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BuyMusic.com Not That Good, But Pressure Is Still on Apple |
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 Buymusic.com has added another reason to suggest that their name should instead be Don'tBuyMusic.com".
MacDailyNews yesterday pointed out a USAToday article that mentions that some songs downloaded from BuyMusic.com were unplayable on many MP3 players. On top of that, BM.com's staff was less than helpful when told about this problem. As the USAToday article goes on to say, "We are unable to provide technical assistance after you have downloaded the music...to your primary computer. In addition, we are unable to credit you back for failed or damaged copies once you have successfully downloaded the music."
BM.com has also declined to release figures on how many songs it has sold thus far, but their CEO, Scott Blum, said that "it's not millions". In contrast to the iTunes Music Store, Apple was trumpeting from the rooftops the sales figures for the first few days of operation. Now it's been a full week for BM.com, and if we don't hear anything today, one would figure they're trying to hide something and their sales must not be that great.
Anyhow, even though BuyMusic.com doesn't appear to be doing that well, Apple had better get their butts in gear with the Windows version of the iTunes Music Store as other contenders will soon be joining the fray.
Roxio says it will launch Napster 2.0 in time for Christmas, and that it will have the "largest legal music catalog in the world with close to half a million songs". MusicMatch, who already have a subscription service, will also be starting a service similar to Apple's with a planned launch in the fall. Big-boy Microsoft is also pondering an entry into the music download service market, although Billy Gates thinks that "It's maybe a feature your platform should offer, but it's not like you're going to make some [big] markup".
Now, we know that Microsoft generally screws up about anything it tries to do, but they have the added capability of embedding a store into their OS, tying it into MSN, and generally shoving it in people's faces until they succumb and start buying stuff from it. Roxio and MusicMatch aren't slouches either - Roxio makes possibly the best CD-authoring software around with Toast, and doesn't MusicMatch make the software that controls iPods on Windows?
Anyhow, let's hope this lights a fire under Apple's ass to get the Windows version of iTunes out the door before December. Not just so that Apple makes money, but also so people have another (good) option to legally obtain music.
In a related story, the RIAA has been subpoenaing ISP's around the country to "identify customers who are illegally sharing copyrighted music over networks like Kazaa". Apparently the RIAA wants to make it very clear they're not playing around anymore.
So you may just want to think about that before you do any peer-to-peer sharing. Then again, as an article at The Inquirer points out, even if they DO sue you, it may take up to 2191.78 years for your case to actually be tried - and by that point, odds are you probably won't care all that much!
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July 29 2003, 11:09 AM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Some dude with a Mac |
7/29/03, 6:30 PM EDT |
The RIAA can kiss my ass so I use Poisoned to connect to the Fasttrack, OpenFT, Gift,and Gnutella an d either way...the RIAA might not belive that me an 11 yr old would KNOW how to use P2P only people who know me knoqw that I'm a computer geek...
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| Some dude with a Mac |
7/29/03, 6:31 PM EDT |
ops...typed too fast
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| hmmm |
7/29/03, 7:45 PM EDT |
what makes you think that Apple's not "getting their butts in gear"? Do you have evidence to the contrary? Do you think that all of the applications development, infrastructure, and support can be done at your moment's request, or am I missing something here...
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| Melangell |
7/29/03, 8:08 PM EDT |
Yes, the world from the eyes of an eleven year old with no parental guidance...
Back to topic... I agree that Apple needs to move quickly AND the strike hard and without mercy. Apple already suffers from the ingrained suspicion of the PC crowd. If alternatives are available that meet the normal expectations of the PC's, ie: Good Enough, they may not even give ITMS/PC a look.
Melangell
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7/30/03, 6:37 AM EDT |
As an european I follow with astonishment what the americans have been putting up to from their goverment. Let's face it, what's the issue here? The issue is simple: should power over information (being it intelectual or artistic work or not) be left in the hands of the community (we the citizens) or should it be lay down in the hands of the capital holders (the corporations). Whether you're regulating over pirated music, software, etc., this is the real issue. And what concerns me even more is the somewhat passive atitude from the traditionally-reactive american society...
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| Jonahan |
7/31/03, 12:34 PM EDT |
Well 'hmmm", I found an article that says that Apple in fact DOES have their butts in gear, but my whole point was that the pressure was on and there is no room for error here. They need to get something to market.
Alexandre, I think some of the passiveness stems from the fact that many people are still getting their music illegally with no qualms about it whatsoever. Yeah, the RIAA is finally suing people (and the methods they're getting customer info maybe unconstitutional) but I don't think it's really affecting most of the populace.
'Couse, I will qualify this with my usual, "What the hell do I know" ;)
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