iTunes

[Tom]

Wired Magazine has a great article ( see http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/15-12/mf_morris )on what the founder of the Universal Music Group (which has 25% of the market) thinks about iTunes. He hates it and is lining up the labels (which have lost 10% of their CD sales this year and have conceded 25% of legal music sales to Apple) to fight back. The strategy is Total Music: pay $x/year and you can download all the music you want. As to whether this 'strategy' compares with paying $0/year and downloading all the music you want remains to be seen. My guess the labels will become locked in a deathly embrace with Steve and sink to the bottom of the ocean.

[David]

It is surprising how Apple have got away with locking iTunes so firmly and creating what is effectively a monopoly on iPod owners. Although I use an iPod, I object to this and have not bought music from Apple. I still buy my music in hard copy and then rip it, this makes me feel as though I have some freedom of purchase.

[Tom]

The boss of UMG admits to having caused the problem. He thought he had been cunning, by insisting on DRM. Cunning Steve turned this round and used the technology to lock everyone into iTunes. I think the poor man now spends an hour a day beating his breast. But he has followed EMI and selling unlocked MP3 files. When Sony-BMG follow, the iTunes monopoly will be broken. Roll on the future.