 |
Search |
|
|
|
|
Classic 2 Guys |
|
10 Random Stories:
|
|
|
|
Defending iTMS |
|
 This is an opinion piece, plain and simple - actually probably more like a rant, so I'm just warning you up front. What's got my goatee in a ruffle is that over at USAToday.com, one Kevin Maney wrote an article entitled "Apple's iTunes might not be only answer to ending piracy".
In it, Mr. Maney writes that "Steve Jobs is pretty smug about iTunes, but maybe he's got it wrong." His basic argument is that the iTunes Music Store and it's sales model (BuyMusic, Real, and all the iTMS clones are lumped together for his article's purpose) should not be looked at as the be-all and end-all of the online-music-purchasing industry.
Which I think most everyone would agree with. Steve Jobs never said the iTMS would end all music piracy, and as a matter of fact I think he even stated that it would NOT stop music piracy. But so far it's the best out there, and it's done phenomenally well. The RIAA will always have pirates to battle, and for Mr. Maney to end his article with, "It's still broke. Jobs hasn't fixed it", is just horrible journalism.
The whole point that Mr. Maney is missing is that before iTMS there was no option for people to buy music online. Well, there were some here and there, but none had the library that Apple's does, none had the ease of use, none had the low 99¢ per song/$9.99 per album price, etc., etc. Basically, before iTMS came along it was easier to download stuff from Kazaa/LimeWire/Gnutella/what have you.
Now, Mr. Maney does offer someting interesting. He brings up a nifty site by the name of Magnatune, who's tagline says it all: "We're a record label. But we're not evil." Magnatune seems like a really cool site. They accept submissions over the 'Net (are you listening GarageBanders!?) and they let people stream all the music in their library for free. It's pretty high quality stuff too - I don't know what the bit-rate is, but it sounds good and the stream only buffered on me once in about 2 hours.
The really interesting part is that if and when a user decides to buy, they can name their own price - so long as it's between $5 and $18 US ($8 is recommended - and believe it or not but the average price paid is $8.93). The buyer can download as either MP3 or WAV file and it's unencrypted. The musicians split half the cut with Magnatune, which is definitely "not evil".
So it's a great site, but getting back to the problem with Mr. Maney's article: it's not what the iTMS is. Magnatune doesn't have the huge library of pop hits that the big labels have. Instead it has a really nice selection of eclectic music (electronica, jazz, blues, punk, etc.). Magnatune iself states that it's target market is different than the iTMS on it's information page. Magnatunes targets the following:
• People who listen to music in the background while they do other work (i.e. office workers [or any traditional "radio" market]).
• Fans of music that gets little radio airplay or major record distribution, but has a fairly large audience.
Had Steve Jobs circumvented the record labels, the iTMS would have been nowhere near as successful as it is. The money is with the masses, and for better or worse, the masses listen to pop music. That's why it's called pop for cryin' out loud! (I'll spell it out just in case Steve Ballmer is reading - pop is short for "Popular Music") Besides, would we have dozens of copycat music stores if the iTMS sales model was not compelling?
So good luck Magnatune, I sincerely hope you succeed, and I'm sure I'll be a regular visitor to the site from now on (albeit probably not to buy, just to listen)
As for Mr. Maney's opinions, he has a right to them. But me - I'm going to praise Jobs and Apple for the iTunes Music Store: I can cheaply buy (most of) the music I want without leaving the house, I can listen to it anywhere thanks to iPod, I don't have to worry about the bad rips or mis-named ID3 tags you get with file-sharing services, and of course there's the good karma! Now to attend to that dent in my credit card bill...
|
|
January 21 2004, 2:41 PM EDT, by
 |
Comments:
|
| sweetjimmyhugs |
1/21/04, 4:24 PM EDT |
My opinion of his article is that he wasn't really slamming iTMS, but praising Magnatune. I agree that Magnatune is a step in the right direction for online music purchases. If there were more internet labels out there doing the things that Magnatune is doing, but also promoting the bands and doing the things that "regular" labels do, then we wouldn't need an iTMS because the labels would sell directly to the consumer.
