Music Prices Going Up?

[BornAgainMac]

Relax

Our boy Steve has a lot of influence. He can figure out a way to talk them out of the price hike.

 

[FlamDrag]

Everyone needs to hop onto the feedback portion of the iTMS and promptly notify Apple that you will stop purchasing songs if the price increases to $1.25 which is actually 26c for those concerned about details.

I could envision a "four / $1.00 or 1.25 each" scenario...

 

[Wonder Boy]

let'm jack up the prices. ill keep using poisoned, and they can all go broke.

 

[sethwerkheiser]

I'll say this - for the big popular songs out there - I think $1.25 is kinda fair. For instance, my parents just bought me Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder or whatever. It was marked $19.99 ( 😱 ), then reduced to $15.99. I've listend to the CD casually about 5 times and I gotta tell you, I think spending the $1.25 Meglomaniac woulda saved me a bundle!

I would NOT pay $1.25 for any of the other songs on this album (yet), as I really haven't given the CD a chance, but yea... I think $1.25 would kinda be okay for like a month or two. Then bring it back down to .99.

Just my two cents 🙂

 

[Sonofhaig]

I'll say this - for the big popular songs out there - I think $1.25 is kinda fair. For instance, my parents just bought me Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder or whatever. It was marked $19.99 ( 😱 ), then reduced to $15.99. I've listend to the CD casually about 5 times and I gotta tell you, I think spending the $1.25 Meglomaniac woulda saved me a bundle!

I would NOT pay $1.25 for any of the other songs on this album (yet), as I really haven't given the CD a chance, but yea... I think $1.25 would kinda be okay for like a month or two. Then bring it back down to .99.

Just my two cents 🙂

Once a price goes up..... it stays up! You really think they'll drop the price once its up? No way! Don't blow this Apple!!!!

 

[Mantat]

Like others before in this post, I jumped on the Russian bandwagon.

http://www.allofmp3.com
(Online Encoding codes albums in almost any format and bitrate for you, includes ID3 tags and such)

http://club.mp3search.ru
(no tags or online encoding, but a ton more bootleg, underground, and rare albums than AllOfmp3.com)

Every album I looked for, I found on one or both of those sites. Prices around 1 penny per MB. I got a Junkie XL double CD album, 30 songs, for $1. 192kbps AAC files, too! In fact, if I wanted to pay a little more I could've gotten the albums at CD-quality, thanks to AllOfMP3's Online Encoding feature. Using a $20 account with Club, I was able to download 12 albums, all above 192-bit (MP3s)... and I still have $13 left. w00t!

I suggest everyone give them a look. Take your business elsewhere - I sure as hell am not going to pay $1.25 for a single song if it comes to that!

I hope that you know that these services are ILLEGAL? Actually, they are legal in russia because the law there allow a company to not pay any copyright fees as long as they pay for a license from the governement. So of all the music sold on these sites, not a single $ goes back to the artists. So its worst than P2P because artists dont get paid and you get screwed by giving the $ to the russian governement.

 

[idkew]

www.allofmp3.com


RIAA, you force me to use it.

 

[jbembe]

For me,

iTMS = free, convenient 30 second preview of the largest database of songs to help me decide what CD to buy. 128kbps is not good enough for me to get anything other than random singles.

If the price goes to 1.25, I'll definitely purchase even less.

 

[3-22]

www.allofmp3.com


RIAA, you force me to use it.

No, but RIAA will sue you for using it. It's illegal, read the disclaimer. (Unless you live in some unknown russian state) Your probably better off with a regular P2P app. less easy to track you. Your just giving your money to some scammer...

 

[Trekkie]

The really bad thing is it will probably blow up on Apple as many customers will blame Apple thinking they are just raising the prices because of it's popularity.

Apple should put in really big letter on the front page of iTMS on how the RIAA is raising the prices, and all $0.26 in the increase is going to the RIAA.

They should change their iPod ads to include how the RIAA is raising prices.

There is just too big of a marketshare to waste. The only way to do this is to get the non-macrumors crowds that are buying the iPods and iTunes stuff hand over fist aware. Meanwhile, the 0.05% of the 3% of the market that Apple has in systems that search this site will know what is really going on.

