Are Apple's iTunes music sales plummeting?

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  • Reply 101 of 120
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by McDave


    But do the anti-DRMers actually buy music? The only people who have a real problem with it are pirates



    It's nice that you've made sweeping generalizations about people that you don't know. Thank you.
  • Reply 102 of 120
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by McDave


    But do the anti-DRMers actually buy music? The only people who have a real problem with it are pirates, who were never going to be customers anyway, or PC people who are starting to realise cobbling together 'open' systems makes them feel technical/clever but is a hiding to nowhere - but they'll come around.



    McD



    Ive bought around 60 songs from the iTunes Store since I first opened my account, the other songs are from my cds i bought from the stores. Ive never pirated music from P2P networks and I wish songs could be DRM free, but face the facts. DRM is the only way to go as the honor system wont work with music/tv shows/movies.



    Remember, you can burn your music to a cd and re-rip it off to strip the DRM legally, I honestly find that to be wonderful as then I can transfer my songs without DRM and not have to worry about having to pirate systems. You have to give Apple a little credit for allowing that, it could always be a lot worse, you could have Windows DRM/Zune DRM. How would you like it if you copied a song back off your iPod and it would only work for 3 days/3 times?



    Morale is, dont buy music and resocialize with all your friends and enjoy the outdoors .
  • Reply 103 of 120
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shetline


    Yadda, yadda, yadda. Mostly self-proclaimed audiophile BS with a hint of truth here and there under the BS.



    Thanks for saying what I couldn't be bothered to
  • Reply 104 of 120
    It's really amazing the complete lack of journalistic integrity that's displayed these days. Some analyst claims, with very dubious evidence, that iTunes sales are falling - and presumably by association something bad is going to happen to Apple - and the interweb is flooded with sites parroting that as if it's gospel truth.



    The fact is that iTunes sales are NOT falling. The fact is that Forrester can't research their own ass without both hands and a guidebook !
  • Reply 105 of 120
    Oh - and lets' not loose sight of the fact that - even if iTunes sales are falling, even if P2P networks offer a better experience - file sharing is theft and theft is illegal. You might not like it, but that doesn't change the facts. Sorry
  • Reply 106 of 120
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider


    Apple Computer's industry leading iTunes digital download service has experienced a collapse in sales revenues this year according a recent analysis from Forrester Research.



    While Apple has remained tight-lipped on the revenues and profits it generates through the service -- stating only that it operates at above 'break even' cost --Forrester believes credit card transaction data may offer some clues.



    The firm recently conducted an analysis of all related transactions over a 27-month period. And according to a write up over at The Register, this year's numbers are far from encouraging.



    "While the iTunes service saw healthy growth for much of the period, since January the monthly revenue has fallen by 65 percent, with the average transaction size falling 17 percent," the report states. A rebound in sales that took place during the spring of 2005 wasn't repeated this year.



    Meanwhile, data from Nielsen Soundscan indicates the problem is not Apple's alone, showing three consecutive quarters of flat or declining revenues for the digital download sector as a whole.



    The Register notes that this ominous trend has manifested despite healthy growth for digital music players. During the same period monitored by Forrester, iPod sales quadrupled and Apple's grew digital download inventory on iTunes significantly as video and movie catalogs joined the plethora of digital music tracks.



    According to Forrester's data on the purchasing trends of iTunes shoppers, some 3.2 percent of online households -- around 60 percent of the wider population -- bought at least one download during its sample period.



    "These dabblers made on average 5.6 transactions, with the median household making just three a year," the report states. "The median transaction was slightly under $3."



    THE REPORT IS DELIBERATE DISINFORMATION!!! spread the word !



    http://www.blackfriarsinc.com/blog/2...ollapsing.html
  • Reply 107 of 120
    what Shetline said!
  • Reply 108 of 120
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zab The Fab


    THE REPORT IS DELIBERATE DISINFORMATION!!! spread the word !



    http://www.blackfriarsinc.com/blog/2...ollapsing.html



    Folks, IMO this is the big boys trying to drive the stock price down so they can get in cheaper for the run up. How about the recent B.S. "news" story about the iPod phone delay? That sent the PPS a few bucks lower. How can there be a delay in a product that hasn't even been announced??? They shake out the weak hands and snap up their shares. Stoopid people, if you're going to buy AAPL, just buy it and hang on to it for long time and you'll be glad that you did.



