Labels want iTunes bundles; new iPod games; Vista iPod update
For their part in the ongoing iTunes license re-negotiations, record labels are pushing for new digital sales bundles. Meanwhile, one iPod game developer has announced plans to deliver at least 4 new games for the Apple media players. And Microsoft says its finally squashed iPod corruption issues with Vista.
Digital iTunes bundles
According to the BaltimoreSun, at least two recording companies are planning to ask Apple chief executive Steve Jobs to sell a wider variety of content in digital bundles of songs, videos and other multimedia.
The paper, which cited two recording company executives familiar with their companies' plans, notes that the major record labels had each agreed to one-year deals that expire this spring.
Apple already sells some bundled tracks, but the labels hope expanding those offerings will boost online revenue and help offset lagging CD sales.
Four new iPod games on the way
Meanwhile, Electronic Arts confirmed last night that "The Sims" will appear as a game for iPods in the coming weeks.
During a quarterly conference call, the games publisher said it's wrapping up plans to release four new iPod games, along with a bevy of titles for mobile phones.
"From EA studios, we plan to release roughly 35 titles and 120 SKUs," executives said during the call. "EA Mobile plans to release 30 to 35 games on mobile handsets and four games on the iPod."
The publisher confirmed that one of the new iPod titles will include the popular Sims Bowling game.
Microsoft Patches Vista iPod Corruption
Microsoft said Tuesday that it has been working closely with Apple to ensure a great experience in using Windows Vista with iTunes and the iPod, and believes a new patch will do away with ongoing corruption issues.
"Today we're publishing at the Microsoft Download Center a recommended final compatibility update for users of Windows Vista and the Apple iPod; this same update will be automatically available via Windows Update on Tuesday 22 May," a Microsoft representative wrote on the Windows Vista Blog.
The release is intended for users worldwide and works with the latest version of Apple iTunes to correct an issue that caused some iPods to become corrupted when ejecting them using Windows Explorer or the "Safely Remove Hardware" function in the System Tray.
Both companies recommend the update for Vista users.
Digital iTunes bundles
According to the BaltimoreSun, at least two recording companies are planning to ask Apple chief executive Steve Jobs to sell a wider variety of content in digital bundles of songs, videos and other multimedia.
The paper, which cited two recording company executives familiar with their companies' plans, notes that the major record labels had each agreed to one-year deals that expire this spring.
Apple already sells some bundled tracks, but the labels hope expanding those offerings will boost online revenue and help offset lagging CD sales.
Four new iPod games on the way
Meanwhile, Electronic Arts confirmed last night that "The Sims" will appear as a game for iPods in the coming weeks.
During a quarterly conference call, the games publisher said it's wrapping up plans to release four new iPod games, along with a bevy of titles for mobile phones.
"From EA studios, we plan to release roughly 35 titles and 120 SKUs," executives said during the call. "EA Mobile plans to release 30 to 35 games on mobile handsets and four games on the iPod."
The publisher confirmed that one of the new iPod titles will include the popular Sims Bowling game.
Microsoft Patches Vista iPod Corruption
Microsoft said Tuesday that it has been working closely with Apple to ensure a great experience in using Windows Vista with iTunes and the iPod, and believes a new patch will do away with ongoing corruption issues.
"Today we're publishing at the Microsoft Download Center a recommended final compatibility update for users of Windows Vista and the Apple iPod; this same update will be automatically available via Windows Update on Tuesday 22 May," a Microsoft representative wrote on the Windows Vista Blog.
The release is intended for users worldwide and works with the latest version of Apple iTunes to correct an issue that caused some iPods to become corrupted when ejecting them using Windows Explorer or the "Safely Remove Hardware" function in the System Tray.
Both companies recommend the update for Vista users.
Comments
Glad to hear EA is making new gmes; more time will be wasted!
"Four new iPod games on the way
Microsoft said Tuesda"
Go ahead and delete this comment if you want.
Enjoying this site even as Apple becomes more mainstream!
You should also group the Sims and Bowling games together in the paragraph.
-=|Mgkwho
Oh those silly music execs! The beauty part of digital music downloads is that you get to buy only the songs you want, not a bunch of "side B" crap packed onto a CD album. Here they go again, trying to maximize profits by forcing you to pay more to get what you don't want.
I'm all for bundles if it's something extra you can buy or a discount to buy a track and a video together, but I don't think Apple is going to be too kosher with anything that looks like an end run around single-track purchases.
I don't necessarily have a problem, though, with charging more for limited content for an album that hasn't come out yet, i.e., making a new single $1.29 for three weeks before the album comes out.
Oh those silly music execs! The beauty part of digital music downloads is that you get to buy only the songs you want, not a bunch of "side B" crap packed onto a CD album. Here they go again, trying to maximize profits by forcing you to pay more to get what you don't want.
I see nothing in the article that says that the singles are going away.
I welcome the bundles. The U2 bundle had about a $0.33 per song cost all said, maybe $0.40 excluding the duplicates. I would like to see more bands be offered that way. Even though I had several of the albums, It was cheaper than buying all their CDs I haven't bought yet. I considered the Dylan bundle, but I really didn't care for his music.
I wouldn't want them as a replacement for singles, but I don't see any indication that it's going to happen, so I'm not going to assume it will until there is credible evidence otherwise.
