lol out of all my songs the I only have one song that I would bother upgrading to DRM free, the other's can stay DRM'ed if I have to pay $$$ to upgrade them
I might as well have downloaded them from the dark side seeing as I now have to pay AGAIN to buy the songs properly
What if Apple later comes out with super iTunes plus with 512 bit or higher, like 940 or 1411 bit rate which is what some of my music is when imported as AIFF files. I even have one AIFF file that imported at 2116 kbps. I don't know what was up with that album. I don't think it was off a DVD as don't think iTunes imports music off those.
Anyway, what do we pay then? It could happen. Nobody ever expected Apple to go higher than 128.
Of course you'd pay more. Just as you need to with Blu-ray.
I understand that at least the "upgraded" tracks are at 256kbps (which is the minimum they should have been in the first place), but they are essentially charging you to remove DRM from music you already purchased... Anyone else think there is something wrong with that concept?
I've purchased four albums from the iTunes store, one of which I deleted from my computer months ago. And wouldn't you know it, only the three albums I still owned showed up on my 'Upgrade My Music' page. No sign of the album I deleted. Am I special or what?
Also, after the upgrade, the iTunes store didn't prompt me to delete or archive the old tracks with DRM. I had to remove them from my iTunes library manually.
I won't spend a penny to upgrade any songs. If they were good enough when I bought them, they are good enough now.
I should make real audioCDs of all my purchased music (probably about 10 albums total), but I haven't (got lazy). The only thing that would kill me is if I couldn't access/play my purchased music because Apple's authorization servers went down (someday they probably will). Wal-Mart music, anyone?
I own 95% of all my music on CD. iTunes is very convenient to purchase music, but not my ideal source.
* iTunes uses your account's purchase history to present this "special offer", so you'll still spot songs you long ago banished to the Trash in disgust.
I'm sort of curious how high that'll go. Thus why I haven't upgraded yet.
It sort of hurts the real long term loyal customers. Cost for my library (1100 tracks) => 220 Euro. So as one might imagine => my happiness is rather contained at the moment
I understand that at least the "upgraded" tracks are at 256kbps (which is the minimum they should have been in the first place), but they are essentially charging you to remove DRM from music you already purchased... Anyone else think there is something wrong with that concept?
Blame the music companies - you think they'd let you have another copy for free?
For those who will complain about the cost (aka eric42):
Some people have seemingly legitimate points. They include: "Wow, I have poor timing. I bought this music yesterday when it was not iTunes plus, now I have to pay for an upgrade the next day." This is a reasonable point. But to juxtapose this argument I submit this one: One day before the CD version of your new favorite album came out, you purchase the same album on tape. Should you get a free upgrade? No. In fact, you'd have to pay full price; you wouldn't even have the option of paying a reduced upgrade fee. That people feel this entitlement towards upgrades of music astounds me.
Some may counter that argument by saying that you aren't selling something physical. I agree that the lack of a physical purchase allows for upgrades to be distributed with little cost to the distributor (and therefore discounted upgrade fees should be expected instead of full price repurchase), but there are still costs. Think bandwidth, storage space, wear and tear of read/write on server HD's, etc. While these costs might not total $0.30, Apple surely is not reaping large profits off these downloads.
For those who complain about paying for music in general, I have a different rant for you, but I'll save the other readers from it.
Yes, my argument is, in fact, that there is no physical product and that the price hasn't changed--just the format. Apple clearly has the infrastructure in place as I am constantly receiving free upgrades to my AppStore purchases.
I understand that the number of songs sold FAR exceeds the number of apps and the bandwidth requirements would be significantly higher. This could be managed by Apple, however, by imposing a maximum number of daily upgrades and bandwidth throttling.
I think they are making (or at least hoping to make) a lot more from this than you think.
I won't spend a penny to upgrade any songs. If they were good enough when I bought them, they are good enough now.
I should make real audioCDs of all my purchased music (probably about 10 albums total), but I haven't (got lazy). The only thing that would kill me is if I couldn't access/play my purchased music because Apple's authorization servers went down (someday they probably will). Wal-Mart music, anyone?
I own 95% of all my music on CD. iTunes is very convenient to purchase music, but not my ideal source.
I agree and will not be upgrading my library either. Although I still believe this should be a free (or at least significantly cheaper) upgrade.
Here's my prediction of what will happen:
1) Apple allows upgrade of your entire library only at $.30 / song (Now) probably only getting the bucks from people with more money than they know what to do with or people with smaller libraries who don't may paying a relatively small amount.
2) Apple allows selective upgrading of your songs at $.30 / song allowing them to capture some money from those with larger libraries.
3) Apple reduces the cost of the upgrade significantly to try to capitalize on those people who wouldn't spend the cash or wouldn't spend it on their entire library.
