Comments on: Music moguls trumped by Steve Jobs?

The dominance of iTunes and iPod has some recording industry leaders questioning their download deal with Apple.

Consumers have spoken: retail price for music is $.99 or

I can see the record industry's side (gasp)- they want price
control for thier product, and they don't want a cartel like apple
doing that for them. However, what could be better for an
industry that finds a price point that consumers like and are
willing to feast upon? If you get tired of the ITMS/ipod closed
system for aac music, burn your aacs and switch to a different
platform. If the different platform costs more, you probably
won't do that. If it costs less, you probably will, but with the
record industry let that happen? no.

Record excecutives just don't get it!!!

Let me get this clear... I WILL NOT PAY $2.50 FOR ANY SONG!!! I
WILL NOT RENT MUSIC!!! They already get more money from
each downloaded song than from each song in a CD. They still
charge for "manufacture and distribution charges" in
downloadable music files! What a bunch of cry babies.

My two cents on the issue. ;-)

WOW - I am completely impressed and applaud all of you

Again - WOW!!

After reading all of the comments, 2 things stand out...

1) We all agree that this is nothing but sheer greed on the record compnaies part

2) that people (both PC and Apple fans) respect Jobs and Apple for what they have done for digital music.

In comparison to the typical Apple vs PC debate, we are all united in telling the recording industry to go didle themselves.

What a great day !!! :)

[culture_of_one]

Steve Jobs...

is definitely a megalomaniac--but he's also a visionary. (I frequently tell people that the Microsoft-Apple story has always been about which "megalomaniac/visionary" would come out on top.)

The real story here is that the music labels couldn't see the future...and got blindsided by someone who could. Now they're frustrated by the fact that their former power to "screw unto others" is in someone else's hands.

-JDM

[digantasaha]

RIAA == Dead Industry

The RIAA are truly the most conservative and anachronistic
adopters of technology. They've been against the digital
Compact Disk (CD), digital audio tape (DAT) and many other
shifts in audio media and distribution paradigms. I believe once
Motorola and other phone makers release iTunes with DRM on
their cell phones customers are going to demand that the
telecommunication providers like Verizon, Cingular ...Sprint not
to disable iTunes feature. I think Apple and Motorola should
release the product and let customers bang on the providers
doors. We'll see who'll win.

[bobby_brady]

Don't forget DCC

RIAA was against Digital Compact Cassette. With their SMC crap.

[unknown unknown]

iTunes and Walmart are keep the record companies greed in check

iTUne pretty much owns the online digital music market in they have something 80% market share. Walmart does most of the retail CD business and both seem willing to use their dominate position to put preasure on the record companies to keep prices down.

[mpotter28]

bs

"Ultimately, the consumer is the boss," said John Burbank, vice president of marketing for Cingular Wireless. "We're going to create products that best match what the consumer wants to do."

-what they are going to do is rip off the consumer with higher prices and less quality

as for jobs when he lowers the price significantly and the artist start getting a fair share of the money maybe then I'll remember his first name isn't GREEDY BASTARD

[sdicenso]

Boo hoo record industry

The record industry is crying again because they went into an
agreement that they though would never go this far. Now they
are crying because they aren't making enough money off the
Apple deal. Tough cookies RIAA. WHat are you going to do now,
sue Apple cause they are making more money than you. Jobs is
alot more forward thing than you'll ever be.............

[202567676114204908075970046337]

The thing is...

As much as everyone is complaining about the recording industry and the cell phone industry being greedy bastards, its our own fault. Americans are all about convenience and the "i want it right now" attitude. ringtones (those stupid, extremely annoying sounds coming out of every tom, dick, and harry's cell phones) is a 3 billion dollar a year industry, expected to reach 9 billion a year by 2010. so you don't think people are going to pay $2.50 or 3 bucks for a song? As soon as people see thier friends doing it, they will start doing it too. and it is going to be a huge windfall for the record labels and carriers. and the funny thing is that half the people ******** about it here will be doing it too. we cant help it, we are americans, consumers to the core.

