Apple, record labels working to spur album sales with interactive goodies, tablet due this September?
By Darren Murph 
posted Jul 27th 2009 1:17AM
posted Jul 27th 2009 1:17AM
In related news, another sect of folks "briefed on the project" have stated that these new content deals could be launched alongside a new, full-featured "tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution." Adding fuel to the already raging fire, the report asserts that the "touch-sensitive device... will have a screen that may be up to ten inches diagonally," and while it will "connect to the internet like the iPod touch, it'll probably [do so] without phone capabilities." You do know that Apple has been good for a music / iPod-related event right around September the past few years, right?
[Via AppleInsider]
I want BEATLES music! I want it mutha fuckin now!
att blocking 4chan
That's the problem... Beatles are just about as relevant as any new music released, save a few.
Release some good music and you'll get good sales.
Release crappy music and you'll get crappy sales.
It's pretty much 1:1, and when bands like the Beatles are top of list for most, 40 years on, it should tell you something.
Ha ha, this reminds me of the Microsoft E3 this year, where they said The Beatles were with technology, but look at this, they don't sell their albums online!
I'm taking this rumor as truth this time. Didnt think Apple would drop their prices or add an SD reader but they did both to the laptop lineup. Seems to me that despite their success they still are trying to keep the comp on their heels.
Apple added the SD slot so they could take out the Expresscard slot. That way when USB 3.0 and Firewire 3200 come out next year, your macbook can't get it, and you can prematurely buy yet another macbook.
I like goodies
Apple just keeps on finding ways to get money.
I like it.
taking back sunday suck :S
So let's see here,
If I buy more music that I don't want, I get more useless shit I don't need?
What a deal!
While I see your point, I think it's nice for people who actually do buy albums (myself included).
Tbh though, I think they need to focus on improving music recommendation features like Genius, the Zune music exploration, last.fm, etc... since it will help the user find more music he/she likes and hopefully lead to them purchasing their album(s).
Yeah, who the hell downloads music because of the included booklets and whatnot? I can't see that as having ever been the deal breaker.
Wait, who the hell even legally downloads music?
Except myself and stuff. >>
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How about not including the booklet and just include music and price it a dollar cheaper. Should be a fairly good indication of whether or not anyone cares about the "extras."
It would have made sense back in the days when there were real artists like Pink Floyd. Each album was a masterpiece in its own right. It would make sense to buy such albums where every single song is worth it. Not when you have SHIT for tracks 2-9 and track 1 was on the U.S. Top 10.
Exactly. If the labels want to sell more music, maybe they should make better music.
music is about the same price (w/ inflation taken into account, and its acutally about .035 2009 cents cheaper) per track as 1979.
don't use the "its cheaper to distribute" argument, because distribution has always been the cheapest part of music production.
Saying, "music is to expensive" or "if they made it cheaper i would buy it" is nothing more then a flimsy rationalization of music pirates to make themselves feel better.
now if you want to make the argument if less pop-crap music came out i would buy it. But people are illegally downloading this pop-crap anyway so neither arguments are valid.
You can calculate the inflation of the price of music, the cost to make a CD, and the amount of tea in China, but if you fail to realize the simple fact that, assuming zero to negligible change in quality, a decrease in price will cause an increase on demand for a product, your calculations and argument mean nothing.
Furthermore, technological advancement, in some way or another, has always challenged society to innovate otherwise. In the case of the music industry, in a world where one can easily pirate a track or album, musicians and record companies have the challenge of producing music people want to buy. Is it fair? That's debatable, but this world in which we live.
Oh, and being condescending towards pop music? That's so hackneyed it's pretty annoying. I will admit that I don't find most pop sensations out there particularly talented, but they're successful regardless (there's a reason why they're amongst the richest). This implies to me that a great many people see something in these people. Personally, my favorite artists are pop artists. Moreover, even if a person pirates a particular artist's music (for whatever reason), a real fan of an artist will support said artist in other ways, like going to a concert or buying posters. In the case of someone merely pirating an artists music with no intention of support said artist anyway, the pirate would probably have never even purchased the artist's music anyway. At least this way, the pirate can expose others to that person's music, perhaps creating fans in them. And I say all of this from personal experience.
thank you for proving my point.
by the way, i wasn't attacking pop music, i was saying people use the excuse "pop music sucks, why should i pay for it" when illegally downloading it.
an interactive booklet is still not going to get me to listen to nirvana
Yeah, you're probably more the interactive emo-bitch kinda fall out boy type, eh?
In other news, I could see apple getting I good with the labels, reinventing mobile music album experiences, and then letting verizon crush it's awesomeness with their VZ BS software, all I n the name of 4g. God I hope not.
no, nirvana just sucks
Yeah... a lack of interactive pack-in's is the real reason for declining music sales, not the fact that everything put out now is a bunch of auto-tune crap.
Heard this song this afternoon that sounded like "I'm Blue" for a second, but when I got closer to the radio, turns out it was some new song that ripped off the "da boo dee da boo dah" tagline. Raping a classic is one thing, but raping some flash in the pan bullshit song that made Barbie Girl sound like Mozart is pretty damn sad, and that's the state of music today.
I can't remember the quote, but someone (maybe Kevin Smith) once talked about the importance of color packaging. One of the reasons we buy DVDs is for that glossy cover.
I think Apple is smart to try to replicate that user experience in a newer way. I still won't use iTunes, but it gives an added value to those users.
They know most of the product is garbage, so like in true American fashion, pack on some extra shit with it to make it more appealing to the masses. Everyone loves a good deal right, even though it's on a shit product.
Ouch, did you really have to condemn American fashion because Apple decided it wanted to add interactive content to its album purchases?
