Tag: Itunes
iTunes variable pricing will hit on April 7th
Apple will soon be launching the variable prices that it was forced to accept from the major labels in exchange for DRM-free content, during the contract renegotiations earlier this year. If the LA Times is to be believed, the change will occur on April 7th.
It’s currently unclear how the pricing will be distributed, but most analysts expect newer and more popular songs to command a higher price, while back catalogue ends up heavily discounted. It’s also unclear how the public will respond to what will essentially be a price hike on the most popular songs.
I’d argue that iTunes has long been irrelevant to most hardcore music fans. They’re the biggest users of P2P because it’s the most efficient way of getting tracks that are otherwise unavailable. This change will impact on mums, dads, and anyone else that generally buys their music from Tesco, rather than independent record stores.
(via Digital Music News)
Apple explores new music options – iTunes Pass
This is what I like to see – innovative new ways of buying music that encourages people to actually spend money on bands they love. Venturebeat reports that Apple is experimenting with something called iTunes Pass, which allows fans to buy a pass for a certain group or artist and then get everything that artist releases for a given time period.
Apple’s piloting it with Depeche Mode. You can buy a pass for $19 and you’ll get the band’s new single right now, the album when it comes out, and some other exclusive tracks too. You’ll also get any videos and artwork that the band puts out before June 16th, which is when the pass expires.
All the content you get is DRM-free, though it will show up in Apple’s AAC format. Apple also guarantees that the value of the pass won’t exceed the value of the individual items, so you’re getting a good deal however you look at it.
For my favourite bands, I’d definitely sign up for this. For stuff I’m less excited about, I wouldn’t, but that’s not really the point of the scheme. It’s about making fans feel special, giving bands a greater connection to those people, and maybe actually making some money off music again. Good work, Apple.
Is it something you’d use? What bands would you sign up for if they were offered? Let us know in the comments.
(via Venturebeat)
iTunes UK gets a high definition boost: new TV shows arrive
iTunes stores outside the US have always lagged behind when it comes to new features, but Apple has gradually been adding new video content to the UK store.
Last week’s moderately big news was that high definition episodes of Lost series 5 have made it into the iTunes store. Now, eagle-eyed fans have discovered a range of other titles that have “suddenly hit” the store…
Apple releases the chains on iTunes DRM
The final announcement at today’s Macworld 2009 keynote was indeed the hoped for, predicted and downright too long in the coming release of the DRM on iTunes downloads.
iTunes Plus is the name of the format which comes at a 256 kbps…
Relentless releases 'The Rev' visualization
Do you like energy drinks? I’ll admit that I’m not a massive fan – they taste like robot sweat – but some gamers love them, so I thought I’d point out this quite cool iTunes plug-in that Relentless has made for a marketing campaign of some kind. You can see it in action in the video above.
The website is a bit confusing, and you’ll have to register and give up your email address (or *an* email address, wink wink) to download the plugin, but if you’re the sort of person who digs visualizations, then this one’s more attractive than most. Blow it up big screen, and it’s like being friends with an aggressive squid. In a good way.
Relentless
Related posts: Nike+iPhone = a pretty way of visualising just how unfit you are | Visualize your disk space with FosiX Lite
iTunes DRM-free before the year end?
There’s a lot of rumbling this morning on the intertubes about iTunes potentially going DRM-free on all labels as of today. It would be a dramatic change from Apple’s famously ‘locked-down’ way of doing things, and could damage the iPod’s sales as consumers learn they can play their media on other devices.
Download site 7Digital won a coveted Tech Digest Official Badge of Awesomeness earlier this year for being the first download site to go 100% DRM-free. Many have since followed, but iTunes remains a holdout, with the majority of its catalogue still lumbered with restrictions.
New Doctor Who hitting iTunes – one series a week popping up during December
Doctor Who, a show which chronicles the increasingly camp adventures of a time travelling man who gets his clothes from a Help The Aged sale rack and solves everything from interplanetary war to tooth decay by shouting while pointing a screwdriver at a broken numeric keypad, is coming to iTunes.
BBC worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC that’s allowed to sell things for money, is dumping every episode of the new Who on Apple’s shopping system. Episodes from the first series of the modern Who should be ready for buying and downloading today…
RUMOUR: iTunes to add DRM-free Sony music
SonyBMG, soon to be Sony Music Entertainment Inc, is one of the four major music labels, and features bands and artists like the Ting Tings, AC/DC and Dido. If rumours are correct, then music from those bands and many others will soon be available on the iTunes store DRM-free.
Currently, EMI are the only major label to offer MP3 files on iTunes Plus – Apple’s name for their DRM-free, slightly higher quality, offering that costs 25% more per track than DRMed files. If Sony’s music is added, it will be a plus for Apple, but they still lag far far behind services like 7digital, who are 100% DRM-free, and remain my a la carte MP3 download provider of choice.
While we’re at it, do you know what the most downloaded catalogue song ever on iTunes is? Soundscan, over the weekend, determined that it’s the epic “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey. Classic. I’ve embedded a video of them playing it live just after the jump. Power Ballads first thing on a Monday morning are just what everyone needs.
iTunes gets briefly c**sored
A bug on the iTunes Music Store in the UK last Friday unnecessarily censored a bunch of words that even your grandma wouldn’t consider naughty, including “bum”, “teen”, “johnny” and “skank”. Interestingly “gay” was permitted through, but “lesbian” wasn’t…
Google still trying to monetise YouTube, adds "click to buy" links on videos
Google has long admitted that it’s having trouble making any money from its purchase of YouTube. The latest wheeze is to add clickable “Buy this now!” links on videos of buyable stuff. I’d love to show you you a less-grainy picture, but it only works in the USA so far. Check out the Amazon and iTunes links below the video.
The Goog is promising to expand the program internationally, as well as expanding the range of things it advertises next to. This scheme might also placate content owners, who will be happier to learn that there are now “Buy this” links next to the content that they own, but didn’t upload themselves…
