You probably have an MP3 player. Millions of people use iTunes to purchase songs that they play on their computer and/or MP3 player. Apple recently announced changes in the copy protection and pricing of the songs that it sells. This week’s article explains the details of Apple’s announcement. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that shows you have read the article, expresses your views, and addresses my questions.
Have you ever purchased music that you downloaded? Have you ever downloaded music that you did not purchase? What do you think about the changes described in the article that Apple is making? How do you feel about the pricing changes? What is your opinion about DRM? Apple has been campaigning against DRM at least since February 2007. Why has it taken this long to remove it? What should be done to motivate people to legally purchase music?
14 comments:
i'll use the dig med post for this first assignment, but for all the rest, i'll use the computer literacy blog for all the rest of the assignments though.
thanks for giving me the option though.
nicolas
nico.banzai@gmail.com
Personally, as a constant music listener, I have purchased music that I downloaded. For quite a while, I had bought Lime Wire Pro, a money-consuming program that gives me an unlimited amount of downloads. That was only for a little bit though, as I found no difference compared to the free Lime Wire. So then, I would have to admit that I have downloaded music for free, and I constantly do it; possibly, on a day-to-day basis. In my opinion, Apple’s changes are hard to adapt to, because they have had all songs for 99 cents for so long, it is now only normal to buy a song for that much, therefore I think it would have been better to keep that price. I am a purchaser of newer songs only, because it takes some time to get newer songs on free downloading programs. Those new songs would cost $1.29, and usually I would buy more of those than of older or less recent songs. So basically, the prices are unreasonable, and I do not recommend Apple’s changes. My opinion of DRM, Digital Rights Management software is that it is only what is fair. I say so because when a song is sold for music, it is not fair for others to get the same song yet for free, on a downloading program or website. Therefore, I believe DRM was a reasonable software and gave particular companies more sales. The reason it has taken so long to remove DRM is because 3 major record companies did not allow Apple to remove it, because it helped them succeed over other record companies. One thing that could definitely motivate people to purchase music legally after the removal of DRM, is the ability to play their high-quality sound music on whatever MP3 player they would like, and it would allow them to listen to it more often, for example, putting it on a CD would be quite a step forward. As I mentioned many times, I think that this price changing and removal of DRM is only unfair because they are manipulating people into spending more money because obviously people buy newer tracks as they come out, not the opposite. I know I, for a fact, when I sometimes purchase music, I go to the newest ones that have only come out recently and buy those, not older songs that are no longer popular. I am sure this also applies to many others among myself; therefore I completely don’t support this idea of prices. Though, removing DRM among the prices is quite smart because it gives people more reason to buy tracks for a higher rate.
Like most teens today, I download music on a fairly regular basis. I can only download music that I purchase because my parents are against sites like Lime Wire in every way, shape, and form. So, I haven't downloaded any music that I haven't purchased.
Again, like most teens, I use iTunes for my music storage. I think that the price changes are a bad choice because it won't bring the company any more profit- no one wants to pay $1.29 for a song now that they can pay $.99 for later, and possibly, even $.69. I think it's ridiculous to pay for that, and even if the DRM has been taken off the songs, consumers won't put up with such expensive songs for long. I know that I won't be buying songs as frivolously anymore. I think that the DRM was the only to keep people from 'pirating' songs, but it (obviously) didn't work because of all the sites on the web that let people 'share' songs. There's nothing more that anyone can do about it, so I think that it's about time that Apple decided to take it off. It was also doing nothing but complicating the matters for the people that don't have iPods. I had a different MP3 before my iPod, and found that it wasn't compatible with iTunes. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't loading onto the MP3, but after this article, I know why- DRM. It's taken such a long time to get it removed because the bigger music companies were worried about the competition between iTunes and some of the smaller, less used companies that they also supplied their music to.
There is really nothing that can be done to motivate people to buy music legally when, now, websites are available to just click a button that says 'download'. The mentality for most people is currently, "Why should I buy a song with my money, when I can get it for free off of (insert Lime Wire like site)?"
