Comments on: Amid the coronation of iTunes as digital music king, the sound of war

By: Could a digital music royalty price hike force iTunes into subscriptions? » VentureBeat

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:23:25 +0000

[...] dominating force in online digital music right now. It has sold over five billion tracks and is the number one retailer for music in the United States (that includes both digital stores and brick and mortar stores). It’s so powerful that the [...]

By: Best Buy buys Napster in part for its “excellent” mobile capabilities? » VentureBeat

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:22:23 +0000

[...] now, into the mix, you have Napster as just another has-been. Best Buy is likely just looking at iTunes dominating numbers, and AmazonMP3’s growing numbers and realizes that if it wants to compete in the music sales business of the future it’s going [...]

By: What will we see from Apple on Tuesday? » VentureBeat

What will we see from Apple on Tuesday? » VentureBeat — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:08:38 +0000

[...] be one hell of a trick for Apple pull out of its sleeve as a major new digital music competitor, MySpace Music, gets ready to [...]

By: iTunes continues reign as music retailer king as Amazon rises and MySpace Music looms » VentureBeat

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:33:59 +0000

[...] during the first half of 2008, according to a survey by market research company NPD. Though iTunes didn’t officially take over the number one spot until April, it still sold more music from January to June of this year than any of its [...]

By: Five billion iTunes songs sold. One looming problem: AmazonMP3 is better » VentureBeat

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:37:38 +0000

[...] MySpace Music is another new digital music store that is expected to pressure Apple in the coming months. [...]

By: Two weeks until Apple’s WWDC event: Some keynote wild card options » VentureBeat

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:47:24 +0000

[...] of its DRM-free music availability, quality and its pricing isn’t even the best at all times anymore. This, combined with all the pressure it’s getting from rivals for its video content on [...]

By: Two weeks until Apple’s WWDC event: Some keynote wild card options » VentureBeat

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:47:24 +0000

By: SellaBand makes money for musicians, raises $5 million from Prime Technology Ventures » VentureBeat

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:21:42 +0000

[...] not just record labels, are facing major issues. Small-time acts may be able to find audiences through MySpace and other music sites, but they [...]

By: MG Siegler

MG Siegler — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:07:23 +0000

@marc – good plan (the 3G iPhone), think I got the main points of what you were saying though.

@silkantis – thanks!

@john – for the first point, I did say this:

“This lack of DRM-free music is hardly Apple’s fault — it’s clear the record labels want a legitimate contender to iTunes to lessen Jobs’ stranglehold on their industry. DRM-free music is the leverage they have at the moment, and they are using it.”

As for the 2nd, I was just basing it off of what the alert box and FAQ told me when I tried to access the site to check it out. Perhaps you are right though, but then Wal-Mart really need to update their own documents on it!

By: How William Morris and other Hollywood agencies are getting into tech startups and investing » VentureBeat

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:59:35 +0000

[...] of Hollywood businesses are looking at how they can make themselves profitable online. The future isn’t clear for stalwarts like the larger music labels and movie studios. But there are other power players in the media who are making moves. In [...]

By: John

John — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:17:02 +0000

Actually, I think you’re wrong on 2 points:

1) While I am definitely not a fan-boy, I don’t believe Apple is to blame for not selling more non-DRM files on iTunes. The blame for that rest clearly on the labels. While it certainly is not hurting Apple because of the lock-in to the iPod that you describe, I believe the licensing from the labels is the issue. And the labels believe that this is a negotiating tactic that they can use to (a) break iTunes stranglehold on the digital music sales market and (b) negotiate a better price / percentage from Apple for iTunes sales.

2) You can purchase MP3’s from Walmarts music store with devices other than Windows computers (I use Linux) and listem to them on any MP3 player. I have done it with my Ubuntu system.

By: sikantis

sikantis — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:01:56 +0000

Great post! Thanks.

By: Marc Fawzi

Marc Fawzi — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:46:09 +0000

Thanks to my Blackberry I can’t even read half of what I wrote!

Switching to 3G iPhone for sure!

By: Marc Fawzi

Marc Fawzi — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:04:00 +0000

MySpace has been very successful with musicians who want to be discoveref and fans who want to find new bands. Its a lot of fun and many poular artists have been discocred through MySpace.

The new store can only expand on that success, asiming they will let musicians sell their music directly through the store without having to go through an aggregator.

Else, they qull miss on leveraging on the good will they’ve built with musicians who are what makes MySpace different than iTunes or Amazon.

It would be a shame if they were to force them to go thru an aggregator.

By: MG Siegler

MG Siegler — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:30:17 +0000

@patrick – thanks for the comments. i would say that under your scenario itunes would probably keep dominating then, however not all prices are equal since amazon does offer 89 cent tracks and albums that are usually a dollars cheaper (along with all being DRM-free and HIGHER quality) – i know that pricing difference is probably negligible, but still a difference.

Not sure what MySpace pricing for downloads will be yet, but I’m sure it will be similar to the others as you suggest. One wild card with them is the ad-supported free streaming though. That could help their usage and perhaps eventual sales.