iTunes Music Store Has Competition

I don't see a launch date and the website is just a placeholder. Hopefully it'll be a month or two before it actually launches.

Right, but it's very vague. It might just be a paper launch and announcement to build up some hype before the actual launch. It'd be beneficial to them to do that in ordrt to get some inflated launch figures.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...siness/2005003

This article says $0.79-$1.49 per song.

I think the big reason for the delay in the Windows iTunesMS is the implementation of DRM. Each PC has to be identifiable, even when individual components change. It's the same problem MS product activation has. It has to somehow be tied to the hardware otherwise it will be easily circumvented.

It was one of the risks Apple took when they announced it as "only mac" before having a windows solution ready to ship.

I really hope they have worked overtime to make a iTunesWin version ready. Only one will really win in this game. Just like ebay and amazon

eh. whatever.

buy.com fails at everything they do. they have a horrible reputation.

the gem is buried at the end of the article though.

there ares no uniform usage rights.

each and every song may have totally different burning/portability rights attached to it.

talk about NIGHTMARE. a total customer service/ public relations mess.

and it's all in Windows Media format. which means the songs won't play on the iPod. the #1 music player in the world. oops.

Without knowing it I am convinced that more MP3 players can play the Windows Media format than can play AAC. And ten times as many people can tomorrow download music using this service and place it on their portable player than those who can do the same using iTMS.

If Apple get the iTunesWin out very soon then they can win. But they HAVE to come out very soon.

Am I missing something? There were iTMS competitors for Windows *before* iTMS was released for the Mac. Why the sudden horror?

Apple has many advantages over these guys. Not even getting into Apple Innovation Cheerleading mode, just boring stuff like experience streaming media and selling on-line and integration with the iPod etc.

Expecting Apple to dominate this market is daft (and the computer industry as a whole has to get away from that as the only measure of success) but, like the iPod itself, iTMS looks to be a jump ahead of its competitors. Who in fact give every appearance of jumping on Apple's bandwagon as they need to compare themselves against Apple's iTMS in every single article, even the one's that came out before.

The site appears to be up. (buymusic.com)

"Music File Licenses
When you purchase and download music from BuyMusic.com, your music files are accompanied by a license with certain restrictions. The music files are encrypted with SDMI license technology to be sure that they are used according to your license restrictions. (See Minimum System Requirements.)

IMPORTANT: Make sure you mean to buy your music from your primary computer (for example: your home computer) so that it contains your primary license. The licenses are non-transferable. Example: You cannot buy your music on your home machine and then transfer your primary license to your work machine. The computer you buy from becomes the primary computer with the primary license for that song. You can only copy music from your primary machine via your primary license. See below for details.

Downloading, Transferring, and Burning
Each record label has control over these license restrictions including the number of times you may:

transfer your songs to another computer(s)
transfer your songs to an approved portable digital media player.
burn your songs to CD
BuyMusic.com complies with each record label and adjusts the SDMI license on each of your music downloads accordingly.

Two Types of Licenses: Primary and Secondary

There are two types of licenses: Primary and Secondary. The primary license is downloaded to the machine you used to buy your music (for example your home computer). Your primary license enables you to copy your music from your primary computer to your digital media players and to burn it to your CDs as many times as the record label allows.

If you download a secondary license, you do so onto a secondary computer (for example your work computer). Your secondary license enables you ONLY to listen to your music on your secondary computer. A secondary license does NOT allow you to copy your music from your secondary computer to your digital media players or to burn it to your CDs.

Make sure you mean to buy your music from your primary computer so that it contains your primary license. The licenses are non-transferable. You cannot buy your music on your work machine and then transfer your primary license to your home machine. The computer you buy from becomes the primary computer with the primary license for that song. "

So: one computer, limited burns. But iTunes for Windows may have the same restrictions.

And get a load of those holding-the-music-player studio-white commercials.

That's some crap.

Lazy asses? Hate to be working for you!

The license stuff sounds a bit complicated, but I suppose FairPlay might sound complicated also when done in legaleze.

PS: competition is good!

Oh No. The sky is falling! What's the big deal? Another competitor to iTMS and not a very compelling one. The site even looks alot like iTMS. Unveiling is today. BuyMusic.com will fail because it's complicated and full of restrictions and does not offer the ease of use that iTMS has or the liberal copy and burn features - even though it looks awfully like the iTMS site. By the way, reports are that iTMS is going to be unveiled for Windows by Thanksgiving.

Ummm this sucks. Not because it's a competitor because it isn't. Without Uniform Useage I'm not buying ...period. Call me a felon. I'll stick to routing out good music using P2P and buy the artists that I listen to on CD.

The RIAA is NOT the Music Industry it is the focal point of the Big 5. They don't give a damn about Indies unless it benefits their own behalf.

If iTMS Windows is this bad I won't support it as well. This is a principle.

Nope. What's happening here is that the record companies are using buymusic.com as a testing ground. One more proof that their restrictive DRM doesn't work before they let Apple figure it out. buymusic.com is a fall guy. The proof of misconcept if you will. Everyone knows that if this going to succeed, Apple's going to be the one to do it. They've got the cache and the style. It's all good.

haha that was a very lemon bon bon-ish type post

also... something interesting.

They advertise $.70 songs and lower "whole CD" downloads, but of the random simgles I saw, they range in price from .79 to .99!!

