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Should iTunes 7.0.3 have subscription option?

Buschmaster said:
Don't they say that like 90% of people only download a few songs a month or less? It seems like I read that somewhere not too long ago.
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I wouldn't be surprised. Seems like most people just aren't very adventurous music listeners. Within the first month they'd download the 20 - 30 albums they've always wanted, and then after that they'd add a handful of current "popular" songs every month. To be pro-active about discovering new music (which is what's always touted as a main feature of music subscriptions) means downloading and listening to a lot of music that you end up not liking. I just don't believe most people are up for that.

Obviously, there are a lot of people who would take good advantage of an all-you-can-eat subscription (myself included), but I think the typical iPod owner would start feeling ripped off after a few months.
 
Flowbee said:
Obviously, there are a lot of people who would take good advantage of an all-you-can-eat subscription (myself included), but I think the typical iPod owner would start feeling ripped off after a few months.
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then they can cancel the subscription, its all about options.

PS, the music you buy from iTunes store are all DRM protected.
 
shunpike said:
cool - think i might well subscribe to napster and get alot of free music! :)

thank you 4 the tip!
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Unless I'm missing something this is still illegal. Not that that's my business, but you might as well just get them of lime-wire and save yourself the subscription fee.
 
clevin said:
then they can cancel the subscription, its all about options.
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...and lose all the music they downloaded at the start of their subscription. It's not an "option" that leaves customers feeling good about the service.

PS, the music you buy from iTunes store are all DRM protected.
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Um, thanks for that nugget of information. Where exactly did I imply otherwise? :confused: (and how is that relevant to this thread?)
 
Flowbee said:
...and lose all the music they downloaded at the start of their subscription. It's not an "option" that leaves customers feeling good about the service.


Um, thanks for that nugget of information. Where exactly did I imply otherwise? :confused: (and how is that relevant to this thread?)
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Alas, but there's tunebite to back up your sub files :)
 
Will the iPhone have a "protected clock"?

bit density said:
The problem is that the IPOD does not have a protected clock, which means that time dated DRM will never work.
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Thank you for pointing out the real issue. It is clear that without the "protected clock" subscription services will not be able to function.

Can you confirm that none of the iPod models have a protected clock as of yet?

Does anyone know if the new iPhone will have a protected clock?

Does anyone know if the iPhone will allow a user to access music subscription services or will it lock us into iTunes as we know it?
 
isjamp said:
Thank you for pointing out the real issue. It is clear that without the "protected clock" subscription services will not be able to function.

Can you confirm that none of the iPod models have a protected clock as of yet?

Does anyone know if the new iPhone will have a protected clock?


Does anyone know if the iPhone will allow a user to access music subscription services or will it lock us into iTunes as we know it?
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Anything is possible, but it is hard to to put in a protected clock, and who knows what kind of intellectual property surrounds this. It is clear that Apple made a bet, and seems to be successfully standing by the bet.

Loose DRM, that is not based on Ipod Playing. But rather the DRM is controlled on the computer, and that it is difficult to pirate songs from each other, and if you do it wrong it will erase all your music and you have to start over.

This model actually works really well economically, and for many/most users. But it doesn't support the subscription model.

But you do bring up a very interesting gadget model. One that I haven't seen anywhere. The idea of a gadget that uses the Cell/PCS network to connect from time to time. It doesn't have to have a phone. And you don't need a phone subscription really, that would be handled behind the scenes. But the idea that the gadget would from time to time use the cell network to do things like check the time and date would be interesting. It could allow all sorts of things to happen in the device like date based DRM. Time and Date time functionality. A wall clock you never have to set the time on. More if you actually let it make a call. Of course it would be limited in where it would function, but that may be ok today. There are very few customers where it won't work. Especially if all you are doing is getting a time/date stamp from the network.

So it is possible that the iphone could support a subscription model, and that may be leverage for non-phone ipods to do the same thing, especially those based on the Iphone base.

But I want the subscription model the most on my shuffle.
 
protected clock iPods and iPhone

Thank you for the answer Bit Density!

However I am a bit confused...

You state that: "it is hard to to put in a protected clock, and who knows what kind of intellectual property surrounds this."

Don't most other MP3 players, not iPods, have an internal protected clock so the music subscriptions can work on them?

Is the difficulty specific to the iPod's structure?

I apologize if the answer is right in front of my nose and I am just having some acute blindness!
 
I would be happy if CDs appeared in iTunes when I inserted them. So glad I updated to 7 :(


edit: Wow, talk about speedy response. Thanks for listening Apple, the 7.1 update fixed it, I can now see devices!

Now about my Apple TV . . .
 
adrianblaine said:
I would also love this option. Movies and TV are different than music. There is a reason you don't see music rental places. I've mentioned it before in previous posts, but how cool would it be to be able to rent movies/tv episodes from your couch through iTV or Front Row? Maybe renting movies would cannibalize movie purchases though. Who cares! (except the movie studios...) I would think the increase in renting would equal out to the same as just purchasing since more people would be willing to rent.
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Count me for another "would subscribe to a video subscription plan". As the iTMS movie library grows it could replace Netflix for me, if they start offering anamorphic widescreen content. The TV show catalog is already enough that I would probably get a subscription plan for it.

I assume, though, they'd have to limit it somehow, otherwise they would probably lose money... Unlike the traditional video/DVD rental business, the cost per "rental" is the same as a sale for Apple (they have to host and transmit the same file either way whereas the same DVD can be rented out several times with little or no additional cost) but a rental implies that you get some sort of discount.

I think the best plan would be to sell a fairly cheap service, say $10 per month or so, that included 4 movie "rentals" per month, and also gave you certain discount rates on TV show purchases. Maybe a couple free episodes per month, and then $1 off TV purchases after that, plus steeper discounts for buying complete seasons.

There's no way for Apple to compete with cable TV + decent DVR in selection for the price (cable $33 + tivo $13 per month and I get a massive selection of programing and the ability to watch it on demand and transfer it to my iPod, a DVD, etc), or Netflix for movies for that matter. Their best bet, imo, is to offer something that is a nice companion to regular TV/DVR/rental services that is priced really well for impulse buys, at least until they have a larger library and can push bandwidth and licensing costs down to where they can compete.
 
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