Downloadable Music Store Interest May Be Fading
from the uh-oh... dept
This doesn't come as a huge surprise, but a new report suggests that interest in buying downloadable music online from places like iTunes seems to be fading. The main reason? All of those thousands of promotions seem to have ended. Apparently, those "buy a Big Mac and get a free download" and "buy a Pepsi and get a free download" type promotions are starting to close up shop. While there was a lot of hype about these music download stores, everyone involved still seems to simply have their head in the sand about what's really going on, and what the real competition is. If they ever do take a step back and see the market for what it is, we should expect to see some serious price drops, along with additional benefits and features for buyers, along with a real effort to use the music as a constant promotion for selling other, more profitable, things. In the meantime, though, most of these companies will stick with the fiction that a buck a song is the right price.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
Whatever happened to the market determining the price ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
$0.01/mb downloaded.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I've lost interest for several reasons
First, I don't like DRM. Period.
Second. I don't like encoded music. 128 bit AAC just doesn't cut it for me. I want lossless music to download. And because 128 bit AAC is selling for $.99 a download, what will they charge for lossless format if they implement it? They either need to lower the price of AAC format downloads or they'll have to charge more for lossless music than what you could buy the CD for. Doesn't make sense. But hey, we're talking about the RIAA.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]