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Apple Considering 'All You Can Eat' iTunes
Though there's already a few catches...
The Financial Times notes that Apple is in conversations with the major labels over a new pricing model that would have customers paying a premium for unlimited access to Apple's iTunes library. While there's no prices being talked about yet, one industry exec says research has shown them that customers are willing to pay up to a $100 flat fee (for the lifetime of the device) or $7-$8 monthly charge for unlimited access to the iTunes catalog. It would seem that even at this early phase, there's already a few caveats:
quote:
Subscriptions would work only for its iPhone devices, where it has a monthly billing relationship with customers through the mobile phone operators offering the device, while the “comes with music” model would work with iPhones and with iPods. The subscription models under discussion in the music industry include the provision for customers to keep up to 40 or 50 tracks a year, which they would retain even if they changed their device or their subscription lapses.
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hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium Member
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

hopeflicker

Premium Member

Unlimited??

This will NOT be unlimited. There will be some clause in the TOS preventing you from downloading the entire apple archive.

just another marketing scheme

floepie
join:2005-12-01

floepie

Member

Re: Unlimited??

How are you going to download the entire archive onto one device?

hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium Member
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

hopeflicker

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

said by floepie:

How are you going to download the entire archive onto one device?
Like i said, just another marketing scheme

floepie
join:2005-12-01

floepie

Member

Re: Unlimited??

Isn't that like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant, and then claiming it's a marketing scheme because you can't bring everything home to fill your refrigerator with food for the next month?

ifarrell
join:2000-08-10
Willow Spring, NC

ifarrell

Member

Re: Unlimited??

Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homar gets thrown out of the All You Can Eat diner.
They are all a scam. Just ask Comcast users.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Dogfather to hopeflicker

Premium Member

to hopeflicker
Why? There was nothing stopping me from downloading thousands and thousands of songs off my monthly plays-for-sure Napster subscription. If Napster did it, who couldn't Apple?

hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium Member
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

hopeflicker

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

said by Dogfather:

Why? There was nothing stopping me from downloading thousands and thousands of songs off my monthly plays-for-sure Napster subscription. If Napster did it, who couldn't Apple?
there's already a few caveats:
Subscriptions would work only for its iPhone devices, where it has a monthly billing relationship with customers through the mobile phone operators offering the device, while the “comes with music” model would work with iPhones and with iPods. The subscription models under discussion in the music industry include the provision for customers to keep up to 40 or 50 tracks a year, which they would retain even if they changed their device or their subscription lapses.

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR to Dogfather

Member

to Dogfather
I reaally don't understand why people don't like the rental model. I went totally digital last November when I got my Zune and I have no regrets. Sure the music stops working if i stop paying my fee but I intend to keep it. For one, all the CDs I've bought over the years will be worthless when I die. Two, the rental model allows me to listen to full length tracks instead of snipits. Three, I can pick which tracks I want and delete the ones I don't. Four, it allows me to check out lots of genres that I didn't listen to before. Five, no more CD cases to take up space in my living room.

The rental model is not as bad as people think.
NPGMBR

NPGMBR

Member

Re: Unlimited??

Whoa.... I just noticed that limite of 40-50 tracks. Maybe Apple's plan isn't so great after all!

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Dogfather

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

said by NPGMBR:

Whoa.... I just noticed that limite of 40-50 tracks. Maybe Apple's plan isn't so great after all!
From what I read, you would get to KEEP 40-50 tracks a year, renting the rest.

Count Zero
Premium Member
join:2007-01-18
Milton, FL

Count Zero

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

How do you choose those 40-50 I wonder. At least you get SOMETHING to show for this as compared to Napster/Rhapsody.

hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium Member
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

hopeflicker to NPGMBR

Premium Member

to NPGMBR
Think rental = having nothing to show for.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Unlimited??

said by hopeflicker:

Think rental = having nothing to show for.
How so? i prefer that model. I've never been a big buyer of music. I'm 39 so were talking about going back to the days of LPs and 45s. I've had a subscription to yahoo music and for $9 a month I can lsiten to over a milion songs. If you pay for each song that what 9 whole songs a month? Whoopie. I'll just keep listening to those 9 songs until the next month rolls around. Maybe after a year I can listen to a whopping 109 songs. Sorry I'd rather not wait until the year 11,267 to have access to all the songs.

hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium Member
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

hopeflicker

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

said by 88615298:
said by hopeflicker:

Think rental = having nothing to show for.
How so? i prefer that model. I've never been a big buyer of music. I'm 39 so were talking about going back to the days of LPs and 45s. I've had a subscription to yahoo music and for $9 a month I can lsiten to over a milion songs. If you pay for each song that what 9 whole songs a month? Whoopie. I'll just keep listening to those 9 songs until the next month rolls around. Maybe after a year I can listen to a whopping 109 songs. Sorry I'd rather not wait until the year 11,267 to have access to all the songs.
Hey man,

It's what ever you prefer. I just prefer to have something to show for.

Kind like i'd rather buy a house than rent. Renting is such a waste of money in this case.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

1 edit

Dogfather

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

Depends on what you're doing.

When I go on vacation, I don't buy a car when I arrive at my destination. I rent one.

This music plan is not renting, it's subscribing. You subscribe to a lot of services, including your internet service and television service.
dda
Premium Member
join:2003-12-29
Bolton, MA

dda

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited??

You subscribe to a lot of services, including your internet service and television service.

I disagree; the analogous situation would be that, once I stop paying my internet service fee, everything I downloaded would disappear. Since it doesn't, I am subscribing to the service.

In the case of Napster and other such services, everything disappears when I stop paying; I am renting the music.

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR to hopeflicker

Member

to hopeflicker
I understand what you are saying but If you read my original post I describe all the benefits. I mean think about it.....all the CDs and DVDs you buy now will be worth nothing if you live to a ripe old age. Another added benefit that I didn't mention before is that by going digital, you are giving less to the oil companies because oil is used in the production of plactics in CD, DVD and their cases.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Unlimited??

said by NPGMBR:

I understand what you are saying but If you read my original post I describe all the benefits. I mean think about it.....all the CDs and DVDs you buy now will be worth nothing if you live to a ripe old age. Another added benefit that I didn't mention before is that by going digital, you are giving less to the oil companies because oil is used in the production of plactics in CD, DVD and their cases.
You realize there is huge differnce between owning a CD and "owning" a downloaded song even one without DRM. I could always take a LP, 45, cassette or CD and sell it if I didn't want it anymore. Can you do that with your downloaded song? Nope. Yet somehow you "own" it.

As I said I prefer the rental model because I get access to more music. If I really really just love a song then sure I'll plunk down the 99 cents and get it. Just not from Apple.

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR

Member

Re: Unlimited??

In all of my 37 years, I have never sold an album; why because I believe its illegal! So no, I cannot sell my DRMed tracks but I have no intention to.

sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ

sporkme to hopeflicker

MVM

to hopeflicker
said by hopeflicker:

Think rental = having nothing to show for.
Only if you never listen to your rentals.

Count Zero
Premium Member
join:2007-01-18
Milton, FL

Count Zero to hopeflicker

Premium Member

to hopeflicker
Yep
Count Zero

Count Zero to Dogfather

Premium Member

to Dogfather
I'd honestly just rather OWN whatever it is. If I get a new iPod or want to burn it onto a CD I don't want to pay another fee. Right now when I buy an album for $9.99 or a song for $0.99 I can put it on my iPhone, my wife's, burn it onto a CD for my car, etc and never pay another cent.

floepie
join:2005-12-01

floepie

Member

Good deal for unlimitied

For only $100 for the lifetime of a device seems like a very good deal. It would allow those who buy new devices with all you can eat music to more easily sell their devices to those that prefer to buy used (and want unlimited iTunes), providing that the lifetime sub can be passed on to the 2nd buyer of the device.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

wifi4milez

Member

Re: Good deal for unlimitied

said by floepie:

For only $100 for the lifetime of a device seems like a very good deal. It would allow those who buy new devices with all you can eat music to more easily sell their devices to those that prefer to buy used (and want unlimited iTunes), providing that the lifetime sub can be passed on to the 2nd buyer of the device.
$100 per the lifetime of the device is a great deal, and I would be all over that. I just dont see how they would allow that without some SEVERE restrictions. If you think about it, thats really only the cost of buying around 5 full albums from iTunes, perhaps even less. The other issue I see with it is that (the newer) iPods tend to have a useful life of only around 8 to 12 months before they die, so maybe thats how they get you!