 

[SiliconAddict]

The music companies are very smart. When the P2P boom was going on, the RIAA wasn't much involved, esp. when napster first took off. Now the RIAA has struck fear in the hearts of many P2P users, so the music companies are going to take advantage. You can either pay the extra .26 cents, or risk being sued. I tip my hat to the music compaines for being such evil genius.

They haven't scared anyone. Well maybe a few. Statistically do you know the likelihood of getting hit by a lawsuit from the RIAA? Even more so if you are outside the US. I'd probably stand a better chance winning the lotto. But last time I was on some of the more popular P2P services the nodes were still well into the millions.

I think the drop-off is due to legit music stores. People want to use music stores like iTMS but if the RIAA is going to continue to bend the consumers over then what's the point of apple even trying?!?! 😡

 

[MrTrout]

Vote with your mouse...

I was eagerly awaiting iTMS in Europe, but if the price is going up I will simply not use the service when it arrives.

I fear most people will feel the same.

 

[idkew]

No, but RIAA will sue you for using it. It's illegal, read the disclaimer. (Unless you live in some unknown russian state) Your probably better off with a regular P2P app. less easy to track you. Your just giving your money to some scammer...

i highly doubt a russian website would give it's user info to a us company. besides, the RIAA sues music SHARERS, not downloaders.

think, then post.

edit - i would rather pay a penny per MB to download a good quality product with thee the id3 tags. p2p is way too hit and miss. i have gotten rid of nearly all p2p downloads, simply b/c i want full albums in good quality with id3 tags. not because the RIAA scares me.

it is easier to track use of a p2p service than logging onto a website you do not own. when i get on a p2p service, i broadcast my ip, and anything i d/l is immediately shared. i have to quickly move the d/led files if i don't want them to share. all a hassle for low quality, non-id3, non album music.


basically, what this proves is that I am willing to purchase music online, but not at the crazy prices the RIAA wants me to pay NOW, not to mention what it will cost if they raise prices.

 

[DGFan]

They did not even open a store in Europe and are already killing it by charging too much.

Even 0.99 is a price that a lot of people are not willing to pay. Now it will be 25% more? No way.

I guess, I'll make a deal with the russians: www.allofmp3.com

Andreas

Agreed. I already don't buy albums on iTMS because they are overpriced. If it's a 2 CD set $16.99 might be warranted. But for a normal album? No way. Isn't collusion great?

I am very happy with allofmp3. Several people have questioned the legality of it. There was already a long conversation in another thread so I won't get into that again here other than to say, I'll let the Russians sort that out.

 

[jcshas]

Record execs are stupid, dumb, & ignorant. 😡

A.) They don’t seem to give a s@&%! about what their listeners want/don’t want.
B.) They're distribution and promotion methods are completely ineffective and useless
C.) They're contributing to their own demise - sadly, they don't even have the intelligence to figure it out.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Urgh! Stupid RIAA - why do you have to increase the prices for downloaded music???? If anything, the price should be going DOWN, not up, in order to lure more sales. I never collected "mainstream" music anyway (the kind the RIAA has jurisdiction over); these actions only serve to further discourage me from starting a collection.

 

[cxny]

More Flexible Pricing a Good Thing

I don't think it's such a bad idea to let the marketplace set the price for single song but, only if it works the other way too. If less popular songs could be priced as low as $0.25 and others falling somewhere in the range of $1.50 max, iTMS could become a very useful resource. Personally I would be willing to pay a small "ISP Tax" to cover "losses" to the entertainment industry caused by P2P, but it would be a nightmare to implement.

 

[3-22]

i highly doubt a russian website would give it's user info to a us company. besides, the RIAA sues music SHARERS, not downloaders.

think, then post.

So far they haven't... Just seems a bit too sketchy for me... But that's just me...

 

[DGFan]

I hope that you know that these services are ILLEGAL? Actually, they are legal in russia because the law there allow a company to not pay any copyright fees as long as they pay for a license from the governement. So of all the music sold on these sites, not a single $ goes back to the artists. So its worst than P2P because artists dont get paid and you get screwed by giving the $ to the russian governement.

Oh Geez. This has already been discussed to death in another thread. What's funny is that you say the services are illegal here but legal in Russia. The copyright laws of the US are irrelevant to that service. Only the Russian copyright laws matter. So if the service is legal in Russia it's legal here. The only US laws that could matter would be import laws. But to my knowledge)there aren't any laws against bring music into the country.

