Sony has not figured out 70/30 split is a lot better then the 0 they will get if they pull everything, and people just go back to downloading (stealing) music for free.
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Sony Hoping to Pull Music From iTunes Store If 'Music Unlimited' Service Succeeds
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Sony has not figured out 70/30 split is a lot better then the 0 they will get if they pull everything, and people just go back to downloading (stealing) music for free.
...and once again, it's the customer who suffers. I just don't understand why all these music companies can't just go with the flow. It seems like they have been fighting music downloads (paid or not) since it started. Piracy is going down - just accept the current system and build on it. iTunes is the only reason people are buying your music at all! Pulling your music from there is like a child pouting about not getting his way.
The "viable alternative" was Lala.com.
That gaping hole that it left when Apple bought them still isn't even remotely filled, over a year later. I have honestly only made 2 music purchases since Lala.com was shuttered, and one of those was direct-to-consumer deluxe package-type CDs from artists I actually KNOW in the real world.
The other was an AmazonMP3 album I never re-bought on CD that was on sale a couple months ago for $5.
Lala.com could have been tweaked slightly and been massively profitable. They spent 2 years doing constant updates to the interface and back-end, and by the time it was sold to Apple, things were really slick and amazing. The developers were responsive and thoughtful, and the catalog was huge enough that I never rarely found something I wanted to listen to that wasn't available. Apple has done more to impact my day-to-day life in a negative way by shutting down Lala.com than any other company has in my recent memory, and I will not forgive them. I may sound like a hypocrite to be typing this on a mac with two more at home, but I will NOT spend a single penny of my money on iTunes music or movies/tv ever again, and the only reason is Lala.com and how that buy-out was treated.
I guess everything is for sale.
That gaping hole that it left when Apple bought them still isn't even remotely filled, over a year later. I have honestly only made 2 music purchases since Lala.com was shuttered, and one of those was direct-to-consumer deluxe package-type CDs from artists I actually KNOW in the real world.
The other was an AmazonMP3 album I never re-bought on CD that was on sale a couple months ago for $5.
Lala.com could have been tweaked slightly and been massively profitable. They spent 2 years doing constant updates to the interface and back-end, and by the time it was sold to Apple, things were really slick and amazing. The developers were responsive and thoughtful, and the catalog was huge enough that I never rarely found something I wanted to listen to that wasn't available. Apple has done more to impact my day-to-day life in a negative way by shutting down Lala.com than any other company has in my recent memory, and I will not forgive them. I may sound like a hypocrite to be typing this on a mac with two more at home, but I will NOT spend a single penny of my money on iTunes music or movies/tv ever again, and the only reason is Lala.com and how that buy-out was treated.
I guess everything is for sale.
No. Music are being held ransom by the likes of Sony that is cherry picking method of distribution to limit customer's choice. Shame on you Sony. Sony really need to kick out their music execs (CD rootkits everyone?) that only hamper the technology side.
I hope artists under Sony label would realize that going away from iTunes is a disaster, and they would either go with a different label or publish their music direct to consumers.
I'm all for competition, but this isn't the kind that benefits the costumer/end user.
Sony adding it's own distribution channel is only awesome if Apple gets to keep reselling. If Sony sets up shop and then removes all other digital distribution, then the costumer will pay with inconvenience and likely with money.
Somehow I don't think Sony wants to keep Apple from selling music because they think Apple charges too much, and they want to charge less
Sony adding it's own distribution channel is only awesome if Apple gets to keep reselling. If Sony sets up shop and then removes all other digital distribution, then the costumer will pay with inconvenience and likely with money.
Somehow I don't think Sony wants to keep Apple from selling music because they think Apple charges too much, and they want to charge less
Being Held Ransom
I think everyone knows the real reason why the big music labels hate itunes - they are furious that they can't set their own (read: higher) prices.
And the 'being held ransom' part - if itunes hadn't been set up, all this music people are willingly paying for would be pirated, simple as that.
The greed is simply astounding.
I think everyone knows the real reason why the big music labels hate itunes - they are furious that they can't set their own (read: higher) prices.
And the 'being held ransom' part - if itunes hadn't been set up, all this music people are willingly paying for would be pirated, simple as that.
The greed is simply astounding.
I'm amazed how many companies are just oblivious to Apple's strategy.
iTunes doesn't make Apple money by selling 99¢ songs. It makes money by selling portable media players and iPhones. No company out there is going to successfully compete with Apple - or even make a measurable profit - simply by opening a music store.
iTunes doesn't make Apple money by selling 99¢ songs. It makes money by selling portable media players and iPhones. No company out there is going to successfully compete with Apple - or even make a measurable profit - simply by opening a music store.
I know that, but the sheer volume of artists that Sony is behind, Apple should be nervous of losing them.
