Is iTunes Doomed?
Mar 26th, 2007 | By James Lewin | Category: Digital MusicIn the future, you won’t purchase music from iTunes and other music stores.
Instead, you’ll rent it or get it as part of your mobile service, according to analysts at Pyramid Research.
While music rental services have failed to make much of a dent in booming digital music market, the idea of buying music may soon seem antiquated. Pyramid’s analysts argue that the devaluation of music ownership means that models offering access to vast digital libraries on a rental basis are more compelling than just having access to content that is purchased.
“A cultural shift is forming in this generation‚Äôs consumers, from owning to renting” comments Nick Holland, Senior Analyst at Pyramid and author of the report. “Consumers are becoming conditioned to accept that virtual digital content is the norm and therefore physical ownership is no longer seen as necessary.”
Holland suggests that music bundling may succeed where all-you-can-eat music plans have failed.
“As today‚Äôs children inevitably come to own mobile handsets, the delivery of music and any other form of digital content will be over a broadband connection rather than via physical media,” continues Holland. “For these consumers, the difference between owning and MP3 and renting an MP3 will have little meaning.”
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I don’t believe large numbers of people will ever go for just renting the music they like – okay, people for whom music is just background noise – but not real music fans.
Music and its appreciation is a very personal thing about which people frequently get very, very passionate and emotionally involved ‚Äî y’know, like the passion that drives music podcasters to help promote independent artists.
The thought that enough people would dispassionately “rent” music for a short time to make such a service viable is depressing to contemplate for a music fan like me.
Murphy
I’ve seen a lot of people saying Albums/CDs are history, too, because of the fact that you can download the 1 song you like off of a CD.
I think that may be the case for some pop CDs, but not for other genres. I might download the one decent Britney Spears song (Toxic) but I wouldn’t buy the CD.
On the other hand, when it comes too jazz, classical or great rock CDs, I’d always want the whole thing.
But, I’ve got a couple of crates of vinyl around, too…..