iTunes Store - What would you do if it closed?

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Joe Average

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Seems like Apple is quite serious about this threat:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/30/technology/itunesthreat.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008093014

and countered with a threat of their own: closing the iTunes store completely (that was last year but apparently this all started up again yesterday).

Personally, I've owned 6 iPods over the years since they came out, and I never purchased one song off the iTunes Store as I've got a collection of CDs (around 2,150 or so) that has been my library forever. I grabbed free songs, of course, to find new music and artists, but I never purchased anything from the store itself.

So, I'm curious as to what others would do if the iTunes Store up and closed. I've got friends with hundreds if not thousands of purchased songs (full albums more often than not), and even did work on a client laptop a few months ago that had - get this - nearly 20GB of iTunes purchased songs in the iTunes directory on the hard drive. I verified the content by doing a search of that folder with the "*.m4p" and found 19.2GB files purchased from as far back as June of 2003, and the iTunes Store went online in April that year. A shitload of money spent on music, that's for damned sure.

Customer had virus problems and was deathly afraid of losing all that music as she had absolutely no other backups except her iPod itself (3rd one as she upgraded from an original 5GB to a 20GB then to a 60GB video). No video content at all, however, that was the amazing thing, it was all music. I backed it all up for her on DVD media, two copies of the entire library, and she was ecstatic about it.

But for me, the sheer cost of all that music just baffles me because it's not even on physical media. My CDs are safely stored in another location I can get to if needed, and I have all the content in FLAC format here beside me in a box, about 95 DVDs of it so I can convert the music to whatever format I prefer for listening on the go (I have a Dell Axim x50v that makes even an iPod touch look kinda lame...).

What would you do if the iTunes Store closed, now that it's got so much "stuff" these days: Music, Movies and TV shows, Audiobooks, iPhone/iPod touch apps in the App Store, and surely more to come?

Would you miss it? At all?

Also, more discussion happening at a rampant pace at:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=572673
 
Hmm. I'd miss it, because I normally grab most of my swedish death metal from there, before it gets released in the US.

It wouldn't effect me adversely, per se, but still.
 
The only thing I would really miss are my podcasts. I've bought the occasional episode of 30 Rock or Battlestar Galactica and a few music videos, but that's it, otherwise I still buy all my music on CDs.

Not having my weekly podcasts (mainly This American Life, I Love Movies, and The 1Up Show) available in one centralized, easy to manage place would pretty much suck.
 
I'm a part of 'team don't care'.
I've always hated iTunes and I am still trying to find an audio program that plays flac and is as usable/customizable/minimalistic as Foobar2000 on my MBP.

Things like podcasts can be replaced by other methods of syncing and honestly are not special to me. Then again I've never bothered to listen to them, and I don't even own an iPod... although an iPhone may be in my future.

I suppose the biggest issue with this is the same thing that have happened with other stores closing down, which is DRM problems. Yet another reason why I'm the proud owner of physical CD's.
 
I have a 60GB Video iPod and I don't use iTunes. I do have a $25 gift card that I'm thinking about using to buy some games though.
 
No.

Admittedly (as much as I hate to be advertised to...) I do tend to enjoy the store's suggestions for other artists/CDs, but with a little more homework I can find new stuff myself just fine. Still, as far as actual purchaes go, I only ever buy iTunes Plus songs because they're not (fully) DRMed and have a higher bitrate. If I really want a something from a band I already know I like, I just order the CD snailmail style.
 
Well, sometimes iTunes has the hard to find music, so I like looking there.
I also use the app store for stuff on my iPhone. And I got some lullaby cd's on the cheap from iTunes, so I can't complain, but I still purchase hard CD copies of music when I can.
 
I would miss it, only for Podcasts though. Like others, I still buy all my movies on CDs for quality reasons, and movies on DVD/Blu-Ray as well.

If they closed the App Store though, I would be infuriated.
 
I've bought a fair amount of stuff from there, mostly because it's so convenient. If it went away I wouldn't be upset or anything. I rarely buy music, I mostly buy TV Shows and Movies.
 
Apple is making the right move in threatening to close down the Itunes store if greed is gonna take over the store. Personally, I've only purchased a few songs on the iPod Touch through wifi and that's because of convenience as I don't have to hook it up to a computer to do it. However, I'm with the rest of the users in that I wouldn't really miss or care much if it was gone.
 
wtf, the record companies get 70cents/Dollar and won't budge from 9 cents to 15 cents!!!
Those greedy bastards.
 
I wouldn't care. I don't use it and I don't plan on ever using it. Amazon FTW!!

That being said...don't take away my App Store though. ;) My iPhone 3G always needs new toys!!!

Boy would AAPL stock take hit if they closed the iTunes store though.
 
I'd only miss the genius feature which is pretty hot. I'm really digging using it for playlists, and on the fly in my ipod.

I'm guess without the store to reference, the music wouldn't get tagged with the appropriate info, and even internally, remotely that feature of my ipod would be toast : /

Not bought anything from them though.
 
Nothing. I'd keep using legalsounds. Just don't shut down the app store!
 
I probably wouldn't care either, I use CDs for everything that's on my iPod, but I will admit I've considered purchasing songs off iTunes, say if I only wanted one song off a new album, but most of the time I prefer to buy the CD, because then I can just pop it in a CD player if I want. I could, of course, do the same thing with iTunes store purchases by burning them to a CD, but a CD is just easier for me.
 
Menelmarar said:
I'd only miss the genius feature which is pretty hot. I'm really digging using it for playlists, and on the fly in my ipod.
Click to expand...

The Genius feature is pretty great. It could just do the simple thing and group songs based on genre or year or whatever, but it does an amazing job of grouping songs with the same vibe (ie - downtempo, whatever).

I really really like it.
 
