Because I'm not going to pay $13 for a CD and only use 2 or 3 songs off it. Thats just plain stupid. Also, I'd have to extract the songs off the CD, get the CD cover, and enter in the information into iTunes. If I buy off iTunes or Amazon, all of the above is done for me and I ONLY get the songs I want for the right price. I'm not concerned with the format ITMS songs come in or anything else. I'd put them into the same format anyways. Also, I don't want thousands of CDs kicking around my house either. And its illegal to just give the CD away and keep the songs I wanted on my Mac. Thats the same as just downloading the songs illegally.
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Sony BMG to Offer DRM-Free Music
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Because I'm not going to pay $13 for a CD and only use 2 or 3 songs off it. Thats just plain stupid. Also, I'd have to extract the songs off the CD, get the CD cover, and enter in the information into iTunes. If I buy off iTunes or Amazon, all of the above is done for me and I ONLY get the songs I want for the right price. I'm not concerned with the format ITMS songs come in or anything else. I'd put them into the same format anyways. Also, I don't want thousands of CDs kicking around my house either. And its illegal to just give the CD away and keep the songs I wanted on my Mac. Thats the same as just downloading the songs illegally.
All CDs are not the same price, so it would not be unheard of to sell tracks at different prices. However, the labels are not trying to sell some songs at $1.09, they are trying to sell them at $2.50 or $5. In the end, it is their product to sell, but as a consumer I'd rather pay less, so I support Apple.
I think labels are probably gonna give Amazon a year or so to establish itself as a viable competitor. However, if iTunes still holds on to a large marketshare, they may give up and start selling all of their songs DRM-free on iTunes at 99c. If iTunes start losing too much money and marketshare, Apple probably will give in. I am curious, who will blink first?
What I don't understand is how Amazon are any different to Apple?
They are just a distributor - who already have a near 'monopoly' on online CD sales and now the labels are going to help them become a dominate force in digital music sales.
Sounds like they've jumped out of the fire and into the frying pan to me.
Secondly, are they going to allow Apple to sell the same music DRM free - if not could that not be construed as deliberate and constructive anti-competitive collusion?
Talk about biting the hand that fed them.
They are just a distributor - who already have a near 'monopoly' on online CD sales and now the labels are going to help them become a dominate force in digital music sales.
Sounds like they've jumped out of the fire and into the frying pan to me.
Secondly, are they going to allow Apple to sell the same music DRM free - if not could that not be construed as deliberate and constructive anti-competitive collusion?
Talk about biting the hand that fed them.
They aren't, that I can see.
It's just another revenue stream driven by a new way to distribute the same content.
Also, Amazon sells a variety of PMPs (not just the iPod), so they no doubt hope that online music sales will help drive sales of their entire product category (some which may have better mark-ups the the iPod). Of course, if it also sells more iPods, I doubt they would lament that.
Gee...can I have your CD's before you throw them away?
I'll pay the postage
wish you said that before, i just threw away like 500 cds
Why do you enter the info by hand instead of letting iTunes download the info itself?
Lethal
Very new releases sometimes don't yet have their info entered.
Also, I buy a shedload of Japanese CDs and most of the data is in kanji/kana. I prefer to search via English, so I need to re-label them.
Apple dictates the pricing for the songs/albums. Amazon doesn't. The labels want to regain this control that was lost when iTMS began to dominate online music sales.
I totally agree here.
I love itunes as a music store, and have probably bought over 800 songs from it over the past few years. The interface is so user friendly, and the layout helps me discover bands I've never heard of before with their suggestions.
HOWEVER..if Amazon has a bigger selection of DRM free 256kbps encoded mp3's...sorry thats where I'm shopping. I've used Amazon before and have no complaints and love how it intergrates with my itunes library.
Lately I've been browsing using itunes, and buying from Amazon.
I haven't seen higher priced songs on Amazon, just lower. Again it seems as if the labels are so mad at Apple that they're shooting themselves in the foot to spite Apple... but just hurting themselves.
I like iTunes interface a lot, but eMusic helped me discover a lot more new music. It is not a replacement for iTunes, but for some reason eMusic's recommendations were more interesting. I don't have a subscription now, but the first couple of months was a lot of fun.
Why not? Because if you buy the CD you have to buy the whole album even if there's only one good song.
Because you have to drive to the store and pick up the CD, go through the effort of ripping etc., when you could have had instant gratification just buying it through iTunes.
