Apple ITunes Stays at 99 Cents a Song
In a victory over Big Music and their suicidal tendencies, Apple has secured contracts that keep their download price at 99 cents a song. Check out this playlist article I'll now quote:
You go, Universal. This almost makes up for The Last Temptation of Christ. I like the part where the music companies think that 99 cents is too little to pay for "High Demand" music. What exactly would that be, I ask? If music is really that "High Demand," it'll be traded from free sources. I also like Apple calling them greedy, which is technically true -- but Apple's also greedy. Apple makes more money if it gets more sales, and nobody's going to pay more than 99 cents a song. Steve Jobs knows this. Doesn't Big Music think that he knows this?
I really like Big Music's assertion that customers would pay more...it's economics in action. Too bad they don't even know their market. If they realized that more and more people expect their music to be cheap and free, they would plan accordingly. As it is, the dinosaur is trying to squeeze a few more drops of juice from the life-giving carcass we call the Rock Star/Big Music model. Out with the old, and in with the Indie Model with the Long Tail, I say.
My personal opinion on this issue was formed by my purchase of a couple Sony/EMI cd's with DRM technology, which rendered them completely worthless to me. And that's not even counting the ones that put a virus on my wife's poor computer (a virus that was persistent and near-impossible to destroy, I might add).
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the way of the future in the USA, and the only way we can compete, is in small business. There comes a point where a business grows so big they can't make money legitimately anymore -- we see it not only with Wal-mart, but also with merging banks, merging power companies, Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Music, Big this-and-that. We need to pass laws that enable smaller, better, more flexible and less powerful businesses to succeed. Then our children might live in a world where they can only work one job because oil is plentiful, music is cheap, and wealth is distributed nicely to those that work hard. Also, Paris Hilton is in jail for inappropriate use of fame.
We can make this happen, people. Frequent a small business today. Put Paris in jail.
Executives at Warner, EMI and Sony have expressed their dissatisfaction with iTunes’ pricing structure in recent months, and have suggested that consumers would be willing to pay more for high-demand music. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has responded by calling them “greedy.” Universal, for its part seems content to let the market evolve for the moment.
You go, Universal. This almost makes up for The Last Temptation of Christ. I like the part where the music companies think that 99 cents is too little to pay for "High Demand" music. What exactly would that be, I ask? If music is really that "High Demand," it'll be traded from free sources. I also like Apple calling them greedy, which is technically true -- but Apple's also greedy. Apple makes more money if it gets more sales, and nobody's going to pay more than 99 cents a song. Steve Jobs knows this. Doesn't Big Music think that he knows this?
I really like Big Music's assertion that customers would pay more...it's economics in action. Too bad they don't even know their market. If they realized that more and more people expect their music to be cheap and free, they would plan accordingly. As it is, the dinosaur is trying to squeeze a few more drops of juice from the life-giving carcass we call the Rock Star/Big Music model. Out with the old, and in with the Indie Model with the Long Tail, I say.
My personal opinion on this issue was formed by my purchase of a couple Sony/EMI cd's with DRM technology, which rendered them completely worthless to me. And that's not even counting the ones that put a virus on my wife's poor computer (a virus that was persistent and near-impossible to destroy, I might add).
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the way of the future in the USA, and the only way we can compete, is in small business. There comes a point where a business grows so big they can't make money legitimately anymore -- we see it not only with Wal-mart, but also with merging banks, merging power companies, Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Music, Big this-and-that. We need to pass laws that enable smaller, better, more flexible and less powerful businesses to succeed. Then our children might live in a world where they can only work one job because oil is plentiful, music is cheap, and wealth is distributed nicely to those that work hard. Also, Paris Hilton is in jail for inappropriate use of fame.
We can make this happen, people. Frequent a small business today. Put Paris in jail.
posted by Mike Pape @ 6:11 AM
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