When Apple claimed that it would be raising prices on its iTunes tracks to $1.29 for the most popular (but DRM free) songs the masses railed Apple for raising the price bar. It appears that Apple may have not been the reason for the price hike and that the music industry is to blame.Today the Amazon music store as well as Wal-Mart's music store have raised their prices as well. Amazon's music prices now range from 0.79 to a high of $1.29, while Walmart's span the range for .64 - $1.24.
While the stores do have lower pricing on some songs it goes without saying that nearly all the songs you will want to purchase will most likely be at the highest price point. Is DRM free really worth an extra .30 cents a song? That's up to the user to decide if they want to continue to purchase music or go back to torrents and limewire for all of their music needs.
But it all comes down to greed
Pull the other one!!! The music industry is just plain greedy NQAT. Do you honestly think that an industry, with it's business model still in the dark ages, does anything to genuinely benefit the customer with regard to pricing?
Discounts and price drops are not done as goodwill gestures, they are incentives to increase sales, therefore increasing income for the industry.
Seems to me that the music industry is turning the screw on the price of single song downloads to try and make up some of the ground lost on album sales. Maybe if more of the albums that are released were decent quality throughout (not just 1 or 2 songs) and sold at a sensible price , more people would still buy them.
But it all comes down to greed
Totally agreed.
I so agree to this, ****es me right off to buy an album to find it's crap barr the two to four songs that get released as the singles.
Same i can rip it myself and its already DRM free and the CD is a backup.
Same here.
That's not quite accurate. Sony had been putting a form of DRM on CDs for a short time until they got caught.
The Music Industry is just ****ed they can't sell us 1 good track for $12.99 while the other 12 or so tracks are so bad they could be used as a torture device. Ah, the good old days!
The Music Industry is just ****ed they can't sell us 1 good track for $12.99 while the other 12 or so tracks are so bad they could be used as a torture device. Ah, the good old days!
Well put...These days to make the same amount of money, they need 12 good songs, but with the current state of music, I would be surprised if artists can put together at least one decent song.
The Music Industry is just ****ed they can't sell us 1 good track for $12.99 while the other 12 or so tracks are so bad they could be used as a torture device. Ah, the good old days!
Well put...These days to make the same amount of money, they need 12 good songs, but with the current state of music, I would be surprised if artists can put together at least one decent song.
If music was truly that bad it wouldn't even be pirated.
Probably the same people who decided it was a bright idea to sue someone who didn't even have a computer for illegally downloading music.
We all know Amazon increased their price because the industry asked them too. Amazon loves us so much can't be greed on its part,
We all know Amazon increased their price because the industry asked them too. Amazon loves us so much can't be greed on its part,
Actually, the story, as reported here, was that Apple changed their pricing structure because the record industry insisted on it.
Even if the industry made it happen, Apple overpricing is more often true than not, lol.
They simply don't want to hear anyone say "We told you so."
We've known the industry's been preassuring apple for years to let them have variable prices. I just hoped the other stores would not fall =(
LOL!! I mention anti-Apple trolls, and guess who comes out from under his bridge? C_Guy, of course!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technolo...000/7987939.stm
Btw, what happened to Amazon's price war from yesterday. What a load of bull****
Yes, sometimes Neowin pwned themself. :-P
usually the " go back to piracy" usually is "stay pirate for a little longer" ;-)
I mean, by definition: The result of an unlawful agreement between manufacturers or dealers to set and maintain specified prices on typically competing products.
Is that not what's happening here?
I mean, by definition: The result of an unlawful agreement between manufacturers or dealers to set and maintain specified prices on typically competing products.
Is that not what's happening here?
I guess so but it would have to be demonstrated. It may not be a price-fixing case:
1) probably a "base price" is set by the music industry anyway
2) the rest of the price of the song can either be the result of an agreement or they match their prices to be able to compete.
I'm left with 48 tracks that have DRM from the iTunes store after converting the other ~1,200 to DRM free (or that were purchased without DRM in the first place).
Cirque du Soleil soundtrack for K� was available on iTunes (IIRC this was one of the few $12 albums) but has since vanished. Likewise Turisas has vanished from the iTunes store completely. I had picked up a few random tracks to sample their music before I saw them live in December -- I liked it but didn't want to order more DRM music so I held off finishing the albums. iTunes has dropped them and Amazon charges $2 for the tracks I want most. The total price of buying the music will end up being damn near double what I would have paid for the CDs had I been willing to wait in line after the show. None of the music stores in town carries their albums and they aren't touring near me either.
My understanding is that Amazon is also region locked based on credit card which makes it difficult for me to use them if they don't operate in Canada and I don't have a credit card in the UK.
My music library consists of nearly 5,000 songs purchased online from one store or another (not counting ripped stuff, fan mixes, etc). I'm not opposed to paying for music even at Apple's rates if the final product is good but they're making it really hard to justify staying 'legal'.
I live in a country where peer-to-peer downloading isn't illegal and where I can borrow CDs from my friends or the library and burn copies for myself.
If I'm being sent back to dealing with physical media in order to buy music then to hell with 'em: I'm not paying 10x more for the hassle. I'll see the bands I like in concert and download or burn their libraries until it stops being a complete pain in the ass.
it aint hurting me any and everyone else that's 'wise' in this area
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