iTunes Pricing... Right or Wrong?

[WRDup]

Ive recently been reading reviews on iTunes and Ive come to learn that some people are pissed about the pricing structure. I was confused at first cause I didnt understand. I kept reading.

For those of you who dont know iTunes charges $.99 for every song and $1.99 for every video... NO MATTER WHAT!

What people seem to be so upset about is that a 30 sec song is the same price as a 15 min song. Even worse then that is Videos. Music Videos & Shorts (like Disney & Pixar) are $1.99 and so is an hour long episode of Lost or Desperate House Wives! What really has people in an up-roar is the $1.99 price tag of SNL skits. People are complaining that a whole episode of SNL should be $1.99.

Im on the side of iTunes. Its about the content. My personal opinion dictates that a 3-4 min SNL skit is worth the same amount of money as an hour long episode of Lost.

In addition, I dont believe that iTunes has all the control. SNL might only agree to sell sketches individually at a price of $1.99 whil Disney & ABC feel that $1.99 is a fair price for their programing. And Ive never known SNL to sell an episode straight-up or an entire season for that matter so why would they do it that way now on iTunes?

Furthermore, iTunes does group 13-16 sketches together in an "album" that you can buy at a discounted price ($13.99-$14.99) when compared to buying each sketch oe "episode" individually. The same is true for buying a whole music album compared to each individual song.

I dont think $.99 is too much for any song and I dont think $1.99 is too much for any video. If I did I wouldnt buy it...

What do you think?

[aimster]

I've pretty much only used iTunes to preview albums before I buy them (I'm old school and need the actual CD and artwork in my hands). and for the radio stations. I did buy a random song I couldn't find anywhere else though so it was fair spending of my 99¢.

[WRDup]

did you know that when you buy a whole album from iTunes you also get the album art and in most cases you get the liner notes as well!

[Not Afraid]

With albums being around $10, it's cheaper than most record stores. I was shocked at Virgin pricing the other day. $18 for a CD? No way.

I like having the actual goods in my hit little hands, but in some instances, I'll buy my music electronically. I do like that I can download individual songs - especially when I'm looking for a music theme.

[sir clinksalot]

I think it's a little excessive. I don't have an Ipod video so I'm not as concerned about the video prices.

As for the songs I wish they were about $0.75 each instead of $0.99 each. That seems about fair. I also wish they had a monthly plan for unlimited downloads or something.

I think that $9.99 for an entire album is okay especially considering what some record stores charge. Then again, they aren't paying for any material (cd's, artwork, shipping, etc) so I do think they could come down a little from that, especially on older albums.

If albums were say $7 instead of $10 I could see myself buying 5 or 6 albums per month instead of the 'maybe' 1 or 2 I buy now.

[SusieP.]

I think it evens itself out in the end. I'll pay 0.99 for a song, especially for the convenience of not having to buy a whole CD. Plus they have their original stuff that you can't get anywhere else. And, iTunes is just a great resource for finding things and the site is pretty well organized to give you further suggestions for music. I'm happy!

[Gemini Cricket]

One thing I did find is that if a song is too long, like a club mix of something, they won't sell it for $.99. It'll say Album Only or something like that. When iTunes first started, I got Donna Summer's 'Love to Love You Baby' for $.99. The version of the song is 15 minutes long.

I don't mind their pricing. I don't buy their videos. I don't see the point. I can't play them on my iPod. But when I'm taking the subway, I don't feel like watching a video, I want ot listen to music...

I have had great experiences with iTunes. However, I downloaded a song I bought from them the other day and it skipped a lot. I tried to contact them and never heard back from them after several emails. That was several months ago...

I know that they were thinking of increasing the amount they charged for songs, but then back away from it...

[Radiobarry]

I've been very happy with I-tunes...have been ever since my brother installed it on the computer he built for us two years ago.
I now have a library of about 13-hundred songs...about 400 of which I've purchased through I-tunes. I think the price is very fair (of course it could always be cheaper for those of us on the buying end). I'd much rather create my own mixes and burn them to CD or my Ipod, than buy entire albums (dated term, huh) from one single artist or group.
Aside from an occasional impulse buy at Starbucks, I buy most all my music this way now.
As for videos...I couldn't care less...For now anyway, it's hard to understand watching a screen (Ipod) that's smaller than the ones my grandparents used when tv was first invented...