Serpico said:
The only thing I would really miss are my podcasts. I've bought the occasional episode of 30 Rock or Battlestar Galactica and a few music videos, but that's it, otherwise I still buy all my music on CDs.
Click to expand...

This whole thing has to do with the music industry, and increased royalty rates. The store as a whole wouldn't close if the record labels pulled out. Free podcasts and other stuff would remain. TV shows and movies would stay too, because they have their own deals with Apple.

Speaking of podcasts... my iPod listening consists of 90% podcasts. I'd rather listen to an informational podcast instead of music. But if I do need music... I use Amazon anyway.

Apple put the online music store on the map. They will be remembered for doing something that no one else did. If they are forced to stop selling music because of royalty rates.... and other sites like Amazon continue to operate... it makes me wonder how much money Amazon keeps and how much they give to the labels.
 
Joe Average said:
But for me, the sheer cost of all that music just baffles me because it's not even on physical media. My CDs are safely stored in another location I can get to if needed, and I have all the content in FLAC format here beside me in a box, about 95 DVDs of it so I can convert the music to whatever format I prefer for listening on the go (I have a Dell Axim x50v that makes even an iPod touch look kinda lame...).
Click to expand...

How is a hard drive not 'physical media' and a CD/DVD is? ;) It's not like that user's music is stored in the cloud somewhere (although it is to an extent, due to DRM). I think I know what you meant regardless, and I know you're a big fan of optical discs for backups (I still don't really understand why, but to each his own, it's all about redundancy really, regardless of medium)... Anyway, I really really doubt Apple would close the store on some kinda hissy-fit tantrum as the article implies. Of note is this quote:

" iTunes vice president Eddy Cue said Apple might close its download store rather than raise its 99 cents a song price or absorb the higher royalty costs. "

Honestly, it just sounds like grandstanding more than an actual threat... The store is too much of a cash cow for them regardless of whether they'd take it in the jaw with a royalty hike or not. Without the store the iPod would've never amassed the huge chunk of market share it has. I really doubt Apple itself would've gained as much ground as they have today if it were not for the iTunes store, I doubt the iPhone would even exist such as it is. That being said, if for whatever reason the store did close, there's nothing anyone will really be able to do, period. Everyone who's ever bought more than a handful of tracks is up a creek without a paddle.

We've already seen half a dozen other online music stores (Sony, Virgin, etc.) close shop without much of a warning and they've left consumers out on a lurch. Their DRM schemes simply ceased to exist and the content goes into the crapper if the user ever tries to transfer it, as far as I've seen the only solutions those stores have provided is to suggest the user burn the content to CD then re-rip it (obviously taking a hit on fidelity in the process).

Personally, I could care less if the iTunes store closes or if the iPhone App store closes... I've never bought DRM-shackled music, and I've never even bought any DRM-free tracks from iTunes (I've bought DRM-free stuff from Amazon and others though). I do plan to get an iPod Touch soon but I don't think any apps I buy would stop working simply because the App Store closes, and whether iTunes goes south or not they'd still have an incentive to keep the App Store alive anyway.

I do think that the large market share the iTunes Store enjoys will probably have hurt the consumer in the long run though... Regardless of whether you buy content there or not, because of situations exactly like this one. Apple's main goal has always been selling their players... We've already seen dissention and complaints from TV/movie studios as well, who're largely worried they'll end up exactly where the music industry has. Then again, NBC did go back to Apple this year so who knows... Apple's well within it's rights to stand their ground though.

After all, someone's gotta stand up to the music industry, but I doubt even Apple would have a hope in hell there. Worse comes to worst, the studios would just end up pulling out and more heavily supporting Amazon or someone else that won't complain as much. It's a sad state of affairs.
 
I think apple should stand there ground if they want to offer 99 cent songs. it's really a choice of the media producers of they want to sell at apple for 99 cents and if not pull out. look at NBC, they pulled out for cost found out shit this apple thing really good and came back.
 
How is a hard drive not 'physical media' and a CD/DVD is?
Click to expand...

Very true. It doesn't matter where the data is stored. Whether it's stored on a DVD or on a HDD, the computer still reads it the same way; as bits of data.

The store is too much of a cash cow for them regardless of whether they'd take it in the jaw with a royalty hike or not. Without the store the iPod would've never amassed the huge chunk of market share it has. I really doubt Apple itself would've gained as much ground as they have today if it were not for the iTunes store, I doubt the iPhone would even exist such as it is.
Click to expand...

Very well said Impulse. If the prices went up (which they aren't), Apple would have just raised the price of a song. They would not abandon iTunes.
 
I would miss ITunes if it closed but I wouldn't freak out.
Two years ago my wife won a 30gb IPod classic [5th generation] the last of that model till they went to the larger drive capacities. I installed ITunes when she got home from the Christmas party and we have enjoyed it a lot.
We've bought about 100 -125 songs and the game Peggle too.
I like the " Genius " feature and have downloaded a bunch of Podcasts, eg: Episodes of Flight Of The Concordes , Nasa stuff etc.
My wife will sometime hear a song in her car and ask me if we have any " Susan Tedeschi' songs because she just heard something by her and liked it.
I went to ITunes and let her hear " Little By Little ". That was it. We bought it and some more of her stuff too.
So Itunes works for us and we would miss it.
I don't have any experience with any other online music source
 
Bloefield said:
So Itunes works for us and we would miss it.
I don't have any experience with any other online music source
Click to expand...

Give Amazon a look. Same price, sometimes even 89 cents... and DRM free. You get a 256kbps MP3 file that you don't have to "register" or have anything tying the file to a particular computer or device.

Amazon MP3 Store
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
its amazing just to increase royalties, the music industry is making themselves richer while discouraging buying music and rather pirating it
 
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