Is iTunes really fair?

[shifter]

People are paying for songs on the iTunes Music Store because they think it's a good way to support musicians. But iTunes misses a huge opportunity. Instead of creating a system that gets virtually all of fans' money directly to artists-- finally possible with the internet-- iTunes takes a big step backwards. Apple calls iTunes "revolutionary" but record companies are using the service to force the same exploitive and unfair business model onto a new medium.

The iTunes Music Store is not a good value for customers. Apple says many users are buying whole "albums" for $8-$12 each. That's less than the $16 store price, but used CDs at Amazon or ebay cost $5, and those come with liner notes.

iTunes AAC files don't sound as good as CDs. AAC is a "lossy" compression format: it shrinks the sound file by throwing away subtle nuance and texture that a computer program thinks you won't be able to hear. Not to mention the new restrictions. A burned copy of a real CD will always sound better than a burned iTunes album.

Apple says iTunes is "better than free" because it's "fair to the artists and record labels." That's simply not true. First of all, Apple gets 3 times as much money as musicians from each sale. Apple takes a 35% cut from every song and every album sold, a huge amount considering how little they have to do. Record labels receive the other 65% of each sale. Of this, major label artists will end up with only 8 to 14 cents per song, depending on their contract.

So why does iTunes give artists such a raw deal? Because it's the exact same deal that artists have always gotten from the big five record companies. Despite huge new efficiencies created by internet distribution --no CDs to make, no distributors to store and ship them, no CD stores to build and run-- artists receive the same pathetic cut.

OK, so if new online music stores like iTunes aren't the answer, what is?
Well, if you really want to support the musicians you love, the best way to begin is by downloading the song for free on a filesharing network. Then send them what you want to give, no middleman. 14 cents. 99 cents. 10 dollars. A site like www.musiclink.com, though still rudimentary, makes this a little easier and is a step in the right direction.

A very eye-opening view on the music industries new approach.
For more information have a look at iTunes iSbogus and www.downhillbattle.org

What are you opinions?

[Someguy03]

I would also like to point out 2 things.

You seemed to make it sound like people and artists were getting ripped off:

The band Korn just released a new music video called "ya'll want a single" and besides the music, at diffrent points they flash statistics of music sales and profits, and call the industry a "music monopoly".
You can see it at launch.com

Some of their examples were:

"Britany Spears last music video cost 1,000,000$," "This music video cost 150,000$, and you have seen $48,000 of it. Would you see this on T.V.?"

"Together the record companies made a total of 280$ billion last year"

"90% of releases on major labeles do not make a profit"

"The record companys release an average 100 songs per week. Only 4 songs are added to the average radio "playlist" each week"

"Hit songs on top 40 are played more than 100 times per week, is that all you want to hear?"

One thing I dont understand is at the end they say, "why is a song worth 99.? Do you download music? Steal this video, its a single"

What do you think they ment by that?


And, ITunes is also bad for the listener. When people go and buy one song, they can set their media player to loop and without noticing its playing, listen to it again and again. I once listened to "Stacy's Mom" 54 times in a rowand got so sick of it that I deleted it off my computer. When you get albums, all of the artists music plays, and the people hear all of it. They even, sometimes, end up liking songs they didn't know about more ths

[shifter]

quote:Originally posted by someguy03

You seemed to make it sound like people and artists were getting ripped off

Thats because they are. Record companies pay radio stations to play there music, leaving independent artists no way to get on the air. Still sound fair to you?

quote:Originally posted by someguy03

One thing I dont understand is at the end they say, "why is a song worth 99.? Do you download music? Steal this video, its a single"

What do you think they ment by that?

1. Korn wrote "Ya'll Want A Single" as an anti-single. Here is what they said in a recent interview:

quote:"When we were recording the new album, our record company said 'hey, we'd really like to have a single' and our management were like 'we'd love a smash hit single maaan, can you dig?' And we were really frustrated about it. They wanted a 'Got The Life' or a 'Freak On The Leash' and that **** wasn't ****ing flying with us! For the first time in our lives we were dissecting our music, trying to analyze the structures of those songs and what made those songs 'smash hit singles'. But we don't work that way, we just ended up over thinking everything until Jonathan came up with the line 'Ya'll want a single? Say **** that!' and we wrote 'Ya'll Want A Single' as a big **** you to them!"

2. Korn is actually reinforcing the points in my original post, just in another aspect of the industry. That video is a protest against the music industry. Here's another excerpt from the video:

quote:"The music 'industry' releases 100 songs per week,"
"Only 4 songs are added to the average radio 'playlist' each week"
"Hit songs on Top 40 are often repeated over 100 times per week."
"Is that all you want to hear?"

Think MTV will play that video? Or are they? I imagine they are more concerned about keeping Britney's recent skintastic video on 24/7.

Check out http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/148...23/story.jhtml for more on Korn's recent video.

[Someguy03]

Whoa...I think you took it as if I wasn't agreeing with you. I personally think the music company is a total rip.

[shifter]

quote:Originally posted by someguy03

You seemed to make it sound like people and artists were getting ripped off

This statement does tend to imply you were disagreeing. Glad to see I was mistaken.

iTunes are slowly adding some independent artists to there selection. So a great resource to check out before buying your next CD or song online or offline is www.riaaradar.com Simply punch in the artist name/cd and see if your helping support the RIAA (boooo!) or an independent label (hooray!).