To the mainstream consumer, the recently launched iTunes LP’s are nothing more than a weak grab at our dollars by big labels who are still trying to sustain an old business model and market on a wholly new technology (digital platform). If you think the few extra bucks we have to shell out for one of these special “albums” is bad, just think how labels feel after shelling out $10,000 per album LP. Ouch. $10,000 for a few extra songs and some colorful pages? No thanks.
Even worse, bands who could truly benefit from this added value, indie artists/labels are out of luck as Apple is currently barring said individuals form taking part in this new musical wave of awesomeness. Just some brain food to chew on and stimulate pondering as you begin your weekend…
Engadget
Image Source
- September 18, 2009 7:14 am
Time to c-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e. Those of you who love gadgetry and electronics but are having a small problem figuring out how to rip all of those CD’s you have now have a new friend in the Geek Squad. Ok, in reality, if you can’t rip a CD, you probably are damn near close to being illiterate too. The only people I can think of that are unable to do such a basic task as ripping CD’s and transferring to a mobile device are those that are either of senior citizen status, or those of who live under a rock. Am I surprised that Geek Squad is now offering such a service? Yes! But not in the way you’re probably thinking. I’m surprised it took them this long to charge for such a service. Anyone else surprised, confused, willing to waste an entire dollar of your hard earned cash to try it out?
Source: Consumerist
Many companies in corporate America spend a lifetime fighting to get to that upper eschelon, the elite section where multi-billion dollar companies hang out and do business. eMusic was a favorite by many indie music fans for the low prices, great feature set, and lack of any major music labels. It seems greed is again the downfall of the great. In record time, eMusic has gone from a much loved company to one that is quickly becoming one of the most hated. So what exactly is the new low eMobile has stooped to?
It used to be in the good ‘ol days (read: the last couple of years) if you like online music free of cancer (again…read: DRM), as well as indie music, eMusic was your one stop shop. They were the pioneers of DRM free music long before other larger online music stores followed suit. Even though eMusic wasn’t as big as other online music stores, the customers agian loved the large selection of indie music as well as lower priced DRM free music. Apparently eMusic no longer cares about their audience as they have pulled Sony on board and raised prices – two things that are in fact pissing off a lot of users. While the two incidents may not be involved, announcing the two events together will forever merge them, no matter how hard either companies PR team denies. While we all know how anti-consumer and asinine Sony can be, do you think we are beginning to see a rougher image of eMusic starting to appear? How would you have handled the situation? Would you have announced the new changes separately? Or would you have told Sony to F off all together?
Source: http://techdirt.com/articles/20090602/2250355103.shtml
**Source: Tech Dirt
If you were a fan of Napster of years past, this article is not for you. Re-emerging after their epic court battle and shut down has created a leaner and not quite as mean online music retailer. Looking to shake things up a bit and get back into the game, Napster is introducing subscription based option for a mere $5! On top of the very attractive low price, you will now also be able to keep 5 “CD quality” tracks per month as an added bonus. There is however one catch. The subscription and the accompanying $5 only gives you unlimited access to the 7 million+ library by means of streaming, not downloading. Bummer. If you were looking to use it much the same as many other subscription based options where you can download songs and take them with you, disappointment will fill you heart, sorry. Looks like you’ll have to pony up some more dough in order to get those tracks onto your own devices. Still, $5 isn’t that much. Personally I would much rather “own” (a term in the digital age that is constantly getting translated to “rent”) my music than rent it. But that’s just me, for some, the subscription method is the way to go. To each his own.
Source: Engadget
*Image property of NotEvilMusic*
Tack this on the board of irony that we all have stashed away in our rooms. A study by BI Norwegian School of Management has come up with some surprising data about piracy, who downloads it, and why they are the music labels’ best friends – as in Torrent users are 10x more likely to pay for music than non-torrent users. What?! This would certainly be a big hole in music labels’ and other anti-piracy lawsuits who keep pushing the idea home that pirates are the reason no one pays for music anymore. Apparently that isn’t true. Head on over to the *translated* page and have a looksie for yourself. So does this change your view either favorably or not on digital pirates? Will piracy lawsuits around the world now crumble as the prosecution is now destoryed? Probably not, but it’s nice to dream about. *Bonus Challenge* – if you’re feeling really adventerous (or happen to know Norwegian), view the web pages in their original language and see if you can’t gleen a few more details eh?
Source: Gizmodo, *Image Source: Not Evil Music*
