itunes music store
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Apple officially says it's the #1 music retailer in the US
Based on today's earlier leak of some weekly NPD marketshare data, we had our doubts that Apple had actually overtaken Wal-Mart as the number one music retailer in the US, but it looks like that January surge of iTunes gift cards and new iPod owners pushed it over the top for good -- and now we've got the PR to prove it. Apple's giving out the same "4 billion songs to 50 million customers" numbers as it has for a while now, but it says iTunes was the biggest game in town in January and February. Of course, there's a lot of 2008 left to go, so Wally might make a comeback -- it was the overall champ last year -- but Apple's achievement is still a major milestone for digitally distributed content, and we hope to see a lot more iTunes-like services on that list soon.
Apple adds 2 million more iTunes Plus tracks
After much speculation, Apple has finally announced that iTunes Plus is finally expanding - and keen to point out (perhaps to Amazon's chagrin) "The iTunes Plus catalog is now the largest DRM-free catalog in the world." Whilst three major labels are sadly missing in action - how many more hints do they need that DRM-free music might just be popular with their customers? - there is a plethora of independent labels now going DRM-free in addition to EMI such as "Sub Pop, Nettwerk, Beggars Group, IODA, The Orchard and many others."In addition to the expansion of iTunes Plus, Apple has now officially dropped the price of the DRM-free tracks to the usual 99¢ per song in the US and 79p here in the UK (although there's no word on whether the upgrade pricing of $0.20 a song remains, or what's happening in other international markets).
George Harrison solo works now on iTunes
The Beatles are now on iTunes-- kind of. George Harrison has become the last solo Beatle to be added to the iTMS, as iTunes now carries all of his solo work (including "Got My Mind Set on You"-- enjoy having that in your head for the rest of the day). That means that all the Beatles have now had their solo work added to the online store. There's John, Paul, now George, and that other guy. If you want them all, it's gonna take money, a whole lot of precious money. It's gonna take plenty of money, to do it right child. Stuck in your head yet?And yet we still wait (well, most of us do) for the Beatles as a whole to appear on iTunes for purchase. It's become a kind of mythical event, hasn't it? Someday, the heavens will break open, earthquakes will rend the ground under our feet, and the world will end around us, but hopefully not before we can buy the White Album at the ITunes store.Thanks, Eric!
iTunes Store having issues?
Apple might have pleasantly surprised a few people today by shipping out the iPod touch earlier than expected, but that's being a bit overshadowed by issues plaguing the iTunes Store: users are reporting that purchased content isn't downloading, and that iTunes is popping up error messages saying that it's "unable to check for purchases." No word on what's causing the problems -- we're betting it has something to do with the launch of the iTunes WiFi Music Store, which hasn't gone live on the iPod touch or shown up on the iPhone yet -- but that doesn't make it any less annoying.[Via iLounge]
Is the iTunes Music Store scratching and skipping?
Over the past couple of days, we've received reports here at the TUAW home office (located in the seaside town of Ocean City, MD; excellent taffy) of multiple download problems in purchasing music at the iTunes store. While the transaction completes as far as billing is concerned, the actual file downloads... don't. Users are getting connection errors and the file never seems to arrive. In addition to the reader reports, a couple of us have seen the problem firsthand.There are several threads on Apple's discussion boards covering the issue, and most seem to converge on the suggestion that a large download queue may be behind the problem, or a single corrupt song that blocks further downloads. If doing a manual check for purchased and undownloaded music doesn't solve the problem, Apple's download support page for iTunes recommends submitting a problem ticket within your iTunes purchase history; this should allow the customer service agent to clean your queue and improve your download experience. For worldwide customers, the main directory for iTunes support is here.For what it's worth, late Wednesday night I bought an album that downloaded cleanly and quickly, but obviously people's mileage is varying. With the level of attention brought to the iTunes store by the NBC withdrawal and the iPod product announcements, this is not the time for Apple's technical execution to falter; the iTunes Store didn't get to be the #3 music retailer in the USA by stalling customers in the checkout lines. We'll keep an eye on the trouble reports and see how things progress.P.S. One year ago, the iTunes store was down for a good reason...Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Apple's Next Big Thing: tiny prices for iTunes albums
Sounds like Apple's Next Big Thing isn't too big at all: lower prices for full albums on iTunes. Introduced with a minor manifesto discussing the powerful influence of indie music on the mainstream, it's pretty clear that Cupertino's finally ready to lower the barrier of entry not only for consumers, but musicians and indie labels looking to sell music on the iTMS. $5.99 and $6.99 will now get you some tasty tracks by the likes of Peter, Bjorn, & John and LCD Soundsystem -- some are even iTunes Plus (read: DRM-free). Take note: want a great way to keep your music business popular and relevant? Offer more music for less money. Hat tip, Apple.[Via William]Read - iTunes store link to "Next Big Thing" reduced-price albums
Apple passes Amazon to become the #3 US music retailer
Things must seem pretty rosy in Cupertino -- just a week before the mega-hyped launch of you-know-what, market research group NPD's quarterly survey shows Apple has passed Amazon to become the third biggest music retailer in the US. This isn't the biggest of surprises, since Steve himself predicted that the iTunes Store would overtake Amazon at the Showtime event back in September, but the leap to #3 is a little unexpected, since Apple also outpaced Target last quarter. iTunes is now rocking a 10% market share, just behind Wal-Mart at 16% and Best Buy at 14%, and while we don't expect to see it pass those two giants anytime soon, we'd bet that uptick in DRM-free sales has got the iTMS crew at Apple licking their chops.
