Music downloads in downward trend

[GA Russell]

Here's the link to a good article on the current state of affairs regarding music downloads.

I was surprised to see that the average iPod owner has downloaded from iTunes only 20 songs!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...tory/Technology

[Rooster_Ties]

Headline would be clearer to say "LEGAL Music downloads (i.e., for a fee) in downward trend".

That's if I'm getting the gist of the article, which I only skimmed quite quickly.

[Noj]

If the average user is like me, he or she stopped downloading from iTunes the moment he or she knew iTunes' songs are "protected AAC" files. I'll take hassle-free files whose format I can alter, thanks.

[Guy Berger]

If the average user is like me, he or she stopped downloading from iTunes the moment he or she knew iTunes' songs are "protected AAC" files. I'll take hassle-free files whose format I can alter, thanks.

Hopefully this will convince Apple to get rid of their stupid format.

Guy

[jazzbo]

Not bloody likely!

[.:.impossible]

I've never downloaded anything from itunes, but I've downloaded hundreds of songs from emusic.com. I use it the same way I used to use allmusic.com...

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I've never downloaded anything from itunes, but I've downloaded hundreds of songs from emusic.com. I use it the same way I used to use allmusic.com...

when you do start, .:. , make certain it's Irving Joseph's "Murder, Inc" ONLY at iTunes, drat! vibes to kill by.

[.:.impossible]

yeah? I'll have to check that out. So what's the deal with itunes, you can only play the track on the computer you downloaded it to, and then only to ipods?

[Claude]

The article doesn't seem to take into account downloads from allofmp3.com, the russian download service which is based on dubious legal arrangements and which charges $2-5 per album download.

I've read reports that in the UK allofmp3 sells almost as much music as iTunes (in volume). While these downloads are technically illegal, most customers consider it as purchased music and not as stolen music.

Allofmp3 will probably shut down in the near future, as Russia has agreed to change it's laws before acceding the WTO.

[GA Russell]

This story got a lot of traction yesterday. I saw something about it on CNN.

If I understand it correctly, the original report said that sales were off from January. Well maybe that is because January could be the best month for iTunes, what with everyone who received one for Christmas filling up his unit with music in January. Still, an average of only 20 seems awfully low to me.

Today, the analyst is backing off, and claims are made that sales are way up from last year. This is from the Barron s website:

Earlier this week, Apple (AAPL) investors were getting all jittery about reports on Bloomberg, The Registerand elsewhere suggesting there had been a huge drop in downloads from iTunes.

That’s been followed by a backlash of tidal wave proportions.

Forrrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff, who wrote the original study on which those alarming stories were based, wrote on his blog yesterday that much of the media coverage was misleading: for starters, he says that his own study, based on credit-card data, was based on too little data. He goes on to say that “iTunes sales are not collapsing,” but he does assert that “iTunes sales are leveling off.” Bernoff also notes what Apple investors should already know: that Apple makes money from selling iPods, not from selling tracks on iTunes.

Meanwhile, comScore today reports that iTunes sales in the year’s first three quarters were up 84% from the same period a year earlier, with a 67% increase in the number of transactions and a 10% rise in the average transaction size.

Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, estimates that iTunes downloads were running 2.5 million a day in September, up 95% year-over-year. But he notes that the real point is the one Bernoff made: “To us, the iTunes software portion is the more critical and underappreciated part of the AAPL story than the much talked about iTunes store,” he wrote in a research note today. “We believe iTunes software is what gives an iPod its unique user interface and ease-of-use, in particular when synching with a PC and/or Mac, still arguably the best platforms for productivity and to manage content libraries.”

[medjuck]

yeah? I'll have to check that out. So what's the deal with itunes, you can only play the track on the computer you downloaded it to, and then only to ipods?

No. You simply burn cds and do whatever you want with them, including transfer them to other computers. Also once they're on an iPod there's soft ware available to put them on another computer. In fact I haven't noticed any limitations-- though supposedly you can only burn a limited number of cds from the original download. However I believe that once you burn a cd and rip it to a computer you can do whatever you like.

[Noj]

yeah? I'll have to check that out. So what's the deal with itunes, you can only play the track on the computer you downloaded it to, and then only to ipods?

No. You simply burn cds and do whatever you want with them, including transfer them to other computers. Also once they're on an iPod there's soft ware available to put them on another computer. In fact I haven't noticed any limitations-- though supposedly you can only burn a limited number of cds from the original download. However I believe that once you burn a cd and rip it to a computer you can do whatever you like.

They can't be changed into mp3s. There is a limit on the number of times a playlist can be burned, but it can be sidestepped by simply making another playlist. When I tried to move them between two computers, I was asked for a password to be able to play them on the computer I didn't download them to.

[Soul Stream]

If the average user is like me, he or she stopped downloading from iTunes the moment he or she knew iTunes' songs are "protected AAC" files. I'll take hassle-free files whose format I can alter, thanks.

I'm totally computer dumb....I download from iTunes quite a bit. What are "protected AAC" files, and why are they bad?

[Noj]

See post #12, Soul Stream.

I may be wrong. Someone in my office seemed to believe burning an audio cd of the "Protected AAC" files then re-importing them as mp3s would allow you to disable the shareware built into them. I haven't tried this. I just know I found the hassle annoying. (*edit--might also be a Mac vs. PC thing).

And, wouldn't you know it, someone just gave me an iTunes gift card.

Edited December 15, 2006 by Noj

[Soul Stream]

Thanks Noj...didn't catch post 12....

[John L]

See post #12, Soul Stream.

I may be wrong. Someone in my office seemed to believe burning an audio cd of the "Protected AAC" files then re-importing them as mp3s would allow you to disable the shareware built into them. I haven't tried this. I just know I found the hassle annoying. (*edit--might also be a Mac vs. PC thing).

And, wouldn't you know it, someone just gave me an iTunes gift card.

Yes, burning and re-ripping will work, but you will lose a lot of audio quality in the process.

I also boycott iTunes music store for this reason. Does anyone know of another source for downloading the Verve vault MP3-only issues?

[J Larsen]

If the average user is like me, he or she stopped downloading from iTunes the moment he or she knew iTunes' songs are "protected AAC" files. I'll take hassle-free files whose format I can alter, thanks.

Hopefully this will convince Apple to get rid of their stupid format.

Guy

I thought the current arrangement was the best they were able to negotiate with the RIAA at the time. Maybe I'm remembering that incorrectly.

The iTunes store, IMO, offers terrible value for the money, so I don't use it. For a price similar to that of a new cd, you get a very high-loss format and no notes, artwork, etc. So why not just buy the cd? I guess one time you might be tempted to use the iTunes store is if it is offering a recording that is otherwise unavailable. But I'd personally spend my money on any of the hundreds of in-print cds that I'd like to own rather than on a very poor rendition of an otherwise OOP recording.

[RDK]

itunes is a poor value if you're buying albums but it's great for singles and build-your-own comps.

[J Larsen]

Fair point.