10.17.07 - 10:40am
Apple has the largest online DRM free download music store in the world. It boasts over 2 million DRM free tracks called iTunes Plus tracks, and the prices on those tracks have just dropped from $1.29 to $.99.
Apple says this is not in response to competition such as Wal-Mart and Amazon posting DRM free tracks for .89 cents but rather just because. Apple’s Vice President of iTunes, Eddie Cue said in a statement, “”iTunes Plus has been incredibly popular with our customers and now we’re making it available at an even more affordable price.”
The songs should all be available as of today although the price change may take a little bit to flicker down through all the songs.
Apple has over 5 million songs in their iTunes store but a majority of them still have DRM copy protection and can only play on an iPod.
Category: itunes | Tags: drm-free-songs, itunes-plus, price-drop | Be the First to Comment »
10.15.07 - 11:36am
The big boys are battling and Doug Morris, Chief Executive of Universal Music, the largest music recording company in America, is taking on Steve Jobs and Apple’s iTunes rather vehemently.
Morris and Jobs used to be friends with Morris backing Jobs and iTunes all the way in the initial inception. Then the pricing wars started and Morris became upset with the pricing and marketing restrictions Jobs placed on Universal. Sources who spoke to Business Week said Morris, referring to Jobs ultra-control over the market and $.29 cents per song “indecent” revenue take, recently said at a meeting, ”We got rolled like a bunch of puppies.”
Morris is now fighting like a full grown dog and he is taking on Steve Jobs. His proposal is a music store owned by the industry called “Total Music”. He has already partnered with BMG Music on the deal and is reportedly in talks with Warner. Between the three they control 75% of the music recording industry.
Category: MP3 Players, apple, itunes | Tags: | Be the First to Comment »
09.26.07 - 04:54pm
We’ve heard about Amazon’s soon to be music store for months and it is finally here, proving to be everything iTunes but for less.
Amazon has decided to go straight DRM free, launching with over 2 million songs from Universal and EMI. All DRM free. Apple has some DRM free music from EMI but not from anyone else. Amazon was lucky enough to step in at the right time between the Apple and Universal feud and has secured Universals songs DRM free. If you buy the same songs on iTunes you are locked.
Amazon is also offering the tunes for less. 31 percent less, selling their DRM free songs for just .89 cents while iTunes DRM free songs cost $1.29. Along with that the varied pricing in Amazon lets them offer many albums for less than iTunes traditional 9.99 price, with many below $4.99. Some of course are more than iTunes $9.99 but those you can just buy from iTunes. (Ah, the wonderful world of competition.)
Category: itunes | Tags: amazon, itunes, mp3-music-downloads | Be the First to Comment »
09.25.07 - 04:02pm
Record labels are trying all sorts of ways to sell music in the new digital world and not involve iTunes whose policies on non-varied pricing is frustrating for the labels. Warner may have come up with one of the best solutions so far.
Sticking to the $9.99 iTunes per album price at least for the moment, Warner has decided to try an experiment using one of their hottest artists James Blunt and MySpace. The experiment allows the consumer to listen to the entire album, purchase if you like and recieve an instant download compatible with your iPod, and then get the CD through mail as well for no extra charge. All without leaving the MySpace web page.
Warner has tried to sell music through MySpace before but due to the DRM encodings they were not compatible with the iPod taking away 70 percent of the market right off the top, even with James Blunt’s 250,000 friends 30 percent just doesn’t quite cut it. Warner is excited about LaLa however, because not only do they play the tunes on your iPod and support the varied pricing but they also have a form of anti-piracy protection.
Category: itunes | Tags: itunes, james-blunt, myspace, warner | Be the First to Comment »
09.24.07 - 02:02pm
Starbuck signed a landmark deal with iTunes in which users of the iPhone or iTouch can download and preview the last ten songs Starbucks has been playing by simply clicking a button when they walk into the Starbucks store.
The launch of the service, called the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks, will take place October 2nd, but Starbucks is one upping the already much hyped launch by adding 50 million free downloads to be given away to their customers.
Customers will receive their “free song of the day” download card with their cup of coffee. Songs will be from 37 artists that are signed on the Starbucks’ Music Label. Included are artists Paul McCartney, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, KT Tunstall, John Legend, Annie Lennox, Joni Mitchell, Keith Urban, Paul McCartney, Sia, Band of Horses, Hilary McRae, Federico Aubele and Sara Bareilles. “Joker Man” by Bob Dylan will be the first song available at launch.
