Aug 29

iTunes Is Dead?!?

Every time I see music for sale as individual MP3 tracks, something makes me scream. Just a scream of anger, nothing to tell you about, apart from the reason. Why in the world pay about $10 for the tracks of a album, when you can get the CD for less than 2 times more? I don't have to add anything about the huge difference in sound quality, and the fact that you also get a nice package to keep around, and rip for any media player you own as you wish, instead of messing with those DRM-protected tracks...

I don't want to see iTunes disappearing from the market, since I don't have anything against it, as long as there's the CD alternative, but when I see opinions saying that album sales can bring higher profits than online music sales, something makes me think those guys missed their math and logic classes!

According to The Wall Street Journal, record labels have a problem with $0.99 audio tracks sold on iTunes:

"Apple isn’t willing to sell songs for more than 99 cents. Most record labels see higher prices as critical to increasing revenue. But no other online music store has been able to mount a serious challenge to iTunes. Apple keeps about 30% of the price of each music sale, whether it’s a 99-cent track or a $10 album, according to people in the music industry. Apple has said it makes little profit from iTunes because of the costs of running the online store.

Irving Azoff, the manager of numerous high-profile acts including the Eagles, says that a few years ago he presented the band with a financial analysis showing that their royalties to date from iTunes sales were far lower than anyone expected."

So...30% out of $0.99 would be about $0.33, leaving a profit of $0.66. A band could simply record an album, release 1000 CDs, and then put the tracks for sale on iTunes. Anyway, concerts bring a lot of money for most bands, and once you start selling CDs, what's the cost of placing the tracks on iTunes? No cost!

Here's a part that's extremely funny - "Shunning iTunes carries risks for the labels. Not only is it the biggest force in music sales, but keeping songs off the service could prompt listeners to look for illegal downloads instead. In addition, customers have demonstrated a clear preference for buying singles instead of entire albums. Only in a few cases have record labels been able to boost album sales over those of individual songs."

I always considered buying full albums, and win singles during various contests/promotions...but since I am one of my kind, as it seems from the WSJ article, I ask for your help - what do you think about this whole deal?

One last thing - if you wondered about the picture with AC/DC, here's the answer to that question - AC/DC is one of those bands that didn't license a single song to iTunes. If you're into their music, or "if you would be into their music," what would you do when next album comes up? Look for it on Pirate Bay or another illegal source, or simply buy the CD?