DAYUM
I hope to god none of it has anything to do with PDF/Adobe, though.
Wow, this tablet rumor is being fueled so suddenly and at a rate I've not seen before.
Sweet! Get ready to pay more for your music on itunes. If this goes through, it will most likely alienate non-ipod users as the extra content won't be accessable through their devices.
Will these have rootkits and spyware too?
They are completely missing the point here. Artists often rush albums and put in 30-40% crap songs in there that even fans often think aren't very good. People buy single songs on iTunes from an album because most of the time the rest of the album stinks. I think that if bands want more royalties then they need to step it up and give a little more. There are many bands / artists out there that give great value and often it is down to fault of the record studio. Silly pdf's or interactive gimmicks won't win over listeners, good value will!!!!
"WiFi only" sounds far more plausible than the Verizon rumors.... I just don't think that Apple would jump that far out, quite yet...
I think they should just release a WiFi tablet and test the waters... Then talk to carriers about it...
After the iPhone, I don't see any reason why Apple would ever do carrier exclusivity again... AT&T still wants the iPhone and Verizon wants the iPhone and probably even a closeted Sprint & T-Mo USA wants the iPhone, if truth were known...
And I highly doubt Apple would make any tablet they sell an exclusive (again) knowing the iPhone continuously seems to sells like hotcakes... The exclusivity was just to get their foot in the door with AT&T... Now that they're finally past the door and into the room, there's no need...
10 inch iPod Touch sounds yummy and all, but it sure will be interesting to see what they do for the OS. Full version of Leopard? iPhone OS? Some hybrid? It's about to get interesting, and I think even the most staunch Apple haters are going to be blow away with what they come out with.
If they come out with a 10-inch iPod touch with automatic kickstand and optional magnetic snap-on keyboard/screen protector, I'll be in heaven. They should also come out w/ a "pro" 1080p model, yummmm.
Keep it in your living room as a control panel for your entertainment center, climate control, lighting. Display it as a as a digital picture frame featuring full widget integration. Use it as a removable faceplate for the head unit in your car.... The options really are endless. The iSlate will create a whole new space for mobile entertainment, much in the same way as the iPhone did. Just wait.
Here's the thing: I don't need "additionals" to make me buy the whole album - all I need is for the album to contain enough good tracks such that it is cheaper (or near enough) for me to buy the entire album than it is for me to buy the individual tracks that I want.
Personally speaking, the addition of live tracks are the most appealing thing to be offered only with the album purchase. If they are very good then I'd seriously consider the whole album as long as the rest of the content was good enough.
My thoughts exactly.
I've always figured that if an artist can't put together a full album of solid songs, or even better; string them together in a way that makes it feel as if it's one complete work of art, then they probably don't deserve to sell more than one or two crappy songs.
remember before like 1994-95ish when most albums were like 5-10 2-3 minute tracks? All this filler you complain about is nothing more then the industries response to people complaining
Average rationalization circa 93' for swapping cassette tapes amongst friends;
"CDs can hold 70 minutes of music!! why would I Buy a CD if it only has 45 mintues of music on it? I'll start buying CDs when its worth it, but for now I'll just get the tapes from friends"
Now this is back in a simpler time, but my case in point is, no matter what the "evil" music industry does to try and appease the masses, they always seem to find a new excuse that justifies the stealing of music.
In the end, you're stealing, not the number of songs on an album, not the quality of music, not the RIAA's draconian DRM protection changes that.
@Grammar Delinquent
Are you replying to the correct comment? Only I don't recall any mention of piracy. Rather we are simply discussing what is necessary for someone to buy a complete album rather than just a couple of tracks. Last time I checked it was entirely legal to do this.
Your loss, bro.
reducing the prices are enough me
"touch-sensitive device... will have a screen that may be up to ten inches diagonally"
At last! The mythical iPenis.
It's easy; just don't buy any music made in the last 15 years.
And yet I don't freaking care! I just want the bloody effing music!! This is just like BD Live stuff. I just want the bloody movie, not a bunch of other shit to mess with. Jeez, just give me the basics!
when a lossy DRM album is not much cheaper than CDs onsale at bestbuy, I'd rather buy the real thing and rip it myself with better quality.
Nice. We’re doing this now, and Apple will not approve music applications with embedded video, art, and music. Now we know why at least!
Nicholas
All of these silly mimics just to keep music prices high for no reason. It's like Blu-ray. They keep on adding garbage no one asked for like "BD Live." Just lower the price already.
The problem isn't that consumers are only buying single tracks, the problem is that the art of the album has been dead for a long time, and the record industry killed it. Bands don't produce albums that simply have to be experienced as a whole album any more, they produce a radio hit, accompanied by 9-10 "filler" tracks. If bands today put out material like the Who's "Tommy" or "Quadrophenia," or Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," more people would be inclined to buy whole albums. Instead the recording industry is pushing the hit single, so why should it be surprising that people are only interested in buying the single? Big labels baffle me with their inability to understand such simple logic.
I hear Microsoft's already on that. They're upping the ante by including an autographed pic of Steve Ballmer with every album download. For an extra $10 real fans can get a pair of his dirty underwear.
Let me guess. This was Apple's idea after getting sick of listening to the labels whine about the death of the album.
This might prompt me to buy more from Apple as well as buy fewer used CDs? (No.)
But the fact that Apple is joining forces with a company that will let them dynamically switch prices on songs that don't sell well is good. (Just heard about it this morning on NPR, can't remember the name of the company.) They make computers, might as well use them to sell more goods, eh?
deja vu?
iPad
Fuck Time Warner Music group
hey, this is almost big enough to bring back the fingerworks Pad Apple stole.
think just maybe we might see it come back... as an app?
oohh that would be so sweet.