Similar to many others around my age, I listen to music on a fairly frequent basis. Pretty much on a Day-to-Day basis. Also, like many others, I use primarily ITunes for storing my music. While most of the time I buy a song before downloading, I do sometimes use some applications like Lime wire, which shows that I both download music with paying, or occasionally without. As for the changes that Apple has made with ITunes, I have mixed opinions. I can see that Apple is just trying to be practical; lowering their prices being an obvious choice as the economy slowly crumbles. But when it comes to just trying to purchase music, I think it will take people a bit of time to adjust to them. This is because people have always been used to buying songs for 0.99 cents, and that has been lowered by quite a bit. While this is a smart move by Apple, it alienates the average consumer a little bit. Also, I don't think that it was the smartest move by Apple to make the bigger songs so much more expensive than the regular songs, as they are almost double the price. This will likely mean a drop in immediate sales, as not many people are willing to pay 1.30 for a song when they could get it later for a mere 0.70. This was definitely a mistake for Apple in terms of pricing. I don't mind DRM, as it is just a way of making sure everybody is treated fairly, and everybody pays the same price, instead of some paying and others getting it for free. I think it is a good thing, as it makes an attempt at preventing "piracy" and making sure that people pay fairly for their songs. It has likely taken Apple so long to get DRM removed because other companies wanted it to stay, because it helped their income. They wanted to even the field against Apple, and DRM was helping them do that. As for the final question, the answer is a little bit tricky. While there is not much music companies can do to motivate people to buy from them, there are a few ways that they can appeal to a general audience. First, make sure that when a song is purchased, anybody can play it on any music system they have, like an IPod or MP3 player. Also, make all songs the same price, so there is no arguing about whether or not to buy the great song for 1.30, or the moderately good song for 0.99. They would all be the same price, and it would likely improve sales by a significant margin. Finally, try to bundle songs together for a slightly greater price, as this will convince people that buying songs now off sites like ITunes, fair and square, is far safer than downloading off an unreliable site like Lime wire. These are things that they can do to try and lure people away from the thoughts of getting songs for free off Lime wire.
I have to say that I have purchased a few songs from iTunes. I also have downloaded most of my music from lime wire without purchasing them. I think that the changes apple is making with lowering the prices for songs ($0.69), biggest hits and newest songs ($1.29) would be really good for people who are buying but it won’t be good for people who are selling because they will not get enough money for themselves. I feel that the pricing going down would be bad for the people's jobs that are working with apple so it would be better if it is $0.99 per song but they can't do that because of the stocks that are going down. I think that DRM would be bad if they didn’t have it because you can buy it and copy it a hundred times and you would sell it all to the people so it wouldn't be fair. I think that it has taken the Apple so long to remove it is because the other company doesn’t want it to be removed. To motivate the people to legally purchase music is to tell them the differences between copied music and original music which is that the original can play allot of things like mp4, mp3(etc.) and that the original has pictures that come with the song and also that the sound quality is perfect. The copy has mostly none of those.
Yes I have purchased music that I downloaded and I have downloaded music for free. I feel that the changes in the artical will not affect me since i download many songs from limewire. However it takes time to get the new songs on limewire. So i could pay $1.29 for songs i really wanted. It would be easier and cheaper to just get the whole CD and download it on your computer. I think DRM is a bad thing because it created files I could not download even if i payed for them. It took a while to change this because the CEO's could not agree. I think that Apple Store should lower their prices so people would pay for their music. Not everybody can buy a new CD, especially us who dont live in the United States. Having lower prices will allow me to order more songs online. With all this technology, I dont understand why music companies can not control their products. Although i like being able to use limewire.
