Apple Drops Anticopying Measures/Adjusts Pricing

[HGervais]

Apple Drops Anticopying Measures in iTunes
By BEN SISARIO and BRAD STONE
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple said it would begin selling song downloads from all four major music companies without the anticopying measures that have been part of its iTunes store since it opened in 2003. It will also move away from its insistence on pricing songs at 99 cents.

Philip W. Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, announced the changes at the Macworld Expo here. They are the product of a new deal between Apple and the three largest music companies: Sony BMG, the Universal Music Group and the Warner Music Group.

As the recording industry has sought for years, the price of many older and less popular songs in the store will drop to 69 cents beginning in April, while the biggest new hits will go for $1.29. Others that are in more moderate demand will remain at 99 cents.

In 2007, Apple made a deal with EMI, the smallest of the four major record companies, to sell higher-quality audio files of its songs without digital rights management, or D.R.M., the security software that limits how many copies a customer can make of a download, and also restricts what devices the song can be played on. Many analysts saw the demise of D.R.M. as an inevitability, since the major labels have been selling music without those restrictions through other large online retailers, like Amazon.com and Rhapsody.

But Apple’s concession over pricing was seen as a victory for the labels, which have been struggling for eight years with steep losses in sales of physical CDs.

“It’s not something that’s necessarily going to be a blockbuster,” said Russ Crupnick, an analyst with the NPD Group. “But if you could increase the value of the average customer by 10, 20, 30 percent, that’s a huge win for the labels, because they’re struggling to find those incremental revenue sources.” Mr. Schiller said in his speech that Apple would

[Boba Fett]

The anti-copying measure was laughable anyway.

I might actually buy stuff from iTunes now, since most of the stuff I listen to will probably be dropped to the lowest price level.

[BrettCullum]

I'm an iTunes junkie, I admit it. I resent the idea of upping popular songs to $1.29 though. It was always so easy to have one price point across the board. I also wish they would adjust price for time of the song. I mean "AMERICAN PIE" is a bargain at 99 cents, while a short little ditty like "THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY HA HA!" is highway robbery at the same price. Seems like the new pricing model judges songs, and charges you more for being a "cool kid" and less if you're an "old fart"... well, musically anyway.

[Dan Mancini]

..."AMERICAN PIE" is a bargain at 99 cents...

"American Pie" isn't a bargain at any price.

Seems like the new pricing model judges songs, and charges you more for being a "cool kid" and less if you're an "old fart"... well, musically anyway.

I say it's about damn time that teenage girls start subsidizing my 69-cent purchases of Howlin' Wolf and Miles Davis with their $1.29 purchases of Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani.

(Also, I think the record companies determine which songs sell for how much. It'll mostly translate into new, popular songs costing more but I wouldn't be surprised if big selling catalog titles go for $1.29)

[Steve T Power]

..."AMERICAN PIE" is a bargain at 99 cents...

"American Pie" isn't a bargain at any price.

What's the matter Dan, you don't drive your chevy to the levy?

Still pissed off that the marching band refused to yield?

[BrettCullum]

..."AMERICAN PIE" is a bargain at 99 cents...

"American Pie" isn't a bargain at any price.

What's the matter Dan, you don't drive your chevy to the levy?

Still pissed off that the marching band refused to yield?

Insert any extra long song title here...
INNA GADDA DA VIDA
KASHMIR

[BrettCullum]

Anyone else notice that if a song is over a certain length iTunes will not allow you to purchase it without the "BUY ALBUM" option? I hate that.

[Gobear]

Itunes is still a bullshit music store, despite its removal of DRM, because it sets arbitrary pricing standards and because it only allows 128 kbs downloads. They ought to have imitated the Russian greymarketers. Before its untimely demise, allofmp3.com sold music according to the bandwidth used, so that you paid less for shorter songs and the user could set the download quality, from 128 kbs to 320 kbs.

And Dan Mancini has a tin ear. American Pie is a great song (although I like Vincent better).

[Steve T Power]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

[TemporalWisdom]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

Shut up, Canada.

[J.M. Vargas]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

Shut up, Canada.

[Boba Fett]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

American Pie made Buddy Holly roll in his grave.

[Steve T Power]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

American Pie made Buddy Holly roll in his grave.

What's with these homies dissin my girls?

[Dan Mancini]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

American Pie made Buddy Holly roll in his grave.

What's with these homies dissin my girls?

Steve, you look like Mary Tyler Moore.

[Steve T Power]

No,

Dan's right - American Pie sucks.

American Pie made Buddy Holly roll in his grave.

What's with these homies dissin my girls?

Steve, you look like Mary Tyler Moore.

I don't care what they say about us, anyway. I don't care bout that.

[Chris_Sax]

Until they give serious discounts for buying whole albums, the kids will keep downloading illegally.

[Steve T Power]

Until they give albums away for free, the kids will keep downloading illegally.

Fixed that for ya.

[mkiker2089]

First, American Pie is highly over rated. I'm an American so I'm allowed to say that.

Secondly, I agree with Steve's last statement that the kids will download for free now matter what. The music industry shot itself in the foot, and will never recover. The artists make albums of crap with one good song, charge too much for it, and then get mad if you want to make a copy of the thing to listen to on your computer.

[BrettCullum]

My response to the record companies whining about downloading illegally is ... how is today unlike yesterday? Casettes were pretty easy to dub, records could be recorded, and radio has been playing "the one good song" for free for all of its history. I don't get how any of this is different. What has changed is they were outpaced by technology and caught not thinking ahead. They were also very greedy. But the bitchslap happened... just as it should have.

[mkiker2089]

I realize it's sort of off the subject, but they aren't painting themselves in a good light when they make it hard for us to get dvd releases of our favorite TV shows and now games because of music rights. Seriously, how many people are going to skip buying a classic rock album and instead rip a 30 second riff of the WKRP Box Set instead. It makes no logical sense. Sure they should be compensated for their work but at the end of the day it's free advertising. It's far more likely that you'll hear a song you like and buy it than you skip it because you heard it already in a Murder She Wrote marathon. What can they possibly be thinking?