Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:38 pm

Way back when this all started I went through my CD collection and ripped it to iTunes. These days I mostly buy from iTunes and burn to disk. The only CDs I buy are from bargain bins or stuff I can not get from the iTunes Music Store. The business model is changing and Warner can adopt or be left behind.

Bob Dylan wrote:

"Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'."

Read the entire lyrics at http://bobdylan.com/songs/times.html

Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:57 pm

I don't get it. When did Jobs say they were going to sell songs for 29 cents or 39 cents? Apple would lose money doing that, regardless of how low the royalties are. In fact, the only person to suggest lower priced songs is Bornfman, who wants variable pricing. This is a really hollow strawman.

I could see songs priced at $.99, $1.09, $1.19, $1.29, etc. That's still an easy interface. And I could see iTMS customers being pretty price sensitive except for very good songs. These are Apple's customers, and it seems if Apple needs to introduce variable pricing, it needs to offer a carrot as well. Perhaps higher quality AAC encoding or expanded copying rights (e.g. 10 registered devices). Variable pricing will probably happen. The question is what Apple will get in return. They've been pretty quiet about what they want.

Wed Sep 28, 2005 1:18 pm

The music industry has long used collusion and gotten away with it. It's how they grew so big in the first place. It's a sort of mafia. Art imitating life. That's how they got so rich, and they see it slipping through their fingers.

As for his ludicrous suggestion that Apple is "dictating" price, the music industry is the one who collectively set the price to begin with and Apple agreed, and now they want to redictate what they want so they can increase their margins of profit. They're not trying to prevent losses. They're only increasing their profits. Wrong? Not by capitalist standards. But Greed is and always will be morally reprehensible when it comes down to excess, which is all the music industry is about now.

They want more of the bling bling (and less of the work of distribution!).

Screw them. Let the artists go straight to Apple and others NOT in the established industry and do an end around on them once and for all. They'll realize they don't need the big labels anymore. The world is sophisticated enough now, not to mention connected, that their music will get out there and they will make enough money to survive, which in the best of worlds, is all we really need anyway.

Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:03 pm

I think that the Labels are INSANE for trying to raise prices only to increase margins. The consumers aren't stupid. If you raise the price-per-download, but don't provide ANY added value to the product (i.e. higher bitrate quality, bundled video, etc.) then the customers will give you the big digital middle-finger and say hello again to their old friend P2P. This won't hurt Apple, only the labels.