And, pray tell, how is giving money to the Russian government worse than giving money to the music cartel in the US? In both cases the artists don't see any money. Don't try and take the moral high ground on this one. You're going to lose.

No, but RIAA will sue you for using it. It's illegal, read the disclaimer. (Unless you live in some unknown russian state) Your probably better off with a regular P2P app. less easy to track you. Your just giving your money to some scammer...

The disclaimer says nothing except to follow your local laws. Since you're not breaking local laws by using it, how is it illegal?

The RIAA cannot sue you for downloading from a store. Russia currently has compulsory licensing (although they are attempting legislation to change this). Just because the RIAA doesn't get money from it does not mean it is illegal.

If anyone wants to read the rest of the discussion I suggest they visit this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70693

 

[jelloshotsrule]

why has no one taken notice of the couple posts from some new yorkers (and other folks) who pointed out that the new york post sucks and it is hard to believe anything they say, especially when it's directly contradicted by the ceo of the company...

people are paying too much attention to this in my opinion...

ps. can't wait to see the russian mob hit those folks using allofmp3. hah

 

[estevan2737]

The sky is falling...

I don't believe it for a second. The record labels are making some serious dough from iTunes and I don't see them changing this. Yes, iTunes can make it easier for an independent distribute music but that is still just theory since last time I checked the Top 10 downloads...the same big label packaged crap is still the main diet of iTunes customers. This is probably just a speculative piece based on the same rumors from weeks ago. If anything it taints the validity of the Post.

Besides...Jobs is the most influential guy in Hollywood. 🙂

 

[DGFan]

basically, what this proves is that I am willing to purchase music online, but not at the crazy prices the RIAA wants me to pay NOW, not to mention what it will cost if they raise prices.

I actually buy more songs on allofmp3 than I do on iTMS. If I want half the songs on an album at iTMS I buy just those songs. Why? Because it costs a lot of money ($4 - $5) to buy the rest of the album. If I want half an album on allofmp3 I buy the whole album. Why? Because it only costs a little bit more ($0.50 - $1) and it's nice to have the whole album.

If they can find a way to work licensing fees back to the artists (maybe using prices a little higher - even 2-3 cents a MB) I think a pricing model like that could really help the music business take off.

 

[MikeH]

The music industry really don't have a clue do they. For an industry that sells a product that's supposed be cutting edge and in touch with youth of today, they're about as 'with it' as your Dad dancing like a lunatic at a wedding disco.

Here they are given a golden opportunity to sell their wares to a public willing to spend money, they don't have to store the product, package it, deal with IT or the customers. But all those savings aren't enough - so they go hike the prices up to approaching store costs.

Greedy, thieving b******s. The music industry deserves to collapse under it's gluttonous weight. Unfortunately it probably won't.

On top of which music sales aren't down because of piracy, it's because todays youth market have so much more to spend their money on - mobile phone, game consoles to name but two. Putting prices up is hardly going to encourage them to part with their cash in already fierce market.

 

[The Red Wolf]

Price of Success

First of 128Kbps in AAC format is twice the quality of an MP3 making it near CD quality. It would be perfect if it were lossless. Oh, wait, Apple is venturing into a compressed losses format.

Second, when everyone stops complaining about the New York Posts idea of where the price of online music is going vs. what Jobs stated... Does anyone out there think that the Success of the ITMS is what is making record companies salivate? What if that $0.25 increase (a 25% increase) didn't go to Apple at all, but to the coffers of the people who made trading music online for free illegal? Just a thought.

 

[SiliconAddict]

I hope that you know that these services are ILLEGAL?

So is some of the practices of the RIAA but in a gov that panders to big business who ya gonna call?

I love the latest BS from them. It apears that they haven't been paying their slaves...er...sorry artists their fair share.

RIAA tracks down major reason for decrease in artist royalties

Royalties paid out to recording artists have supposedly been at risk lately for a number of reasons, including reduced CD sales. Yesterday, the Office of the New York State Attorney General announced another cause: RIAA member companies not making payments required under terms of their contracts.

IMHO 2 wrongs may not make a right but they do stick it to a corrupt industry.

Again SCREW THE RIAA.