iTunes collects season finales for you
Say what you will about the video quality of iTunes content, but it sure is convenient to download an episode or two of a show that you missed when it aired. The web elves that run the iTunes Store are determined to make it even more convenient it would seem, as they have gathered all the TV season finales available for purchase on one page [iTunes link]. Everything from American Dad to Battlestar Galatica is listed for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check back because shows are going to be added daily.Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find out if Sylar is stopped (warning, if you don't like spoilers I wouldn't click that Sylar link).
Apple to credit song purchases towards full album sales?
Also known as "the feature that should've been there from the start," it sounds like Apple is finally working out deals with labels to allow for the purchase of singles on iTunes to act as credit towards the purchase of the full album from whence they came, at least within a limited time frame. Such a deal has been rumored before, but this time the word is from the New York Times, citing "people involved in the negotiations," which sounds decidedly less sketch. Obviously, there's still much to learn, since we don't know what kind of time period Apple has in mind, and we don't know how many labels it has on board, but we can think of many a DRM slave music consumer that would benefit from this deal -- and don't get us started on season passes.[Via Ars Technica]
Star Trek in iTunes (again)
Back in January, episodes of the original Star Trek TV series were added to the US iTunes store. Then they disappeared, and now they're back again - two times over.Specifically, the original first season [iTunes link], is listed separately from the digitally enhanced episodes from the same season [iTunes link]. We'd like to say that the former is for purists, and the latter for the more adventurous among us, but iTunes customers have left comments stating that both collections feature enhanced episodes.It's more confusing than The Menagerie.Anyway, if you're a fan of TOS (and who isn't, really?), go and pick this up.
Super Bowl highlights now in iTunes
If you want to relive that abysmal game for only $1.99US (it's a 22 minute video), just click here to be taken to the iTunes Store.Now that the season is over, I wonder if that's the end of NFL content in iTunes? The Pro Bowl will be played this weekend, and the NFL Network (which has been providing content all along) will continue to broadcast, of course.Oh, who am I kidding? Football is over. Darnit.
Apple patents iTMS transaction service for iPhone
Joining Sony Ericsson in the growing list of cellphone-related patents unearthed today, it appears that Apple is doing a good bit of work behind the scenes to ensure that future iPhone users will be able to access and purchase tunes (and video?) from the iTunes Store. Apple's recently filed "Configuration of a computing device in a secure manner" patent lays out in a good bit of detail how users of a mobile device (wireless iPod?) could access the iTMS and perform "transactions." It goes on to speak of "digital signatures" that would presumably have to be validated before any unexpected downloads took place, and it also pictures a handset (props to Nokia candybars of days past) communicating with an actual PC, which then contacts the "content and commerce" servers on the other side of the wire. In other details, there's photo evidence that some sort of downloadable upgrades / expansions could be available, probably referring to future firmware updates that could be initiated through the iTunes application. Granted, the whole mess of legal jargon is a bit hard for the layman to truly grasp, and it seems that Apple was simply throwing out as many vague words and possibilities to encompass anything that actually gets decided, but be sure to hit the read link anyway for more textual confusion and pictorial delight.
How Apple helps the environment
Are you paying attention, Greenpeace?Blogger Chiggs at Torents examines the iTunes Store's impact on the environment, and it's a favorable one. The production of a single CD results in aluminum, nickel, dyes, polycarbonates and more. At this month's Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that the iTunes Store had sold 2 billion songs. At an average of 12 tracks per disc, Chiggs figures, that's the equivalent of 166 million CDs worth of those dangerous materials. What's more, that many CDs would cover 1,050 miles when laid flat. That's quite a chunk of landfill.He also considers the results of transporting all of those CDs by truck. It's certainly a good article, and worth your time. So buy your music from the iTunes store...and save a tree, hippie.[Via MacNN]
iTunes now 4th largest music retailer
In case your synapses are still blown with iPhone, a quick trip back to the beginning of the keynote today: the iTunes Music Store has sold over two billion songs, and is now the fourth largest music retailer in the US, ahead of Amazon.com and sneaking up on #3 Target. So much for the faux slowdown...