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Good deal for unlimitied

It's just another lame marketing angle by Apple to shore up sagging iPhone and iPod Touch sales. The bloom is off that rose and they're scrambling to figure out some way to keep people from actually looking at what they are buying.

You can bet the words "Non Transferable" will be attached to this plan.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

wifi4milez

Member

Re: Good deal for unlimitied

said by RadioDoc:

It's just another lame marketing angle by Apple to shore up sagging iPhone and iPod Touch sales. The bloom is off that rose and they're scrambling to figure out some way to keep people from actually looking at what they are buying.

You can bet the words "Non Transferable" will be attached to this plan.
I am sure they will also have a cap on how many songs you can download in a month as well. There is no way they will offer unlimited songs for a one time payment of $100. If they did, people would download thousands of songs. I know I would download every (good) song I could think of, simply because it was already paid for and free after a break even point was reached. You are correct, this is 100% a marketing gimmick if it even exists.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Good deal for unlimitied

It is so trivially easy to extract the tunes from iTunes onto more usable media and systems that it is destined to fail anyway.

Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC
·Hotwire Communic..

Chiyo

Premium Member

All or nothing

That's crap I don't own an iPhone and have no plans on owning one I use an iPod let me use my iPod the iPod is an mp3 player NOT the iPhone (per'se)

I'm paying for "all you can eat" I don't goto Old Country Bueffet and they say eat all you want but if you eat the deserts you need to puke 'em up and give them back once digesting!

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

1 edit

Transmaster

Member

Great....If

they don't DRM it to death. It will not happen because of the fact the recording companies wish they had never made a deal with Apple to begin with, they let a 2000 pound Gorilla out of it cage and they can do nothing to put it back. Their mantra is "Damn It...Digital".

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Dogfather

Premium Member

Re: Great....If

They'd have to. Otherwise what's the difference between paying $.99 or getting all you can eat?
Dogfather

Dogfather

Premium Member

Just like TiVo lifetime service

Seems like a good deal to me.

But people will bitch no matter what. Anyone who doesn't like this deal is still free to put their own stuff on the devices as they do now.

•••••
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

ooh surprise...

I'm not surprised... Rhapsody's been doing this for years, and whether or not they've been as successful as itunes, many people actually like the ability to play unlimited amounts of music and download whatever they like.

Paying a buck a song is a good compromise, but I seriously doubt many people have paid thousands of dollars to fill their ipods. Either they've been bootlegging, or they've been fairly honest and used rips from their own collections.

Subscriptions are the future. It's simple, it's a good deal, and it's fair to both buyer and seller.

Count Zero
Premium Member
join:2007-01-18
Milton, FL

Count Zero

Premium Member

Re: ooh surprise...

Some of us have paid quite a lot for music off of iTunes. I've spent probably close to $1000 at the iTS.

moopenguin32
join:2003-11-02
Raleigh, NC

moopenguin32

Member

Great as long as it is truly "all you can eat"

I would be all for this as long as it is truly "all you can eat" and doesn't have some weird restrictions. I would want to be able to download any music from iTunes and not be limited to certain songs.

Also, I'm not sure what the "provision for customers to keep up to 40 or 50 tracks a year" is all about. Does that mean I could actually have music that could be burned onto CDs?

•••••••••

WiFiguru
To infinity... and beyond
Premium Member
join:2005-06-21
Seattle, WA

WiFiguru

Premium Member

$20

If this is true unlimited downloads, such as Rhapsody, I wouldn't have a problem paying $20 a month for unlimited downloads to the ipod.

-Wifiguru

bigunk
Gort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA

bigunk

Member

My thoughts...