I'm all for bundles if it's something extra you can buy or a discount to buy a track and a video together, but I don't think Apple is going to be too kosher with anything that looks like an end run around single-track purchases.
I don't necessarily have a problem, though, with charging more for limited content for an album that hasn't come out yet, i.e., making a new single $1.29 for three weeks before the album comes out.
How would these bundles be any different than the dreaded "Album Only" tracks already plaguing iTunes? You've always been forced to buy more than you wanted to if you wanted certain things from iTunes. This wouldn't change anything. When the iTunes Store opened these tracks made some level of sense since they are (in general) the longer tracks on an album such as conceivably the bandwidth costs would erode any profit for selling them. But now that TV shows are being sold for only $1 more but require around 30 times more bandwidth than these longer tracks, there is no sense left to it. Yet the practice continues.
It seems like some people think Steve Jobs is David to the music industry's Goliath, but really they are both Goliath wanting to get as much money out of the consumer as possible. Jobs clearly has a better view of what the consumer is willing to tolerate when it comes to purchasing music online, but at the end of the day he doesn't really care one wit about the consumer. The only reason Apple/Jobs goes up against the music industry's demands is that he knows that their requests will be bad for iTunes Store business, not for some altruistic desire to do good for the consumer.
The only reason Apple/Jobs goes up against the music industry's demands is that he knows that their requests will be bad for iTunes Store business, not for some altruistic desire to do good for the consumer.
And it just doesn't matter, so long as Jobs continues to be far more consumer-oriented/consumer-friendly than the idiot suits at the major labels.
Jobs is a business man... I think we all get that, actually. No one I know of really expects him to be showering us with gumdrop rainbows and singing a happy tune while oompa-loompahs dance in the streets, basking in the glow of his divine, unselfish altruism.
ps- The main reason the iTunes Store is a good deal is because the real money is in selling iPods. iTS enables that by providing reasonably-priced content in an easy-to-use way... its not really designed to be an enormous profit center all by its lonesome.
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ps- The main reason the iTunes Store is a good deal is because the real money is in selling iPods. iTS enables that by providing reasonably-priced content in an easy-to-use way... its not really designed to be an enormous profit center all by its lonesome.
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apple is set to make a pretty penny off of iTunes, and [imho] it's only a matter of time before iTunes goes all netflix on us with movie rentals via appleTV.
"Hargreaves arrived at the 10 percent margin estimate. Applying that estimate to the $1.2 billion in revenue that iTunes is expected to generation in fiscal 2007, he believes the service will generate $0.09 to $0.14 in earnings-per-share for Apple."
[http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._implies.html]
My guess is that this will be a total sham of a text adventure, using "the sims" as its marketing scheme.
Oh, and to be a total smart ass, are there going to be four new iPod games?
-Clive
How the hell does one play the sims on an iPod? A 3D environment? Building houses? Clicking different objects?
My guess is that this will be a total sham of a text adventure, using "the sims" as its marketing scheme.
Oh, and to be a total smart ass, are there going to be four new iPod games?
-Clive
It's Sims BOWLING not Sims. a.k.a. simulated bowling
Oh those silly music execs! The beauty part of digital music downloads is that you get to buy only the songs you want, not a bunch of "side B" crap packed onto a CD album. Here they go again, trying to maximize profits by forcing you to pay more to get what you don't want.
Actually, I think this is one of the rare times where they are actually trying to do something that will also benefit the artists as well. Sure, it's mostly to pad the labels wallets, but I do see the benefit to artists in having a "discounted" album purchasing scheme, in getting their music out there. Unfortunately, I can't quite see what the pricing would be. Long gone are the days when a cassette or 45 single was at most $2 (CD singles were rare), while a CD album was ~$12. You had a real tradeoff there in a cheap, but lower quality single vs. paying more for a whole album, which was on CD, higher quality. With 99 cent singles, you'd probably have to price albums at around $6 to generate much interest. That'd be significantly out of whack with what CD albums sell for in a real store, so it seems unlikely.
It's Sims BOWLING not Sims. a.k.a. simulated bowling
Whatever. Still sounds like crap. I'd probably buy it if my iPod wasn't old and can only play "Music Quiz."
-Clive
apple is set to make a pretty penny off of iTunes, and [imho] it's only a matter of time before iTunes goes all netflix on us with movie rentals via appleTV.
"Hargreaves arrived at the 10 percent margin estimate. Applying that estimate to the $1.2 billion in revenue that iTunes is expected to generation in fiscal 2007, he believes the service will generate $0.09 to $0.14 in earnings-per-share for Apple."
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And that's really nothing compared to what Apple makes off the iPod.
iTunes is expected to earn $1.2 billion in revenue in fiscal '07, according to your quote.
The iPod, meanwhile, is selling at about a 45 million unit-a-year pace, with an average selling price of around $180, last I checked. That comes out to around $8 billion a year in revenue, and the margins on iPods are definitely far higher than iTunes' 10 percent... more like 20 percent plus.
So, the iPod brings in about 7 times as much revenue as iTunes, and around 14 times the profit. Which one do you think is the cash cow here?
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they always want want want
Whatever. Still sounds like crap. I'd probably buy it if my iPod wasn't old and can only play "Music Quiz."
-Clive
Do you even read what you post?