Here is a good article about how labels screw bands when they sign contracts with them.
|
| rlhamon |
1/21/04, 4:30 PM EDT |
Journalist will always slam a leader of a booming market to get people to read their otherwise normally poorly written article.
Howard Stern said it best "when you have a product that is so good your competitors will copy it and reporters will slam it. Then you know you have a great product"
|
| Jonahan |
1/21/04, 4:39 PM EDT |
Thanks Jimmy :) it's true that he just kind of mentioned iTMS at the beginning and end of the article, and Magnatune was most of it, but there were still those subtle jabs that just didn't sit well with me. Plus I hadn't had my daily 40oz of Malt Liquor yet, so I was kinda cranky. ;)
|
| rlhamon |
1/21/04, 4:50 PM EDT |
you didn't mention the lack of the daily 40 ... that explains a lot
|
| speedyrev |
1/21/04, 7:33 PM EDT |
after 40oz, microsoft might even start to make sense......nnnnaaaaahhhh!
|
| stickman67 |
1/22/04, 5:21 AM EDT |
My kitten had threadworms once. They really seemed to irritate her.
Anyone else find lazy, opinionated, thoughtless journalists a bit like threadworms?
Every time I read stuff like this I feel like dragging my butt across the living room carpet.
Mind you, I shouldn't really be so rude as to compare journalists to threadworms. I'd hate to cause offence to any threadworms that might be reading this ...
|
| Jonahan |
1/23/04, 2:02 PM EDT |
You weren't referring to myself as a journalist were you? 'Cuz I may be lazy and opinionated, but journalist? Why I never.
Maybe I've gotten too serious and perhaps it's time to get back to the good old stories about salami-wielding midgets.
You weren't talking about me? Oh... well still, everyone loves a good story about mid gets in fishnet stockings.
|
| stickman67 |
1/23/04, 10:26 PM EDT |
How *dare* you slur your good name, sir! Why you oughta ... !
I would never -- never, I say -- stoop to calling the content of this website journalism, you may rest assured.
If I wish to peruse a reeking pile of toadstool-encrusted manure, I shall purchase the daily newspaper.
To find out what's happening in the real world, I shall open my front door and step out into the sunshine.
If, however, I want a belly laugh, a biased opinion that accords with my own, and to have an unfair crack at the wonderful, wacky world of Windows [insert expectoration here], then this is the first port of call.
And now I must go and rearrange my prized collection of marsupial droppings into reverse alphabetical order. I bid thee good morrow, sirrah!
|
| jafowac |
1/25/04, 7:30 PM EDT |
Love the site! Just wanted to send you a thanx for turning us on to magnatune. If you like real creative underground music that you unfortunately won't hear on the radio, you will love this place. Check out Brad Sucks...gotta be one of the most talented one man bands ever...
|
This article is archived, so you may not comment on it.
(The good news is there's always the shoutbox, the forums or the contact form if you're socially-inclined at the moment!)
|
|
|
|
Site Links |
|
|
|
|
Deep Thoughts |
|
|
One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.
|
|
Around Da Web |
|
| iProng: |
iPhone steals show at CTIA Wireless 2007
|
DLO offers dual cover fashion case for iPod
|
AT&T received 1M inquiries on iPhone
|
| MacDailyNews: |
Ars Technica in-depth review: Apple TV ?impressed all those who touched it?
|
Inside Apple?s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server OS
|
The chips inside Apple TV
|
| Think Secret: |
Adobe Creative Suite 3 pricing revealed
|
|
|
We Like: |
|
|
|
|
Side Projects |
|
Jonahan
- JediPoker.net
- Jonahan.com
- iProng
- MacProng
iKen
Jedbeck
J.P.
|
|
