acquiring the most profitable headphone company in the industry, whoch they helped start, and which literally plugs into multiple facets of their business..only a total maroon could obsessively complain about it being a bad idea. get over it and yourself.
I find this so amusing. If Samsung had acquired Beats people here would be laughing their asses off over Samsung spending $3B on crappy overpriced headphones.
But iTunes' problem is that while it has the Apple Juggernaut behind it it really is not perceived as the cool place to get music. It's just there, and as noted in your face when you buy a Mac. A company like Pandora, Spotify, et al making the headway they did in the time they did would have been unheard of 5 years previously. From what I see all around me I simply do not see iTunes currently as the big gorilla in the room anymore, and that's how Apple functions best, and they know it. The numbers telling the tale of what was happening last months exactly what Apple has never used as evidence of anything as what they care about is aiming at a target 5 years from now that no one can even see is there.
Actually, this is why Rogers is spot on what they need. He is actually credited as literally being the one of the first to enable mp3s to be downloaded from an artist's website in the mid '90s, as well as constantly updated new audio and visual media for Beastie Boys fans. No one else had ever thought anyone would care or go to a site daily to see what music and images had shown up since 24 hours ago and download content every day. He's Apple's type of forward thinker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by YvesVilleneuve
I am
I'm not disputing Ian Rogers' qualifications per se. Truth be told, it was likely Eddy Cue's idea to give him iTunes Radio responsibility since Cue had completed his mission. Let's not start making uneducated assumptions when Eddy Cue is actually responsible for 20 million new active listeners every 4 months in the USA & Australia. He also deserves all credit for any future active iTunes Radio listener expansions in new countries. iTunes Radio sells itself because of Eddy Cue so Ian Roger's should not receive credit for this completed mission. iTunes is still the 800lbs gorilla based on music revenues... no other company comes close to it. Don't know how you can make claims distant from reality.
I am leery of Ian Rogers handling iTunes Radio since he could be a major record label stooge thereby tinkering with the service that could prove more beneficial to these labels at the expense of independent artists trying to earn an honest living in the music industry. As a result, I have more faith in Eddy Cue treating independent artists with fairness but that could change from bad to worse.
I'm basing iTunes not being the same big gorilla in the room based on the factors I mention, not its revenues. I think if Apple thought it was still in the same "gorilla" position it was ten years ago they wouldn't have made any purchases at all nor hired any outsiders to come in. iTunes' revenue has grown tremendously since then but so has everything else's revenue that has been a part of the transition completely away from physical media. What iTunes has lacked is the hipness factor that makes something a go to destination for the 10 to 20 year olds for whom music is a huge part of their lives. As a purely unscientific observation I just don't see it around me. I have 16 and 22 year daughters and they and pretty much all of their friends use whatever the latest, coolest services are and sometimes fall back to Pandora and Spotify for what they like about them, and then do iTunes if there's something they have to do there. I know it's not true, but for all they're concerned iTunes may as well be GooglePlay or Amazon. It just doesn't occur to them to go there, at least first. This was unheard of in the years when the only competition was Amazon and whatever other similar, and I'm not referencing the current status but what might lay ahead a few years. In this regard I see the Beats acquisition almost as much for eliminating a much "hipper" service in the marketplace as buying themselves whatever Beats had to offer.
When these little unheard of services started showing up I was amazed at the devoted followings they had already acquired by the time I found out about them. There seemed to be something that was allowing these services to flourish, and in my mind it was coming down to Apple uncharacteristically not having the foresight to target and keep these (mostly young) people who simply didn't want to use their parents' music services. Again, no figures, just casual observation. They want Macs and iDevices because they mean something to them. iTunes not so much. That needs to change.
As far as Rogers favoring labels, I don't feel that, given how he came to recognition as the web designer for The Beastie Boys and was pretty antiestablishment. He even angered the labels by offering ongoing Beastie Boys live shows for download. But twenty years (and a stint at Yahoo) can cause plenty of changes : ) But from his interviews at Beats over the past year he comes off as pretty in-stooge like.
jlandd, yeah agree, Apple does have more competition in music (and other areas) and they don't have high market share like they do when they launch a new service or product. Market share may not be their initial or primary focus. Focus is likely increasing sales, profits and customer loyalty... Like you pretty much explained, not easy to do when there are many strong competitors.