[jbelkin]

It's ALL about the battery

Lazy people might spend $2.50 of their parents money to download a 20-second ringtone but how many are willing to run down their phone battery to use it to listen to music or are they not gonna get their aprents to buy a 20-hour battery life ipod? Cell phones have weak batteries already - operators are idiots if they think kids are going to give up their phone usage to listen to tunes on it.

selfish music industry

same old story - the phone companies are now throwing more $ at them and all of a sudden, their economic models are aligned better. the music industry is full of people who have absolutely zero business sense, which is evident here, as well. i really hope music companies die and all of what they do becomes an obsolete part of producing music.

[Terry Murphy]

Money for nothing

It should be abundantly clear that 1) legal music downloading is
a business that is still very much in its infancy and 2) Apple by
far, has carved out the most successful method for delivering
content that, for reasons not even remotely related to fairplay
licensing arguments or other DRM schemes, has convinced the
overwhelming number of music consumers (for legitimate
downloading) that there is a way to do it legally and
satisfactorily.

Every single one of Apple's competitors in this market has just
succumbed to Microsoft's bull about it's own proprietary DRM
technology and dominant market position with remarkably
feeble attempts to copy iTunes Music Store In fact, for a prime
example of just how poorly copied and feeble an iTunes
knockoff can look like, just check out Microsoft's online music
store, which attempts to dress up its own checklist of
proprietary technologies (Windows OS only, Internet Explorer
only, Windows Media player only, Microsoft DRM only) with a
pathetic imitation of iTunes Music Store interface.

Of course don't forget Sony, another late bloomer who could
have simply said "we really don't get it" in its press release
announcing its online store. Because they sure didn't.
Attempting to hoist atrak (yet another proprietary format) on
consumers in such an idiotic clumsy way that the consumer
would have to directly intervene and convert mp3 files to atrac in
order to play on Sony's portable player was just amazingly brain
dead. How did it ever get out the door, let alone the drawing
board? So much for any understanding about ease of use and
the experience of listening to music. Whither Sony.

But lets not forget Napster. Acquiring the illegal music
downloading trademark was sure to portend the best experience
in legal music downloading - so say the logic makers at the
revived Napster. Spiraling even further downward, they team up
with fellow genius Microsoft to offer the brilliant concept of
"rentable" music. Never mind that you never asked for rentable
music, here it is anyway. What? Your not buying a a monthly
renewable subscription for your music? What do you mean you
want to own the music you buy like you always had before? Well,
can't you just appreciate the technology and just buy a
subscription anyway? Come on...please?

Now, to round out this ship of fools are the none other than the
record industry executives themselves. By any industry estimate,
including those of the music business and Apple's the iTunes
Music Store blew away all expectations for legal downloading
sales. Now, drooling at the chance to ruin the fragile but steady
progress that Apple has made, the record execs can't contain
themselves to reach further into the consumer's wallet and pull
out even more money - for nothing. Absolutely nothing. There
costs to place downloadable digital music on iTunes hasn't
increased. Their astronomical profit margins for music
downloads that they have raked in haven't changed. They just
want more. And if they ruin the business that they never even
conceived of in the first place, or had the foresight to establish
on their own, well...thats going to be the next guy's problem.

It's just amazing. The only real question still unanswered is
when are the artists who are under contract with these idiots are
going to head for the door. At this point, it more than obvious
that they stand a much better chance of contracting their own
deal with Apple, or start their own download business than
staying with these clowns who have nothing up their sleeve
other than expecting money for nothing

The funny thing is. . .

. . .that Apple and the record companies are now like Wal-mart and its suppliers.

The difference is, I feel sorry for the Wal-mart suppliers getting squeezed. I'm laughing at the record companies.

How does it feel to be on the wrong end of a power equation for once, RIAA companies?

Ha Ha. :)

[Sentinel]

A well thought-out idea

At the risk of not being totally objective, I have to say I completely agree with what Apple is doing: bringing affordable music to consumers. I wonder why the music execs are complaining when the iTunes market is growing more with each passing year, which ultimately means more profit for them. It seems that consumer extortion is part of the music industry's policy. They have to get as much money from the consumer as possible, without caring wether in the long run, their own profits are affected.

Trying to raise the price of the more popular songs is unfair and it would not not work. The upped price would only serve to hurt the popularity of the song in question. Not only that, it is insulting to the less popular artists. It's like saying "The rest of you are worthless." And lowering the prices of less popular songs is also insult.

