I have used the iTunes store before, as there are certain tracks I just can’t find online, or can find online but only of poorer quality. Out of all the songs on my iPod, though, a very small percentage were paid for.

If you just look at the chart in your screencap, I think you get a pretty good impression of iTunes’ music buyers: T.I., Christina, Nickelback, P!nk, T.I. again. These are probably casual music fans, who don’t have the motivation to use torrents or other filesharing programs. But losing them in the event of an iTunes music store closure would be devastating, at least to the majors.

But the online music store is definitely an asset, whether you’re a major or not. The friggin’ Tough Alliance is featured on iTunes this week – that’s huge exposure for a (relatively) tiny band! There’s also this store, Beatportal, which sells a ton of electronic music, which you really can’t find anywhere else if you don’t live near a really good record store. They had an interesting story on Moby vs. EMI this week: http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/moby-emi-is-compromising-the-careers-of-its-electronic-artists/

But no, I haven’t actually purchased from iTunes in a couple years…

Oh also, once when I was high I bought like 5 episodes of Family Guy cuz I was tired of waiting for them to buffer online.

Um.

I pay for music. My dad is an independent software developer, so my livelihood depends upon compensating the creators of intellectual property like any other producers. Call that quaint, but it’s morally consistent.

I make on average 2 purchases per month from the iTunes store. Sometimes the cheaper sites don’t have the song I need and I’m just too lazy to find it free on another site. Plus there’s that whole “making sure the artists get paid” guilt, but honestly if I am really into an album I buy the LP anyway. iTunes is on the outs, especially with those “partial albums” they sell–why can’t they sell the WHOLE album???

I’m an Itunes neophyte, (I didn’t start listening to music outside of CDs or vinyl until January ‘08, and I didn’t own an IPod until June) and I have purchased a fair amount of music through ITunes. I find Roland Li’s comments offensive and unsubstantiated, I’ve found several songs I was unable to find in “hip” purveyors of music eg: New York’s Other Music, insound.com, Kim’s Records via the ITunes store. “Motivation to use torrents,”, spare me, torrents are illegal, damaging to your computer, and risky. I find it extremely bothersome when people download mass quantities of music and then listen to very little of it. Who needs 50,000 tracks in their ITunes library. I have 5000 tracks in my library, primarily from CDs I own, tracks I’ve purchased, and CDs I’ve received as one of the Music Directors of my College Radio Station.My acquisition of music might seem outmoded to some but I don’t care. I am generally as equally on the “cutting edge of music” as some of my friend’s who abuse torrents and other downloading sites.

Also, I’m not some random stranger or NYU student. I’m Mike Vilensky’s good friend from high school, and a student at Carleton College. This blog is really cool, I wish Carleton had something like it.

um, where else am i spsd to get re-runs of the hills at my fingertips?

I used to use iTunes a lot. It has a great design and can be a great place to discover new music. When I was just starting as a DJ, torrents didn’t exist and LimeWire’s quality was terrible. iTunes was definitely the answer. Now, as great new music blogs start up everyday, there’s no longer a need to buy from STILL predominantly DRM-locked iTunes store (particularly annoying since iTunes won’t even allow audio programs to play DRM tracks). Read blogs, download tracks, and buy CDs and 12″s from the artists you like.

Nicole: I wasn’t suggesting that people who don’t download illegally aren’t into music, or that people who use iTunes aren’t into music. I was saying that the people who are buying Top 40 stuff probably can’t be bothered to find it illegally, and losing this demographic would really hurt the labels.

Who gives a shit. It’s about time that Steve Jobs stopped controlling the future of the record industry model. Yeah, Apple makes great computers, but why should they be the sole power deciding what can and cannot be done with regards to digital music models? Their insistence on pay-per-download models, and refusal to budge on price points, has actually been pretty shitty for the industry, despite their “tremendous” sales. The record–not music–industry won’t find a life line until they move away from this idea of the ten dollar record.

ESPECIALLY once these new rates are set for streaming, who needs to sell a CD if they are collecting income from YouTube, Last.Fm, Myspace music, etc…

Update: Apple wins again!

Copyright Royalty Board Issues Decision

By Ed Christman, Billboard

The Copyright Royalty Board is standing pat with the 9.1-cent mechanical royalty song rate for both physical and digital album, sources say. Meanwhile, it is setting the mastertone rate at 24 cents, according to sources.

This is the first mechanical right royalty proceedings since the development of legal online music services and until now, all payments have been negotiated in anticipation of such a ruling by the CRB.

No word yet on whether the CRB has approved the proposed settlement for interactive streaming and limited downloads, which, in general, sets a mechanical royalty rate at 10.5% of revenues, less composition performance royalties.

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Burn It To The Ground Lyrics dark horse…

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