    Also, most people don't care about the quality of the songs (or more accurately don't notice the difference). It's kind of like golf balls. Most people play whatever is on sale at Dicks. They don't care, it's round, it's white and it still goes long if they hit it square. I've never heard anyone complain about the quality of a song from iTMS. Obviously, there are some of us that care about this more than others but we're a small majority IMO.



    Cheers,

    Mac
  • Reply 109 of 120
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Roughly Drafted has an excellet artcle explaining DRM.
    Why DRM

    Some consumers have decided the problem lies with DRM. However, DRM is merely a tool that serves a purpose. It has a bad reputation because most DRM efforts have gone irresponsibly overboard in destroying user rights under the guise of protecting copyright.



    In reality, DRM is just a lock. Consumers are aware of why retail stores use locks to prevent theft. There are locks on the doors, physical locks on some merchandise, and sometimes electronic tags that trigger inventory alarms.



    Everyone knows there are no locks or security systems that are impossible to outwit, but retail locks do work to block the majority of theft related loss retailers would otherwise suffer. The theft they help to stop also prevents retailers from having to cover their losses by raising prices.



    In the digital world, DRM serves the same purpose. It can be a functional deterrent to mass theft without being an insane barrier to normal use. When abused, DRM fails, just as it did for Sony's MiniDisc and Microsoft's PlaysForSure, and just as its now doing for the Zune.



    When DRM is created to serve the needs of both producers and consumers, it works to create markets; DRM creates a product that can be sold, creating demand for content that would otherwise be unavailable.
  • Reply 110 of 120
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by McHuman


    I just wanted to repeat this so everyone sees :



    12/12/2006

    Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris says 'the conclusion that iTunes sales are slowing is simply incorrect.'




    So much for "65% decline".



    Something that's been pointed out on other forums, but I haven't seen here is that the comparison was between different quarters rather than the same quarter of different years. You can have a quarter-to-quarter decline, yet have a good year-over-year increase. Quarter-to-quarter comparisons are often meaningless, the real growth or decline is in year over year sales. This is the nature of seasonal business. For example, only a nitwit would say or accept that a 65% decline in the sales of say, winter sports equipment, between winter and summer months, was a valid comparison. Apparently the same is true of iTunes sales.



    There are many other issues with the report and the Reg's treatment of it, but this is the biggest one.
  • Reply 111 of 120
    Quote:

    the other part is that although audiophiles may be a very small number of people, most of them consume a LOT of music





    well, um, that's probably true. I must buy around 6 LPs and 10 cds a month; still burn out 400 Watts per channel on speaker output and use an old-fashioned tube pre-amp and turntable.



    When I meet with my trendy mates who aren't audiophile, I'm surprised at the shit they listen to :P
  • Reply 112 of 120
    Oh yes..... iTunes.....I'd never waste $0.99 on a digital file track either - much prefer a cd with proper sound. Sometimes I might get the vinyl LP and the cd if there's a huge difference in quality! As far as I know, iTunes was popular with teeny bops who liked to buy single tracks which impressed them because of their extraordinary short-memory. Because the tracks had catchy hooks and were no longer than 3 minutes, they could actually remember the song. That is....until the next chart hit came out..
  • Reply 113 of 120
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Justin


    Oh yes..... iTunes.....I'd never waste $0.99 on a digital file track either - much prefer a cd with proper sound. Sometimes I might get the vinyl LP and the cd if there's a huge difference in quality! As far as I know, iTunes was popular with teeny bops who liked to buy single tracks which impressed them because of their extraordinary short-memory. Because the tracks had catchy hooks and were no longer than 3 minutes, they could actually remember the song. That is....until the next chart hit came out..



    CDs contain digital files. Lucky for Apple enough 'teeny bops' disagree with you to buy over 1.5 billion of them I'm sure most of it is crap but you must have an excellent source to sustain 16 albums of high quality listening per month.



