Apple’s iTunes Canada online
p2pnet.net News:- It’s amazing.
Even Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, is reporting that Apple has launched iTunes in Canada, ” bringing with it over 700,000 songs,” as if it’s a major event.
Seven hundred thousand songs. That sounds a lot – until you remember every day, on average somewhere between about six and almost eight million people are online at any given moment, sharing well over one billion files every month.
And their numbers are increasing, not diminishing, as the music industry would have you believe.
Because hype generated by the members of the Big Four record label cartel, and repeated verbatim by the mainstream media notwithstanding, the vast majority of Canadians, like the vast majority of online music lovers around the world, refuse to pay a dollar for a low-fi, low quality mp3 track which doesn’t even nearly represent what could, and should, be available from the music industry’s enormous catalogues.
An mp3 is fine for use on a portable mp3 player with headphones, or over computer speakers, but it’s no good for systems such as home stereos.
And yet music cartel members EMI, UMG, Sony-BMG and Warner, none of whom has a base in Canada, claim every time someone downloads an mp3, they’re being deprived of one or more CD / DVD sales.
The cartel has never been able to explain how a lossy mp3 track download equals a lost CD sale. And although by seriously stretching reality, it may just be possible to argue that a single high fidelity CD track might be worth 30 or 40 cents, say, there’s no way on earth an mp3 is worth more than a few pennies in Canada or anywhere else.
But Apple and the other corporate sites are charging a dollar or more for each download.
The cartel claims people who use the p2p networks to share music online are wreaking havoc with corporate music sales and causing terrible distress to artists.
But as Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, points out, a recent Economist article reported that an internal music-label study found that between two thirds and three quarters of recent sales declines had nothing to do with Internet music downloads.
He goes on, “In fact, perhaps the best evidence yet of the tenuous link between file sharing and music sales comes from the music industry’s performance following the Federal Court of Canada’s file sharing decision denying CRIA’s demand to disclose the identities of 29 alleged file sharers at the end of March of this year. Despite the dire predictions that the decision would decimate music sales, the six-month period following the decision saw CD unit sales jump by 12.4 per cent in Canada over the prior year.
“The good news does not end with rising music sales. The evidence suggests Canadian artists have scarcely been harmed by the reduced sales from 1999 to 2003 since royalty losses are fully compensated through the private copying levy.”
Apple, like all the other corporate music sites, is touting inferior, cookie-cutter cartel ‘product’ at exorbitant prices, and getting away with it. And it wants to do the same in Canada.
Its supplier, the cartel, is suing people in the US and elsewhere, and wants to sue Canadians.
But in Canada, it’s not illegal to distribute music online.
Apple’s markedly uneven pricing policies have become a scandal. It’s touting songs for 99 Canadian, which converts to about 83 cents US, 16% less than what US punters are forced to pay.
In Europe, most tracks cost 99 euro cents, about $1.31 US and a $1.56 Canadian.
In the UK, people are expected to fork out 79p, or $1.52, $1.81 Canadian.
In the meanwhile, Apple tries to claim most Canadians have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of iTunes.
It’s not even nearly true.
Yesterday, when you opened the site you saw a huge $C499 iPod boosting the American U2 promotion. And iMac G4s. And iMac g5s.
Today Apple has toned the site down and instead trumpets, “Now open: The iTunes Music Store for Canada”.
They must think it’s the Gold Rush all over again.
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See:-
music downloads – Big Music p2p stats don’t tally, p2pnet, November 29, 2004
suing people – RIAA sues more people, p2pnet, November 22, 2004
markedly uneven – Apple rip-off claims examined, p2pnet, November 22, 2004
December 3rd, 2004 at 10:31 pm
sharing a billion files a month, eh…
oh yeah.. great selection on p2p..
Jefferson Airplane.. look i can find 2 songs.. their two most popular ones.. somebody to love and white rabbit.. that’s what you get with p2p..
look the Nirvana box set.. i can steal it on p2p.. but it’s time consuming to try and search for and click on some 100-130 songs.. on iTunes i can download it with one click for $30.. how much is your time worth.. if you know what opportunity cost is.. it’s likely that saving an hour or more of mundane clicking and searching for a measly $30 is up your alley…
and once you buy a few songs, you get an iPod=D.. and now that you’ve got an ipod you’re locked into the iTMS (unless you wanna strip the DRM)=D.. apple’s share in both the iPod and the Store goes up..
p2p offers a pretty ghetto experience compared to iTunes.. p2p offers popular movies and popular music… with very little breadth
December 3rd, 2004 at 11:46 pm
only two? i found a bunch in about five seconds. thats what you get with p2p
December 4th, 2004 at 1:37 am
“The cartel has never been able to explain how a lossy mp3 track download equals a lost CD sale.”
