Apple to Overhaul iTunes Service?

"I have an announcement for everyone. We're going to make iTunes like Youtube. There will be no more downloading. You have to watch it on our website. You will never have your own copy."

I'm with the other 99.9% of users that prefer to OWN the music that they BUY and not just RENT music. How in the heck am I supposed to burn CDs and download songs PERMANENTLY onto my iPod if I am only allowed to stream music on my computer?

And on the idea of extending Apple music to the web browser? The main benefit of iTunes is that it's an Apple application, and it's fully controlled and secure (security) by Apple. Users then connect their devices (iPods, iPhones) to iTunes to transfer music. Using a web browser would make security vulnerable (on both ends; it would also open up Apple to an attack and theft of music files). I say thumbs down to this idea.

^^^
Way to force your opinion. :rolleyes:


I absolutely love this idea. Obviously, iTunes wouldn't be "stream only" — because there's plenty of people with Classics, Nanos, and Touches who would be without music. But what if it meant that you didn’t have to store everything on your computer. What if it meant you could save all that space on your hard drive (or on your iPhone) by putting stuff into the "cloud"? How about being able to store your music online, and download a copy of a song onto your device if you really want it?

I would love to have music streamed to my iPhone over 3G — saves space on my device for other things. I would love to have music streamed to my Mac via the Internet — once again, it saves space for other things.

Imagine if you could take all the gigabytes of music stored on your hard drive, and suddenly get it all back. Plus, because the music wouldn't actually be stored on any of your devices, backing it up becomes a thing of the past (provided that Apple keeps it safe and sound on their servers, which I'm sure they would).

Perhaps this means that if I actually want to "own" the track on my physical hardware, I could just download a copy off the server… to use in my iMovie, or iPhoto slideshow, etc.

I would jump on this in a heartbeat. Now, will they do the same for movies?

I could see it as some kind of hybrid system ... where you download the music to a certain number of computers, but you can also login and stream the music to others - such as work - for an additional fee.

Would be good to see some evolution in iTunes, I hope we see some video streaming to go with the music. Perhaps this could link up the subscription TV rumour and the enormous data centre that they are building.

I doubt that the local download model will be made obsolete. Instead I see this as a way of moving the iTunes Music store out of iTunes. I for one think this is a great idea. Not only will an online store be more accessible but iTunes will get a much needed trim. Remember when iTunes was just for playing music?

"I have an announcement for everyone. We're going to make iTunes like Youtube. There will be no more downloading. You have to watch it on our website. You will never have your own copy."

I'm with the other 99.9% of users that prefer to OWN the music that they BUY and not just RENT music. How in the heck am I supposed to burn CDs and download songs PERMANENTLY onto my iPod if I am only allowed to stream music on my computer?

And on the idea of extending Apple music to the web browser? The main benefit of iTunes is that it's an Apple application, and it's fully controlled and secure (security) by Apple. Users then connect their devices (iPods, iPhones) to iTunes to transfer music. Using a web browser would make security vulnerable (on both ends; it would also open up Apple to an attack and theft of music files). I say thumbs down to this idea.

What the heck is wrong with you? You start your post with a quote you made up ... that says it all.

What makes you think Apple will do away with their very successful iTunes model? If anything all this article means is that iTunes will expand to include other services. It really makes sense for them to explore this avenue. With my iPhone I'm already connected to the net all the time ... Apple streaming music into my iPhone from their servers isn't such a stupid idea. There are a lot of people that might want to pay for such a service, especially considering the popularity of services like Spotify in Europe. Just imagine certain customers paying 10 dollars a month to access iTunes entire catalog, and then purchasing songs they especially like at a dollar a piece. Apple is smart to explore this, because there are a LOT of companies looking at it. If they use their install base to gain an advantage on these up and coming services they can ensure iTunes remains a powerhouse in the coming decade.

I hope this is as an alternative to downloading and keeping music.
I can understand that some users may want a large amount of new music and as a result a pay-per-month for unlimited songs scheme is ideal for them, however I only buy an album once every two months or so, and maybe the odd individual song as well, so paying "full price" for these and keeping them is ideal for me.

It's similar to getting pay-as-you-go rather than a contract for a phone; I simply don't use my phone enough to justify paying a flat-rate as I only spend £10 every two months on it.

Not interested in streaming services. Don't like the idea where you pay £9.99 (Spotify) per month and don't get to keep the songs.

Good luck to Apple if they're going down this path. Spotify at least is doing well.

Looks like Apple might try and beat Spotify to the US music-streaming market. I'm a Spotify Premium subscriber and I absolutely love the service. Having a premium account lets me keep my playlists stored offline on my Mac, my iPod touch and my phone (Nokia 5800 XpressMusic), which is an absolute dream.

Basically any music that I discover and like I can just put into a playlist and keep it on my three devices. It lets you store 9,999 files offline (spread evenly over three devices meaning 3,333 actual tracks), which would cost over £2,500 on iTunes. With Spotify you pay £120 per year to do the same, meaning it would take a long time before you'd make a loss against iTunes' service (plus you can keep changing your stored music as your tastes change).

I seriously doubt that iTunes would switch to a rental/streaming-only service, but if they were to make such a change, it would need a similar offline mode to Spotify's.

The quality is also better (on the desktop application) than iTunes. Spotify Premium streams and saves at 320 Kb/s, compared to 256 for iTunes Plus.

Clearly Apple sees Spotify as a threat to iTunes and might try and beat it to the US market, which Spotify is planning on entering in the next year or two...

I think it will be the same buy to own model but with the ability to access your music from the cloud for a subscription fee. This would mean that people who buy exclusively from iTunes store can now have an online library that can be streamed to any computer they log onto which would mean I can listen to my music from any computer with a net connection.

You could also have a online subscription model only that you pay say 10~15 bucks for a month to have access too all the music online. Any why stop at just music subscription you can also do magazine subscriptions, tv shows(you can do that now but its downloaded and not streamed), movies. All your media consumption can occur from iTunes which is now suddenly Hulu + Music Subscription + Mags.

This would tie into the tablet which now becomes the new media delivery system. iPhones, iPods and AppleTV have always relied on a computer being at the centre of the equation but now it can all live in the cloud and be streamed on demand giving people a new way to consume media. Books, Magazines, Music, TV Shows, Movies and App all available from an appliance that has a unified interface.

The Airport Express now can stream music but Apple can bring out one that can do Video at 720p or 1080p that is compatible with the tablet. Just imaging the possibilities! iTablet as a remote that can stream iTunes content directly to your TV or Stereo. :eek: