iTunes

iSon · Sat 28 Feb, 2004 03.36

I have recently been converted to this wonderful piece of software by a friend who recently purchased an iPod - sadly I don't own one of those wonderful pieces of equipment but the software is very nice nonetheless. I am currently going through lots of CDs that I haven't seen for years and encoding them onto my computer using Apple's AAC format M4A.

Very nice it all is too. Sound quality is excellent for what is a lossy format - love the iTunes software and I look forward to launch of the music store in this country too.

Which is really the main point of this thread...do you think Apple will really cut it and make legal music downloading in the UK a success? Apple in the US have had 25 million tracks downloaded from it's iTunes service. Do you think we can mirror such a success for a country which is so full of illegal P2P users?

I am looking forward to the launch of the service, I think the promise of high quality downloadable music is an excellent one. My main fear - it's going to be 99p a track. If it is then I won't be pleased. When you nip out and get some singles for £1.97 then just what would be the point? 59p would be closer to the mark (and exchange rate at this moment) but 49p would be even nicer. It would be a shame to waste a perfectly good oppertunity...as there are few established legal music download services in the UK. Even those that exist don't offer much and their prices are a little silly.

A big oppertunity, because with single sales taking a dramatic downturn here in the UK then something is needed to boost life back into them. I think it's a shame that an artist now requires very few single sales to reach the once covetted number one spot. The slot has been devalued somewhat, sadly. Perhaps the album chart could be the next big thing, as more people are buying albums rather than singles now. I can understand why in many respects - the album of an artist is an easier way to guarentee yourself the upcoming singles (in most cases!) and also lets you listen to many more tracks which don't get single releases but are good anyway.

Still, I've gone a bit off topic...are you looking forward to the launch of the iTunes music store? Will it not change you, and you'll still want to go and get the CD...or is the fact that whilst the free P2P networks exist then you'll continue using those?

Pete · Sat 28 Feb, 2004 12.25

Well I got the original Windows release and it was ghastly, right click was the same as left click, maxmise didn't work properly and it was generally a bit unstable. The latest one is much nicer.

I'm also worried about 99p though, with the exchange rate at it's current level using that price would be a very bad move for Apple. They could probably do 59p normally but have a launch promo of 49p.

The problem with a lot of the internet services inclusing the current legal UK ones is they expect you to subscibe and pay. Plus of course many of them only work in IE with WMP9 and when the launch page doesn't even tell you "Netscape" isn't supported it doesn't say much.

I think where iTunes has it right is they don't make you subscribe, it's more like a real shop. Look at the success of CDWOW which sells legal stuff at reasonable prices. There will always be a hardcore of people who never pay but I will certainly make use of iTunes if it comes over here with a decent price.

DJGM · Sat 28 Feb, 2004 13.19

Agreed, iTunes is an excellent application on both Mac and Windows. I'll reserve judgement on
the iTunes Music Store though, until Apple have actually launched a UK version of the service.

I'm hoping that since Apple ported iTunes to Windows, they'll do the same for Safari . . .

James Hatts · Sat 28 Feb, 2004 13.24

They only ported iTunes because of the money-making potential.

There's nothing in it for Apple if they make a Windows version of Safari - they need great apps like Safari to draw switchers to the Mac platform.

I hate HTV West · Wed 03 Mar, 2004 17.00

Anyone have any idea when the store is actually launching?

jaronbrass · Tue 30 Mar, 2004 12.56

I hate HTV West wrote:Anyone have any idea when the store is actually launching?

The buzz in Apple's Developer Community is that it is supposed to launch at some point over the summer, possibly following the release of iTunes 4.3 or iTunes 5.0. (iTunes 4.1/4.2 brought the Music Store to US AOL customers and Windows users.) And rumour has it that Apple is working on Mac OS X 10.4 (we're on 10.3 now) so it will probably be announced at Steve Job's Macworld Keynote in June since Apple is now so entirely focused on music downloads and the iPod.

However, now that the new iPod mini's global release has been postponed until mid-July due to hard drive supply issues, they might just end up delaying the launch of the store until these start shipping to EU customers.

I hope it launches soon so EU customers can see how great it really is. It is by far the easiest, most idiot-proof way to buy music with a great selection. And the nicest feature, by far, is the fact that it is integrated into such a great piece of software. You know it's going to work right.

And DJGM, I haven't seen anything on ADC about Safari being ported to Windows. Safari is still in its infancy and has a long way to go... Security is lax (if anything), it doesn't support a majority of third party plugins, and it still has certain rendering issues with CSS and hit-or-miss Javascript support. The fact that it is based on open source code is a good move by Apple but there are still are considerable kinks that they need to resolve first. I still find myself switching between IE for Mac, Mozilla and Safari. Each one has its advantages. If they were to port it to Windows I think it would be a smart move... It would give PC users another taste of the Mac platform, and possibly encourage more "switchers". As long as they keep iLife and their other pro apps Mac only it still leaves quite a bit for people to discover if they switch.

James Martin · Tue 30 Mar, 2004 15.04

I haven't gpt the iPod - but I do have the Creative NOMAD Jukebox ZN which has a 30GB capacity - with my MP3 collection occupying just over half of that.

Aston · Tue 30 Mar, 2004 17.58

I have an ipod - it's amazing! I love the thing.

I recently downloaded the itunes software, it's brill. Before it wasn't compatable with Windows and you had to use Musicmatch Jukebox, which is shite to be honest.

My music collection is now well managed and I also downloded the new version of software for my ipod which is also great.

Good, I'm glad I managed to tell you all that info...

James Martin · Tue 30 Mar, 2004 20.38

Isonstine wrote:or is the fact that whilst the free P2P networks exist then you'll continue using those?

Depends, because I get so much music for free now through my radio station. I'll download an individual song with P2P but if I want an album I buy it legitamately.

jaronbrass · Wed 31 Mar, 2004 21.32

Buying an individual track is what made the iTunes Music Store so popular. I hated having to go into a music store and buy an entire CD when all I wanted was just one song... and, it was even more infuriating when there were no singles of that song available.

Plus being able to listen to a nice, pristine 30" preview doesn't hurt, either... that way you know what you're getting before downloading it off some dodgy P2P site.

Pete · Tue 08 Jun, 2004 20.51

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 784799.stm

iTunes Music Store should be launching here next week. Fab.

Annoyingly though tracks are meant to be costing 99p each which is very unfair. Tracks in the US cost 99c so taking into account the exchange rate they should be at about 54p.