Step 2 is almost a given but will be billed as an added convenience, not a money-making scheme. Step 3, if it happens, will really tick people off who shelled out the higher price.
Yes, my argument is, in fact, that there is no physical product and that the price hasn't changed--just the format. Apple clearly has the infrastructure in place as I am constantly receiving free upgrades to my AppStore purchases.
I understand that the number of songs sold FAR exceeds the number of apps and the bandwidth requirements would be significantly higher. This could be managed by Apple, however, by imposing a maximum number of daily upgrades and bandwidth throttling.
I think they are making (or at least hoping to make) a lot more from this than you think.
Can you imagine if people who bought Blu-ray players had to pay a fee for every DVD (non-Blu-ray) to play in their new machines? Same thing.
We have to now pay more to play our music in a non-Apple machine.
Thank god I never bought that much to begin with ( Total charge so far $29).
To those who did- I feel your pain. It's like April 15th arrived earlier this year.
One big relief: iTunes is not disallowing the upgrade of long-ago purchased songs whose DRM I already stripped with JHymn (before Apple broke it). If iTunes disowned those tracks, I wouldn't be able to upgrade to 256-bit and Apple would have had revenge for my previous tampering. But it all upgraded, except for a Maroon 5 album that's available in iTunes Plus but won't upgrade for some reason, and also my Thriller album won't upgrade because iTunes doesn't have the exact special edition I purchased anymore.
The only reason to upgrade is if you plan on illegally sharing your music with other people, right?
Aren't the DRM free versions also higher quality?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjtomlin
Not necessarily, if I wanted to listen to the music on my Zune or some other non-iPod player.
Yep. Or if you wanted to use it for a ring on your cell phone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eric42
Why should there be an upgrade fee at all? The music was $.99 with DRM. It is (for the most part) $.99 now that it's DRM-free but I have to pay $.30 per song because I made the mistake of giving Apple my business too early.
If it was free, that would be billions of free downloads, which would cost Apple a fortune. Sure, 30 cents is way higher than the bandwidth costs, but I would assume it would be too costly to do for free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot
I'd rather give my kids a $29 Sansa to loose (they're kids, stuff happens) instead of a $150 iPod.
The shuffle is $49.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2
I'd still like to know when the tracks will be upgraded and how we will know when they are.
They should be labled as iTunes plus when they switch (as has been the case for years). And while there's probably no way to predict when an individual album will switch, Apple says they will all be DRM free by April. So you might as well just wait until then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
because you are getting a second copy of the song. you can play both.
But what value is the older, lower quality, DRM version? Once you have the new one, what reason would anyone have to ever play the old one again? Seems like it's even a waste of HD space, I would just delete the obsolete file.
#1 Apple should allow customers to selectively pick which songs they want to upgrade,
and/or
#2 Similar in principle to how the Genius playlist operates, Apple should create an iTMS feature that scans for all current DRM tracks in a customer's library. You would have to be logged in, as well as have the computer authorized by you (and obviously have it contain DRM tracks purchased by you). This would eliminate upgrading based on a user's purchase history, which 9/10 times doesn't reflect whats currently in their library.
Edit: #2 would also present Apple a method of preventing file duplication, since a scan could read tracks' locations on your HD and could simply overright them. I don't know about any of you, but I always move my purchased music into a separate music folder (label: Purchased Music) upon download. This way, I can distinguish what music I have purchased from the iTMS vs. obtained through other means. Therefore, a good chuck of my library isnt being read from the default iTunes folder directory. Having an overright feature would be amaaaaazing.
One big relief: iTunes is not disallowing the upgrade of long-ago purchased songs whose DRM I already stripped with JHymn (before Apple broke it). If iTunes disowned those tracks, I wouldn't be able to upgrade to 256-bit and Apple would have had revenge for my previous tampering. But it all upgraded, except for a Maroon 5 album that's available in iTunes Plus but won't upgrade for some reason, and also my Thriller album won't upgrade because iTunes doesn't have the exact special edition I purchased anymore.
There are a few different possible takes on that. For one, they are basing upgrades based on what you bought from them over the years, not what's in your current library. Another is that it's water under the bridge, if they can make a few cents a track then there's no reason to "penalize" you for breaking their encryption in the past when they're selling unencrypted tracks now.
We have to now pay more to play our music in a non-Apple machine.
It has been clear from day one that DRM itunes material won't play on non-apple players. Anyone who bought itunes songs wanting to play them on another player was making a mistake in the first place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohcomeon
Now Apple have sorted out the DRM mess with the music it sells can it now turn its attention to visual content?
I would love to be able to play all my legally purchased TV shows and Movies on an Archos player but can't because of the DRM!
I can't even burn visual content on to DVD. Go figure.
