Record labels press Apple for higher prices.

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited September 2005 in Science & Tech
In a spectacularly unsurprising turn of events, record companies are pressing Apple to allow prices to rise above $0.99 per song when their contract expires next spring.
Apple's Jobs blasted the record industry for mulling higher prices. "If they want to raise the prices, it means that they are getting greedy," he said at a press conference, adding that if the price goes up, the industry faces a higher risk of piracy.

Hit hard over the past five years by the rapid spread of illegal song copying over the Internet, record companies -- Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Group Plc (EMI.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Warner Music -- have struggled to revamp their business as sales shift to more legal digital downloads from physical CDs.

The music industry was also aided by key legal victories against so-called peer-to-peer services, which allowed users to use the Internet to download music from one another's computers without permission from artists and labels.

Apple, for its part, played a huge role in setting that transition in motion with its iTunes service, by far the most popular legal Internet music service with about 70 percent share of digital downloads. iPods have a similar share in the digital music player market.
Source: Reuters

Comments

  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    Jobs is right.

    Not that stealing is justified, but a lot less people would do it if the music was affordable. Rasing the price will just make the problem worse...

    Now, if only the video game industry would learn the same lesson... If video games were $30 instead of fifty when they came out, I would buy a lot more video games...
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    Can you download music in lossless format for this price or less from anywhere? (i.e. WAVE, APE or FLAC).
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    I don't think so. It's all MP3 now, but VBR-MP3 is as close to lossless as I will ever need personally. My ears aren't sensitive enough for anything better.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited September 2005
    Enverex wrote:
    Can you download music in lossless format for this price or less from anywhere? (i.e. WAVE, APE or FLAC).
    www.allofmp3.com
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    GrayFox wrote:
    www.allofmp3.com

    Erm... all the music on there is in MP3 format... which... as we already know is lossy, not lossless. They do offer an alternate encoding thing on there for a few files, but they charge it by the MB and they are also still only lossy formats (AAC, WMA, etc). I noticed they have a lossless thing mentioned on there, but none of the files have it as an option... which makes it kinda useless, heh.
  • djstubbsdjstubbs NJ
    edited September 2005
    Enverex wrote:
    Can you download music in lossless format for this price or less from anywhere? (i.e. WAVE, APE or FLAC).

    i don't see how a different format would merit a lesser price...
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited September 2005
    Enverex: anything that has a OEEX beside it is available in a lossless format on allofmp3.com. I can't afford lossless so I go with 256 kbps VBR mp3 or Q10 OGG depending on the type of music. There's like 5 lossless formats available and they'll typically run 250-400MB / cd for downloading.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    djstubbs wrote:
    i don't see how a different format would merit a lesser price...

    It wouldn't, it was just a two part question.
    qparadox wrote:
    Enverex: anything that has a OEEX beside it is available in a lossless format on allofmp3.com. I can't afford lossless so I go with 256 kbps VBR mp3 or Q10 OGG depending on the type of music. There's like 5 lossless formats available and they'll typically run 250-400MB / cd for downloading.

    I know how that site works, but as I said, I was searching through their tracks and none of the stuff I wanted had OEEX next to it so it doesn't really fit the criteria.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    I don't download much stuff these days (music, movies, music videos, etc), but when I do, I still go to Kazaa. :thumbsup:

    But there's a lot of "fake" files on there now, so it can be annoying. :shakehead
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited September 2005
    Tim: Kazaa is crap. Get rid of it. Also, if you download something and really like it - for God's sake support the artist. That being said, supporting an artist who's on a major label will hardly be worth the money, but you should anyway.

    Enverex: I'm of the camp that feels APS/X is almost indistinguishable from FLAC. I, personally, can't stand FLAC, unless it's a live concert and I don't want any quality further diminished.

    As for the labels, this doesn't surprise me. Just a couple weeks ago, after suing hundreds and hundreds of people, they turn around and go, "Oops, sorry guys. It wasn't filesharing afterall, it was straight CD-to-CD copying that's killing us. Just kidding about all those lawsuits, but thanks for the cash!" These asswipes need to be stopped.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    Tim wrote:
    I don't download much stuff these days (music, movies, music videos, etc), but when I do, I still go to Kazaa. :thumbsup:

    But there's a lot of "fake" files on there now, so it can be annoying. :shakehead

    See Tim, that would be illegal and I don't do illegal things because that would be naughty. I was refering to legal methods.
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