Never mind explaining it; no one in the mainstream media is even asking the question.
All I ever read is how super-terrific iTMS is, what a deal, spend $9.99 on downloads vs. $15.99 for a real CD! No one mentions how iTunes sounds like ass compared to a real audio disc. Ignorance of the technology is to blame. And marketing.
December 4th, 2004 at 1:46 am
“i can steal it on p2p..”
Copyright infringement. Not theft. Copyright infringement.
“but it’s time consuming to try and search for and click on some 100-130 songs..”
It’s called an archive. Look into it. No wonder you don’t like P2P.
“on iTunes i can download it with one click for $30..”
Me too. For $0. And in Canada, it’s legal.
“how much is your time worth..”
Well, excuse me, Mr. My-time-is-soooooo-important! You’re posting messages to a P2P-related website. You can’t possibly be THAT busy.
December 4th, 2004 at 4:21 pm
Someone else with an Apple rfid implant
December 5th, 2004 at 10:58 pm
There are a few gaps in everyone’s arguments here – the most painfully obvious one is that yes, you’ve got a ‘lossy’ AAC file, but if nothing else compare an mp3 to an AAC rip’d at the same quality, the AAC has far more subtle and intricate replication of resonate bass and mid-range detail. Still not ideal, but an improvement.
Copyright infringement / stealing. The “big” bad nasty boogety-man “cartels”, as we all love to view them are getting ripped off. Whether you want to look at the argument “…but they’re ripping the artists, consumers and society/culture off in general” may lend you personal validity, but you’re stealing.
Theres no point getting uppity about – I steal daily too.
What no-one really seems that willing to state, and since we’re all making it personal: get some taste in music. The big labels pick the lowest common demoninator, market research the perception of listeners ‘taste’ and release crap as a result. Differentiate, look for something creative and new – not something that we’re just expected to love in a hit-driven market place.
I can’t find the majority of my most belov’d artists on p2p networks, but I also know when i visist the grass-roots sites where the owner of a record label is also doing the code for the site – i’m overjoyed to be able to access the music instantly and be able to pay direct to the artist.
Your attitude to file sharing isn’t wrong, the companies you insist on 1) using the products of and 2) bad mouthing at the same time… why don’t we all start doing something independent and creative? Instead of breaking the law and regurgitating so much of the same garbage?
December 6th, 2004 at 12:03 am
“…yes, you’ve got a ‘lossy’ AAC file, but if nothing else compare an mp3 to an AAC rip’d at the same quality, the AAC has far more subtle and intricate replication of resonate bass and mid-range detail. Still not ideal, but an improvement.”
Audiophiles suck. Don’t aspire to become one.
“Copyright infringement / stealing. The ‘big’ bad nasty boogety-man ‘cartels’, as we all love to view them are getting ripped off. Whether you want to look at the argument ‘…but they’re ripping the artists, consumers and society/culture off in general’ may lend you personal validity, but you’re stealing.”
It’s not stealing. It’s copyright infringement. Not stealing. The media has you well trained.
“Theres no point getting uppity about – I steal daily too.”
Wow, you rebel. I feel such a connection with you now. Maybe I should actually listen to your rambling. Oh, and see above re: “stealing”.
“What no-one really seems that willing to state, and since we’re all making it personal: get some taste in music. The big labels pick the lowest common demoninator, market research the perception of listeners ‘taste’ and release crap as a result. Differentiate, look for something creative and new – not something that we’re just expected to love in a hit-driven market place.”
OK, this I agree with! We’re friends again.
December 6th, 2004 at 12:50 am
I do believe you are looking in the wrong places.
Different p2p nets carry different categories.
For instance.. winmx is not a good service to find anime, kazaa is not a good service to find much of anything, and bit torrent trackers become even more exclusive.
If you cant find it on p2p i suggest your skill at using the internet is dubious at best.
As for the comments toward the end of your little diatribe, it makes me suggest that you are a mac user like myself.. i use mac because it offers a superior OS and its compatibility with various formats is superior to win/lin if you know where to find the plugins/codecs.
