Warner Music now says iTunes is great, after months of decrying Apple’s iTunes business model. Why the switch? Maybe the music industry finally realizes that “resisting customer demand for digital content has ultimately backfired for labels, and instead has only led to more ‘illegal’ downloads which have in turn helped undermine CD and DVD sales.”
iTunes dominates the online music business. “First, Wal-Mart, the nation’s leading music retailer, announced that it has begun selling copy protection-free songs through its online music store. Separately, RealNetworks announced it is merging its Rhapsody music service with MTV’s Urge music store and Verizon Wireless’ V-Cast, which offers song downloads for mobile phones.”
“The launch of music tracks free of digital locks on iTunes has been overshadowed by the discovery that they contain data about who bought them. Some fear this data could be used to identify the owner of the tracks if they turn up on file-sharing sites.”
An online service provided by the University of Pennsylvania allows users to download recordings of the work of hundreds of poets past and present, free of charge. Included in the 10,000-strong collection of recordings are rare readings by Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, and the site has already registered more than 8 million downloads.
“Only a churl would now deny that iTunes covers the classical waterfront every bit as effectively as a terrestrial store, and for no more than the price of a CD, with regular special offers. What effect this will have on classical reception in the years ahead is one of the great conundra.”
To celebrate the cellist’s 80th birthday, EMI is releasing its entire cache of Rostropovich recordings on iTunes. “In addition to over 500 individual tracks, EMI is offering a discounted 80-track ‘Special Edition Bundle,’ a compilation that offers a musical snapshot of Rostropovich’s career. Fifty of the tracks are iTunes exclusives, taken from the 11 unavailable … Continue reading “Birthday Present – Rostropovich On iTunes”
“In a bold move against iTunes’ Digital Rights Management, called Fairplay, the Norwegian Consumer Council has deemed it illegal in Norway, with France and Germany possibly following suit.”
“The iTunes Music Store has a secret hiding in plain sight: Log out of your home account in the page’s upper-right corner, switch the country setting at the bottom of the page to Japan, and you’re dropped down a rabbit hole into a wonderland of great Japanese bands that you’ve never even heard of. And … Continue reading “Why iTunes Won’t Let You Hear Japan”
“Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed Apple’s iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.”
Apple is disputing a research claim that sales of iTunes music tracks were down 65 percent in the first half of 2006. “Research group Forrester said it was too soon to say whether its findings showed that buyers were ‘reaching their saturation level for digital music. Apple said the report is ‘simply incorrect’, but will … Continue reading “Is iTunes Losing Its Beat? (Claim: Sales Down 65 Percent)”
