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RealNetworks Slashes Song Prices

Zealotry

padrino121 said:
I've used, administered, developed on OSX, BSD, Linux, Solaris, and Windows and have had experience will the zealots of each platform. It's amazing how all of the Apple zealots sound just like the Windows ones you trash all of the time. In the end you are all alike, just behind what each considers a winning solution.
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Really, that's true of zealots of any stripe. Christian or Muslim, liberal or conservative, Mac or Windows, and so on. It's pretty amusing that few zealots ever figure themselves guilty of the same traits they accuse the other side of possessing; they're always the ones in the right in whatever Crusade they've chosen a side in. :rolleyes:
 
aldo said:
Oh, so you have insider information? How do you know they haven't struck a deal with the record companies to get songs at say, 49c. They could sell them at cost, losing a few cents for download bandwidth but they can make that up in the other stuff they sell.
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They actually said they expected to loose money this quarter because of thier promotions. (loosing upwards of 5c a share)

Remember, they _asked_ Apple multiple times and were turned down.
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Actually, they threatened to partner with MS if steve didn't talk to glasser about an alliance; they didn't ask, it was an demand. You don't threaten someone with going to thier enemy of you want to be your friend!
 
Open it up !

Real's procedure is certainly open to criticism but I think the iPod should reflect what Apple has been preaching about for some time now : open standards and better interoperability with others. The bottom line is that the customer doesn't care where the songs come from and what format they are.

I'm afraid to say that Apple is very arrogant about iTMS. The iPod is great but the hype and interest in such devices will wear off eventually and Apple could have a hard time keeping the pace up at this level and find itself in the same "back to the wall" situation Real is in right now. Maybe they should try and make some money by licensing the technology instead of insisting on the current business model.

Just a thought
 
It'll be a flop anyway, so let Real make a total ass of itself.

I think most people will continue to buy music from iTunes, Real will maybe take a fraction of what Napster or other download services take. People are already used to using iTunes; Real's service is probably difficult to use (if it's anything like their crummy player).

.narco
 
Only Temporary Sale

The news I saw on another site indicated this would just be a temporary sale price to gain attention. Real's prices will go back to the regular $0.99 after the sale is over. :rolleyes:
 
jaison13 said:
if there is no real legal action apple can take, then i guess it's bad for apple but great for consumers because a price war will be around the corner.
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even if there is no legal recourse for them they still control the standard and the iPod, all they have to do is change it and let us all update our iPods, breaking the real networks hack and rendering the cheap songs they sell useless.
 
I don't really care. When we get iTMS Norway I will buy from Apple anyway.

If Real actually had a license for Fairplay so that I could be sure that the songs wouldn't just stop working at some point AND if Apple was charging overprice (like Microsoft for Windows) then I might consider buying from Real.

Apart from that I will be happy to be in a closed system were everything just works.
 
aldo said:
But the iPod is a short-term 'craze'. It won't be around as big as it is now for much longer. Apple knows that, and that's why they need the lock-in - they want to control the millions of iPod user's song choice when it comes to downloads. If they licence it, they may sell a few more iPods now and again but in the end, they need the recurring revenue of iTMS.
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Exactly. The ipod is the money maker now. It really doesn't matter in the short-term what DRM format the ipod uses. If the ipod played Fairplay and WMP then that would sell the most ipods. So why doesn't Apple do it? Because control of the future DRM matters more. Controlling the market leading DRM means little now as the iTMS has little real value at the moment - controlling it and maintaining it's no 1 position is important for the future. DRM isn't going away - even if you want it to and having Apple control the no 1 system is obviously better for Mac users than either Real or Microsoft controlling it. One day the iTMS (or what follows it) will make a lot of money....and Apple knows it.
 
-Every non-CD player I see in the street is an iPod
-Random non-music non-Apple people I know speak of iPod
-More people use iTMS in the UK than any other legal service by a very big margin.

None of the above will last forever, but selling cheap songs is not going to change any of the above, or the current financial dificulties of Real. I pity the fools...
 
I think this is pretty cool. The real music store isn't that bad. And if I can get legal music for cheaper that is fantastic. The funny part is that Real isn't even going to win. Because we all know they are losing money on these songs. The record companys get like 70 cents from every song downloaded. So they have to pay 20 cents for every song downloaded. Also... even if this does create more of a customer base, once they raise the price again.... who would want to buy?

But hey I like the idea of opening up the iPod. Or at least opening up AAC fairplay to other online music stores.
 
To all you Real bashers

I really think some people on this thread have really got no brains if they don't use that thing in there called memory!