Unlike most people in my age, I don’t tend to listen to music very often .I haven't downloaded or purchased music for like ever. Though, when I used to get music I never bought it. I had 2 very good non-purchase programs that work very well, Bearshare and Limewire. Yes the quality might be kind of crappy for some songs, but it's better than shopping online for an Apple gift card then using it. I am not cheap I just think that if I can get something for free then why not? I think that the changes Apple are making for their prices is stupid and unfair. They made the good new songs for $1.29 and the crappy old songs that no one buys for $0.69. Their prices used to be reasonable and fair for the buyers. Let's say for example some one gets a new iPod and wants to buy 500 songs. With Apples old prices he would have to pay around $500 to get all good songs, now he would have to pay $645. I think that DRM is actually pretty fair. By not letting people get music for free, they are keeping 3 major companies as rivals to Apple. Those 3 companies are also what kept DRM from letting Apple remove it. I think that people should make purchased music much clearer than downloaded ones. Also people should make the quality of purchased music much better than the quality of non-purchased music. (A) ^M^ {M} [A] /R/
I would have to say that I have purchased music and I have downloaded music from limewire. I really don’t care that Apple is making there music more expensive because I don’t buy a lot of music from them. I mostly buy music videos because they are clearer than downloaded ones. Limewire is usually slow at downloading songs and if a new song comes out it takes about 2 weeks for limewire to have. Also sometimes the songs are blurry and the music is either really loud or really low. I think DRM is a bad thing because if you buy a song, sometimes it doesn’t play and would really suck because you have wasted your money. Since the prices went up I’m not going to buy from iTunes anymore because I think it’s a waste of money. If iTunes would lower there prices again then maybe I would buy multiple songs for the same price. I have recently read an article about famous musicians and band being angry that people are downloading songs instead of buying them because the band wouldn’t make any money. One of those starts is Axel Rose (lead singer from Guns N’ Roses. It has taken so long to remove it because different companies did not agree about removing it. Personally I think that iTunes should lower their prices A LOT so people can buy clear music. It’s just a song; it shouldn’t be that expensive. By lowering prices I think that people would start purchasing and everybody will be happy. They should also lower prices on application for ipods.
Like most people my age I like to listen to music. Every music lover knows about the downloading website lime wire, and many people that I know including me have not only downloaded from lime wire also we have purchased songs from Apple. The changes that the Apple Company have arranged is not well thought. People constantly go online to such websites as Apple to search for new songs of their favorite singer/band. If the downloader's see that the price of a new song costs $1.29 they would probably decide not to purchase it because of its high price. Then, they would rather go on websites such as lime wire to get their songs for free. I agree with DRM's method on how to drive people into downloading songs for free unlike Apple. The DRM Company knows that there is no solution for downloading music legally unless there are drastic restrictions to be made towards the companies that allow free downloading. It will be hard to keep track of people not downloading free music and stay away from the free temptations. I think Apples fixed prices for the old songs that cost 99cents is reasonable. But no matter what Apple or any other music company do to prevent free downloading from their websites people will still manipulate these restriction and try to find a way of downloading music without being charged.
I have to admit that I have never purchased any music that I have downloaded from any sites whatsoever. I have been using programs such as lime wire, torrentz, or even from French sites such as clipzik.com, using ITunes to store my music on my IPod.
I’m a strong believer that we should do our best to avoid any form of piracy which causes lots of trouble (money losses) in the music industry and for the artists. However, I think that Apple is making a good move by lowering their prices, it’ll motivate consumers to purchase rather than go for piracy. I also believe this will result in generating new revenues which will then be redistributed into the music industry.
Once again I believe that DRM, Digital Rights Management, was essential in protecting author’s rights and preventing any form of piracy.
The music industry has been suffering from huge losses in traditional retail stores especially CDs and Apple is trying to re-boost the sales by lifting copying restrictions.
It took Apple so long as the company couldn’t reach a deal with the three major record companies, allowing free download.
What would motivate people to legally purchase music would be a reasonable and flat-rate pricing no matter how old or new the songs are. Moreover, the other very important aspect in this matter is the ability to play these musics on any kind of technical device (Mp3, CD-player …etc.)
I’m one of the few teens that don’t listen to music a lot. I have purchased music that I downloaded once, and it was a waist of 99 cents, as I could have just downloaded the song from limewire, though I have deleted limewire because I have heard that it could be a threat to my laptop. I have downloaded many songs that I have not paid money for, and I think it is much better, but normally when I download music from limewire, the voice is messed up. I think that Apple is stupid, because almost everyone can afford to pay 99 cents…but it could be good at times, for example, when cheap people want to buy music from Itunes. Though I think that raising the price to 1.29 is kind of smart, because everyone would want to by the new music and the big hits first, so they would not mind buying at any price, I think that Apple will end up reducing the prices again when they become less popular. I think that DRM is just stupid, and Apple is going towards the right direction by removing it, as it will bring in more customers by removing it. Apple has been campaigning again DRM for a long time, because other companies used it and did not want it removed. I think that no matter what they try, a lot of people will still buy music illegally, would you rather buy music for free, or pay money? Though there are some disadvantages if you will download for free, sometimes the voice is messed up. I think that they should make something like that “Buy 10 songs from us and get a free Iphone” I think that advertising in that way is their only option.
