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817 Comments
- inactive, on 01/06/2009, -35/+674Thank you Amazon for forcing this on iTunes.
- wafflesomd, on 01/06/2009, -36/+623You have to pay $0.30 to essentially remove the DRM from the track? Hell no.
I like how they call it an upgrade. Sorry for putting DRM on your tracks, now give us more money to get rid of it. - inactive, on 01/06/2009, -17/+454Consumers: 1, RIAA: 0
- irony, on 01/06/2009, -12/+284From the Keynote:
"By the end of this Q, all 10m songs on iTunes will be DRM free. Big applause! Dayumn! ALL SONGS will be DRM-FREE on iTunes."
WOW!! - peaceninja, on 01/06/2009, -8/+256Of course they would do something like this. They are effectively punishing people who didn't pirate their libraries. Brilliant job, music industry.
- R031E5, on 01/06/2009, -17/+233***** THE RIAA!!
- crazzyeddie, on 01/06/2009, -9/+222Worked for me. Updated my library without any issues.
Finally the record labels are allowing Apple to sell music with the same lack of DRM as Amazon. Hopefully this will lead to some more price competition as well! - Trooperof3, on 01/06/2009, -7/+206$0.69 is great
- 4NDr01D, on 01/06/2009, -12/+208why did you buy DRM'd music in the first place ?
- McNash, on 01/06/2009, -18/+200Wait so I have to pay for them to un DRM my music? And they repackage it as iTunes Plus!? What the ***** is this *****.
- aristotle0dude, on 01/06/2009, -15/+188Better format? Better bitrate? The DRM free songs on iTunes historically have all been 256kbps bitrate AAC format. Various comparison tests on the net have shown that AAC is better at the same bitrate than MP3.
- garryw, on 01/06/2009, -24/+186My mp3 collection has been DRM free since 1998. WOW!! Welcome to the real world iTunes.
- ran24, on 01/06/2009, -11/+169At the very least Apple should offer something like a $10 flat fee to convert all your DRM songs in your library so the people who bought 50+ songs from iTunes don't get ***** with paying 30 cents each song. Way to reward customers for supporting you, douchebags.
- Nephersir7, on 01/06/2009, -79/+224amazon mp3 is cheaper, better bitrate and format
- jlariviere, on 01/06/2009, -9/+129they want about $60 to remove the DRM from my tracks...
- jaymulder, on 01/06/2009, -11/+115Music costs money?
- vaguilera, on 01/06/2009, -10/+97no new mini :(
- KevinAndAlexRoc, on 01/06/2009, -2/+85No, I'm sure the RIAA gets a nice chunk out of this somehow.
- garryw, on 01/06/2009, -3/+81"It's a trap"
- fabio1, on 01/06/2009, -9/+86yes, it is. But most of the songs will now sell for 1.29, so meh
- supernewman, on 01/06/2009, -6/+80RIP DRM... Can't say I'll miss you
- robEstyles, on 01/06/2009, -4/+76Nope
- jeffsters, on 01/06/2009, -12/+81Yes, AAC is FAR better than mp3 at the same bit rate.
- changyang1230, on 01/06/2009, -7/+68*on OUR tracks*
- roberekson, on 01/06/2009, -1/+56I'm glad to see everything available as iTunes Plus, but making it an "all or nothing" upgrade is pretty stupid. It will cost me $110 to upgrade everything when there are several albums I could care less about upgrading.
- ironhide, on 01/06/2009, -13/+67I'm sure that's comforting for the dozens who own a Zune.
- waluigi14, on 01/06/2009, -11/+60*Forcing this on the music labels
iTunes plus existed before the Amazon music store, the music labels just wouldn't let Apple have DRM-free music. - inactive, on 01/06/2009, -52/+100Hey, I did the whole college thing too.
If you seriously can't afford 99 cents for a song or 10 bucks for an album, you need to re-evaluate your life and your spending habits.
Hey don't go out to eat or don't drink beer one weekend and you can buy music!! Wow, amazing how that works!
or GET A PART TIME JOB! - SoberEmu, on 01/06/2009, -2/+49Amazon's prices range from $0.79 to $0.99. And only SOME of iTunes' songs will be 0.69, most will still be 0.99
- Jektal, on 01/06/2009, -6/+46*paid
- cromulent742, on 01/06/2009, -8/+48That's apple for you. And the funniest part is that their customers are happy to get bent over.
- pathouston22, on 01/06/2009, -22/+59I can't stand 256kbps MP3s. Its gotta be 257 or higher otherwise I tear my ears out at horrible quality sound.
- Lixie, on 01/06/2009, -1/+38Every hit single you'll want is going to be $1.29. The filler tracks you don't want will be $0.69. So I don't see the pricing as good news.
- Willravel, on 01/06/2009, -6/+42This is a big step away from draconian music control.