Comments
But iTunes' problem is that while it has the Apple Juggernaut behind it it really is not perceived as the cool place to get music. It's just there, and as noted in your face when you buy a Mac. A company like Pandora, Spotify, et al making the headway they did in the time they did would have been unheard of 5 years previously. From what I see all around me I simply do not see iTunes currently as the big gorilla in the room anymore, and that's how Apple functions best, and they know it. The numbers telling the tale of what was happening last months exactly what Apple has never used as evidence of anything as what they care about is aiming at a target 5 years from now that no one can even see is there.
Actually, this is why Rogers is spot on what they need. He is actually credited as literally being the one of the first to enable mp3s to be downloaded from an artist's website in the mid '90s, as well as constantly updated new audio and visual media for Beastie Boys fans. No one else had ever thought anyone would care or go to a site daily to see what music and images had shown up since 24 hours ago and download content every day. He's Apple's type of forward thinker.
I am
I'm not disputing Ian Rogers' qualifications per se. Truth be told, it was likely Eddy Cue's idea to give him iTunes Radio responsibility since Cue had completed his mission. Let's not start making uneducated assumptions when Eddy Cue is actually responsible for 20 million new active listeners every 4 months in the USA & Australia. He also deserves all credit for any future active iTunes Radio listener expansions in new countries. iTunes Radio sells itself because of Eddy Cue so Ian Roger's should not receive credit for this completed mission. iTunes is still the 800lbs gorilla based on music revenues... no other company comes close to it. Don't know how you can make claims distant from reality.
I am leery of Ian Rogers handling iTunes Radio since he could be a major record label stooge thereby tinkering with the service that could prove more beneficial to these labels at the expense of independent artists trying to earn an honest living in the music industry. As a result, I have more faith in Eddy Cue treating independent artists with fairness but that could change from bad to worse.
I'm basing iTunes not being the same big gorilla in the room based on the factors I mention, not its revenues. I think if Apple thought it was still in the same "gorilla" position it was ten years ago they wouldn't have made any purchases at all nor hired any outsiders to come in. iTunes' revenue has grown tremendously since then but so has everything else's revenue that has been a part of the transition completely away from physical media. What iTunes has lacked is the hipness factor that makes something a go to destination for the 10 to 20 year olds for whom music is a huge part of their lives. As a purely unscientific observation I just don't see it around me. I have 16 and 22 year daughters and they and pretty much all of their friends use whatever the latest, coolest services are and sometimes fall back to Pandora and Spotify for what they like about them, and then do iTunes if there's something they have to do there. I know it's not true, but for all they're concerned iTunes may as well be GooglePlay or Amazon. It just doesn't occur to them to go there, at least first. This was unheard of in the years when the only competition was Amazon and whatever other similar, and I'm not referencing the current status but what might lay ahead a few years. In this regard I see the Beats acquisition almost as much for eliminating a much "hipper" service in the marketplace as buying themselves whatever Beats had to offer.
When these little unheard of services started showing up I was amazed at the devoted followings they had already acquired by the time I found out about them. There seemed to be something that was allowing these services to flourish, and in my mind it was coming down to Apple uncharacteristically not having the foresight to target and keep these (mostly young) people who simply didn't want to use their parents' music services. Again, no figures, just casual observation. They want Macs and iDevices because they mean something to them. iTunes not so much. That needs to change.
As far as Rogers favoring labels, I don't feel that, given how he came to recognition as the web designer for The Beastie Boys and was pretty antiestablishment. He even angered the labels by offering ongoing Beastie Boys live shows for download. But twenty years (and a stint at Yahoo) can cause plenty of changes : ) But from his interviews at Beats over the past year he comes off as pretty in-stooge like.
But under discussion is iTunes Radio. Which is a radio - not On Demand - service. On Demand costs the vendor lots more. Ten times as much.