During recession, Apple iTunes price hike
p2pnet news view Music:- In the midst of the recession, Apple has decided to increase its iTunes prices.
Not only but also, if we read a New York Times story correctly, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music are looking to Apple to save their —- rapidly failing businesses.
Apple is, “finally flipping the switch on what it calls ‘variable pricing’ and on,”what the music industry calls the last, best hope to turn around its rapidly declining fortunes,” says the NYT.
That means songs will, “now fall into one of three pricing tiers,” with many of the most popular tracks “commanding a 30% increase” from $1 to $1.30, says AppleInsider.
Apple will try to get 70 cents for some “older and less popular tracks are expected to fall to 69 cents, it says, but, “as of Tuesday morning, those cheaper songs were few and far between”.
Rather than trying to help its users out in financially troubled times, “Apple appears to have made price increases its first priority,” says the story, and iTunes tracks are now, “finally free of Apple’s proprietary Fairplay DRM, which restricted iTunes customers to playing protected songs only on their computers or on Apple devices like the iPod and iPhone,” says the NYT.
But, but, weren’t they already DRM-free?
Apparently not.
Back in 2007, Apple is now selling DRM-free EMI downloads, but it’s charging a whacking great $1.30 and for each one, p2pnet reported, going on:
“And as TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) quickly noted, although the hardcore DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control software is gone, Apple still sneakily has your account information, that`s to say your full name and account email, hidden in the tracks.”
Says Ars Technica at the time, “Apple embeds your account information in all songs sold on the store, not just DRM-free songs. Previously it wasn’t much of a big deal, since no one could imagine users sharing encrypted, DRMed content. But now that DRM-free music from Apple is on the loose, the hidden data is [sic] more significant …
Apple says iTunes tunes now come iTunes Plus, a version of its AAC format encoded at 256 kbps and which can be burned to CD, synced to “any AAC-enabled device,” and played on any Mac or Windows computers.
It doesn’t mention whether or not user data are still buried in the tracks.
Meanwhile, “Users cannot currently upgrade individual tracks or albums to iTunes Plus versions – they must upgrade everything at once,” says a more recent Ars Technica post, adding:
“This is not only annoying, it’s potentially expensive for people who may not be interested in upgrading some albums that they’re no longer interested in, but would like to upgrade some favorites.”
In other news of Apple ripping off users, “At the beginning of the worst economic recession the world has ever seen, Apple has decided to re-launch its shuffle music player,” said p2pnet, adding:
“For $80. Its excuse? This version is smaller.
“Does the company figure Macolytes are dumber (sorry, wealthier) than other people?”
Apparently, it does.
New York Times – Making Sense of New Prices on Apple`s iTunes, April 7, 2009
AppleInsider – Price hike hits Apple’s iTunes Store, April 7, 2009
p2pnet – User data in iTunes DRM-free tracks, June 1, 2007
Ars Technica – Apple hides account info in DRM-free music, too, May 30, 2007
Ars Technica - iTunes Plus launches DRM-free music to a crunch, upgrades not perfect, March 30, 2009
p2pnet - Apple`s teensy Recession Shuffle, March 11, 2009
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April 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I consider myself one of the Apple Mac faithful. However, this version of the shuffle will never be in this house and I predict it will sell VERY badly in comparison to their other models.
And for the record, even though I have owned 4 iPod models, I have NEVER bought a single music track or video from iTunes. Plenty of apps that support developers but not a single track that supports the cartels.
Not all of Apple’s business models are broken you know. Some inventive bedroom coders are a lot wealthier because of them.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
And Amazon’s price is going down!
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/19812
April 7th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Apple is, âfinally flipping the switch on what it calls âvariable pricingâ and on,âwhat the music industry calls the last, best hope to turn around its rapidly declining fortunes,â
Gee, I dunno about that……did you try maybe NOT TREATING YOUR CONSUMERS LIKE CRIMINALS???!!!!
April 8th, 2009 at 7:04 am
iTunes is the second biggest joke around. So-called “music lovers” (snigger) who purchase from iTunes are the first.
April 8th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Increasing prices will only lead to an increase in pirating…I am also a faithful Mac user, but I have never purchased from iTunes. And if the music industry thinks Apple can save them, they have another thing coming. Apple Music will just sink with them. Consumers are wiser and more resourceful…Pandora Radio is always out there! I found a video that takes many different media perspectives on this matter, the good, the bad and the honest. Form your own opinion.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/itunes_changes_its_tone/
April 9th, 2009 at 4:48 am
“In the midst of the recession, Apple has decided to increase its iTunes prices.”
Prepare for a shock: “Apple’s iTunes Store isn’t the only one that has adjusted prices for its digital song downloads recently: Changes are showing up at Amazon’s and Wal-Mart’s online music stores, too. [â¦] In an e-mail, Walmart.com spokesman Ravi Jariwala said the pricing adjustments are ‘reflective of new costs set by the music industry.’”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVwBy9E7oT5RMa4a_h-1RWD31DZQD97EI0200
As stated in the Newsy video, the labels have been pressuring Apple to raise the price for years and the company did not yield to the request. If it wasn’t for Apple, the price increases would have happened sooner. Four years ago, when Jobs called the music industry executives “greedy” after they requested a price hike, Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. responded that Apple’s one-price policy was unfair. “We want, and will insist upon having, variable pricing,” said Bronfman. “To have only one price point is not fair to our artists, and I dare say not appropriate to consumers.”
http://www.redherring.com/Home/13702
“â[Apple] doesnât mention whether or not user data are still buried in the tracks.”
The identifying information is “hidden in plain sight” in the Get Info window (ctrl-i), as has always been the case.
“Meanwhile, ‘Users cannot currently upgrade individual tracks or albums to iTunes Plus versions – they must upgrade everything at once,’ says a more recent Ars Technica post”
Try a yet more recent Ars Technica post.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/01/itunes-plus-drops-all-or-nothing-upgrades-goes-a-la-carte.ars
Reader’s Write Says: “I consider myself one of the Apple Mac faithful. However, this version of the shuffle will never be in this house and I predict it will sell VERY badly in comparison to their other models.”
It seems to be a bad call on your part.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/04/01/ipod_shuffle_sales_surge_50_as_ipod_touch_maintains_top_slot.html
September 19th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Attention Steve Jobs:
I just wanted to express my disappointment with your recent rate hikes on certain songs. I was always skeptical about online purchasing of music, but your trademark 99-cent cap is what won me over. Now that it seems you have thrown that out the window, I will no longer be purchasing music through your medium.
Instead I will be joining the masses disappointed I tune users back to Best Buy and other music stores that have managed to stay afloat. I would rather not stick around to watch 1.29 rise to 1.49 than to 1.89 and so on. I may end up paying a little more in the end but it comforts me greatly to know I have a physical hard copy in my possession that can not be accidentally erased or is extremely difficult to transfer to a new computer when your old system is dying out. For what its worth, I did enjoy the convenience of the download however my experience with digital downloading is over. I will attribute this to the greed of the Beatles and their feeling that their crumby old music is worth more than a buck. Itâs not.
Thank you,
David M