Worst for Sony, they know it could have been them. Sony has excellent engineers and designers who could create amazing products, and they could have very easily competed with the iPod - but their management wouldn't let them. Their management was more interested in selling music, so the music players had to be locked down to some format that wasn't compatible with the rest of the world, and they were a right mess to use. Result: Nobody buys music players from Sony. Apple sells ten million every quarter and makes a lot more money just selling iPods than Sony can ever dream of making with music. By the way, Sony doesn't seem to sell anything that plays Audible books, so that would be a deal breaker.
And now they want to make it harder to get their music. But say there are 10 million songs for sale on iTMS. And Sony pulls 2 million songs. People aren't going to go to the Sony website, they are going to spend their money on the 8 million songs that are there.
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The advent of iTunes, with its pretty much universal library convinced me that having a legal* music collection was affordable and simple, and since I got my first iPod (a 1st Gen Nano, now long since retired) I have kept a legal music collection. If distributors start fragmenting the market, it will make it much harder/more expensive for me to maintain a legal collection, and the alternatives will seem much more attractive than they are right now.
* my iTunes library contains my entire CD collection ripped to it too. I am not clear (in the age of DMCA and international equivalents) whether this is technically legal or not. The difficulties with DeCSS of doing the equivalent to my DVD collection (so that I can watch my DVD collection on eg an iPad in the same way that I can listen to my CD collection on my iPod) suggest to me that certain forces don't want it to be legal (to make me buy it again). I don't share my files, but I do want to enjoy the content I bought on physical media on portable devices. To my mind, while this may not be legal, it is certainly morally and ethically reasonable.
* my iTunes library contains my entire CD collection ripped to it too. I am not clear (in the age of DMCA and international equivalents) whether this is technically legal or not. The difficulties with DeCSS of doing the equivalent to my DVD collection (so that I can watch my DVD collection on eg an iPad in the same way that I can listen to my CD collection on my iPod) suggest to me that certain forces don't want it to be legal (to make me buy it again). I don't share my files, but I do want to enjoy the content I bought on physical media on portable devices. To my mind, while this may not be legal, it is certainly morally and ethically reasonable.
seems like sony is still butthurt about apple not adopting bluray specifically.
Its only going to hurt Sony and their artists. idk a single person who purchases digital music anywhere other than itunes. sure there is amazon and walmart target, etc but really Apple kicked everyones ass with the iPod and iTunes, noone is going to sacrifice their iphones, ipods or ipads for a pile of **** software (read bloatware) with DRM'd content. no way.
thanks for the laugh today Sony.
Its only going to hurt Sony and their artists. idk a single person who purchases digital music anywhere other than itunes. sure there is amazon and walmart target, etc but really Apple kicked everyones ass with the iPod and iTunes, noone is going to sacrifice their iphones, ipods or ipads for a pile of **** software (read bloatware) with DRM'd content. no way.
thanks for the laugh today Sony.
Said by many. Well, SONY never ever came on board the Japan iTunes Store so don't be so sure. This is one of the reasons the Japan iTunes Store is so weak compared with the US or UK store.
The key to all this is "if it becomes successful". We'll have to see.
All the music labels are looking for ways to control their content more. It's not just against Apple, it's a move that would affect others too I'm sure.
Personally, shoot your distribution channel in the foot (i.e. Sony shooting iTunes or Amazon or others)... and you will loose.
Who wants to go shop 10 different stores for music and videos? That's the beauty of iTunes for the consumer.... of course, people like Sony don't like the competition and they need revenue, so why not cut out the middle man.
All the music labels are looking for ways to control their content more. It's not just against Apple, it's a move that would affect others too I'm sure.
Personally, shoot your distribution channel in the foot (i.e. Sony shooting iTunes or Amazon or others)... and you will loose.
Who wants to go shop 10 different stores for music and videos? That's the beauty of iTunes for the consumer.... of course, people like Sony don't like the competition and they need revenue, so why not cut out the middle man.
I think it's all about advertising. Like I KNOW that Amazon carries music, yet the first place that comes to my mind whenever I do wanna buy music is the iTunes store.. I never even bother to check Amazon not even just to see if they are cheaper.
This may change soon. First, people buy fewer and fewer iPods because every phone provides a music player nowadays. Secondly, Android phones may play a "reverse" halo effect. iPhone benefited from the iPod user numbers. Now Android players may become popular because more people have Android phones than iPhones.
I general, vertical integration is a bad thing. Let Amazon sell music. Let Sony and Apple manufacture phones and players.
They might wanna add up the money they have gotten since iTunes and iPod started vs. what they got back in the old napster days. They should also think about how a lot of the younger generation has been exposed to their back catalogue of great artists from the past like Cash and Dylan. I know that has happened in my household and i am sure that I'm not the only one.