as iTunes nears 100,000,000 - what about the IMS killers?

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
The media has so gleefully reported on the string of iTunes Music Store killers set to topple the Cupertino throne.



What's the status of



1. BuyMusic.com

2. Walmart Music

3. Napster

4. Sony Connect





I know the answer... they're all pretty much DOA, but after seeing Apple get so much bad ink this week over the iMac annoucement; it would be nice to see the media attack these clowns for screwing up so badly with their plans to topple Apple.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    breaking the big mark will be huge for apple. it will be a long ass time before anyone else comes close.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    I think Sony will take the lead in other markets/countries where we don't have a iTunes music store. They are marketting their 'iPod killer' player big time on the local media. But Sony Connect is of no use. I think the rest of the industry might form an alliance of sorts to compete.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    dogcowdogcow Posts: 713member
    I could see Napster and BuyMusic.com merging - as a temporary fix. Coke and Sony will probably dominate overseas, unless Apple gets it's act together quickly. [What is the status of online music stores in Japan?]



    Other branded stores like Bestbuy and Walmart I think will start fading in the next year. Retail outlets will probably start partnering with napster/buymusic [maybe Apple?]. I think it would be cool if Apple could form some kind of alliance with a retail chain - Target? to co-brand the music store to their customers... maybe links on their website that says "Download it now" which takes you to the iTunes store (with Apple and Target logos for people that link from the website).
  • Reply 4 of 8
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Yes...Sony will dominate...with their proprietary format.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    People Apple hit the rest of Europe and Japan I think in October. There's not time for Coke(lol) or Sony to gain traction. Let's face it people perception is reality. The perception is that iTunes "is" the place to be. Note how Napster hasn't said a damn think about their UK sales? They're getting dominated. Sony will hit and people will look and notice their blatant "marketing lie" (48kbps ..puhleeze) and move on. Those that do foolishly buy will be selling and getting an iPod in a year anyways. No one has mounted and affective campaign yet to challeng iTunes. Hell allofmp3 has done a better job.



    Apple simply needs to finish the licensing for Japan and the rest of Europe. Get the UK indies on board. Get Canada going and announce kickass iPods 4G.



    No one should be worried about Sony. They couldn't develop good software to save their lives. Battery life is the only thing they trump the iPod in and I bet 4G iPods deal with this battery issue once and for all.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    It is always good to keep an eye on your competition. Did you read the news article in New York times where they say that the 128Kbps bit rate of iTunes is not good? The article points us to online services that offer 192Kbps bit rate encoding. The same article also mentions that the cost of a song encoded in this bit rate is not worth 99cents. But the only solution to that argument is to use P2P. The encoding of songs in ITMS is something that needs to be looked at.



    p>s> Kip, Apple's fairplay is still closed because iPod doesn't work with other online retailers and iTunes doesn't work with other music players. (Not that I am complaining, iTunes + iPod = good.)
  • Reply 7 of 8
    mlnjrmlnjr Posts: 230member
    On a related note, I took advantage of a Papa John's pizza offer recently and got a 4-pack of Cokes with my two large pizzas. The Cokes came with a code for four free downloads from Musicmatch. There's no Mac version, so the code is useless to me (and I'm sure it's useless to a lot of people here too.) But if any of you has a Windows box as well and is interested in free music, I'll give you the code. Or I'll just post it here and let the hardcore Musicmatch users (hah) fight for it.



    Maybe some Windows user there could give the service a shot and post how ridiculously bad it is.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    The article points us to online services that offer 192Kbps bit rate encoding



    The NY Times is the last place I will go to find out about audio codecs. When they can pick 192kbps files over 128kbps files in a double blind test with 65% or greater accuracy I will believe them.
Sign In or Register to comment.