You however seem to blindly follow apple as if steve jobs were god. Figure it out.. theyre a company, dont praise them for perpetuating this delusion that DRM “works” or is desired/tolerated by the public. That perpetuation is how we get mandated DRM as part of digital standards, meaning headaches for anyone trying to fairly use their media.
December 6th, 2004 at 1:30 am
“Audiophiles suck. Don’t aspire to become one.”
I can’t afford an iPod, no risk of me custom building that ultimate audio setup, enough said on any attempts I may make to be an audiophile. I like to hear the detail in my music with decent reproduction on my equipment. AAC gives me that – more so than mp3. And considering I am a resident of Australia, with no iTMS access, this is all based on my own ripping efforts. All this “lossy mp3″ talk is great ‘n’ all (stick it to the man!), but how about functioning in the reality of the situation?
.99c is inflated for an online download, its a premium manufactured-materials price. I’d prefer to pay that (in some instances), than deal with the 20-odd% of p2p music files that are corrupt or faulty, or the other percentile ripped at 128kbps (or lower).
Copyright infringment does not equal stealing. I suppose thats based on what filter you choose to look at the argument through. Legally – sure, but in essence you’re depriving an artist all of a sliver a cent usually paid to the them by The Big Bad Labels per unit sold.
Sure, they tend to get screwed by the contracts offered, which makes the claim that they need all the support they can get arguably more valid. It’s easier to view it as Copyright Infringement, not stealing, mainly because its on the backs – at to the offense – of big corporation, not the poor sods at the end of the line.
So yes, that new Britney Spears track you just got for free was stolen – but she doesn’t need the money. Its hard not to conceed that some of the more minor artists ‘lucky’ enough to get contractually screwed by a big label are being damaged by file sharing. I’m playing devils advocate here – as I said, for the most part whats released is targeted at lowest common demoninator and not really what i spend time downloading, buying or stealing.
That said, big players in the entertainment industry are putting lack-luster efforts in to let technology redefine the marketplace, and will most probably continue to press on until they collapse under the pressure of newer business models for the distribution of copyrighted material. Hopefully the system/s that are starting from the bottom-up, not the other way round.
So look at me: a Monkey well trained by the media, jumping through hoops. So, any chance of some itelligent debate?
December 6th, 2004 at 5:49 pm
I really like the iTunes music store. I don’t really listen to music on my “home stereo” as I am rarely home. It’s all while driving or while at the gym or in between things. A lot of people are always on the go and want to listen to their favourite music everywhere. So why don’t I just download it through kazaa or other p2p file sharing network? It is, after all, legal in Canada to do so. Well, yes it is and the major issue I have is finding a *working* copy of what I want that I can actually download. I have tried p2p networks and there are a real lack of people willing to share. A song might have 50 sources, but I will be lucky to get 5. And those people are all running netlimiter or some other bandwidth limiting software because once they have the file, they don’t want their bandwidth taken up anymore and I don’t blame them. Some ISPs really come down on you for using too much bandwidth. Also, music files are often not what they say they are or they are broken due to RIAA’s effort in the US to break p2p network sharing by infiltrating and booby-trapping multi-host downloads with broken versions of the file. So the song I get works and then halfway through…static. It is much easier and more reliable to just pay a buck and get the song. If I want the whole album I would likely buy the CD. But if I want the album right now, I would go to the iTunes store and buy it online. I just rip everything to my HD anyway and move it to my iPod. Another thing about CDs…they have new copy protection and DRM on them that prevent copying/ripping of the songs on it. And yes there are ways around it, but they obviously don’t want you to do it…I don’t know. Everything is made to be so complicated these days. I’m no audiophile but I like music and listenting on my iPod is just fine for me and Apple’s store has enough quality that I enjoy the music.
July 12th, 2005 at 8:51 pm
this is a bit off-topic…
About stealing music, It seems ridiculous comparing to how we steal cheap labour from poor countries, how we exploit the poor, attack countries we don’t like, and let the poor suffer , pollute the earth, gobble resources, consume the earth to death, etc. etc. Somehow I don’t think the members of a rock band will starve to death because of this piracy. But music piracy on the net in all is typical of our western ideals. It’s free yeah, take it all, more, more, more, and I will sure be HAPPY. Your happiness is measured in how much stuff you are able to gather and consume. Downloading a lot of crap from the net is a excuse for feeding your brain constantly with “entertainment”, so to be in a semi hypnotized state of mind not to mind other more important stuff.
And about low quality mp3’s: Smoke a joint and it sounds MUCH better. Or go out in the forest. The birds sounds great live!