I wouldn't count on it. It's up to the movie studios and they are in a far different situation than the record companies. Just look at the formats, CDs never had copy protection while video content has had it since VHS (even though video DRM generally has been defeated pretty easily).
Comments
I might as well have downloaded them from the dark side seeing as I now have to pay AGAIN to buy the songs properly
What if Apple later comes out with super iTunes plus with 512 bit or higher, like 940 or 1411 bit rate which is what some of my music is when imported as AIFF files. I even have one AIFF file that imported at 2116 kbps. I don't know what was up with that album. I don't think it was off a DVD as don't think iTunes imports music off those.
Anyway, what do we pay then? It could happen. Nobody ever expected Apple to go higher than 128.
Of course you'd pay more. Just as you need to with Blu-ray.
McD
I've purchased four albums from the iTunes store, one of which I deleted from my computer months ago. And wouldn't you know it, only the three albums I still owned showed up on my 'Upgrade My Music' page. No sign of the album I deleted. Am I special or what?
Also, after the upgrade, the iTunes store didn't prompt me to delete or archive the old tracks with DRM. I had to remove them from my iTunes library manually.
I should make real audioCDs of all my purchased music (probably about 10 albums total), but I haven't (got lazy). The only thing that would kill me is if I couldn't access/play my purchased music because Apple's authorization servers went down (someday they probably will). Wal-Mart music, anyone?
I own 95% of all my music on CD. iTunes is very convenient to purchase music, but not my ideal source.
* iTunes uses your account's purchase history to present this "special offer", so you'll still spot songs you long ago banished to the Trash in disgust.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
interesting. inconvenient if you have deleted those songs. convenient if you deleted them in error.
thankfully I have only purchased a handful of songs thus far so this will not sting the wallet too much.
I'm sort of curious how high that'll go. Thus why I haven't upgraded yet.
It sort of hurts the real long term loyal customers. Cost for my library (1100 tracks) => 220 Euro. So as one might imagine => my happiness is rather contained at the moment
I understand that at least the "upgraded" tracks are at 256kbps (which is the minimum they should have been in the first place), but they are essentially charging you to remove DRM from music you already purchased... Anyone else think there is something wrong with that concept?
Blame the music companies - you think they'd let you have another copy for free?
Hey Apple:
Fool me once - shame on me,
Fool me twice- shame on you!
I might as well have downloaded them from the dark side seeing as I now have to pay AGAIN to buy the songs properly
Oh how I miss those dark days of MACSTER.
For those who will complain about the cost (aka eric42):
Some people have seemingly legitimate points. They include: "Wow, I have poor timing. I bought this music yesterday when it was not iTunes plus, now I have to pay for an upgrade the next day." This is a reasonable point. But to juxtapose this argument I submit this one: One day before the CD version of your new favorite album came out, you purchase the same album on tape. Should you get a free upgrade? No. In fact, you'd have to pay full price; you wouldn't even have the option of paying a reduced upgrade fee. That people feel this entitlement towards upgrades of music astounds me.
Some may counter that argument by saying that you aren't selling something physical. I agree that the lack of a physical purchase allows for upgrades to be distributed with little cost to the distributor (and therefore discounted upgrade fees should be expected instead of full price repurchase), but there are still costs. Think bandwidth, storage space, wear and tear of read/write on server HD's, etc. While these costs might not total $0.30, Apple surely is not reaping large profits off these downloads.
For those who complain about paying for music in general, I have a different rant for you, but I'll save the other readers from it.
Yes, my argument is, in fact, that there is no physical product and that the price hasn't changed--just the format. Apple clearly has the infrastructure in place as I am constantly receiving free upgrades to my AppStore purchases.
I understand that the number of songs sold FAR exceeds the number of apps and the bandwidth requirements would be significantly higher. This could be managed by Apple, however, by imposing a maximum number of daily upgrades and bandwidth throttling.
I think they are making (or at least hoping to make) a lot more from this than you think.
I won't spend a penny to upgrade any songs. If they were good enough when I bought them, they are good enough now.
I should make real audioCDs of all my purchased music (probably about 10 albums total), but I haven't (got lazy). The only thing that would kill me is if I couldn't access/play my purchased music because Apple's authorization servers went down (someday they probably will). Wal-Mart music, anyone?
I own 95% of all my music on CD. iTunes is very convenient to purchase music, but not my ideal source.
I agree and will not be upgrading my library either. Although I still believe this should be a free (or at least significantly cheaper) upgrade.
Here's my prediction of what will happen:
1) Apple allows upgrade of your entire library only at $.30 / song (Now) probably only getting the bucks from people with more money than they know what to do with or people with smaller libraries who don't may paying a relatively small amount.
