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Apple threatens to shut down iTunes


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Old 01-10-2008, 15:21
Toby Latimer
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The music publishers want a 66% rise per track ! I don't think this is going to bring the crowds back from the illegal filesharing sites http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/30/tech...hreat.fortune/
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Old 01-10-2008, 15:38
Turquoise
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Typical. They'll shut something down altogether because of a petty argument over money.
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Old 01-10-2008, 16:26
aaronon
 
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Typical nothing.

If Apple would have to operate the store at a loss - why bother?
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Old 01-10-2008, 17:36
richardcdon
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Source

what do people think about this
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Old 01-10-2008, 17:50
Melanie858
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I hope it doesn't close. I only download a few odd tracks now and then, but iTunes is what I use for this and it is perfect for me. I don't even really know where else to download music from and it is a hassle for me to use anything else really. If this were to happen I think a lot of people would just resort back to illegal downloading.
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Old 01-10-2008, 17:56
TomDaOne
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I can't believe it would close, that would surely be a massive backwards step.
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Old 01-10-2008, 18:04
aaronon
 
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Well if Apple can't make profit - and are selling music at a loss then they have every right to close it.
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Old 01-10-2008, 18:11
edEx
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There's no chance it'll close. This is typical Jobsian brinkmanship to force the record companies to take on the extra royalties cost rather than Apple have to absorb it.

And to be honest I can see the point. The cost of creating the music is still born by the artists, and the cost of distributing the media has dropped through the floor now that the download market has really taken off. So the record companies' share from each sale now contains a much bigger percentage of profit than it did when iTunes was founded. Apple have probably only had a small cost saving in the meantime with bandwidth costs, because the size of the songs have increased as they went from 128kbps to 256 on the bit rate. Why shouldn't the record companies give some of that profit to the people writing the songs? Why should their share always be protected and expected to increase?

Besides the raison d'être for iTunes has now passed. Apple created it to prevent Windows DRM controlling the download market for music, which would have meant Mac users were frozen out. Now that consumers have effectively thrown out DRM is there a reason for iTunes at all?
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Old 01-10-2008, 18:26
TommyGavin76
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I don't understand why people use Itunes anyway when everything on there is available for free elsewhere.
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Old 01-10-2008, 18:27
edEx
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I don't understand why people use Itunes anyway when everything on there is available for free elsewhere.
Because to a lot of people getting it for free is considered stealing
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Old 01-10-2008, 18:57
Toby Latimer
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I've already started a thread about this , earlier this afternoon http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...67&postcount=1 :yawn: :sleep: [Maybe the mods could merge them ?]
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Old 01-10-2008, 19:32
aaronon
 
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Originally Posted by TommyGavin76
I don't understand why people use Itunes anyway when everything on there is available for free elsewhere.
Well because artists should be paid for their work and music should not be available for free online.
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Old 01-10-2008, 20:46
Neighbours_Fan
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I hope this isn't true. I download all of my music on iTunes.
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Old 01-10-2008, 22:12
sibbo
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There's no way Apple will close the iTunes store, they're clearly doing it to act like they're the big boys in charge, when in reality, if they closed the store, they would lose out on so much money it would be absolutely insane. Especially seeing as the Music Store is part of the foundation for the iPod success.

People who genuinely buy music from the iTunes store are those who want to purchase all their music, rather than pirate it. So a mere price increase shouldn't avoid this from happening. In the end you're still paying much less for an album on there than you would in, say, HMV or Zavvi.
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Old 01-10-2008, 22:17
Harry Barry
 
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Well because artists should be paid for their work and music should not be available for free online.
Im sure they would make their money from other people Tv appearances etc.. As for record labels. They can lose money for all I care.

I have never bought music of Itunes, or anywhere else.. I share my music/films/tv shows. why be selfish?
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Old 01-10-2008, 22:25
glyn9799
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I hate the idea of downloading, but sadly it's the way things are going. I don't have an iPod so i never use iTunes to download but the biggest crisis in the music industry these past few years has been downloading. It would be a huge step backwards and music sales will most definately decrease.

I think it all boils down to the record companies being too greedy! I always pay for music where possible, but I do tend to think that the wrong people get the largest chunk.

I do also think it's better for people to download legally then use Limewire/Torrents etc which is just what will happen if it's closes. I doubt it will close though, they'll sort something out.
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Old 01-10-2008, 23:01
DEADLY_17
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i use itunes and will be gutted if it closes down its been a massive step in the music industry and has helped raise people in the music profiles as instead of going to the shop you can download it from home.... this will mean big looses not only for itunes but for music artists aswell
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Old 01-10-2008, 23:07
Siebenburgen
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Crash and burn, Apple, crash AND BURN.
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Old 02-10-2008, 00:11
aaronon
 
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I have never bought music of Itunes, or anywhere else.. I share my music/films/tv shows. why be selfish?
You lend people DVD's fair enough, lend them an album.
There's no excuse for music piracy - artists put in alot of work - as do the producers and unsung heroes of albums you enjoy.

If you enjoy an album then you SHOULD buy it regardless of who profits , or who is making fat wads of cash.

iTunes sparked a musical revolution and although I prefer physical CD's of artists I love - if it's the odd song by an artist I'm not fond of I would use iTunes.

Because of iTunes people can get singles for just 79p instead of having to fork out £1.99 on them.

It gives people alot of choice in what to buy. Apple offer 30 second samples of EVERY song in their massive library - and has opened my mind to many artists I would never have discovered otherwise.

It's a great tool for music and I hope it stays - it deserves to.
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Old 02-10-2008, 11:11
tranquilized07
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i hope it don't i always use it but what annoys me is why we can't put the song on are mp3 why are they protected,at the end of the day we are downloading legally we shoud have the right to do what we want with the song.
they need to sort out the illegall downloading its the artists i feel sorry for.
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Old 02-10-2008, 11:45
LloydChristmas
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i hope it don't i always use it but what annoys me is why we can't put the song on are mp3 why are they protected,at the end of the day we are downloading legally we shoud have the right to do what we want with the song.
they need to sort out the illegall downloading its the artists i feel sorry for.
Yes it's the artists I feel sorry for too.

I lose sleep at the thought of Bono, Chris Martin and Madonna missing out on a few quid due to some scamps and their torrents.
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Old 02-10-2008, 11:48
larelle
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I thought it was only meant to effect the iTunes U.S. store?
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Old 02-10-2008, 12:02
Inkblot
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i hope it don't i always use it but what annoys me is why we can't put the song on are mp3 why are they protected,at the end of the day we are downloading legally we shoud have the right to do what we want with the song.
they need to sort out the illegall downloading its the artists i feel sorry for.
You can use other legal download sites that supply unprotected mp3s, such as 7digital. If you use the iTunes software you simply drag the songs or albums on to iTunes and it automatically adds them to your library so you can put them on an iPod if that's what you use.

The trend seems to be away from low bit rates and DRM, Apple already sell some songs as iTunes Plus files that are higher bit rate and without DRM. Hopefully this will continue until all downloads are unprotected.
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Old 02-10-2008, 13:19
aaronon
 
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Alot of stuff released on iTunes is available as iTunes plus for no extra charge. It's higher quality and DRM free as far as I'm aware.
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Old 02-10-2008, 21:46
Voodoo Child
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I find the previews very useful and the quality is so much better than something from ... say Limewire.

If Apple shut iTunes what would happen to all music people have already bought?
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