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"For the last six years, Apple has sold the vast majority of its music
through iTunes for 99 cents with DRM. It has been a winning strategy so far,
as Apple's iPods hold nearly 75% of the digital music market, and the iTunes
store has become the largest seller of music in the United States.

"But the music labels have bristled at the single price point, and some
consumers felt the DRM was too restrictive. This potentially opened the door
for digital music competitors like Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com, which sells
DRM-free music for multiple prices.

"But Schiller said starting today users can buy 8 million tracks without
DRM. This DRM-free music comes from the four major labels, and multiple
independent labels. By the end of the quarter, Apple said it will offer its
whole catalog of music, 10 million tracks, for sale without DRM. "

http://www.informationweek.com/news/..._Macin_mostpop

I wonder what excuse the pirates will use now for stealing music?

impossible wrote:
> "For the last six years, Apple has sold the vast majority of its music
> through iTunes for 99 cents with DRM. It has been a winning strategy so
> far, as Apple's iPods hold nearly 75% of the digital music market, and
> the iTunes store has become the largest seller of music in the United
> States.
>
> "But the music labels have bristled at the single price point, and some
> consumers felt the DRM was too restrictive. This potentially opened the
> door for digital music competitors like Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com, which
> sells DRM-free music for multiple prices.
>
> "But Schiller said starting today users can buy 8 million tracks without
> DRM. This DRM-free music comes from the four major labels, and multiple
> independent labels. By the end of the quarter, Apple said it will offer
> its whole catalog of music, 10 million tracks, for sale without DRM. "
>
> http://www.informationweek.com/news/..._Macin_mostpop
>
>
> I wonder what excuse the pirates will use now for stealing music?

Apple have priced the iTunes store at a such a high level as to
encourage piracy.

whoisthis wrote:
> In article <4964f087$>, EMB <> wrote:
>
>> impossible wrote:
>>>
>>> I wonder what excuse the pirates will use now for stealing music?
>> Apple have priced the iTunes store at a such a high level as to
>> encourage piracy.
>
> i.e. its not free, any price is too high.....

No.... it's far more efficient that the traditional music sales model
yet the pricing is no different, therefore it's a ripoff.

Most iTunes tracks are US99c. The average retail price of a CD in the
US appears to be about US$13 (a quick online survey), and most CDs have
about 13 tracks on them making the iTunes price comparable with the
traditional music distribution method. With all the increased
efficiency and reduced overheads of iTunes their pricing should be
significantly lower.

EMB wrote:

> No.... it's far more efficient that the traditional music sales model
> yet the pricing is no different, therefore it's a ripoff.
>
> Most iTunes tracks are US99c. The average retail price of a CD in the
> US appears to be about US$13 (a quick online survey), and most CDs have
> about 13 tracks on them making the iTunes price comparable with the
> traditional music distribution method. With all the increased
> efficiency and reduced overheads of iTunes their pricing should be
> significantly lower.

But you have increased usage in the license you get on itunes compared
with a pressed CD - surely that makes up for the saving in distribution
costs? Didnt think so...

But theres more issues, with CDs when they are not new anymore, they
become cheap at places like the warehouse etc - not happening in itunes...

whoisthis wrote:

>> But theres more issues, with CDs when they are not new anymore, they
>> become cheap at places like the warehouse etc - not happening in itunes...
>
> Not been Apples choice....

Yes it has, till now they have wanted the 99c only pricing to make it
simple.

whoisthis wrote:
>
> never mind the massive server farms, huge bandwidth requirements as well
> as billing systems. The of course there is the requirement for multiple
> redundancy, power supplied and aircon to keep it all cool.

Youtube manage to do it without charging a cent.