Category: itunes | Tags: free-itunes, starbucks, wi-fi-music-store | Be the First to Comment »
09.21.07 - 03:19pm
Fox has decided that not only will they stay with iTunes but they will start the new fall season off by offering some of their shows for free.
Basically, Fox is trying to promote their shows in the hopes that more people will then be exposed to the shows and will in the end create higher ratings.
The free shows can be viewed starting next week and will include episodes of “Prison Break”, Bones, American Dad and K-Ville.
Fox, along with all the other TV executives are trying to find a way to appeal to the new viewers attitude of “watch, when I want to watch”, and somehow still make money. Whether or not to simply sell the downloads of offer them free with advertisements is one of their biggest questions.
Category: itunes | Tags: fox, free-shows, itunes | Be the First to Comment »
09.20.07 - 01:34pm
NBC pulled its shows from iTunes in a much heated dispute over pricing just a short time ago. Now, in a complete turnaround they are offering their shows, not for the $4.99 they wanted to charge on iTunes, but for free.
It seems to be a similar move that Universal pulled, when they didn’t renew their contract due to non-flexible pricing and then announced they would be allowing their songs to be downloaded at .99 cents, DRM free, with rival companies.
NBC is offering the free downloads as a way to promote their new service called “NBC Direct”. The catch on the free shows are that they are DRM coded to play for only for a week after the show has aired. The download also has embedded advertising the watcher cannot skip.
“With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment,” said Vivi Zigler, executive vice president of NBC Digital Entertainment.
Category: itunes | Tags: apple, itunes, nbc | Be the First to Comment »
09.19.07 - 09:03am
Itunes is always the one that any new music download launch site is automatically compared to, with the question always attached; Can it win?
The launch of SpiralFrog is no different and the question of “Can it win?” may already be over, for none of SpiralFrogs music can be played on an iPod. This already severely limits SpiralFrogs consumers. Over 70 percent of the people who have an MP3 player have an iPod and love it. If they can’t play SpiralFrogs music they won’t even be interested in looking over the site.
That said, the other 30 percent of the consumers out there may love SpiralFrog. It’s free for one. It has an impressive 770,000 songs and 3,500 music videos from Universal, INgrooves and other independent labels. There is no cost to download the music and play it on your MP3 player but the catch is it is DRM encoded. If you don’t go back to the site within a month and re-register the music will quit playing. It also cannot be downloaded and played on a CD.
Category: MP3 Players, itunes | Tags: | Be the First to Comment »
09.14.07 - 10:38am
Apple has provided hints at another new service that may be coming soon - that of month long movie rentals.
The hints have been found in the problem reporting page where references to “RentalMovie” have been found alongside “Movies” and “Ringtones”. It is where the consumer informs Apple if they have not received the download or if the quality is bad.
Apple reportedly has been in talks with Disney and the major Hollywood Studios to allow movie rentals for $2.99 for a month, at which time the download would expire.
The service is something many consumers are hoping for and it seems a likely service, especially as it would boost Apple TV. The rentals could also mean a large increase in the number of films offered on iTunes. The major studios have not wanted to sell their films on iTunes at what they consider to be too small of a price but they may be willing to rent them and still sell them for their higher prices on DVD.
Category: apple, itunes | Tags: apple, itunes, movie-rentals | Be the First to Comment »
09.10.07 - 03:36pm
At least over a PC, (sorry not for free downloading on your iPod), but with dot.tunes you can post your iTunes to your MySpace page, stream tracks to your website with a custom flash player, and publish any number of artists, albums playlist, even your entire iTunes library if you wish.
Basically, your friends can now listen to the music you have, from clear across the country. (No more, can I borrow that CD?)
Through the free service you can even distribute your audio and video creations to iTune users with on-click podcasting.
All you have to do is download and install the dot.tunes program. The program is loaded with multiple layers of Ajax security, so no need to worry about virus’s attacking.
With a password you can let your friends listen to your music and block out any users you don’t want to be able to listen - (Mr. Ex - You are sooo blocked!).
Category: itunes | Tags: dot.tunes, iPhone, itunes | Be the First to Comment »