I personally love music, its a part of my daily life, like most kids my age. I personally have never bought music off Itunes or any other online shopping site. It seemed pointless at the time I was introduced to the downloading hobbie. It was a waste of money to buy something for a dollar when you can get it for free...Illegaly. So to answer that, yes I have downloaded music that I have not purchased. I think the price change is a good move but they said that they will have it one price but later on lower the price so people keep buying. So this is one major flaw for me that concerns their price change. I have never heard of the DRM before and now that I have i think thats its a good thing that apple removed it. The digital rights management also kept other forms of mp3 players from being able to sync using Itunes because of the fear that people will copy it. Their plan fail. Now web sites all over the internet could have illegal downloading and apple cant do anything about it.
Illegal or Simply Being a Weasel?
Today, music has become a key element for most people and they will do just about anything to get their hands on the latest tunes without paying that much money, or nothing at all. Now, this free downloading of music from the internet is defined as being illegal, but in what book is there such a law that forbids people from downloading music for free. On the other hand, shouldn’t we have to pay for anything that we buy that is not ours, giving credit to its creator. Despite this, today the idea of “the cheaper, the better” exists, which simply means that if you find something valuable to you for free, then good for you.
As for me, I would like to say that I’ve payed for every music file that I’ve purchased from the internet, but that’s just not the case. There are tons of websites out there that allow you to download the latest music for free, and even better, it takes less than a minute to download each song. I don’t ever see myself going to iTunes to legally download music. In the end, it’s just music. Why should I have to pay for something that’s already out there somewhere else, and for free? Obviously, I’ve never purchased music that I downloaded. It’s just too much of a lengthy process for something that is “simple” in a sense. Music is simply lyrics combined with some kind of melody that you listen to for a while and then move on to the next latest song that you’ve downloaded.
Apple is doing all it can to increase its sales and the company is in a very weak position right now, especially with all of its rivals that are gaining strength. Despite this, Apple is trying to encourage people to legally purchase music online. With the declining prices of songs, Apple will sure see some new costumers. To some extent, iTunes has some kind of appeal to people because it relates to Apple and with the reduction of prices for songs, people will be grabbed in and motivated to legally purchase music. As for DRM, it’s good that Apple is getting rid of it because it is simply a hassle. Not everybody out there today can afford to buy an iPod and some people prefer to use another system to listen to music. We shouldn’t punish people for choosing what makes them comfortable. Though it’s understandable why Apple has taken this long to remove DRM. Apple wants customers and wants people buying its product and nothing else. As a result, they might have viewed DRM as a solution to their problems, due to the fact that it forces people who purchase music from iTunes to only listen to that music if they have an iPod. With all of these changes, Apple is clearly showing that it will do anything to allow its company to profit and in turn to allow customers to benefit from cheaper prices on music. To grab more people in, Apple will need to continue to reduce its prices on music and make special deals on iTunes products, like allowing a person to pay half the price if they purchase two songs or more.
Last, but not least, people like me really need some kind of impetus to cause them to legally purchase music. One approach to this problem is for all the websites that allow you to download music for free to be shutdown. Another solution is that a person who enters these illegal websites is fined month by month, causing them to rethink about the way they spend their money. Moreover, another solution could be that the latest music be distributed only to legal music websites, such as iTunes, while the illegal websites would simply get stuck with the music that is considered as being old, which people soon get bored of. Thus, they will start turning to websites such as iTunes. Hopefully, we’ll all start purchasing music legally in the near future without breaking any internet laws and acting like little weasels.
Like many teens I listen to music and download from lime wire but I never have purchased the music from such websites. I find the changes they made were really bad because you have to pay 99 cent. Apple is trying to do increase its profit and people will not be really motivated because the prices haven’t changed that much. There are free websites that are tempted. DRM is good because everybody will go to Tunes will profit. I usually download music illegally. I purchased it legally because it’s for free and I don’t have to pay for it or anything. I think that the companies should know how to control their products. Downloading music from lime wire makes it easier for everyone because all you do I download it doesn't take much time to download and pay.
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