Shopping at iTunes Japan--from America
Web vendor jbox offers iTunes Japan Music Cards from its online site. With one of these cards you can make purchases at the Japan iTS. The cards obviously come at a slight premium. A 1500 yen card, which is worth just under $13 in real US money costs $18 at the site. A 3000 card, worth closer to $25, costs $35. That means that individual tracks, which would normally cost between $1.25 and $1.30 based on the Yen/US $ conversion rate, will set you back about $1.75 to $1.80. For the convenience and access to the foreign store, that's not too horrible a deal.
iTunes movie downloads to go for $14.99 a pop?
Yeah, we've been around the block on this rumor a few times already, but some interesting new details about a possible (some would say invitable) iTunes Movie Store have emerged in a recent BusinessWeek article. The gist of the report is that Wal-Mart has been talking up the Hollywood suits lately, and isn't too happy with the idea of Apple selling new releases for a mere $15 while Wal-Mart has to spend $17 wholesale for the same title in physical form. Of course, that $14.99 number -- $9.99 for older movies -- isn't exactly official, but the way Wal-Mart is purportedly going off about it, it seems to be a very real figure indeed. According to BusinessWeek, the Wal-Mart gripes are one of many reasons Apple has been having trouble signing up studios other than Disney (of which Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder) for the store. Some studios aren't happy with iTunes DRM that allows playback on up to five devices, while others are afraid of getting locked into a single pricepoint with Steve Jobs and co.. Either way, it's clear that movie downloads are the future -- Wal-Mart has their own such service in the works -- but we just hope these "discussions" end soon; before we end up spending $45 a flick and verifying our identity for playback with thumbpricks and urine samples.
QTFairUse6: is Hymn finally back to strip FairPlay on iTunes 6?
Remember Hymn? You should, back in the day (like, um, 2004) it allowed you to strip the FairPlay DRM right off iTunes Music Store bought files just like that; well, it's been a long time in coming, but a new app called QTFairUse6 looks like it can now be used (with some amount of difficulty) to dump iTunes version 6.0.4 - 6.0.5 files of their chastely protection. It's not quite as slick as FairUse4WM or anything, but if you're not afraid to get your hands dirty with a little python up in this piece, you can get yours now; if not, it shouldn't be too long before our man Igor S.'s next-gen method for circumventing Apple's copy protection methods makes its way into a nice, neat little graphical interface all the Macs in the house are sure to adore. And, of course, then it's not too much longer after that when Apple blocks out this hack of Hymn and moves on to the next FairPlay iteration. DRM man, it's like a freaking möbius strip of consumer hurt.
Pre-order page on the iTunes Music Store
First Apple gave us one spot to get all those sweet, sweet free videos from the iTunes Music Store. Now, they have collected all the albums (do they still call them albums?) that are available for pre-order in one place. Apple has dubbed this page 'Tommorow's Hits Today,' which is kind of catchy.Get to pre-ordering!
iTunes Music Store: resistance is futile
The Associated Press says the writing is on the wall: either your music is available on iTunes or you're irrelevant. The article points out that several artists that were resistant to having their music available online have given in (and flagging CD sales aren't helping). However, there are still holdouts including Kid Rock and the Beatles. Why don't they want consumers to have more options? There are many reasons, though the article cites: Piracy (which CD's really don't stop) Not wanting people to only buy one track (you must respect the album and not get the one good song without all the crappy ones) Small profits from online sales Will we see the Beatles catalog available on the iTunes Music Store? Perhaps when I'm 64 (get it? Aww, come on that was funny).
Warner Music preps iTunes compatible "DVD album"
We'd probably have to take our shoes off to count all the physical formats that have been released in hopes of supplanting the J-Pop indie rock CDs on our shelf, but Warner Music Group is going to give it another go. Their new "DVD album" (not quite as exciting of a name as those SACDs or DualDiscs, but look how they turned out) features stereo and surround sound mixes of the album, along with a whole bunch extras like ringtones, remixes, photos and video footage. The real kicker is that Warner is supposedly close to a deal with Apple that will allow them to bundle pre-ripped iTunes versions of the tracks. Those in the know are saying that Apple will probably create the tracks and then ship 'em to Warner for placement on the DVDs, since Apple is loathe to license their DRM tech. We're not completely sure how the tracks can be tied to a single computer if they aren't bought straight off the iTunes Music Store, but we're sure they'll figure out something.[Via iLounge]