Was the iPod immediately available for windows? NO!
Was iTunes immediately available for PC? No!
Is Rhapsody immediately available for Mac? No.

Some people could even argue that some people here do NOT think before they speak!

Krohde
 
aldo said:
HAHAHA. Please. Stop it.

You are actually complaining that Real is giving Apple some 'real' competition and therefore will force Apple to drive down their own prices?
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im not complaining about competition. all im saying is that 99 cents per track is ok by me, and anyone who cant afford that needs a new job or go into audiophyle rehab. 99cents per track is NOT breaking the bank. if it is, good luck to you.
 
Of course Real can afford all of this!

Real have been assured by a very, very large software company that they wont go broke.

In fact this whole campaign is probably the idea of this large and very rich company - or it was a joint effort.

Did anybody think that this large, rich company was going to allow any other company to get the upper hand in any area that it's interested in.

This is just the first of many dirty tricks we're going to see.
 
The idea that Real are doing this just to get at Apple wouldnt wash with shareholders who have elected a CEO to generate returns on their investment, not do over Steve Jobs.


To Mac zealots, it isnt justified to villify Real for taking a loss on 49c sales. You dont know what their marketing plan for this promo is, or what their long term aims are. Apple were losing money from day one of launching the Music Store and taken on its own, the store was initially a financial bad joke ie no sensible businessman launches a store with the aim of making a couple of cents for the kudos of providing the best music service in town. But there was more to Apple's strategy than just a store, ie it was a trojan horse for the iPod. So, I dont know what Real's game is, it might be clever it might not, but they are perfectly justified diverting their marketing budget or whatever for subsidising tracks by 50 cents instead of just sticking the money in expensive ads on TV etc.

I actually think Apple are rubbing their little mits together. If Reals "iPod compatible" store bombs because it is so unslick compared to ITMS, then Jobs can say I told you so, announce another 100,000 tracks or free iPods or something to rub it into Real and do something with iPod to stop the Harmony deal from working. If Real pull it off and provide a genuine competitor for the Music Store, then Jobs says thanks to Real for paying for all the bandwidth on tracks Apple was going to make a few cents on, and Apple quietly cranks up production on high profit ipods for the Real converts coming from PC land.

It pays Apple to be the smartest leader of the pack with $5bn in the bank, because theoretically they can outdo anyone following behind. And Real are following behind nicely.
 
Was the iPod immediately available for windows? NO!
Was iTunes immediately available for PC? No!
Is Rhapsody immediately available for Mac? No.
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Did Apple start a website sprouting FUD about a competitor endorsed by questionable aging rockers? No!

Did Apple fill your machine with spyware and commercials? No!

Did Steve ever refer to himself as ROCK ON JOBS? No!
 
Does iTunes or iPod software automatically update on PCs? It doesn't on Macs.

If not, what's to stop someone from simply not downloading the inevitable update from Apple breaking Real's format?

If Apple also upgrades the store so that you have to use new version of iTunes/iPod software, wouldn't that just convince people curious about Real that they should abandon iTunes? If Apple's gonna mess with my music, I'm not going to buy from them anymore. PC users are not generally Apple fans—they may be iTunes or iPod fans, but not Apple fans.

If Windows XP SP2 had broken PC users' ability to use iTunes/iPod, would Apple have been angry? You bet. Or how about this: when their music store finally comes online, why shouldn't Microsoft break iTunes/iPod in Windows since it will be competing with their own store? Will Apple say, "Well, it is their OS and their music store after all."

I don't like Real one iota, but why shouldn't they be allowed to sell iPod-compatible songs? Apple should compete with them, like by having the biggest catalogue (which they do) and best-designed, easiest-to-use store store (which they do). The only problem I see with Real's store itself is that it's not available for Macs yet. And I certainly don't think Apple's behavior will encourage a Mac version anytime soon.

Please don't make the same mistake you made with computers, Apple. Don't become a closed system, or else even clearly inferior stores will eventually overtake you and iPod sales may drop from bad publicity or because people just won't know if and when Apple will try to stop them from choosing where they buy music.

I'm not sure we want to find out the answer to the question "Do I want an expensive/good/cool player that only works with iTunes or a cheaper/less cool player but one which works just about every store except iTunes?"
 
Wonder Boy said:
cheaper prices? if someone can't afford a dollar a song or 9.99 for a cd then they shouldn't be wasting $ on music.
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Thats about the dumbest thing I have heard in awhile...if you would rather pay more for music - go right ahead. But I'd rather see all music downloads come down to Real's price, and get more music.
 
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