As for opening up FairPlay to Microsoft, I think Steve Jobs is right in his decision. Microsoft has been known to eliminate competition by buying it off. Any promising technology must be kept out of their hands, lest it be appropiated and its costs upped infinitely.

I know my arguments are not completely objective, but there they are. Basically, Steve Jobs is doing what he should and the music execs should take the profits they have gained from iTunes, shut up, and take a vacation.

[BobBobBobBobBobBobBob]

screw Sony, M$ and the RIAA...

ive given enough money to
them... dont mess with my my iPod and itunes.

[System Tyrant]

Support

Money talks BS walks. Throughout history who ever has had the things that others want holds the power. In our modern times that thing is money. And the majority will always support the majority.

iTunes and Apple are no different. Now that Apple has created the next evolution of legal music distrobution, the music industry want more of the pie. The simple truth is that the rich didn't get rich doing the work they got rich on the backs of others. If an artist makes a nickle a song and sells a hundred million they are going to be rich, but who gets the other 95 cents?

I suppose my point (if I have one :) ) is that complaining doesn't do any good when you keep support the problems. It's kind of like Wal-Mart. People in my town always complain about it, but they don't even try to shop anywhere else. It takes their jobs. It takes their businesses. And they still feed the beast. Capitalism is a monster that devours itself over and over again.

It seams to me that human nature is what is killing the humans. Sooner or later Apple will loose it's control over the music industry. Where it goes after that is really anybodies guess.

[Jon N.]

Sour grapes...Again!

Mr. Steve Jobs pulled away from Apple, Inc., started his own computer company, NeXT, then when Apple, Inc. was falling flat on their faces, the hired him back. Then, after all the declining sales, he helps bring back the profit shares with OS X, iMacs, iPods, & the Mac Mini. These corporations saw his vision & loved it. They allowed Mr. Jobs the flexability to set the rules. Now, they see that Apple, Inc. has made 70% headway into the digital music business, & now are wishing they had seen it to be as grandeous as it has become. The only reason the music companies are rethinking their stand, is because of their shortsightedness. If you ask me, it's a sweeter Apple, Inc. & for them, just more sour grapes !

[jamie.p.walsh]

Moving to Mobile Handset Market

Are they serious in thinking that the ringtone market ANYWHERE NEAR MIRRORS the music download market. RINGTONES ARE A NOVELTY!!!! I'll be damned if I'd pay $2.50 for a song, I don't care if it was downloaded in my nanostorage device embedded in my brain with thought activated controls!!! Anyone who would pay that much for a song isan ******, and deserves to be beaten. Jobs got it right. Music lovers everywhere should kiss his blarney stones for breaking us of the greedy grip of the RIAA. Actually, they should be kissing his backside as well. The RIAA gets a better share of the revenue in this deal (>75%) than they do in retail sales (<25%) with a greater rate of sale.

As for banking on the handset model, I would bet that we'll start to see a wireless Voip handset boom. Most smartphones/pdas are capable of running voip already, if WiMax rolls out well, this trend may be ginormous. Secondly, with flash cards used as secondary storage in handhelds, and as high priced and still lagging in density as they are, and with cellular data service being as outrageously expensive compared to wifi, why would people spend so much money to move backward in terms of mobile music?? Don't tell me that people will flock because of the convenience of having music on their phone. I don't buy that.

LITERALLY.

Greed

The same thing all over again. Music Industry greed was the
reason why digital music took such a long time to get off the
ground, why Napster was able to become so powerful.
Greed is what will make them try and destroy the Apple model.
They will never get it that in the digital world, the consumer is
king, and that they will never again be able to milk the industry,
consumerr and artist) like they did before.
Just because a child will pay ?3 for a ringtone does not mean
anyone else is willing to pay the same for a song.

Whaaat??

One of the most successful campaigns in delivering the 'good' music to those who want it at a price reasonable to both the music industry and the consumer. Now the music industry realizes what they were afraid of all along is that they 1) can't make enough money off of the drivel they call music today and 2) what isn't drivel they can't charge enough for because Apple is in the driver's seat. Here's .99 cents, make a better total product (instead of a CD full of garbage save 1-2 songs that could be called music), and call someone who cares.