cost you 30 cents more to upgrade. This now makes that song $1.29 which is at the high end price point on Apples upcoming music pricing tier. That same song currently only costs you 99 cents.
Loyal iTunes customers should get a break and not have to shell out 1/3 of the song price on top of what they already paid.
Technically, Apple is giving us "loyal" buyers value by stripping DRM and enhancing the value of the songs (along w/ the bitrate increase, which most probably can't hear the difference). Is the right to play the songs I already purchased from Apple on other devices worth more $? Actually, other than streaming to my X Box 360, I really have never had a problem with the limitations imposed by Fairplay. It was a pretty decently designed tradeoff to accomodate competing interests.
That having been said, it does feel like a screw job to me. Us early adopters made the Music Store what it is today. How about some love for us old timers?
That having been said, it does feel like a screw job to me. Us early adopters made the Music Store what it is today. How about some love for us old timers?
It just really ticks me off that I will end up paying $1.29 for the same quality and DRM free song, that someone else can now get for $.99 (or less). Thank goodness I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on iTunes for music.
Maybe Apple should come up with some sort of "loyalty" bonus plan for long time Apple customers. Because it sure seems like all they are doing is trying to get new customers and not trying to keep current customers loyal.
Maybe Apple should come up with some sort of "loyalty" bonus plan for long time Apple customers. Because it sure seems like all they are doing is trying to get new customers and not trying to keep current customers loyal.
I can't say I'm happy having to pay a $.30 surcharge for DRM-free, but at least they're no longer requiring "all or none". It's given me the opportunity to cherry pick and redownload songs that have been lost for less than it'd cost to re-buy.
In addition I've upgraded some favorite songs that I've wanted to put on an mp3 disc I spin in my car. I've done it, but I hate burning a 128 DRM file to a CD then ripping it back on to my computer -- a pain in the butt, waste of time, and ultimately for degraded sound.
Besides, for months I've been buying from Amazon (they have some fantastic super-cheap deals-of-the-day) so I figure those savings way offset the added expense at iTunes. That said, outside of exclusives iTunes will not be getting much of my business back. I understand that AAC is supposed to be better, but the more widely usable mp3 format better serves my usage. And for must-have music, CD is still the best of those three options.
In addition I've upgraded some favorite songs that I've wanted to put on an mp3 disc I spin in my car. I've done it, but I hate burning a 128 DRM file to a CD then ripping it back on to my computer -- a pain in the butt, waste of time, and ultimately for degraded sound.
Besides, for months I've been buying from Amazon (they have some fantastic super-cheap deals-of-the-day) so I figure those savings way offset the added expense at iTunes. That said, outside of exclusives iTunes will not be getting much of my business back. I understand that AAC is supposed to be better, but the more widely usable mp3 format better serves my usage. And for must-have music, CD is still the best of those three options.
I had the understanding that DRM free iTunes songs can now play on any mp music player. For instance I could now use songs from iTunes and play them on a Zune or creative labs player.
UPDATE: My mistake, the Zune can play mp3 music while the iPod can play mp3 and mp4 music, iTunes music is mp4.
Also I am so pissed off as I just purchased a song that ended up still being protected and only 128kbps. Thanks for freaking nothing iTunes, as now I will have to pay you again when the higher bit rate unprotected version is released!