The Official: Will The iTunes Store be a success???

algol

I have spent a few hours today playing around with Apple's new music service. I have found it to be a great example of what an online music store should be. It's as easy as the chick next door to dl music, and I tell you, it's easy to forget that you are actually paying for it. One click and it's on your comp! A 4mb song dl in about 2 sec! Amazing! The quality is great considering the dl size and all. The samples are clear and represent the music well. Granted, apple does not have a wide selection yet; although, they do say that they will be updating it weekly. I imagine by the end of the summer, they will have quite a few more songs than they do now. I really like the idea that you can request songs from them.

As usual, Apple has done a great Job, but will it work? It's hard to say... Kazaa is still around, and it's still free... Can apple's music service stack up against such cheap services? Will the ease of use and quality be enough to get people to pay .99¢ for a song?

I don't mind paying for music. I am sure I will use the iTunes Store some. I probably will end up spending about 20 a month on music from them; however, I am in a situation where I can afford to spend money on the things I want. However, With the f*cked up situation America is in, I wonder whether many people actually can afford this additional cost.

So as the official post on the iTunes Music Store, I just have to ask "Will This Work out for apple?" Here's to Apple for yet again creating a great thing and thinking differently! I can only pray it will work.

Please feel free to post you ideas of what's wrong, what's right, and whether it will work.

algol

I hope this is the right forum. I seem to always have trouble with this side of apple insider; I seem to think way to different from the mods as to what goes where. Anyway I saw other stuff on the music service here and figured it was right.

torifile

If they can get more stuff, it will definitely be a hit. I would rather buy a cd for $10 than spend an hour trying to download it. My time is worth that. And I've been exploring stuff I've always had an interest in, but never wanted to hunt down in the stores. I think that they did this thing right. It's sure to be super easy for everyone and it's not too expensive.



I just wonder how long it will take for broadband in the US to see a big rise in users. Up until now, there has been no significantly compelling reason to get broadband. Now there is. Before, broadband internet just added to what we could do - share pictures, download trailers, etc. - it didn't alter the way we were doing things we always did. Sure, internet retailers have changed the way we bought things, but that didn't require broadband. Now there's been a convergence of a fundamental activity and the NEED for broadband, as well as an incredible ease of use (kazaa, napster, P2P were all too much for most people). If this takes off, it could be the next phase in the net revolution. 8)

superkarate monkeydeathcar

you can tell some artists are way in and other artists are just sticking a toe in.

i found a bunch of stuff that i never wanted to buy whole cd for.

there are some good jazz buys. you can get 1/4 of bitches brew for 99¢.

some omissions are strange, all the paul weller, all the style council, but no jam.

i can say i'm exhausted from browsing.

and i got punky reggae party by bob marley and the wailers!!!

cubedude

I think the best part is the 30 second previews. I hated buying CD's and finding out it wasn't what I wanted. Sure it was the right album, but the artist had changed styles somewhat. That was so annoying. Now I can just listen to a part of the song.



Thank You Apple.

algol

Oh come on!!!! Doesn't anyone want to argue about this topic?

costique

Either Apple convinces the music biz world and extends the service world-wide, or they'll have to close shop in a year.

ast3r3x

i think it will be successful when iTunes or whatever this service will be for PC comes out



i think that is the most important thing, especially because 3% of the market are the only people who can use it now (are we just a test user base?)

gordy

A few ramblings:



Unfortunately, I hope I am not the "typical macfan/user" they planned their business model around.



While paying in the store last night, I listened to a lot of music. The two I liked, I downloaded via Acquisition. I'll try to do better in the future, but I would have only bought one if I couldn't find it on Acquisition.



I'm also a little miffed about the iPod 1.3 update. I'm wasn't feeling like giving Apple my money last night.



If I could buy music videos as QT movies, then I'd probably buy more too. I could only find one last night, an awful Mariah Carey song, surely there are more.



Also, where's the Janet Jackson? A notable omission IMHO. That can't be good.

ast3r3x

Quote:

Originally posted by gordy

Unfortunately, I hope I am not the "typical macfan/user" they planned their business model around.