[ah schucks]

I was thinking this morning about the Ipod and the future of Apple in an expanding market place. If you would have told me two years ago that playstation would have such an influence on the market to provide content specific only to the PSP and it would sell the way it is today, I would have laughed!

Microsoft has announced its answer to the Ipod and PSP markets with a hyrbed Xbox MPS player due next year sometime. Crazy.

If you consider the market for tech junkies I would guess more of them would want to purchase a game player and mp3 player combo, especially when odds are it will play movies too. So 3 portable devices in one essentially...and considering that Napster is being bought up and offers those monthly passes and places like Yahoo are offering songs for somewhere around 79cents, it looks like Apple has got to innovate itself again.

I would watch for a new revolution of Ipods, I expect they are already in development. After the Motorola experiment, wouldn't be surprised to see bluetooth Ipods that can wirelessly connect to your phone and or computer. I wouldn't be surprised by a next generation Ipod that connects you to satelite content for Itunes and Ivideos! Where Apple should be leaning is partnering with the 3rd game system provider which has a proven track record with portable devices- Ninetendo- develop iGameboys that are a combination Mac platform with Ninetendo games.

A year ago iPods had the market locked, if they don't watch themselves 2007 could be a dangerous year.

[Mac Daddy]

These musicians still need to get paid. (Although MOST of that $$$ will go to the record companies.) .99 is still a good deal when you only want one or two things on the cd you would have purchased at Tower or Virgin.

I asked my students to list their top five cd's and most of them responded that they no longer purchase cd's.

Most of them are still downloading illegally.

[pixie chick]

i think it's pretty fair. most of the time it works out to be cheaper than buying the whole CD at a store. it works out even better when you really only want a song or two and not the whole album. i don't mind spending a couple of bucks on the songs i really want rather than $15 or more on the whole thing.

[CUatDL]

I believe the iTunes pricing structure is good. Well, it's OK for me. Since I've been using iTunes I quit buying CDs. My music just winds up on my server anyway, so, why store CDs?

I like the fact that some albums have such good prices. I usually buy the whole album, I look to see if the album has more than 10 songs 12, 15 or more and if I like at least 10 songs I buy the album.

Just MHO, YMMV

CU@DL

Andy

[sir clinksalot]

Originally Posted by localdisnyfan

These musicians still need to get paid. (Although MOST of that $$$ will go to the record companies.) .99 is still a good deal when you only want one or two things on the cd you would have purchased at Tower or Virgin.

If these "artists" (I use the term lightly) would make good albums then they wouldn't have to complain about people not buying them.

If there is a CD that I want and it's from a band or singer that I follow, I will go to Tower and buy the CD because I want to have a complete collection. Other than that give me the 2 or 3 good songs from a CD and I'm done.

[WRDup]

Originally Posted by ah schucks

I would watch for a new revolution of Ipods, I expect they are already in development. After the Motorola experiment, wouldn't be surprised to see bluetooth Ipods that can wirelessly connect to your phone and or computer. I wouldn't be surprised by a next generation Ipod that connects you to satelite content for Itunes and Ivideos! Where Apple should be leaning is partnering with the 3rd game system provider which has a proven track record with portable devices- Ninetendo- develop iGameboys that are a combination Mac platform with Ninetendo games.

A year ago iPods had the market locked, if they don't watch themselves 2007 could be a dangerous year.

I am waiting very anxiously for an iPod that will be bluetooth compatable. For me the day cant come soon enough. I also like the idea of a combo iPod/Gameboy. I would love for apple to join forces with nintendo. Perhaps they could sell nintendo games through iTunes.... That would be the best ever. Maybe the new Nintendo Revolution could have an iTunes store provided through the nintendo online service. Id be in heaven. Im a big Nintendo loyalist and new huge fan of Apple. If they got together I dont know what Id do... buy more stuff probably!