- athinnes, on 10/01/2009, -32/+68Looks like Amazon is starting to scare the Apple boys....
- GhostyBoy, on 01/06/2009, -10/+461.29 is good too...hang on let me explain before you bury me....
I'm in a band, an independant one, and we are coming out with our first disc that will have 7 or 8 songs on it. We aren't going to throw in some crappy filler to make it seem like more, either.
So in order to make a profit from a small run of cd's we sell them for a nice round ten bucks online, in stores or at shows.
When itunes sells all songs for 99 cents it means that everyone who buys directly from the band has to pay 10.00 for something that they can get for 7 or 8 bucks online...which is cheesy because they take quite a big cut considering last time I checked no one at apple played any wailing guitar solos on the record. Plus it forces us to charge our fans more at shows.
With 1.29/song we have the ability to match itunes price with physical cd's, instead of having itunes undercut us on our own music, and forcing our biggest supporters (the ones who attend shows and buy physical cd's) to pay more.
Sure the extra 30 cents sucks for people who pay for music, but I don't think hardcore music fans will mind as much if they know they are supporting a smaller band that they really dig rather than some monstrous music industry mogul. - so1omon, on 01/06/2009, -2/+37@JustinTX - I don't buy this... The iTunes store doesn't check to see what tracks you currently have in your library to determine what tracks are eligible for upgrade. It checks your purchase history. It doesn't matter if the tracks are in your library or not... I have tracks shown as "upgradable" that I don't currently have in my library, but that I have purchased in the past.
- Balanced, on 01/06/2009, -10/+45Actually, iTunes has had limited DRM-free tracks for a few years now. Blame the labels, not them.
- WiseWeasel, on 01/06/2009, -8/+43Meh, serves people right for buying low-bitrate DRM'd content in the first place. Call it a tax on stupidity, like the lottery system.
- Redge, on 01/06/2009, -10/+45You payed a second time for your music?
- BlueDjinn, on 01/06/2009, -9/+43It's also twice the bitrate (256kbps vs 128kbps). While this may be discernible to you or not, it's technically "twice the quality" of the original song, so that's something...
- nathos, on 01/06/2009, -0/+33"apple use m4a which is based on mpeg4
acc is just the a tarm for their old drm addon"
Wrong. Try again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding - 4NDr01D, on 01/06/2009, -1/+34burn in hell DRM
- Nephersir7, on 01/06/2009, -0/+33sorry maybe i misread that
- Lixie, on 01/06/2009, -0/+32It says I have to spend $90.30 (385 songs, 22 albums, 1 music video) to upgrade. It won't let pick and choose songs individually, so it's an all or nothing deal.
- ColorBlind, on 01/06/2009, -6/+36THANKS STE...err...Phil?
- pintomp3, on 01/06/2009, -8/+37There is no universally superior format for anything. AAC and Ogg have an edge at low bitrates, mp3 has a slight edge at higher bit rates. EAC + LAME is still the way to go.
- MilesLombardi, on 01/06/2009, -12/+40What's your problem with iTunes now? You don't like AAC? Or you just don't like paying for music?
- GhostyBoy, on 01/06/2009, -1/+29@SweetChinMusic:
Funk Vigilante. We have one music video out called "Worst President Ever" which you can watch here if you feel like it: http://funkvigilante.com/WorstPresidentEver.shtml
Cheers.
@potaco: No it doesn't force us, but you have to look at the costs of making a cd. Let's say your a small band like us, we hope to make our money back on 1000 discs sold.
So printing 1000 discs is going to cost about 3500.00 or more including taxes (not a cheap do it yourself thing, but a professionally manufactured disc with good artwork).
Then you have studio time, which you should probably budget 4 to 7 grand (and that's assuming you have a really good deal) for recording, mixing and mastering.
Then all the other stuff, like paying for artwork if you aren't doing it yourself, and renting gear or rehearsal space...all that stuff adds up. Plus, in our case we had to learn how to direct and edit our own videos and figure out how to design our own website as well to save a few bucks...
When Metallica makes an album they have massive budgets and are guaranteed big sales, and they delegate all of these other aspects to a small army of professionals.
Small bands do all the footwork themselves and pay for everything with gigs and ***** part time jobs. They rarely profit, and mostly do it just for the love of music and the desire to bring something of quality to the listener.
I think 10 measly bucks to break even isn't too much to ask. - lolcoderer, on 01/06/2009, -6/+34I still don't understand why so many people *blame* Apple for DRM. It was the music industry that forced Apple to use DRM in the first place. Yes, Amazon does get some kudos for successfully negotiating non DRM contracts with music companies, but Apple has always said they would much rather sell non-DRM music.
I think Apple is confident they can sell iPods based on technology and coolness alone. They don't need the leverage of DRM to sell iPods. -
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