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http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/04/19/itunes.review.at.1.year/

WP: Restrictions, pricing remain key iTunes turnoffs

updated 02:50 pm EDT, Mon April 19, 2004

 

iTunes review at 1 year


As the one-year anniversary of the iTunes Music Store approaches, The Washington Post says that , but that it stays ahead of offerings from Roxio, RealNetworks and Wal-Mart: "But the iTunes Music Store's success hides a couple of unsettling trends. One is pricing -- a lot of albums now exceed the store's customary $9.99 price, and a few even exceed their cost as CDs in a store. The other is compatibility -- though a variety of consumer-electronics devices could be made compatible with iTunes music files, the only one Apple permits is its own iPod digital-music player."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Person Man

    Professional Poster

    Joined: Jun 2001

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    04/19, 03:36pm | report spam | Reply |

    Pricing

    Pricing is still largely determined by the record labels, despite what they would have you believe, and whether individual tracks can be sold separately is definitely under the labels' control.

  1. ericdano

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    04/19, 03:38pm | report spam | Reply |

    Price

    Well, duh! Price exceeds the actual CD in the store. The only tunes I buy off iTunes are the ones I like. I have YET to purchase a whole album off iTunes.

  1. scotty321

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    04/19, 04:00pm | report spam | Reply |

    Apple will fail

    Apple will fail if they do not open the iTunes music store purchases to work on other devices besides the iPod. Period. There is no question about this.

  1. hayesk

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    04/19, 04:18pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: Apple will fail

    Yeah, they're really failing aren't they?

    The iTMS is only there to serve iPod and iTunes users. The competition and pundits (and you) still don't get this.

  1. trevc

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    04/19, 05:22pm | report spam | Reply |

    It's easy...


    I'd think it's EASY to add MP3, WMP, AAIF , etc., etc. comopatability to the iPOD. Isn't it the issue of making the DRM work with the other formats that's the real issue?

  1. Nostromo

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    04/19, 05:58pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: Apple will fail

    "Yeah, they're really failing aren't they?"

    You're fooling yourself if you think that Apple will ALWAYS be on top of the online music biz. Just because they lead now in NO WAY means that they always will. Remember the mid/late 80s? Apple was on top then, too. Then Microsoft marketed their S***** knockoff to Joe WalMart, and Apple was relegated to their 2% (which, sadly, is all they'll ever get, given their non-existant advertising for OS X).

    Every time I hear someone say "But why should Apple open it up...they have the NUMBER ONE player! They're ON TOP!" It reminds me of people who don't want to hear the truth and stick their fingers in their ears: "I can't hear you...la la la la la la....Apple will always be on top....la la la la la....I can't hear you!"

    Apple had better wake up, open up the iPod, open up the iTMS, and start advertising Macs and OS X to the masses, or else their vaunted music biz will have the same 2% marketshare as the rest of their business.

  1. FireWire

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

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    04/19, 06:05pm | report spam | Reply |

    and restriction..

    pricing is one thing, but what you can do with the file once you bought it is also very important. I'm not in the "apple will fail" camp or anything: what they offer is really good and still the best of its kind, but compared to the real CD, you pay more, and you,re more limited...

    in these conditions, I don't see the point of buying online at all, since it cost more and don't really "own" anything in exchange... You can just go to wal mart or if you can wait, order the CD online and rip it in unprotected AAC when it arrives..

    Don't get me wrong: I believe in the success of the iTMS but Apple shout not only outnumber their competitors but also the physical cd sales

  1. chas_m

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    Joined: Aug 2001

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    04/19, 07:06pm | report spam | Reply |

    $9.99 per album

    Apple should exert pressure on its partners to stick to the $9.99 per album* pricetag. Paying more for the electronic version than you would if you went to the store and purchased the physical CD is just wack.

    *single albums obviously

  1. adammull

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    04/19, 10:08pm | report spam | Reply |

    DUH

    Guys, this argument is null. Steve doesn't care about the whole world using his player, in fact, he prefers that they don't. If everyone drove a porsche it wouldn't be cool now would it? As I recall, wasn't Steve the highest paid CEO again on Forbes list? And isn't Apple highly profitable? Well if 2% makes you highly profitable then I would think they are happy. Profits aren't the mission, quality products are. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I MADE THIS ARGUMENT ON THESE FORUMS!!!! APPLE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT MARKETSHARE. In fact, to take more of the market they would have to lower prices and make some sort of box I would take a s*** on like a Dell or Gateway. Its only the idiots like Gates that won't stop until he controls everything. You who want the iTMS opened up are under his siren's song.

  1. slider

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

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    04/20, 01:46am | report spam | Reply |

    Doing OK so far

    Well, I to would think that Apple would benifit from opening up a bit, but they seem to know what they are doing. I honestly never thought Apple's iPod would take off when I first saw it, well, look at it now, and the iPod mini, also thought, like some many others, it was priced way too high, well, it's even exceeded Apples predictions. I can only hope, and so far this seems to be the case, Apple knows what it's doing. I am sure the lesson that many seem to have stated above is not lost on Apple. To be completely fair, none of us here knows what Apple has up it's sleeve. The real telling will be when M$ releases their service. The only one thing I think Apple should be doing right now is mass mailing their iTunes software to every home in the US and EU.

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