And besides, the RIAA recently said that its stealing to rip your legally bought CD even for your own personal use!! So we're all criminals anyway, might as well get instant gratification for free from Limewire.
Awesome....I love anything that gives me more freedom. Go non-drm!
Buuuuut, not being exclusive to Amazon is really pissing me off. It makes me want to NOT buy it on Amazon. Yep, I'm an apple fan, so what.
I really hope Apple starts their own pseudo-record company with Jay-Z or whoever like rumors are saying. The new business plan that has been rumored would totally obliterate these record companies that are being partial towards one media outlet.
Oh man, would I love to see the look on their faces as one by one, the artists' contracts are up and they join up with Apple which will in turn benefit them (the artists) as well. And then we can have lossless (or near lossless)
Well...I can dream...but it might not be that far-fetched.
Buuuuut, not being exclusive to Amazon is really pissing me off. It makes me want to NOT buy it on Amazon. Yep, I'm an apple fan, so what.
I really hope Apple starts their own pseudo-record company with Jay-Z or whoever like rumors are saying. The new business plan that has been rumored would totally obliterate these record companies that are being partial towards one media outlet.
Oh man, would I love to see the look on their faces as one by one, the artists' contracts are up and they join up with Apple which will in turn benefit them (the artists) as well. And then we can have lossless (or near lossless)
Well...I can dream...but it might not be that far-fetched.
Maybe thats why the labels are so pissed at Apple. Maybe the rumor of Apple's own label is true after all. Why would they want to sell their songs through a store thats also a directly competitive label?
Variable pricing is the reason why the Labels are mad at Apple in the first place. The labels need to draw market share away from iTSM to regain pricing control. The lower price and DRM free on Amazon are the means to this. Once iTMS is out of the way, the labels will be in a position to institute the pricing changes that they originally requested of Apple.
In the end, neither side is good or bad, but this is business motivation behind the move.
I don't think so. mp3 or aac is plenty good enough. Everything is moving that way. Ever seen a lossless DVD? Doesn't exist. DVDs are mpeg encoded video. HD-DVD, that must be lossless? Nope, still mpeg compression just at a higher video resolution.
HD-Radio? Compressed.
Everything will be compressed in the future.
Audiophiles talk about the days of tube amplifiers etc. Whatever. There comes a point where the majority of the public thinks the quality is good enough. The priority becomes something else. In this case the convenience of being able to download and move around an mp3/aac file greatly outweighs a minuscule audio difference that most people can't notice anyway.
Their actions don't make sense from a business point of view with that explanation. Competing labels start all the time, why would they risk there own profits to stop the latest one? Especially in a way that would have no impact an Apple labels viability?
Besides, the labels have been pretty clear why they are mad, and it's pricing control.
Because this is no normal record label. I could see thousands and thousands of artists "switching" when their contracts are over. It's a totally different business model (the rumored one, mind you) than the traditional. And if I were BMG whatever I'd be shakin in my boots.
what?
What? Sharing songs with a spouse or kids presumably won't push the vast majority of users over the Apple's DRM limit for number of machines. I'm sure that there are some that do, but most households don't have over five computers.
Also, the DRM doesn't prevent them from easily using the songs in iLife's programs beyond iTunes or in Final Cut.
What? Sharing songs with a spouse or kids presumably won't push the vast majority of users over the Apple's DRM limit for number of machines. I'm sure that there are some that do, but most households don't have over five computers.
Also, the DRM doesn't prevent them from easily using the songs in iLife's programs beyond iTunes or in Final Cut.
I agree with this for the most part. I notice a huge difference between 128 encoding and 256 encoding, especially with high quality headphones, but as I start to listen up and up to lossless etc, I dont notice the difference as much..there is a difference, but just not as big to me. I write and record music so the quality of sound is very important to me, however the size of downloadable files is also important, as is whether the format is compatible with most media players.
The silent majority seems fine with 128 mp3's. I personally think 256 should be the minimum standard, especially given the price comparison between a physical CD and an downloadable album, where most of the time the prices are very close.
The vocal minority usually screams for FLAC or something. Listening is highly subjective though so to each his or her own.
If I have the choice, I will buy DRM free anything.
With the RIAA now claiming you can't rip CD's, I doubt I will be buying any CD's anymore.
With the RIAA now claiming you can't rip CD's, I doubt I will be buying any CD's anymore.
I agree that they need to be worried, however I don't think that the DRM move is related.
The reason I say this is because even if the label succeed and kill iTMS in favor of Amazon, Apple can just turn around and make a deal with Amazon.