Comments on: MTV and RealNetworks: A sound decision?

The new Rhapsody America squelches an off-key alliance with Microsoft. Now it's got to take on Apple.

[Olu070]

Why Compete?

Everyone is trying to compete with the iTunes-iPod ecosystem. At this point you're asking to die a certain death if you ignore the iPod.

The iPod works with other music formats, why not offer iPod compatible music that is ...now get this...wait for it...it's coming...

CHEAPER THEN ITUNES!!!

I own a few iPods and I would gladly go to another store that offers the same music but cheaper.

[WileySkier]

There is.

Rhapsody offers a 10% discount on song tracks if you are a subscriber...that's $0.89 / track vs $0.99 on iTunes. I transfer whatever songs I choose to my mp3 player and take it with me. If I want to buy the tracks and burn it to CD (maybe for a gift), I can do that to....at 89 cents per track.

Are you going to go to Rhapsody now? You can also...wait for it...it's coming...USE YOUR IPOD WITH RHAPSODY.

All the worlds problems are solved. Happy days!

[`WarpKat]

Interesting Move

I'm a Rhapsody To-Go subscriber. I've been a subscriber for a little less than a year and I have actually enjoyed the idea of putting whatever I want from their library onto the players I own.

I've owned a Creative Zen Microphoto (the HD bit the dust on it) and I currently own a SanDisk Sansa 4GB and Insignia (Best Buy) MP3/Video player, both of which work great with Rhapsody's subscription model.

About the only thing that I dislike about Rhapsody is...ummm...not really much of anything other than they use DRM-WMA, but then again, that's a given even though I think their RAX would have been a better choice.

Ultimately, I think Real wins in this scenario because it casts light on them thanks to MTV.

Choice is a good thing. I choose Rhapsody. I think it works well FOR ME; and to me, that's all that matters, isn't it?

[scweezil]

What happened to the...

MS - MTV Deal? Apple will still sell iPods.
Walmart? I bet that will be a great user experience.

[scratchss]

Taken long enough for people to compete

The real story is how little the big businesses pay attention to
the customers. They are always following apple, first with
getting labels to agree on selling the music, then on DRM free
music.

Subscriptions are what the corporations want, always have been
and they were around long before apple.

The sad thing is that the labels only way to break apples
dominance is to remove their songs wholesale from apple and
make them exclusive to someone else. No one is trying to do
things faster, cheaper and better, but they are focused still on
controlling the behavior of consumers. Marketing 101 is
listening to the customers and giving them what they want.

Its hard to compete with apple, but i really hope someone comes
up with some real innovation and gives them a run for their
money. This is what the consumer wants. Its really sad that its
taking this long for the music industry to change and that they
allowed Apple to take over this much. There are a lot of
companies better suited to competing with apple in this arena
that seem to not even be in the ball game yet.

[Thomas, David]

Why is it Sad?!

Someone/entity comes along and does things right. Now we have
people actually complaining about it?!

I am confused. Yeah you're right about one thing. Listen to the
consumers, however the only company willing, and desiring to
actually do that is Apple. The rest keep coming up with the same
old re-hashed turd droppings.

[R. U. Sirius]

MTV, Real, Verizon: The 3 Stooges

I mean these three taking on iTunes, the iPhone, and AT&T. Hmm. Well, I have a Verizon phone, but I won't be buying music from them cause I also have an iPod.

[rcrusoe]

WMA = no play

Why would any store that wants to compete with iTunes sell
music in WMA format when it won't play in the vast majority of
portable music players (iPods)?


BTW, does Verizon still disable bluetooth, etc. in their phones so
you have to pay to transfer songs, photos, etc..?

[R. U. Sirius]

Verizon Bluetooth

> BTW, does Verizon still disable bluetooth, etc. in
> their phones so you have to pay to transfer songs,
> photos, etc..?


Yep, that's exactly what I have to do to move media files between MY phone and MY computer. I have to pay Verizon a fee each time for the privilege.

[stevevarga]

Sound decision?

It's only a "sound decision" when I get lossless .wav files with no DRM. Hey for my $18 bucks a cd I am paying here in New York, I can make .wav files and still have the backup disk to reflect on the artwork. I'll gladly pay the same $18 for .wav files conveniently downloaded instead of having to rip. It's about the quality of the music files. This is why I still buy compact disks.

I've even gotten into vinyl recently, the sound quality is fantastic. If I didn't spend $3000 on a DAC I would buy even more records. Amazon.com is currently my friend when it comes to buying and getting music recommendations. Also Independent foreign labels are gaining traction thanks to the internet.

I would say, the major labels should get back to the basics. Sound quality #1, Musician quality #2,. Also it doesn't hurt to release entire libraries of the great Jazz and Classical in .wav for a start. I know hundreds of audiophiles who would love to hear great ADD or AAD mastered recordings. Think .wav.

[Llib Setag]

Get Real MTV & Vcast!

Isn't this REALLY a slap in the face of Microsoft?
MS + MTV = URGE, but NOW MTV says URGE has got to go & REAL is the real solution for them?

MS Zune & their ZunieTunes Store left MTV holding the bag, but Zunes have bombed big time...

This is definately a last ditch effort to attack Apple's iPod, iTunes, iTunes Music Store & iPhone in one fell swoop...good luck with that.

Verizon had their chance with the iPhone & turned it down...

Is it just me or did you think that REAL was out of business?

MTV? Do they even play MUSIC on MTV anymore? OR is it just bad reality shows, commercials & even worse RAP videos? MTV : All Music, All the time...? remember? NOT TODAY! It's all MONEY & no content all the time.

Get Real MTV & Vcast!

LOL!

[jbelkin]

MTV, Real - the Sears & Kmart Merger of 2007

Yea, 40 years ago if SEARS & KMART had merged, look out America department store shoppers but by 2000 or so when they merged, who cared? Who cares.

Same situation now. You have MTV which is about as relevant to music today as Kmart as a music selling retailer and Real, the technology rejected by 3 generation of computer users.

The competition sees his and thinks - bwahaha.

[drocha184]

Yeh, I'll just wait...

Subscriber...meaning monthly payments...meaning not realy 89
cents at all. Yeh, I'll just stay with iTunes.

[eldernorm]

Best of luck to em

While I enjoy iTunes (simple and it works for both Cds and downloads), if I wanted a subscription model, I would not mind going to Real.

But the problem that I see is that all these guys (MTV, Real, etc) want to be THE ONE and the only one. Then they ignore iPods. Not really the senseble thing to do. :-(

If you have subscription, you have to have DRM, just to make it work. OK. Fine.

But most of us are happy with buying the music and putting our CDs and downloads into a music jutebox (hmmm, think iTunes) and just going from there.

I don't think this Real - MTV combo will last or even make much of a splash. For all the reasons the others have stated. They just want our money, not to make us happy. :-( how sad.

en