    Would you buy iTunes Store music if it were lossless (the same quality as CD)? Or are you just trying to be elitist?
  • Reply 114 of 120
    justinjustin Posts: 403member
    Not sure - I won't even buy CD sometimes, because the quality is so so inferior to LP vinyl :P



    I've tried a few SACD's and got to say - the sonic dimension and sound staging is just phenomenal.



    Let's not pretend that convenience isn't the overriding factor with iTunes and modern digital MP3 and internet music. It's fine for the non-discriminating - I'm quite happy to have 4,000 tracks on my iPod wandering around remote places in the back of nowhere for a year with an AAA battery charger to keep it happy for 20 hours at a time. CD quality is still far superior than the stuff I end up on my iPod (even when it claims to be lossless format). There isn't anyone I've met who've listened to an iPod and a proper audiophile cd player through the same system who can't discriminate the inferior quality of the iPod....have you?



    When I'm back in a home, it's a different story - no elitism about that, unless space is considered capitalist, and living in one's own, listening to vinyl music is considered that way..
  • Reply 115 of 120
    Very true, I would consider buying more music online if it was at least 256kpbs because this is what I rip all my CDs to, if the music was lossless I would really be tempted to buy a whole lot more online. The reality is you can download lossless versions of albums with no DRM for free so why would you pay for a sub-standard product?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by intlplby


    i know a lot of people who wouldn't consider buying something at 128Kbps





    a lot would fold in at around 256Kbps for singles which is only marginally larger in file size.





    128 is pathetic and low enough that even non-audiophiles can tell it doesn't sound as good....



  • Reply 116 of 120
    parkyparky Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s.metcalf


    Very true, I would consider buying more music online if it was at least 256kpbs because this is what I rip all my CDs to, if the music was lossless I would really be tempted to buy a whole lot more online. The reality is you can download lossless versions of albums with no DRM for free so why would you pay for a sub-standard product?



    Which would also be illegal
  • Reply 117 of 120
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by parky


    Which would also be illegal



    You'll be amazed how many people now think it's their god-given right to pirate. I've seen two polls showing 80% of digital music users now consider P2P to be a valid way of acquiring music & a discussion at a recent BBQ where I was the odd man out justifying music purchase against 4 other adults! I blame the lack of usable creative software shipped as standard with Windows they should be paying the music companies more than a dollar per Zune for the seeds that they've sown.



    You guys are absolutely right about the trade off between quality & convenience though the home is increasingly giving way to bus & car as my listening venue and the downloads sound fine. All that aside, unless something changes on the piracy front Crazy Frog's Xmas EP is going to sound a bit less crap on vinyl than it does at 128Kb AAC



    McD
  • Reply 118 of 120
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by McDave


    they should be paying the music companies more than a dollar per Zune for the seeds that they've sown.





    I hope you're just kidding. I feel extremely strongly that by MS paying Universal a dollar on every zune, that I am justified in p2p music sharing. I'm serious, I don't say that jokingly. If someone were to make that claim in court it could very well hold up.



    EDIT: For the record, I rarely if ever download music illegally.
  • Reply 119 of 120
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM


    It's nice that you've made sweeping generalizations about people that you don't know. Thank you.



    Nice to see a few of you disagree - a generalisation doesn't have to be 100% to be valid Jeff but then again if the minority weren't sensitively vocal this site wouldn't exist. I didn't expect much from the pro-piracy brigade I suspect they're too busy downloading & hunting for DRM cracking software.



    McD
  • Reply 120 of 120
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay


    I hope you're just kidding. I feel extremely strongly that by MS paying Universal a dollar on every zune, that I am justified in p2p music sharing. I'm serious, I don't say that jokingly. If someone were to make that claim in court it could very well hold up.



    EDIT: For the record, I rarely if ever download music illegally.



    Dangerous territory. That would imply that the MS/Universal deal condones & justifies music piracy providing partial recovery of lost revenues with the only casuality being - the law.



    Maybe law-makers should order MS to be broken up immediately with profits used to repair the legal disregard they've instigated & perpetuated? Do you think that would hold up?



    McD
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