NPR skewers iTunes

[Cave Man]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2015/01/06/375173595/with-downloads-in-decline-can-itunes-adapt

I hope someone at Apple pays attention to this. iTunes has become a pain in the a$$ over the last few updates.

 

[maflynn]

Streaming is where its at, and I think Apple knows this. I think everyone sees the writing on the wall for iTunes as a repository of music. I've largely stopped purchasing music for this reason alone. There's no reason to have so many albums sitting on my computer when I can just stream them for free.

 

[Partron22]

There's no reason to have so many albums sitting on my computer when I can just stream them for free.

Wrong version?
Bowdlerized?
Ads?
Flash player?
Monthly Charges?
Network outages?
Yet another Cable company equivalent amassing data on my prefs?
Bitrate?

Music just isn't that big a space hog these days, so there's no reason to not keep a big local pile of the stuff where you know where it is, you know how it's organized, and you can get at it in the order you want to get at it.

 

[maflynn]

Music just isn't that big a space hog these days, so there's no reason to not keep a big local pile of the stuff where you know where it is, you know how it's organized, and you can get at it in the order you want to get at it.

Because I don't have to spend my limited resources on something that is readily available for free (legally). I don't pay monthly for pandora, yes I put up with ads, but I do that for TV, and websites as well. Bit rate makes little difference to me, I enjoy the music regardless. As for the rest of your list, Its not important to me.

Given the falling sales of iTunes, and the increase of streaming services, I'd say consumers are thinking the same thing.

 

[Bending Pixels]

....and NPR is an authority because...?

 

[Jessica Lares]

....and NPR is an authority because...?

Really? NPR would be one of the most trusted sources you could read news from.

I don't stream either. I tried, and I just found that I kept myself within playlists and I still enjoy playing albums from 10 years ago on repeat. I will spend less money buying new music than I would subscribing to these services.

But I understand that it's continuing to be frustrating for people to buy music that they know they'll toss in the trash within a few months. And I know it's even harder for those who like discovering new stuff (I personally stopped caring for those outlets because of the longevity, sometimes you have to make hard decisions to keep the money in your pocket).

Apple knows there's a divide on this.

As for that guy making a deal about playlists based on songs... In iTunes 12 it's just a right-click and then you press the create playlist button in that list. You have to have Genius on.