2) Apple allows selective upgrading of your songs at $.30 / song allowing them to capture some money from those with larger libraries.
3) Apple reduces the cost of the upgrade significantly to try to capitalize on those people who wouldn't spend the cash or wouldn't spend it on their entire library.
Step 2 is almost a given but will be billed as an added convenience, not a money-making scheme. Step 3, if it happens, will really tick people off who shelled out the higher price.
Time will tell.
Yes, my argument is, in fact, that there is no physical product and that the price hasn't changed--just the format. Apple clearly has the infrastructure in place as I am constantly receiving free upgrades to my AppStore purchases.
I understand that the number of songs sold FAR exceeds the number of apps and the bandwidth requirements would be significantly higher. This could be managed by Apple, however, by imposing a maximum number of daily upgrades and bandwidth throttling.
I think they are making (or at least hoping to make) a lot more from this than you think.
Can you imagine if people who bought Blu-ray players had to pay a fee for every DVD (non-Blu-ray) to play in their new machines? Same thing.
We have to now pay more to play our music in a non-Apple machine.
Thank god I never bought that much to begin with ( Total charge so far $29).
To those who did- I feel your pain. It's like April 15th arrived earlier this year.
The only reason to upgrade is if you plan on illegally sharing your music with other people, right?
Aren't the DRM free versions also higher quality?
Not necessarily, if I wanted to listen to the music on my Zune or some other non-iPod player.
Yep. Or if you wanted to use it for a ring on your cell phone.
Why should there be an upgrade fee at all? The music was $.99 with DRM. It is (for the most part) $.99 now that it's DRM-free but I have to pay $.30 per song because I made the mistake of giving Apple my business too early.
If it was free, that would be billions of free downloads, which would cost Apple a fortune. Sure, 30 cents is way higher than the bandwidth costs, but I would assume it would be too costly to do for free.
I'd rather give my kids a $29 Sansa to loose (they're kids, stuff happens) instead of a $150 iPod.
The shuffle is $49.
I'd still like to know when the tracks will be upgraded and how we will know when they are.
They should be labled as iTunes plus when they switch (as has been the case for years). And while there's probably no way to predict when an individual album will switch, Apple says they will all be DRM free by April. So you might as well just wait until then.
because you are getting a second copy of the song. you can play both.
But what value is the older, lower quality, DRM version? Once you have the new one, what reason would anyone have to ever play the old one again? Seems like it's even a waste of HD space, I would just delete the obsolete file.
I would love to be able to play all my legally purchased TV shows and Movies on an Archos player but can't because of the DRM!
I can't even burn visual content on to DVD. Go figure.
and/or
#2 Similar in principle to how the Genius playlist operates, Apple should create an iTMS feature that scans for all current DRM tracks in a customer's library. You would have to be logged in, as well as have the computer authorized by you (and obviously have it contain DRM tracks purchased by you). This would eliminate upgrading based on a user's purchase history, which 9/10 times doesn't reflect whats currently in their library.
Edit: #2 would also present Apple a method of preventing file duplication, since a scan could read tracks' locations on your HD and could simply overright them. I don't know about any of you, but I always move my purchased music into a separate music folder (label: Purchased Music) upon download. This way, I can distinguish what music I have purchased from the iTMS vs. obtained through other means. Therefore, a good chuck of my library isnt being read from the default iTunes folder directory. Having an overright feature would be amaaaaazing.
One big relief: iTunes is not disallowing the upgrade of long-ago purchased songs whose DRM I already stripped with JHymn (before Apple broke it). If iTunes disowned those tracks, I wouldn't be able to upgrade to 256-bit and Apple would have had revenge for my previous tampering. But it all upgraded, except for a Maroon 5 album that's available in iTunes Plus but won't upgrade for some reason, and also my Thriller album won't upgrade because iTunes doesn't have the exact special edition I purchased anymore.
There are a few different possible takes on that. For one, they are basing upgrades based on what you bought from them over the years, not what's in your current library. Another is that it's water under the bridge, if they can make a few cents a track then there's no reason to "penalize" you for breaking their encryption in the past when they're selling unencrypted tracks now.
We have to now pay more to play our music in a non-Apple machine.
It has been clear from day one that DRM itunes material won't play on non-apple players. Anyone who bought itunes songs wanting to play them on another player was making a mistake in the first place.
Now Apple have sorted out the DRM mess with the music it sells can it now turn its attention to visual content?
I would love to be able to play all my legally purchased TV shows and Movies on an Archos player but can't because of the DRM!
I can't even burn visual content on to DVD. Go figure.
I wouldn't count on it. It's up to the movie studios and they are in a far different situation than the record companies. Just look at the formats, CDs never had copy protection while video content has had it since VHS (even though video DRM generally has been defeated pretty easily).