iLounge

1

Lol…!!

Blum is so funny.  His company is dead and he knows it.  Hilarious.

Posted by Jerrod H. in TX on December 15, 2003 at 6:05 AM (PST)

2

Download-only music stores are a losing business proposition. The RIAA takes so much of a cut that even Apple end up losing money on each download. The only profitable music services are the subscription services, akin to XM and Sirius digital satelliute services…

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=88622&cid=7669825

Actual current numbers for the sub services:
Rhapsody (from Real Networks): 250,000
MusicNet: 175,000
Napster (formerly pressplay): 80,000
MusicMatch MX: 150,000

Total here is over 600,000. These services tend to run about $10 per month, yielding a total revenue of over $6 million per month across all services. iTunes has sold 20 million songs in 7 months, or less than $20 million in revenue with a tiny or negative profit margin. Subscription revenue during this time was $42m, and profit margins on subscriptions are much higher.

I use Rhapsody and it kicks iTunes ### - there’s just no comparison, given my listening habits (I’m almost always online). Looks like there are plenty of people who agree with me.

Posted by BuyMusicSux on December 15, 2003 at 8:39 AM (PST)

3

I’ve seen the previous post several times on various articles on iPodlounge. Is this some kind of press release or something?

Besides its gross inaccuracies, it’s very annoying to see the same post - word for word - appear time and again. What is the point? Are you trying to sell people on the Rhapsody service?

As a privately-owned service, Rhapsody has no responsibility to report sales or earnings publicly. They do claim to have (as of Dec 14) 320,000 songs, but with only about 40% of those actually available for purchase - and NONE of the songs are available to be burned or ported to the iPod or any other portable music device. What’s the point to someone using an iPod (hence, someone reading this site)?

Posted by Atomic Bomb on December 15, 2003 at 9:01 AM (PST)

4

Speak for yourself Atomic. I have an iPod mainly for Audible content, but I also have an iRiver for WMA and Rhapsody - which is a pretty nice service expecially if like me you record what you listen to. I know it’s not strictly legal but I don’t care. It does mean that instead of the 99c iTunes song I pay less than a penny per RHapsody song.

What can I say, I drive a lot so I value having as many options as possible to listen to! What I want is a handheld XM receiver and hard disk. First company does that gets my money!

Posted by MeDaBomb on December 15, 2003 at 11:22 AM (PST)

5

“not strictly legal” - that is an understatement.

“The RIAA takes so much of a cut” ????

The RIAA is just a lobbying body. The individual record companies (copyright holders) get a cut, not the RIAA. This includes the ARTISTS!

Note that one big factor is the credit card charges. Apple tries to lessen this by grouping several purchases together, but if you go out and buy just one song, the credit card transaction fee eats into profits a LOT.

Posted by RhapsodySchapsody on December 15, 2003 at 3:02 PM (PST)

6

not strictly legal

I record songs and interviews off the radio (both airwaves and internet) using MC9 and convert them to mp3s then sync them to my iPod - is that legal?

How is Rhapsody different?

Posted by RadioDaze on December 15, 2003 at 3:17 PM (PST)

7

At the very least, it is against the terms of use for Rhapsody:

“5. TITLE TO CONTENT SERVED THROUGH THE APPLICATION
The Content served by Listen or third parties directly through the Application is the property of Listen, its licensors and its advertisers. Title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to such Content is the property of either Listen or third-party content owners and copyright holders and is protected by applicable copyright and other law. Other than as expressly provided herein, this Agreement gives you no express or implied license to the Content, including without limitation, any right to use, sell, rent, copy, distribute, broadcast, modify, perform or publicly display any Content.

Listen complies with copyright law and expects its users to do the same. You may not use the Application to help you infringe the copyrights of any third party. Unauthorized use, copying, distribution, modification, public display, or public performance of copyrighted works is an infringement of the copyright holders’ rights and a violation of the law. You agree that you shall only use the Application in a manner that violates no third-party rights and that complies with all applicable laws in the jurisdiction in which you use the Application, including, but not limited to, applicable restrictions concerning copyrights and other intellectual property rights. “

With a regular radio broadcast, you haven’t (even implicitely) agreed to a EULA.

Posted by RhapsodySchapsody on December 16, 2003 at 12:43 PM (PST)