15 bucks a month. 150 bucks a year. No DRM. 320K. I keep everything I download. I get to change the media at my whim. No device exclusivity. This would work. Maybe then I'll consider signing up.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: My thoughts...

said by bigunk:

15 bucks a month. 150 bucks a year. No DRM. 320K. I keep everything I download. I get to change the media at my whim. No device exclusivity. This would work. Maybe then I'll consider signing up.
So you want to be able to download and keep over 2 million songs for $150?

bigunk
Gort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA

bigunk

Member

Re: My thoughts...

Yep, but this business model only works if there are tons of subscribers, a condition that can only occur when the price and value equation balances properly. That's why the pirating started in the first place. CDs cost way too much and there was too much filler and bad music on each one (on average).

Napster was the catalyst that signalled the beginning of the consumer backlash. It was an attempt by the consumers to let the record companies know that "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!!" The record companies and RIAA circled the wagons and then declared war on the consumers, thus ensuring the equation would stay out of balance for as long as they could maintain it in the pursuit of profit.

Profit is a good thing. I am all about capitalism, but when the equation is so skewed, as it has been in this case, I think it proper for the consumer to let it be known, clearly and unequivocally, that they want a realignment of things to bring about balance.

netwire
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Dallas, NC

netwire

Premium Member

Me no likes renting

I do not like the idea of renting music - in the end of it all I'll be paying more for single tracks that I would if I had just bought the track. Also, if I just rented a track and something happens to my device will apple allow me to download the same track again without charging me again for it?

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR

Member

Re: Me no likes renting

I don't know much about Apple but with Zune Marketplace and other non-Apple subscription services, if you change your device or your library is deleted off your PC, all you have to do is push a button and our entire library is restored. Thats antother added benefit to renting.

ATMW
@12.186.254.x

ATMW

Anon

Play Lists

If you don't have to be connected to the Apple music store to set up play lists there is no way Apple can stop someone from downloading the entire collection. I could pull 10,000+ songs and select the ones I want to play in play lists.

Once I had the tracks in .mp4 format there are a lot of programs that will convert them to .mp3's with no DRM.

Personally I buy nothing from the Apple store at a buck a song. Once I pay $15-$20 for the tracks I can buy the CD and rip it any way I want. Later I can resell the CD and re-coop part of my investment.

Only advantage the Apple Store has is it will allow me to buy just one track vs. buying the whole CD. At a buck each the tracks are over priced as I don't really own them as I have no rights to resell them. I'd rather buy the whole CD and have resale rights.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Read what they are talking about.

Would you be willing to pay an up front fee of 100 or more per iPod or for open downloads, Apple is holding out for $20 dollars, the recording industry want more, much more. Yes there will be DRM. I am sorry I already have almost 18,000 tracks now I already have most of what I want to listen to. What I would want to purchase would not be on iTunes anyway.

Buffet Dude

Anon

Fool me once...

I love the rental model.

But the trouble with the rental model, is that the company can and will rescind your rental rights to tracks, without discussion.

Yahoo Music did this all the time. "All you can eat", except that they take your plate, knife, fork, and napkin back in the middle of lunch while doubling the price. Add to that more the inevitable forms of DRM that will accompany this "unlimited" 40 song subscription, and Apple's usual arrogance, and I think I'll pass.
touchtone561
join:2007-12-10
Lake Worth, FL

touchtone561

Member

Purchase Model and Rental Model must coexist

As long as we have the option to do either or, go for it.
Personally I can do without another subscription to manage, and have no problem buying songs and albums with the current model.

I don't want to be forced into a rental model that Steve Jobs has several times in the past doesn't work.
I noticed that now that iTunes rents Movies it has stopped selling several titles.
bronxlcsw
join:2005-09-21
Bronx, NY

bronxlcsw

Member

just get yahoo music 2 years at 59 dollars unlimited.

In our home we have Yahoo Music unlimited and download between me and my 3 teen daughters about 200 songs per day. The subscription is 59 dollars per year but yahoo adds a second year free if you pay with a mastercard. @ years at 59 dollars?? Cant beat that. Then use That miracle peice of software to remove the DRM and wala,,, You have unlimited access to 3 million songs all for 59 dollars every 2 years. You cannot find a better deal I will not name that peice of software beacuse those of you smart enough know what i mean. I dont even remember the last time i used Limewire or Torrents for music.