Bunch of Clown Shoes

Also notice their "cool" adverts you can download. Look familiar???

Bah!

[yes, I woke up bitter this morning]

is it a horrible site because i'm on a mac? or is it just a horrible site.

I can't even get in (Mozilla/Linux):


but what I can see looks like ass.

The previews suck (sounds like an AM radio), the commercials are Apple rip-offs (notice the guitar in the one with Tommy Lee, http://www.apple.com/music/) and for god sakes it's Windows Media format with variable DRM. I can't even see it with Phoenix (Mozilla) on a Windows machine.

I'm not impressed and I'm Canadian and don't even have access to the iTunes Music Store (yet!?). I'm glad there's some competition, but I'm surprised at how un-original buyMusic.com's solution is.

wow i just went there and it really is the iTMS...its so sad how they copy from apple


...now i just wait for people to dispute that it isn't a copy of apple just like everyother idea that people 'didn't copy from appl

Oh my God, those commercials are just flagrant derivative rip-offs! They make the old iMac rip-offs look thoughtful. And they're piss poor on top of it!

To be fair, I think they are supposed to be satirical. But I don't think the sarcasm is obvious enough. Those people just look pathetic. Well Tommy Lee smashing the iTunes guitar is kinda funny

Tommy Lee in their ads? Isn't he a convicted wife abuser? Who's next, Kobe Bryant?

That's a good point. Any ideas how they'll do it?

I don't see any reason why the labels will give Apple a better deal than they've given this. This one seems to have basically the same protections against piracy, if not more, so why didn't they give them the Apple deal? And that might not be such a bad thing - if you want to avoid obnoxious MS-style DRM, buy a Mac.

Also, I'm wondering why the prices vary. Perhaps they charge more for tracks that can be burned.

i really think apple could have a case that these commercials (aside from the tommy lee one) are copyright infringement, not satire or parody. between that and naming the service "iMusic", i think i now hate buy.com MORE than i hate microsoft (and that's goin' some).

yeah they are...kinda...haha its kinda like they thought this was a good idea but didn't want people to think they were completely copying so they'd "poke fun" at apple's

oh my, this very very sad I love how everyone talks shit about apple like how there market share is so low they don't matter in the industry, but yet they all seem to want to copy everything they do. even doing a piss poor job of copying the web site.


This is probably the stupidist thing I heard all week.


because they know buymusic will be gone in a few months. itunes pc will mop the floor with these guys, if there even around that is

Blech. If anything, it looks more like buy.com than like the iTMS. Apple was wise to bypass the browser and just have the player be the store. This looks unnecessarily complicated, and ugly to boot.

This isn't really competition to iTMS as buymusic.com does not actually sell music. This service simply licences use of the songs to a single computer and limited approved portable devices. They are not selling anything other than a very restricted licence to listen to music. Booo!

The Good people at ArsTechnica have a nice review of the website.

http://arstechnica.com/archive/news/1058898351.html

This will fail like all the others before. Oh how the dogs stack up!

From MacMinute:

One million a day? I think he's a bit optimistic...

Look who's talking. The iPod plays MP3s and AACs. He's trying to sell a proprietary Microsoft format.

All other Windows music services sold 500,000 songs last year - combined.

Optimistic indeed.

Get Loaded??? WTF?

Wow. I have no doubt they will sell many songs but 200 to 300 million downloads? This guy must be smoking whatever it was Steve did when the idea for the Flower Power iMacs came to him. I think iTMS was cool because it had a "gee-wiz" factor. You download iTunes 4 and click on the Music Store icon and bam, the interface loads right in your music player. This lacks that simple elegance and it looks very clunky in a browser.

I did find this amusing: "Tommy Lee is loaded, you should be too!" Ha, no s@*t Tommy is loaded, it's just that you can't buy what he's loaded with on any site.

judging by apple's number i think they have alot better chance

Oh yes I forgot: Many many PC users have become way too accustomed to all of those little gem P2P programs. I see a few PC users heading off to buymusic in the wake of the RIAA's lawsuits but the large % are gonna keep with P2P. Oh yes and the search engine isn't working on Buymusic so I can't find out if I really care what content is there. I'm gonna stick it out with my P2P programs mainly b/c the RIAA can lick my (insert body part here).

It's also amazing that the license (Ars brings up a good point that BuyMusic isn't letting people buy music!) is tied to the computer, so when your PIII 1.4 GHz Dell dies, so does your music. That's just horrible! I think the new service does have some things people want or are willing to deal with for the best price, and those alternatives, while not my kind of thing (I'm willing to pay for convenience), are welcome. But some of the fine print just seems unfair to users. It's one thing to have prices and some other aspects more flexible than iTunes. This whole no-you-didn't-buy-it-you-just-"rent"-it-until-your-computer-dies (or if the song "expires") thing should be more apparent. BuyMusic IMO is trying to play both sides, neither Listen.com nor iTMS, though it claims to be the latter.

I smell a lawsuit.

How many songs does iTMS have now? It's grown quite a bit since its debut.

UPDATE: Their ads and slogan really suck.

Yes it has. WIth about 100 per week...

But those services were mostly subscription based. No need to purchase all the songs, if you can stream them anytime you want. Rhapsody does 350,000 streams a day.