While paying in the store last night, I listened to a lot of music. The two I liked, I downloaded via Acquisition. I'll try to do better in the future, but I would have only bought one if I couldn't fine it on Acquisition.



I'm also a little miffed about the iPod 1.3 update. I'm wasn't feeling like giving Apple my money last night.

haha i know alot of people that have been doing this



me included but i plan on buying music, i dont have a credit card and needed one from my dad



ifi was older and had an accoutn there i can see it being very VERY easy to just click buy or whatever and have it...man would that be nice





and man can u see the bill growing so fast?!



haha i'm almost afraid to get an account there cuz i wkno i will spend ALOT of money quickly

pesi

Quote:

Originally posted by ast3r3x



and man can u see the bill growing so fast?!



haha i'm almost afraid to get an account there cuz i wkno i will spend ALOT of money quickly

yes. one-click shopping for 99 cent items is pure evil



and Steve Jobs knows this

ast3r3x

Quote:

Originally posted by pesi

yes. one-click shopping for 99 cent items is pure evil



and Steve Jobs knows this

i wonder what percentage apple gets out of the .99



haha jobs has to be loving this since its alot easier to click a button then turn over an actual physiucal dollar bill

gordy

Yep, the first thing I did was disable 1-Click, and go to the shopping cart method. I am bad about impulse buying. The more steps, the better. I'm sure Apple (and Amazon) realizes that.



I believe Apple makes 34 cents on the sale. The labels get 65 cents.

ast3r3x

Quote:

Originally posted by gordy

Yep, the first thing I did was disable 1-Click, and go to the shopping cart method. I am bad about impulse buying. The more steps, the better. I'm sure Apple (and Amazon) realizes that.

i didn't know there was an option to do that...haha ill have to do that then i will be able to see the actually amount of $ that all the songs i want cost

pesi

Quote:

Originally posted by ast3r3x

i wonder what percentage apple gets out of the .99

according to reports, it's around 34 cents or so. right around 33%

ast3r3x

Quote:

Originally posted by pesi

according to reports, it's around 34 cents or so. right around 33%

thats a nice bit of money!



wonder how apple will make out having to pay for their servers and OC488 internet connection

pesi

Quote:

Originally posted by ast3r3x





wonder how apple will make out having to pay for their servers and OC488 internet connection

well, seeing that Apple is quite possibly MAKING the servers, and they own part of Akamai, i'd say they're probably doing pretty well on overhead

torifile

Quote:

Originally posted by pesi

well, seeing that Apple is quite possibly MAKING the servers, and they own part of Akamai, i'd say they're probably doing pretty well on overhead

If this works, I'm going to be a very happy camper. I own two stocks: aapl and akam. It turns out that akam is doing the delivery for them. (I knew they would, but there had been no confirmation of that until this morning.) Go iTunes Music Store!

ast3r3x

this better be good for apple's stock because i coudl use the money from it





to say...buy an iPod or new computer, who knows maybe even soem songs from the music store





hmm i wish i wasn't poor i'd put money into the server company too

mcq

I'm waiting to see if Apple will do a press release if they get a certain amount of people signed up or certain revenue within the first day or week, to compare it against Pressplay and the other music subscription service. It'll be interesting, I think it should do quite well though.

cosmonut

I imagine that I'll use it for both its convenience, low cost, and functionality. Let me explain:

[list=1][*]I can easily see myself previewing a lot of artists to find out what I think about them. If I like a few of their songs, but not others, I'll dl the few that I want.[*]If there are a few songs that I specifically want for use at dances, etc., I'll just get them from iTMS.[*]There are artists that I will automatically want to buy the CD in the store, but preview the stuff on iTMS just to hear it first. Dave Matthews Band is one of these.[/list=1]



I imagine that I'll have to set up a budget for myself to curtail any massive, irresponsible spending on stuff I REALLY don't want or need. All-in-all, I think it'll be really useful.